This first link is a great start for those of you looking to organize your closet clutter. This post is a general overview of how to decide on a closet storage solution, from measuring the space to selecting a style of closet storage organization, this link is a great walkthrough for beginners.

The House Design Ideas blog gives us some great tips of getting more free space by organizing our closet clutter. My favorite piece of advice here is to organize your closet‘s items according to an item’s “use or purpose”. This was like a brilliant flash of light the first time I read it — you don’t have to organize just by size, color, or seasons, you can group according to use. This actually makes a ton of sense — organize your closet clutter into groups based on how frequently they are used, and make the organization match the amount you’ll need them. Those rarely used items can go toward the back, while your everyday use items can sit right in front at eye level.

This mother of FIVE GIRLS (you read that right, five little girls) probably knows a thing or two about organizing a closet. Here’s some great free advice on using a small amount of space to store a large number of different items. Some of the info is basic (“I have a bag for each size clothing”) but it is easy to skip over the simple things on the way to a compelx system of closet storage organization. Other times, this power-mother has some great insight, as when she suggests color coding hangers for different people. Maybe I’m an idiot, but I hadn’t thought of 90% of the tips for organizing your closet clutter you can find here.

It can be easy to overlook the simple steps on the way to successful closet storage organization. This article, from DoItYourself.com, offers simple steps to building a double closet rod and installing it yourself in your closet. You can quickly double your storage space when you hang up an extra hanging rod, and if you’re looking for a “quick and dirty fix”, there’s none quicker or dirtier than this one.

My final tip to help you organize your closet clutter comes from a shelving manufacturing company’s blog. Storing your seasonal clothing can be one of the big headaches of storage management, and these tips to help you store your seasonal clothes are like the aspirin for your seasonal storage pains. The tip that astounded me here is the suggestion to keep your seasonal clothes in perfect darkness — I hadn’t even thought of the impact of light on stored clothing. When you’re ready to step into the closet storage organizing bigtime, check out this quick seasonal storage checklist first.

In this blog post from the surprisingly interesting people over at Rubbermaid, we learn of a husband’s success at getting his wife to organize her closet. One of his big ideas for organizing a closet is picking one organization system and stick with it. His wife was able to ‘reclaim’ her closet from clutter by simply getting back to the original organizational system she was using, and expanding it to meet her new needs. Other benefits of sticking with a closet organization system include the simple fact that clutter won’t mess up your closet,  and the “lesson” you can learn from organizing your closet just once.

Then, if your closet gets cluttered again, you’ll think back to how easy it was to get organized in the first place, and you’ll push yourself to work harder for closet organization.

Lots of good tips here from an article found at Farticle.net — this is an expansive collection of closet organization tips ranging from clothing to shoes and accessories. Read the whole article for great insight into the world of closet organization — but for now I want you to focus on one piece of advice. The writer suggests you get an “accessory hanger” to collect those little bits of clothing and accessories that just won’t fit anywhere else. Now I’m not one to go in for too many organizational gadgets, but one of the best ideas for organizing a closet I can offer is that you pick up one of these special hangers. The accessory hanger has different sized compartments and storage methods for different kinds of accessories, and will keep you from putting too many junky boxes in your closet, or keeping your small accessories in a container that’s simply too big.

The Small Budget, Big Style blog offers us some great tips on classy closet organization on the cheap. I’m going to offer you the entirety of this article as a sound idea for organizing a closet. From using teacups and old coffee mugs to store jewelry and other small accessories (which saves you money and looks really cool) to using magazine racks to store purses and other bulky items, I love these ideas. Closet organization doesn’t have to be about maxing out your credit card at the Container Store — you can find solutions to your organization nightmares right under your nose. “Recycling” these everyday items not only saves you money, but it keeps you from adding MORE clutter and junk to your already full closet space. Read this article, save a buck, and show off your new chic “bohemian” closet to your friends with pride.

The name of this blog says it all — Ideal Closet Organizers — and while I’m pretty sure this blog post is really an advertisement in sheeps’ clothing, it points out a major facet of closet organization that I couldn’t keep from passing on. Not all ideas for organizing a closet are good ones. You need to take stock of the space you have, the amount of “stuff” you need to store, your budget, and a million other things before you run off and buy the first closet organizer you find. In this article, we read a detailed (almost too detailed) account of a man taking stock of his wife’s closet needs and then going out and buying exactly what they needed to rebuild and organize the closet. This kind of thing can’t be done on a whim, and if you spend even a quarter of the time planning your closet organization task as this guy does, you’ll be on the way to a complete success.

1. Simple – Keeping your closet organized should never be a chore. If you let your closet get badly disorganized in the first place you’re probably not prone to performing complex chores. Yes, organizing your closet and conserving space are important, but if your new organization system isn’t easy to maintain you’ll be back to your old habits in no time. Keep your organization and space saving methods as simple as possible. What good is an organized closet if you’re scared to use it?

2. Flexible – If you go into a closet organization project with too many things “set in stone”, you’ll quit before you’re halfway through. Our entire lives are made of compromise – we need the ability to be flexible in our working life and in our social life. When organizing a closet, keep an open mind and be flexible about your new closet organization style. Specifically, you may have to give up a certain feature that you love (the “open feeling” of a particular closet) in order to install one that you need (extra shelving or organization tools taking up space). Your new closet is like a big puzzle in 3-D – closets are generally small, and organizing them usually means making big changes. Be flexible.

3. User-friendly – Your goal when organizing your closet is to build new habits that match with your new closet setup. Not only should your design be simple to use, as addressed above, but it should be easy for YOU PERSONALLY to use. Only you know the areas of cleaning and organization that you have trouble with. Build your new organization system with your personal habits in mind. Better yet – build an organization system that matches the daily routine you already have.

4. Clutter-free – Don’t get caught up in the world of “closet organization tools”. If you’re ready to organize your closet, you know what things need to be installed and what “gimmicks” you just won’t use. Before you go out and buy that electric tie-rack, ask yourself if it is worth the clutter. Remember that there are usually simple ways to achieve the same goals these “organization tools” promise.

5. Consistent – As a final note, when you’re putting together an organizational project make sure that all the parts of your closet “match”. Don’t install white shelving with gold hardware and paint the interior red – unless that’s a look you want. Remember that the finished product will have to be attractive to you for you to use it.  Keep your design details consistent and the final organized closet will look like it was put together by an interior designer.

And that, my friends, is how to organize a closet.