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To help you refresh your look, renew your outlook, and revive your sense of joy, start by tidying up. 

A well-organized house provides both physical and mental benefits. It beautifies your home while also making it a blissful refuge for you to relax. Not to mention – a neat and tidy home makes daily household activities (like styling outfits, putting on makeup, cooking meals, etc.) more fun.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing 

To motivate you to get organized this year, Inspirations & Celebrations presents a new home organization how-to series called “The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing”. Over the next several weeks, I’ll share tips on how to organize your home, from clothing and accessories to beauty products, and beyond.

Once you discover the joy of home organizing, you’ll no longer dread the task of tidying up. Instead, you’ll view it as a way to take care of your belongings, while keeping everything organized and easily accessible. Not only will it save you time, but you’ll also feel less stressed and more peaceful.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

Inspired by “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”

As a long-time fan of home organizing, I was recently delighted to watch the new Netflix show “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo”. Created by renowned home organizing expert and best-selling author of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, this new show introduces audiences to Marie’s simple, yet effective “KonMari” method of home organizing. Her belief is that “when you’ve finished putting your house in order, your life will change dramatically. Once you have experienced what it’s like to have a truly ordered house, you’ll feel your whole world brighten.””

Aside from sharing her 5-step method for home organizing, she encourages people to enjoy the process. The message behind the show (and book) emphasizes the point that being mindful while tidying up is the most important part.

After just 2 episodes, she inspired me to re-organize my bedroom, bathroom, and guest room. Plus, I decided to document all of this home organizing through this new series, in an effort to inspire you to get organized too!

In her book, Marie exclaims, “A dramatic reorganization of the home causes correspondingly dramatic changes in lifestyle and perspective. It is life transforming.” She goes on to say, “My approach is not simply a technique. The act of tidying is a series of simple actions in which objects are moved from one place to another. It involves putting things away where they belong.”

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

Discovering Which Belongings “Spark Joy” Within Us

Through inspiring us to organize our homes, Marie wants us to discover how our belongings can actually “spark joy” within us. In such a consumer-driven society, this is such a significant reminder. 

While sorting through our stuff, we need to honestly ask ourselves “which items do we truly value and love?”. When organizing clothing and accessories, she recommends putting it all in a pile. Then pick up each item and ask yourself if it “sparks joy”. If the answer is yes – keep it. If no, then let it go.

Once you decide what to keep, sell, giveaway, or throw out, proceed to organize your belongings. 

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

How To Organize Clothing in Your Closet

When organizing your closet, it’s best to group “like items” together – blouses, blazers, jackets, dresses, etc. When I got my first job (as a fashion boutique sales associate), I learned to hang clothing systematically.

Think of the colors of the rainbow when organizing clothing. Starting from left-to-right on the rack, hang up lighter color clothing (like whites and light pastels), then vibrant hues (like pink, orange, and red), and then darker shades (like green, blue, brown, grey and black). This makes your closet look more organized and tidy, and helps you quickly find what you’re looking for.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

I also hang items from light to heavy – meaning the dresses, skirts, and blouses start on the left side of the rack, while the jackets and bulkier items (like vests) are on the right side.

I currently keep coats and heavy outerwear stored in our entry closet, since our master bedroom’s closet isn’t large enough. This works just as well though, as it’s convenient for us to throw on a coat when we’re leaving the house.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

To save space (especially if you have a smaller closet or lots of clothing), non-slip slimline hangers are a wise investment. Plus, the uniformity of using one type of hanger makes your closet look more beautiful.

To keep the shape of your sweaters intact, always fold them (don’t put them on hangers). 

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

Tips on How To Organize Clothing in Drawers

When organizing clothing in drawers, it’s wise to start from top to bottom. The reason why this is helpful is that it enables you to get dressed more easily since it’s a systematic way of organizing clothing.

The top drawer should store your undergarments, like bras and panties. The next drawer would house socks, stockings, and pantyhose. Then you’d have a drawer for tops and t-shirts, one for exercise apparel, a drawer for nightwear, and possibly a drawer for pants (like jeans and shorts) if you don’t hang them up.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

Marie Kondo recommends folding clothing into thirds and then stacking each item in an upright position (like shown below). This lets you see all your items when you open a drawer. This method also saves space, which is helpful in smaller homes.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

Similar to organizing your closet, I recommend pairing like items with each other. For example – my fitness jackets are stacked together, while exercise pants and tank tops are separately organized, all within the same drawer. This makes it easier for me to put together a workout outfit since I can quickly grab each piece.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

Tips on How To Organize Accessories

After organizing your clothing in your closet and drawers, move on to accessories. 

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - Tips on How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

I use a small secondary closet to store scarves, hats, belts, purses, etc. Each shelf is neatly organized with one type of item. I fold and stack my scarves so that each one is easily accessible. I put baseball caps and hats in a box so that they’re tucked away. And my belts are coiled into balls, and neatly stacked inside a decorative storage box.

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

To enable me to see all my purses, I line them up on a shelf, grouping the evening bags together and the everyday purses together. This helps me style outfits more easily and keep my purses protected and in good condition. 

The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing - How To Organize Clothing & Accessories

Now that you’ve learned tips on how to organize clothing and accessories in your closet and drawers, it’s time to get started. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just remember Marie’s sage advice, “Start by discarding. Then organize your space, thoroughly, completely, in one go.”

As you’re going through the process, imagine the end result. Within a few hours of mindful focus and joyful tidying up, your closet and drawers will be transformed into a tranquil, organized space that inspires you each day.  

For more home organizing tips, check out the Home Organization section on Inspirations & Celebrations. Stay tuned for upcoming editions of “The Joyful Guide to Home Organizing” series.

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