Just wanted to start by saying that I’m sorry to disappoint, if you were expecting a Pinterest worthy closet organization with master DIY techniques here. This is a straightforward, realistic and super inexpensive (think $120 or less) closet makeover that anyone can do! I am no DIYer neither do I own any power tools but I wanted to tackle the hot mess that was our master closet which was giving me serious anxiety. Physical clutter makes me anxious and even though we all try our best to keep our house tidy overall but our closets somehow always stays messy. Turns out keeping the closet door shut wasn’t a sustainable solution lol. Being on maternity leave, I also didn’t have the funds to do a full reno. So I worked with the resources that was available to me within my budget.
So here’s what I did:
- This is a closet that I share with my husband and turns out we both had way too many clothes in general:
–clothes that didn’t fit us,
–clothes we simply didn’t like to wear anymore and
–clothes that were totally worn out and ran their courses.
So initially I sorted all the clothes under the above category and created a donation pile and a purge pile.
- I gained 45lbs during my pregnancy and after giving birth I lost some weight but then gained more while breastfeeding. So I had even more clothes that I needed to get rid of or put away. After donating and purging, I kept some a) clothes that still don’t quite fit me but are my favourite pieces; b) and clothes, I can possibly fit into in a year or so.
I stored these clothes in a large bin and kept it in our storage room.
- Because of my excessive weight gain, there were more clothes that fit me but were uncomfortable to wear but clothes that I love but couldn’t part with them just yet, I stored them on the top shelf of the closet in stackable clear plastic bins.
- As we are starting to get warmer weather here in Ontario, I did the same with other seasonal clothing like sweaters and winter accessories- both mine and my husband’s and put them on the top shelf in clear bins. I plan to switch the seasonal clothes in those bins during summer and winters to keep the bottom shelves light.
- In the lower shelves I added lots of medium sized fabric baskets and put ALL our everyday wear and essentials in categories like; full sleeve tops, half sleeve tops, T-shirts, pants, dresses, pajamas, etc. This way every type of clothing will have their home and won’t float around all over the closet making clutter which was the whole point of this closet organization.
- I also keep our holy books in the closet and I just put them all in the same fabric storage bins and put them on the top shelf.
- I also kept the iron and the steamer in one of the bins.
I actually have 3 more large bins full of traditional clothes like Saree and salwar kameez in storage which I didn’t store in this closet yet because I plan to get rid of 2 of the 3 boxes and I’m yet to sort them. Once done I’ll put those in the stackable bins in the top shelf of this closet.
My husband naturally has much less clothing than me so all of his traditional outfits like kurtas and punjabis are all hung in the closet as pictured.
I have hung all my maxi dresses, button front shirts and cotton tops that wrinkle easily instead of storing them in the bins because keeping them folded will make them more wrinkly.
Lastly even though I’m using two thirds of this closet space, my husband does have an entire dresser in our bedroom to store more of his daily essentials, so don’t feel too bad for him guys. Okay fine, one of the top dresser drawers is mine where I keep all my jewelry, lol.
That’s it guys, no real technique or gimmicks here, simple organization of our entire closet all done in a day well two days with house work and kids. And the best part is that it cost me under $120. Let me know if this simple organization post has inspired you to organize your closet as it is today rather than waiting forever for a big reno for that dream closet. Yes, it’s definitely okay to dream for that perfect space but that doesn’t mean you have to live in a mess while you’re waiting.
You can shop the storage bins I have used for this project below as well as some other similar ones that I thought might be useful. These links are affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you decide to purchase through them.
