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If you need the basics first (hooks, matching hangers, a catch-all tray, and the rest of the closet must haves), start with this article on Must Haves for Everyone.
Then come back for the bins.
I want to see everything in my closet at one time and almost nothing anywhere else in the house. If you think clear bins are more for you, this post will be helpful: Closet Ideas for People Who Want to See Everything
That second half of me who doesn’t want to see any clutter at all is who these closet organization ideas are for.
These bins all hide what’s inside them.
Which means you need some kind of label.
Gift tags make it easier and quicker to label than the label maker (found on the more traditional closet must have lists) you’re imagining. Gift tags make a really quick and easy way to label things.
Closet Organization Ideas for Ladybugs and Crickets
I believe strongly in Cassandra Aarssen’s Clutterbug method: traditional organizing fails because we don’t all sort alike. Her quiz sorts us with two questions, visible or hidden, and broad categories or detailed ones. Answer hidden, and you’re a Ladybug or a Cricket. I think she’s a genius, and I miss her show that was on for two seasons. Bring it back!
A Ladybug is hidden and big picture, the type Cas sums up as “chuck it and shut it.” Her advice is big bins without lids and pretty baskets you can toss things into fast. She also suggests hooks instead of hangers in the closet, and that’s where I break her rule. Everyone needs matching hangers, no matter what.
Outside my closet, I’m a Ladybug.
A Cricket is hidden and detailed. Cas sends Crickets to drawer dividers, rolling carts, and caddies that tuck out of sight. My second child is a Cricket, obsessively hidden with her details.
If you answered visible, here are your bins, etc: Closet Organization: Small Closet Organization Ideas for People Who Want to See Everything is yours instead.
Closet Must Haves for Women Who’d Rather Not See the Contents
The closet must haves for women who’d rather hide things are bins you can’t see through. When the stuff is hidden, the bins are what you look at, so let them be pretty. Purely functional closets make me shudder.
Lidded storage bins, a lidded fabric bin in lots of solid colors, scalloped-edge pastel bins, block print fabric cubes, and water hyacinth woven cubes all keep the inside your business. Fuzzy leopard 11″ foldable cubes are fun (the pink version is cute, too).
If you love a Liberty of London print like I do, there’s a William Morris Strawberry Thief fabric basket and squared-off bins in the same print. I have one of these in the trunk of my car.
Purses can go in cotton dust bags, which come in lots of colors if you want uniform colors and also to not see the bags. If you don’t need things uniform, just use whatever dust bag they came in. To keep them upright, I do like these acrylic organizers.
No matter what you choose, gift tags make a really quick and easy way to label things.
Small Closet Organization Ideas for the Small Stuff
You can “chuck it and shut it” with some these organizers if you’re a Ladybug. If you’re a Cricket, you can organize it into more detailed categories and then shut it closed and hidden.
Socks and scarves need homes of their own. Small-item bins and bins you can’t see through at all keep them sorted. Fabric long organizers and stacking organizers come in lots of configurations, so they fit the shelf you’ve got.
You still need a catch-all, even if it lives behind a door. This stacked set is great for dumping jewelry and purse contents. A sunglasses organizer can go on the same shelf.
Wardrobe Organization for a Return Box Nobody Sees
The return box idea from Closet Organization for Everyone can hide, too.
Keep the supplies for cutting off tags, opening packages and then packaging up returns is handy in your closet, where you actually use or need them.
A scalloped container in lots of colors gathers the bits and bobs for opening packages and taping returns.
You could use one of the stacking lidded containers from above, too.
Wardrobe Organization Ideas for Out-of-Season and Archive Bins
Under bed bins are home turf for hidden organizers. We thrive here.
Mine hold out-of-season pieces, meaning whatever’s the wrong weather right now, and my archive, which is whatever I didn’t wear last year, but can’t let go of… yet. Hidden underbed storage takes them out of the closet entirely.
A Closet Cleanout Based on Your Cleanout Type
The catch with a closed bin is remembering what’s in it. My 30-day closet cleanout challenge can help before anything goes in.
I’ve cleaned out a lot of closets, and the problem is we aren’t all the same type of “cleaner outer” so you tend to fall back into your old ways. I need to clean out again pretty soon.
I address the five very different types that I’ve noticed over the past 20+ years in the challenge. It’s just 30 days of email prompts, and it’s totally free.
The easiest way to get started is to download the app today and log today’s outfit. What does this do? It helps you honestly just see what you wear. Do you remember what you wore exactly a year ago? I didn’t think so. Is there value in it? For sure. Why are we saving brain power for something that could be so much easier and not sacrifice any of the style and creativity in getting dressed. Some days I have the mental bandwidth to put together a new outfit and enjoy it. But a lot of days I just don’t. But I know I need to get dressed for my mood.
Ladybug or Cricket? Take the quiz, then tell me which one you got.
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