Is That An Empty Wire Hanger Dangling In Your Closet?- Week #4

We don’t have to look very far to find someone telling us to clean out our closets.  There are tips on how to edit and purge clothing.  There are lovely photos of closets, larger than some homes, that look like a small boutique.  Then there is that thing about keeping what only sparks joy.  All fine and good, but in reality what every closet has in common is a hanger.

Remember why we started this series of De-Cluttering and Getting Organized This Summer?  We started because a client of ours wanted to do small things before a renovation that would make things easier for her during the somewhat disruptive process of a home improvement project.  An organized, personalized closet for everyone in the house is a must to make our lives easier.  But wait, organizing a closet takes a lot of time and requires too many decisions.  Agree and think a total closet re-do is not in most of our plans.  What if, on this Motvational Monday, we address one thing.

The Hangers

Go back up to the first photo.  Raise your hand if you have an empty hanger stuck somewhere in the middle of your closet.  Thought so.  Empty hangers are like the coffee cups, and water bottles, in Week # 1….they reproduce as soon as you leave them alone.

Go gather up all the hangers you can toss.  Hangers from dry cleaners, shopping trips, broken hangers or ones that are just too ugly to spark that joy thing.  Out they go this week to the trash.  Cleaners won’t take them back in most areas and donation centers already have two or three million standby hangers.  Forget about donating them.  Gasp!

Double The Hanging Space In The Closet

Before we begin a closet design plan for a client, we help to assess what needs to be housed in the space.  Nearly every request is for double the hanging space.  In many cases, we suggest using double hangers to automatically increase capacity.  For light weight items, we like the velvet hangers with the smaller hook embedded under the hanging hook.  Find the ones that are sturdy enough for the garments and enjoy a more uniform look on the rod.

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A DIY Trick To Double Our Closet Space

Any type of hanger with a thin hook can become a double hanger with a pop-tab.  Yes, even wire hangers can work if they are strong enough.  Another perk of double hanging is being able to group items together in ways that work for each of us.  Group by color, style, occasion, sleeve length, even outfits.

Make Back To School Mornings Easier

Speaking of outfits, when our youngest was heading to school, he insisted we take photos of him in each outfit so he would know what to wear each day.  It would have been so much easier to double up hangers with a week’s worth of outfits for him to choose from.  Tops on one, bottoms on the other and maybe even have a special hook where the outfit could be put out the night before.  Mom’s still in charge of who gets to drink the beverage for the pop tabs!

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Hangers and Laundry

Creating a specific spot for empty hangers, in every closet in the house, is a way to reduce laundry time stress.  Empty hangers play hide and seek amongst the clean clothes.  What a chore to find them, and look how much space they take up.  With all the space gained from doubling hangers, there should be one 12″ area of rod where all the empties can wait until laundry day.   Ideally, we’d all have an area designated in the laundry where everyone deposited all their empty hangers for the laundress each week.  We can dream, right?

Choosing The Right Hangers Is A Personal Thing

No one hanger style will be just right for every kind of clothing, or for each person.  After we work out what works best for us, we get territorial about the triangles that hold our most precious wardrobes.  Below is how each of us like our 72″ of closet.

She Said

I prefer the velvet hangers, doubled up for shirts, blouses, lounge wear, and single for skirts. (you can get clips for the velvets)  White wood hangers, with a bar and shoulder grooves, work for jackets, dresses and pants folded over.  I like the way the actual hooks are all about the same size and keep items spaced nicely.

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He Said

Mr. LBD likes wood hangers for everything.  He uses some with clips for shorts and otherwise uses the same wood hanger I do but in a natural color.  Told you we get territorial about these wooden puppies!

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 Hangers & Habits

• Toss Temporary Hangers Right Away – don’t let store and cleaner hangers linger
• Move Empty Hangers To Designated Spot – the end of a rod, the laundry area – a place where they are easy to reuse properly
• Keep The Number Of Hangers Consistent – have the number needed for each type of item without too many extra
• Let The System Evolve – the goal of an organized closet stays the same, how we get there is different for each of us
• Keep A Donation Bag In Sight – and drop donations off weekly/monthly (kinda works with keeping the number of hangers needed consistent)

The “One In One Out” Rule To Staying Organized

And Sometimes We Just Need A Do-Over!

One last thing about all this organizing and de-cluttering stuff.  No one intends for spaces in their homes to be in disarray.  We didn’t move into a house and say, ” My goal is to junk this place up”.   Some organizing schools of thought say we have to do the work to make it stick.  Nonsense.  It is never wrong to ask for help or enlist in an expert to get the job done.  On busy school and work days, the goal is for our homes to take care of us….not the other way around.

In Louisville, KY…Learn More About Ashley Organizes!

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