First, take a look at how your clothes are arranged in your closet. Are they neatly folded? Can you easily take out the clothes you need out of your closet? Can you put clothes back in just as easily? Does every piece of clothing have its proper place in your closet or do you have everything piled on top of each other? When your closet is organized, you won't ever have to waste your time digging for your favorite pair of socks, belt, shirt or tie.



Unwanted clothes -- out-of-season clothes, clothes that don't fit you anymore or clothes that you simply haven't worn in the last year or so -- may just be the reason you have such a disorganized closet. Is your closet bursting with clothes that you hardly wear? If so, it's time you trim down your closet. Are there clothes in your closet you're particularly fond or attached to but haven't worn in a long time? Perhaps you're saving them for sentimental reasons, but realize that they're taking up valuable closet space. If you don't want to throw out those clothes you love (or perhaps you're hoping that one day you'll wear the ones that don't fit you anymore), put them in storage. For those clothes you can discard, put them in a box and take them to your local Salvation Army, donate them to a local orphanage or home, or hold a garage sale for them.

To start trimming down your closet, take out all your clothes and pile them up on the bed. Go over each piece of clothing and create piles based on how often you wear them. For example, make a pile for t-shirts you wear very often, pants that have become too faded or no longer fit, clothes you wear around the house, suits or dresses you typically wear to work, pieces of clothes that don't look like they're going to last any longer, etc.

After separating your clothes, box or store away the ones you don't think you'll wear in the next 6 months or so. For instance, if you have too many sweaters, keep a couple of them and store the rest. Unless you're a real social butterfly, keep only two or three formal wear in your dresses and store away the rest.

Once you've decided on which clothes you're keeping in your closet and which ones you're storing or giving away, the next thing you need to do is hang them back in your closet according by category. For instance, fold all your sweaters together, hang your suits together, fold or hang your formal shirts together. Do the same thing for your casual shirts, pants, jeans, and intimate apparel. By grouping your clothes in your closet this way, you'll cut back on the time you spend searching for the right clothes. Avoid grouping your clothes based on color; this is a recipe for disaster.

However, you can group clothes by color within their categories. For instance, you can hang your casual shirts from lightest to darkest. You can do the same thing with your sweaters, formal shirts, pants and underwear. With this system, you'll find it easier to look for specific items of clothing.