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I Tried Organizing My Closet by Color — And It Was So Effective

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clothing, color coded, hanging clothes, black felt hangers, matching hangers, packed closet
Credit: Abigail J. Fallon

I love clothes, and I’ve always had way more of them than I need (a capsule wardrobe queen I am not). As a result, I’m constantly looking for new ways to edit, organize, and display the items in my wardrobe. I’ve seen many people successfully organize and rearrange their homes by color, so I decided to arrange my hanging clothes that way so I would have a more streamlined, color-coordinated closet. And while it has had a nice visual effect, it has also helped me in several unexpected ways. Here’s what changed.

I get ready faster.

Now that my clothes are organized by color, I can find the items I’m looking for more quickly because I know right where they’ll be. And if I don’t know what I want to wear, I can simply pick a color that suits my mood and focus on that section of my wardrobe instead of rummaging through the entire thing.

I wear more of my clothes.

I can now see what I have more easily, and my lesser-worn pieces aren’t constantly getting pushed to the back. This allows me to enjoy more of my items and avoid falling into a style rut.

I wear more colors.

Like many people, I used to wear a lot of black by default. Black clothes are plentiful in stores, don’t stain easily, and match nearly everything. But I recently got into color analysis, which tells you what color palette looks best with your natural features, and learned that I’m a “soft autumn,” which explains why black tends to look harsh on me. Arranging my clothes by color has allowed me to focus on the colors that suit me best and wear less black clothing, which I now keep to the far right of my closet.

I shop differently.

Since arranging my clothes by color, I’ve been able to identify the kinds of clothes I have an excess or deficit of. I now seek out more soft green and brown items because I have fewer of them, they suit my color season, and I enjoy wearing them. I’ve also stopped buying white, denim, and black pieces because I have more of them than I need.

There’s no right or wrong way to organize your closet, but arranging items by color is by far the most effective method I’ve tried, not to mention the most beautiful. If you try it for yourself and find it isn’t for you, it’s still a great excuse to sort through your clothes and find a system you like.