If you are lucky enough to have a coat closet, it can easily become a place to stuff things in a hurry and shut the door. If you don’t do regular maintenance on your closet it can become like Fibber McGee’s hall closet and stuff will start spilling out onto the floor.
While ideally the closet should be tackled seasonally, smaller closets can get by with a good clean and reorganization once a year.
My Coat Closet
My coat closet holds more than just coats.
On the rod I have coats, jackets, shawls, sweaters, and a couple of tablecloths. I also have two hooks. One hook holds a bag of bags that I have collected at conferences, shops, and through charities. The other hook holds my “grab and go” bag.
The shelf holds two baskets that I use to store my winter hats, a pair of gloves, a couple of scarves, lint cleaners, a pair of dance shoes, and a flashlight.
On the floor I store wrapping supplies, walking sticks, and a couple of umbrellas.
After a year of just jamming things in without enough thought I end up with some outerwear I no longer need, a jumble of bits and pieces mixed together in the wrapping supplies, and usually a flashlight that isn’t working because the battery needs changing.
In years past I have pulled all of this mess out and spent time throughout the day going through it. I hate having that mess spread out all over my living room while I work.
Deck of Cards
Ever since Diane Quintana and I developed our organizing tool Organize Your Home 10 Minutes at a Time, I break down this project into three 10-minute tasks.
I pull out three cards.
One card is for the floor, one for the coats, and one for the floor. This covers almost all of the closet. Instead of pulling everything out, I work with just one section at a time.
This makes a lot less mess and stress.
The Floor
I started with the floor. First, I pulled everything out, swept the floor, and wiped it clean with a sponge. My wrapping supplies are in three containers. I brought them out to my kitchen. I quickly discarded all scraps of ribbon and paper and tired looking items. I sorted the gift bags by type. I tossed some old tape. I hung up a couple of sweaters that had fallen off their hangers and put the walking sticks and umbrellas back into the corner where they live. When I put everything back on the closet floor, I still had a bit of time left from my 10-minute timer.
Coat Rod
I removed everything from the rod and sorted it like with like. I wiped down the rod and put the tablecloths in first as I only use them about once a year. I discarded one old yellow rain slicker that looked sad and was a near duplicate to another one I had. I found a sweater that I had forgotten I had. I got rid of a couple of excess hangers and since I still had time left, I also quickly sorted through the bag of bags. I recycled the paper bags and threw away one of the cloth ones. Still done in under 10 minutes.
The Shelf
I took down the two storage baskets and wiped down the shelf. I found a couple of items to donate and one item to give to a friend. I changed the battery in the flashlight and then put everything back on the shelf. The time was less than seven minutes.
In Conclusion
All that was left was to clean the door and door frame and update the “grab and go” bag. The door and frame took almost no time at all. The “grab and go” bag will take some more time, and I have scheduled to work on it another day.
What can seem like an overwhelming project is quite manageable when broken down into small parts.
If you are ready to work on any specific organizing project and want some tips, encouragement, or accountability join Diane Quintana and me in our Clear Space For You virtual clutter support group. You could complete a project like the coat closet during the call. The group will offer ideas, support, and gentle accountability for working on developing plans or projects.
Jonda S. Beattie, Professional Organizer owner of Time Space Organization, and co-owner of Release, Repurpose, Reorganize. She is based in the Metro-Atlanta area. As presenter, award-winning author, as well as a retired special education teacher she uses her listening skills, problem solving skills, knowledge of different learning techniques, ADHD specialty, and paper management skills to help clients.
Great post! Many people forget about their coat closets. We are getting our wood floors resealed, so this weekend, we needed to remove all the items and everything on the floor in the coat closet. It wasn't too bad, as it was organized. However, I realized that my daughter, who is in Medical School, wasn't home; she had several coats in the hall closet. So, instead, I decided to take those coats and place them in her unused bedroom closet, instantly increasing the amount of space in our coat closet. Yay!
I like this idea of breaking a space down into even smaller spaces. Just clearing the floor feels like intimidating than dumping out the entire closet.
I agree that coat closets end up with a lot of things besides coats. I have my vacuum cleaner in mine, and I think other people have this too. I also store reusable bags, beach bags, coolers, front door decor, and other items here. They do need a periodic assessment and purging.