Closet Trauma
Having trouble finding your favorite jeans? Can't seem to locate that cute little top for tonight's dinner party? You probably are not losing your memory or eye sight, you most likely are experiencing closet trauma.
If you're part of the 90% of homeowners living with a single rod with a shelf over it, which spans the wall(s) of your closet, you are not the only one. This configuration is the equivalent of dry white toast for dinner. Your closet may actually be boring, confusing and lacking in originality. Spice it up a bit, and you will most likely double it's capacity and may even find it pleasing to look at when you open the doors.
Shelf and Rod System
The shelf and rod has two major shortcomings. First, good closet design takes advantage of all available space, especially vertical space. Most homes are built with 8-foot ceilings, which gives the opportunity to double hang clothes.
Put one rod at 7 feet and the other at 3½ feet. Congratulations, you've just doubled your useable hanging space, and you still have a foot of storage above the top rod! This double hang section also allows you to separate and better organize your clothes, which introduces the second shortcoming of the shelf and rod closet: lack of order.
Smart Closet Design
Smart closet design not only increases the capacity of your space by up to 200%,
but also can separate your belongings and keep them organized. The goal of any closet design is to have a place for all of your belongings. That way, when you need that perfect top for your evening out, you'll know exactly where to find it.Good closet design helps you organize your clothes so you can put away and find your items.
First, take inventory of your items into categories (short hang, long hang, folded, business, casual, shoes, and accessories).
Next, design your closet layout to break up these categories for your eye.
You want to be able to quickly see your different categories. One of the big disadvantages of the shelf and rod closet is that everything is at one level and there is nothing to break up your different categories of clothing for your eye to see. While many people start with their shelf and rod closet organized, it quickly gets disorganized as you begin to wear and put clothes back into the closet since there is not a specific area for your eye to locate. As you add more new items, your rod gets packed with clothes and it is hard to even work with the hangers.
The closet shelf or rod hits an overload capacity and, if installation was done poorly, you have a big mess as your rod or shelf can no longer bear the weight and comes crashing down.
9 Steps to cleaning up your closet
Is your closet an unmanageable mess? In nine steps, weed out old clothes that are torn, ripped, stained, too small, too large, out of fashion or just not you anymore. Get rid of them - and get some more space.- It's too big or too small
- Get it out of your closet and donate it ...
more - You don't like it
- This is a no-brainer. Get rid of it today. more
- It's stained
- If you really like the garment, but can't wear it because it's stained ... more
- It's ripped or torn
- If a hem needs to be sewn or it needs to be taken in to fit ... more
- It's a wear-once outfit
- If you have a wedding dress, prom dress, tuxedo or other wear-once dress in your closet, you have an emotional decision to make ...more
- It's a special occasion outfit
- If you have an outfit that you'll only wear if you plan to attend a special occasion ...more
- It may come back in fashion
- This is a bad reason to keep an outfit ... more
- You don't have anything to match it
- Perhaps you have a shirt that you love, but can't seem to find pants to match it ...more
- You never wear it simply because you have too much
- If your closet is packed with clothes ... more
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