REAL SPACES
Six Steps for Entry Closet Organization
by Alissa Boukal from Eight Days Home Organization
January 29, 2024
OMAHA NE | SAN DIEGO | ORANGE COUNTY | LOS ANGELES
Your entryway is the gateway to your home—a space that should exude warmth and welcome. But, if your coat closet has become a chaotic catch-all for everything except the essentials, it’s time for a transformation. Imagine opening your closet door and being greeted by neatly hung coats, perfectly paired shoes, and a designated spot for every accessory. No more searching for lost gloves or battling the dreaded closet avalanche! From purging the unnecessary to implementing clever storage solutions, our step-by-step guide covers it all. Together, we’ll navigate the process of decluttering, making room for what truly belongs in your entry closet: coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and shoes.
BEFORE
AFTER
Set the tone for a stress-free morning on your way out the door.
STEP 1 EMPTY
Emptying out a space is the first step in the organization process. Before you start sorting, decluttering, or organizing, ensure the space is completely emptied. Many spaces feel disorganized, cluttered and messy because they store too many items. Your journey to a newly organized life begins with a fresh start!
Emptying a space before organizing allows you to start completely over with a blank canvas. This approach helps your brain in planning the new space without distractions from the items that were once there. An empty space enhances visibility, reveals the area’s potential, and generates excitement about the future of the space rather than its past.
STEP 2 SORT
Once all belongings are out of the space, the next step is to sort everything to determine what truly belongs there. Group similar items together for sorting. Create piles for as many categories as you would like on the floor and sort every single item that came out of the space.
After sorting, decisions about what to keep, what to part with, and what to return to the space or re-home elsewhere become more straightforward.
STEP 3 DECLUTTER
Declutter means to reduce the clutter. It is the process of minimizing excess clutter in your space. Belongings tend to accumulate over time, and without intentional efforts to reduce them, our homes can become cluttered. Once you’ve sorted your items, focus on reducing the number of items that will be returned to the space.
Review accumulated items on the top of the closet, letting go of anything no longer useful or worth the space it is taking up. Don’t forget to part with items unused for over a year and coats or shoes that no longer fit. An organized space prioritizes items used regularly.
STEP 4 ORGANIZE
Now comes the exciting part-putting items back into the space and creating a setup you will love! Decide what items you have sorted belong in the space, assign each item a designated home, and label everything for easy maintenance by everyone in the household. Be mindful not to overfill a space to maintain an uncluttered feel.
Hang coats and jackets on matching hangers, zipped up, and all facing the same direction. Opt for sturdy wooden hangers for these items. Add matching bins to the top of the closet and categorize remaining items, such as hats, gloves, and scarves. Shoes should be paired and neatly arranged at the bottom of the coat closet or on a show rack to prevent them from scattering throughout the space without a designated home.
STEP 5 RE-HOME
When you see before-and-after photos from professional organizers, you may wonder where some of the items that were in the before photos went! We re-home items because not everything originally in the space belongs there. Putting too many items back into any space makes achieving an organized feeling impossible. Keeping unnecessary items out of the space leaves more room for the items that do belong.
Not everything needs to go back into the closet. Hats, coats, gloves, scarves, and shoes can be placed back in, while cleaning supplies, play-doh, and bubbles can be re-homed elsewhere. Store vacuums and mops in a different location to maintain a clear floor, enhancing the overall organization and minimizing clutter in the closet.
STEP 6 MAINTAIN
Set aside time each month to declutter, clean, and reassess your entry closet organization to ensure it remains functional and efficient.