I used to stand in front of my closet every single morning, staring at a wall of clothes I couldn’t see or reach, and somehow still convince myself I had nothing to wear. It wasn’t that I didn’t have enough clothes. I had too many, crammed into a space that was maybe five feet wide and seven feet tall. Sweaters piled on top of each other. Jeans folded in stacks that constantly toppled over. Shoes in a heap at the bottom because there was nowhere else to put them.
And every morning, without fail, I’d be running late because I couldn’t find the one shirt I actually wanted to wear. It was buried under three other shirts I forgot I owned. Or it was wrinkled at the bottom of a drawer. Or it had fallen off a hanger and was sitting on the floor behind a pile of shoes.
Here’s the thing. I’m not naturally messy. I actually like things organized. But my closet had gotten so out of control that I didn’t even know where to start fixing it. So I just kept shoving things in there and hoping it would somehow sort itself out. Spoiler alert, it didn’t.
Then one Saturday morning, after spending 15 minutes looking for a pair of black pants I knew I owned but couldn’t locate, I snapped. I pulled everything out of that closet and dumped it on my bed. All of it. Clothes, shoes, bags, random stuff I didn’t even remember putting in there. The pile was honestly embarrassing. I’m talking multiple garbage bags worth of clothes I hadn’t worn in over a year.
That’s when I realized the problem wasn’t the size of my closet. It was that I’d never actually organized it in a way that made sense for how I actually live. I was trying to cram everything in there like a game of Tetris, and it was making my mornings miserable.
If you’re dealing with a small closet that’s driving you nuts every morning, I promise there’s a way to fix it without renovating your entire house or buying a bunch of expensive organizers. This is what finally worked for me, and I haven’t had a chaotic morning since.
Step One: Get Everything Out and Be Brutally Honest
I know this sounds obvious, but you have to actually pull everything out. Not just the stuff you can see. Everything. The sweater shoved in the back corner. The shoes you forgot you owned. The jeans that don’t fit anymore but you’re keeping “just in case.”
Dump it all on your bed or the floor. Yes, it’s going to look like a disaster. That’s the point. You need to see exactly how much stuff you’re trying to fit into that tiny space.
Now here’s the hard part. You have to be honest about what you actually wear. Not what you think you should wear or what you might wear someday if you lose 10 pounds or if the occasion ever comes up. What do you actually reach for every single week?
I had probably 15 pairs of jeans in my closet. I wore maybe four of them regularly. The rest were either uncomfortable, didn’t fit right, or were from a phase I’d moved on from. But I kept them anyway because getting rid of clothes felt wasteful.
Here’s what I learned though. Keeping clothes you don’t wear is actually more wasteful because they’re taking up space and making it harder to find the stuff you do wear. So I bagged up everything I hadn’t worn in six months and donated it. If you’re not ready to fully commit to getting rid of stuff, put it in a box in your garage or under your bed. If you don’t go looking for it in the next month, you don’t need it.
I also did this with shoes. I had sneakers I’d worn maybe twice. Heels that hurt my feet. Sandals that were falling apart. Why was I keeping them? I have no idea. But once I cleared out everything I didn’t actually use, I suddenly had so much more room to work with.
Step Two: Group Everything by Category
Once you’ve gotten rid of the stuff you don’t wear, it’s time to sort what’s left. This is where most people mess up because they just start hanging things back up randomly. Don’t do that.
Group everything by category first. All your jeans together. All your t-shirts together. All your sweaters together. Dresses, jackets, workout clothes, whatever categories make sense for your wardrobe.
This is also when you’ll notice patterns. I realized I had way too many black t-shirts and not enough long-sleeve shirts for winter. I also discovered I’d been holding onto a bunch of summer dresses I never wore because they didn’t actually match my style anymore. Seeing everything grouped together made it way easier to figure out what I actually needed versus what was just taking up space.
If you’ve been struggling with knowing what to keep and what to toss, I put together a complete step-by-step guide for people who were never taught how to clean and organize. It’s basically everything I learned the hard way about decluttering and creating systems that actually stick.
Step Three: Use Vertical Space Like Your Life Depends on It
Small closets have one major advantage. You can use the walls. Most people only use the hanging rod and maybe one shelf at the top. That’s it. But if you add a few inexpensive organizers, you can literally double your storage space without taking up any extra room.
I added a second hanging rod underneath my main one for shorter items like shirts and skirts. This immediately freed up a ton of space because I could hang twice as many things in the same amount of horizontal space. You can get adjustable rods for like $15 on Amazon, and they take about two minutes to install.
I also added shelf dividers on my top shelf so my sweaters didn’t turn into one giant pile. Before, I’d stack sweaters on top of each other, and anytime I wanted the one on the bottom, the whole stack would collapse. Shelf dividers keep everything upright and visible, so I can actually see what I have.
For shoes, I got a hanging shoe organizer that goes on the back of the closet door. I was skeptical at first because I thought it would look messy, but honestly, it’s been a game changer. I can see all my shoes at once, and they’re not in a pile on the floor anymore.
The key here is thinking vertically. If you’re not using the space above your hanging rod or behind your door, you’re wasting valuable storage.
Step Four: Keep What You Wear Most at Eye Level
This sounds so simple, but it makes a huge difference. The stuff you wear every week should be the easiest to reach. Everything else can go in the harder-to-reach spots.
I put my everyday jeans, t-shirts, and jackets right at eye level where I can grab them without thinking. My dressier clothes and out-of-season stuff went on the top shelf or in bins under the hanging rod. This way, I’m not digging through a pile of winter sweaters in July just to find a tank top.
If you have clothes you only wear occasionally, like formal dresses or workout gear you use once a week, those can go in the less convenient spots. Save the prime real estate for the things you actually use daily.
I also started rotating my clothes seasonally. In the summer, my winter coats and heavy sweaters go into fabric storage bins on the top shelf. In the winter, my summer dresses and sandals go up there. This keeps my closet from feeling overcrowded and makes it way easier to see what I actually have.
Step Five: Make It Easy to Maintain
Here’s the thing nobody talks about. You can organize your closet perfectly, but if the system is too complicated or annoying to maintain, it’s going to fall apart in like two weeks. I know this because I’ve tried those Pinterest-perfect closet setups where everything has to be folded a certain way or color-coded, and it lasted maybe five days before I gave up.
The system that actually works is the one that’s easy enough to keep up with even when you’re tired or in a hurry. For me, that means everything has a designated spot, but I’m not obsessing over perfection.
Jeans go on one shelf. T-shirts hang together. Sweaters stack on another shelf with dividers so they don’t collapse. Shoes go in the hanging organizer. That’s it. No complicated folding methods or color-coding required.
I also keep a donation bag in the back of my closet. Anytime I realize I’m not wearing something anymore, I toss it in the bag. When the bag fills up, I drop it off at a donation center. This keeps me from accumulating too much stuff again and makes it easy to stay on top of clutter.
If you’re in a small space and you’re constantly tripping over stuff or feeling like you have no room to breathe, I wrote about taking back control when your space feels overwhelming. It’s got step-by-step strategies for decluttering and organizing when you don’t have a lot of square footage to work with.
What Actually Changed After I Did This
I’m not going to lie and say my closet looks like something out of a magazine. It doesn’t. But it’s functional, and that’s what actually matters. I can find what I need in under a minute. I’m not stressed every morning trying to figure out what to wear. And I’m not constantly buying new clothes because I forgot I already owned something similar.
The biggest change though? I actually like getting dressed now. Before, it felt like a chore because I had to dig through piles and move things around just to find one shirt. Now everything is visible and easy to grab, so mornings feel way less chaotic.
If you’re dealing with a closet that’s making your mornings harder than they need to be, I promise you don’t need a bigger space or a complete renovation. You just need a system that works for how you actually live. Start with getting rid of what you don’t wear, use vertical space, and keep what you use most within easy reach. That’s it.
And if you want more help with organizing systems that actually stick, my complete guide walks you through everything from closets to kitchens to bathrooms. It’s specifically for people who were never taught how to clean or organize growing up, with step-by-step instructions that actually make sense.
Your mornings don’t have to start with closet chaos. Mine sure don’t anymore.
