The Color Coded Closet

Nan Kempner's closet is the inspiration for our weekend goal: to organize our own walk-in closet by colours. We're not quite the fashion equine as Nan, but my girlfriend and I definitely have enough to create an interesting visual display in similar fashion. More about Nan and her closet below...

[Photos: Levi Brown for New York Magazine]

Her closet, says friend Alex Hitz, “was a wonderful room upholstered with a beautiful cotton batik fabric that hid all the shelves. There was a lot of stuff in the storage. And then, I think, another bathroom was taken over. And then the guest room got it. It was overflowing.”

Don't be too surprised, I once categorized my Halloween candy by Pantone designation...us designers are crazy like that. But unlike Nan, I won't have either the batik, nor am I aiming to take over our lone bathroom with anything except back issues of Dwell and Scientific American (neatly organized of course) and a couple of towels.

Comments (20)

I saw the exhibit at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and it was amazing, she kept all her clothes over the decades, even her debutante gown.

I always organize my clothing by color. The rainbow progression makes my closet pretty and it makes it super easy to find the exact top I'm looking for.

If you love color, it's only natural to play with it--sort candy by color, keep your clothes by color (it's just the sensible thing to do--if you want a blue blouse, there they all are!) My wardrobe isn't in "rainbow order" and I sort my books by category and author so I'm not too far gone. ;)

Those pictures look like the pictures in New York Magazine. I kept that issue since there certainly is nothing cheaper than organizing by color. That's when you find out you own 7 white blouses, and probably don't need anymore. After losing 133 pounds and being thin for the first time in my life, I fell in love with those Kempner pictures. As she so famously said, "I'd go to the opening of an envelope." Now that I FINALLY look good in clothes (and I'm in my early 60's) I know exactly how she felt.

I organize by type of cloths, than by color, but the effect isen't as great when you don't have 362 sweaters. Things are much easier to find and match, but it's far from chic looking.

People without a staff usually organize by type of clothes!

I organize by color - yeah... rainbow order with greys and browns starting up the red side and white and black on the purple end... well that's just for tops. Pants are hung... in categories, jeans, black, tan, grey and then the fun cropped pants and cargos.

Color order is really the only way to go. As others have said... that way you can find what you're looking for... you know when you already have too much of one color and it encourages me not to fall to fail safe black all the time.

I also keep hooks on my closet doors - for empty hangers. there is never an empty hanger on the rod - why should there be?
Needless to say, my boyfriend's closet causes me anxiety!

All my clothes are organized by type (e.g. tee vs button down), and each type is organized by color. It makes it much easier for me to find items that I want.

Everyone who sorts by colors...I want pics @ Flickr!

I think this looks awesome and, as someone addicted to black/charcoal/deep blue/white, consider it something I'll never be able to replicate in my own closet.

Anyone care to share?

The excess in these photos makes me feel a little bit sick.

I organize by color. It really does make it simple.

I would organize by type, but sometimes I forget that I have a blue 3/4 sleeve sweater set. When I organize by color, I simply know that I need a blue top and I can easily pick the most appropriate one.

Type broadly -- blazer, sweater, long-sleeve shirt, short-sleeve shirt, pants, skirt -- and then color. But there are not enough clothes involved to make it visually exciting.

I can't help but agree with Valerie.

This is pablum for the pack rat in all of us. Is it better to purge your crap, organize your crap, or refrain from collecting so much crap in the first place?

In college I organized my CDs by color in a binder. It's a bit harder to do with MP3s however.

In a sheer state of analness this weekend, I reorganized my closet by color and then I liked it so much I reorganized my book by color too! My type-a husband just stared at me blankly the whole time! (usually I'm a bit like pigpen...)

Yeah, I am a rainbow dork too...multi colors, then the rainbox, then black, grey, brown white. And it's shirts by color, then pants by color, then dresses, then skirts. Is it sick if I just started it on my own when I was a little kid? And everything faces the same way...

I have always organized by category, but last weekend I moved into a new place and am trying organizing by color. So far, it's been very difficult to get dressed -- I will give it a couple more weeks, but I think I will have to go back to the not-as-pretty organizing by function...

Nan Kempner was a funny and gracious lady. She had her own distinct style and fashion sense. Her home was beyond fabulous. Filled with beautiful antiques. Her style and her wit have inspired me for years.

362 sweaters, 354 jackets, 106 bikinis not to mention the hundreds of pairs of shoes and boots..who the hell needs that much??? Of course designers loved her, she bought everything they made.