One of the largest culprits of bedroom clutter is clothes. Most of us are good about getting dirty clothes in a hamper and clean clothes put away but the offenders are those already-worn-but-not-quite-dirty clothes we leave hanging over chairs, doors or in piles at the foot of the bed. Here's a few ways to keep them tidy and ready to wear again:
1 Door Hooks: This is our first suggestion as they're small and don't take up any additional square footage on your floor. Usually this style of hook has between 5-10 pegs, which should be enough space for you to hang a few days worth of clothes to rotate through.
2 Coat Rack: I'm always looking for a good excuse to add another coat rack to my home and this is a great one! They're stylish, functional and best of all, won't look out of place. They'll be perfect for large or heavy items such as robes or hoodies that made their way past the coat closet as well.
3 Chairs: Although they can be a slippery slope, chairs can often work out nicely if you can keep a handle on things. By hanging a pair of jeans or a shirt or two over the back you aren't bringing in any additional accessories to your room, just make sure to rotate back into those clothes quickly before they consume your furniture!
4 Divide Your Closet: The biggest problem about putting already worn clothes back in your closet is not wanting them to mingle with the freshest of the fresh. Try setting aside a separate area (even if it's just a few inches that previous worn items retreat back to. If you're worried about smell you could always give them a quick spritz with white vinegar, Febreeze or make some hanging scented bags for that area. (if you are worried about smell, they are probably dirty!)
5 Install Pegboard: There isn't an organizational challenge that pegboard can't handle. Try installing a cut-to-fit piece on the inside of your closet. Tucked out of the way at one end it can hold whatever items you might want to wear again that week. Scarves, jeans, skirts, shirts and bras, adjust the pegs to hold exactly what you need. It can also double as permanent accessory storage for things like belts and jewelry.
How do you deal with staying on top of not quite dirty clothes? Have a method that works best for you? Share in the comments below!
Image: Flickr member redeye^, Eric M Martin, _tar0_, ercwttmn and Rubbermaid Products all licensed for use by Creative Commons
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Glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem. I think I'm going to try out the door hook idea.
This is great! I thought I was the only person with this issue.
in my old closet (two door, versus one door now) i used one of those hanging compartment things from ikea - they make them in shoe sizes but also in larger sizes, and i would put my folded jeans in there. and since there's like four or five compartments, you can also separate fresh jeans from worn jeans. i don't have the space for it now, but i moved it to my coat closet, where i use the top compartment for hats/scarfs/gloves and the rest for sweatshirts.
I keep mine on my Nelson inspired bench at the foot of the bed. Neatly folded. One pile for me, one for the boyfriend. I'm also looking to "hang" a horizontal birch tree branch from the ceiling (boutique-style) to hang these once-worn but not ready to be washed clothes.
A friend of mine has one of those metal clothing racks she keeps separate from her closet for this purpose.
Aww, so you mean heaping them in a teetering stack on my bedside table doesn't count as organization?
(this is definitely the worst offender for mess in my room)
I've been intending to do door hooks for this!!!
This confuses me. If I wear it and it doesn't get dirty, I consider it clean and it goes back in the drawer or closet. Am I gross??
If you're going to go the "putting it on a chair" route, don't forget that to make it work, you need a shiba inu to sleep amidst your clothing, or it won't work properly.
I hung a towel bar next to my hamper to hang clothes over that might be worn before the next laundry time but aren't quite clean enough to put away. Clothes that need to be aired out a bit before going back in the closet are hung on a hanger from an over the door hook that can hold a couple of a hangers.
We have a set of over-the-door hooks for this, and it is the BEST! It's a set of 12 hooks in 2 rows of 6, and that holds all the not-yet-dirty clothing we could possibly generate between two people.
The best part is, we keep the bedroom door open, so you don't even see the hanging clothes!
I use a quilt rack for all my jeans & pants. Mine has 5 rungs and is just wide enough for two pair on each rung: one side for new-clean, one for still-clean. I think it classes up the room a bit... http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=blanket+rack&x=0&y=0
haha @jjva - best comment ever (and no I don't think so!)
We use the assigned section of the closet method to hang up the worn-but-not-dirty clothes and that works well for us. I agree that if the clothes smell, then they should go into the dirty clothes hamper.
I avoid using a hook over the door except for a bathrobe/nightgown on the bathroom door because if a door has too much weight from hanging clothes, it could go out of alignment over time.
I put a bunch of 2-pronged hooks on either side of my Ikea wardrobe. *I* use the hooks, but as he changes clothes, the hubster uses whatever convenient place in the room (and by convenient I occasionally really mean bizarre - how is the single most convenient place in the room all the way on top of the stack of pillows on top of the tall wardrobe?!) to drop his clothes. I choose to see the humor in this one :)
hmmm, yeah my chair looks like my closet threw up on it by the end of the week. i guess i should get a shiba inu.
if it's clean enough to wear again, it's flipped inside out when I take it off and hung back in the closet. That way I know immediately it has been worn once already, and the closet stays organized.
I used to use the chair method, but I recently redid my bedroom and the chair is now on the opposite side of the room. I bought an over the door hook set-up and that's where I hang my jeans, work pants, bras, etc. that have been worn once or twice or even three times, but can still be worn again :) My closet is narrow, but pretty deep, so I can close the door to hide them, but they don't interfere with the all the way clean clothes hanging in there :) I love it and will never go back to being a chair person again!
oh, a towel bar is a great idea Heathah, the main victims of this are sweaters (or jeans) but the sweaters could pull or stretch awkwardly from a hook or peg. Towel bar it is!!
I use the coat wrack in the bedroom technique. It has just recently been implimented however, I like it so far. Def cleaned up our floor and tops of dressers.
@jiva- If it's something like a shirt I wore for an hour and won't wear again for a few days or weeks, I hang it back up. My problem comes from the stuff I wear on a near daily basis- pajama pants, a hoodie, a bra or undershirt. It gets annoying to fold my pajama pants every morning, then dig them out of the drawer every night. At least that's the value I get out of these suggestions.
I couldn't handle the chair system-- no dog, I suppose-- so I just installed command hooks inside my closet door. Used them for the first time last night-- super easy, and my room looks so clean!
Replace the dog in the photo with a pug and you have current system. The problem I have is that my dog LOVES cashmere. So if he finds a cashmere sweater he will curl up and sleep on it.
Removing pug hair from cashmere is like the 9th circle of hell.
Best solution I've seen to date are these dress boys shown on Ikea Hackers.
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2010/11/bedroom-dress-boys.html
I use a stacked shelving unit with an open top. The bottom is for slippers, the middle is for belts and the top is for worn clothes. I haven't had a pair of worn jeans on the floor since I started using this. It's beside my dresser so when I take off my jeans, sweater, etc. and get into pyjamas, I just somewhat fold my clothes and put them in the shelf. Because the top is open, it works well for hanging items as well.
We each have a set of hooks for this purpose; mine are behind the bedroom door (on the wall behind the door not on the door itself) and my husband's are on the side of his highboy dresser. We both use them regularly and so don't have the stray clothes around the room.
I have no suggestions. I just feel comforted that I am not the only one who struggles with this, and even has a category of clothes that falls between clean and dirty. Support group, anyone?
I use a combination approach: over-the-door hooks, back in the closet (worn clothing goes to the left, fresh clothing to the right), and sweaters are folded and put on top of the cedar chest. I check the things hanging on the door 2-3 times a week to see if anything needs to go into the laundry hamper.
This is the best article ever (enough for me to finally sign up so I can post!). Thank you for the semi-support group! I have realized that hooks are the only way to go for me and since my ensuite toilet is around a corner and has no door (and is rarely used) I am going to install as many hooks as will reasonably fit and not look terrible. It doesn't solve my sweater problem though...
black over-the-door flocked hook with a black flocked hanger on the outside of each of our closets -almost looks like a valet
Serious problem for me, and I've tried most of these - the chair is definitely a slippery slope, though I'm making progress - things really just need to be put away every day, if I could just get myself to do it.
@joydreamz
I have a fawn pug and he sheds enough fur for me to actually knit another pug! Next time, I'm getting a black pug--they go better with my clothing and decor!
I was just going to blog about this! I have a top drawer in my dresser dedicated to worn but not dirty clothes (yoga pants i have worn around the house for half a day, etc). When it gets full I wash the lot.
if they're not dirty, how hard can it be to put them back in their original place?
@jiva: Not gross. Growing up I was a habitually messy person particularly when it came to my bedroom. As a teenager, I always gave my mom the excuse that the clothes on my floor needed to stay in that purgatory because they were neither clean (for the closet) nor dirty (for the hamper). However, I've changed my ways. I just make a decision. Hamper or not? My bedroom is neat as a pin and there is nothing gross about that!
For wool sweaters that may need some airing out I do keep one hanger on a hook in the bathroom so the sweater can get some steam to refresh. But 48 hours later that sweater needs to come down.
@Jess22ica: PJs I'm going to wear again? They go under my pillow.
I put mine on a chair and let them pile up way too much - but @ jess22ica, I keep my pjamas in the bed, under the duvet. Always have. Pjamas are no problem at all!
I have to tell you, ever since they've talked about the bedbug situation in NYC, I have a lot more laundry to do; which is why I'm considering purchasing a washing machine for my apartment.
I usually come home and take off everything and put on new clothes when I get home. I purchased a steamer for jeans/pants that can be worn over, so I steam them before I put on a shelf near my bedroom door.
Everything else gets thrown in the hamper lined with plastic until I drop off at the laundry. Can't take any chances...
Love this discussion! Any and all of the ideas are better than the heap on cloths on the floor by my husband's side of the bed. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
We use wall-hooks and door hooks.
The door hooks are the removable 3M things.
The wall-hooks are screwed into the back of our narrow (but long) closet. Pants with stuff in the pockets, sweaters, and sweatshirts typically get hung up in the closet (alternating with dress pants and jeans). The door hooks hide my bf's work clothes from his very dusty warehouse job.
Great ideas! I keep an open basket next to my bed to toss my PJs in. That way they're off the floor and not visible, but still easily accessible. My husband is the worst for leaving clothes all over the room. I wonder if I could get him to try using door hooks instead of the floor...
I bought two, white, five prong coat hooks from target and I just throw all my "not-dirty-enough" clothes on there. Keeps the room MUCH cleaner!
I used to have what me and my boyfriend called "clothes mountain" but have since put a basket in our bedroom and it limits it. Plus some door hooks for things I don't want to crumple.
A quick google shopping search for "coat rack" found nothing that would make me give up precious floor space. Where can I find something like the one in the photograph?
Funny, when I was part of the design process for my new house I planned to this! I was tired of not having a place to put 'wear again' stuff. So now I have a little section in my master closet for hanging or laying items that have another wearing in them! Even my slobby husband will use it since it's easy!
I've been going with the "pile on the floor" plan, which makes a big mess during the week, but I clean it up every weekend. (I'm planning on getting a chair at some point because I don't really like clothes on the floor, but it's really the only option right now.) Jeans and sweaters that seem dirty go in the hamper, and the ones that are still wearable get folded up and put back in the drawer.
I try for organization within the drawers (similar to the closet idea above), which works pretty well for me. Totally clean stuff on the left, stuff that has been worn on the right. Then when I do laundry (which I do all at once every 3 weeks or so) I pull out the clothes on the right of each drawer and throw them in with the dirty stuff.
For PJs, a basket next to the bed is the ONLY thing that has ever worked for me. My nightstand has a big open space and I found a bin that fits perfectly in there; it now holds both PJs and wear-around-the-house sweats.
It's good to know others have the same condundrum. I have a hook with two prongs on the back of the door. This limits the amount of "halfway" clothes that can be collected, which seems to be a good thing!
I realize now why this is such a conundrum for me: any solution such as a basket or a pile on a chair will instantly equal cat bed for one or both of my kitties. One is a white cat with long hair, which turns the not quite dirty clothes into a cat hair magnet. whatever I do must be way up high off the floor or enclosed....
pcg - thanks, cool idea!
I use a clip hanger on one end of the closet, and attach the bras, shirts, & whatevers to a clip.
My lounging wear aka sweats that I wear several times before washing use to go over the chair..but now I have a small clothes bin/hamper that sits in my closet where I fold the clothes that are not dirty and keep in there. I keep a dirty clothes hamper in my laundry area never in my closet.
I just could not stand looking at black clothes thrown over my beautiful chair and I do not like hooks or anything hanging outside of a closet. Its a simple solution that took a while to figure out.
Ha! I thought I was the only one that had a whole wardrobe draped over the back of my desk chair. With my new space (crossing my fingers we are ready for final inspection soon!), I purchased two Eames hang it all racks, these are going up at the end of my long narrow walk in. Going to hang clothes for the next day, gently worn clothes waiting to be used again, the random sweatshirt that I wear around the house and the current handbag in rotation to keep the pup from using it as a chew toy. Also on amazon, I've seen excellent closet valet rods. You can screw it on to a closet organization system, it pulls in and out as needed. As for jackets, blazers and work skirts, I just hang those back up in the closet but blouses, jeans, dresses sweats and ts, those stay out if gently worn.
I keep my PJs under my pillow, hang clothes that have been worn once but are still clean enough to mingle in the closet, and have a tall basket for dog park clothes and casual items that get worn again and again until laundry day.
My clean folded clothes go in my chair. I've never learned to put my laundry away.
Larry David describes these clothes as not worn to completion.
I bought this genius wallhanger from a swedish design site: http://www.designtorget.se/designtorget/en/things/?ew_0_cat_id=2357&ew_0_p_id=7DA198F1-7163-492F-90C1-3F7B1D300EBC&product_category_id=9112dcb1-a63d-45a3-9062-4362200b81bb&comment=G1004377&news=false&cat=Inredningssaker&relSno=1004377 .
Since its arrival, there is no more clothes lying around everywhere. Looks great, too!
Sorry about the ugly link in my post above. Try this link instead.
@lkmeyer
Thank you so much for the dress boys link at ikea hackers! what a lovely and artistic solution for a small space. I'm a door hooks girl myself at the moment, but those are just too functional and fantastic!
@ampanda...does your wallhanger at home look as neat as the one shown in the picture? Just wondering...I really wish I could see one being used in real life. It looks like a neat idea, but I don't know if I could get my husband to NOT make any organizational tool look sloppy...
what is it with sloppy husbands?! Why can't it be the other way around with them being neat freaks?
I set aside part of a shelf in the closet for myself for this purpose. I gave my sweetheart a medium sized wicker hamper next to her dresser. She tosses her semi-worn clothes near and on top of it every day and I fold them neatly and tuck them into the hamper so I don't have to look at them.
@fredbiscotti- I don't have a shiba inu to sleep on my clothes, but I'll plan on getting one soon! In the meanwhile, I'll make do with my three cats. (Aren't shiba inu rather cat-like for a dog?)
Yeah, I seriously thought it was a fox at first...
I am so glad I am not the only person with this problem. Couple a chair with a lack of drawer space and you can have a teetering tower of half-worn clothes.
www.rookblog.com