Learn how using this simple system to organize your closet by color not only looks good but helps you find what you’re looking for quickly and easily.
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Color coding my wardrobe has never been on my bucket list. But after my extensive closet renovation was finally completed – and it took a long time – I knew my new closet deserved nothing but the best. So here I was, organizing all the things in my closet by color.
I researched how to properly color code and found a clear winner. The most common way to organize colors is one that a lot of teachers use: the ROYGBIV system. ROYGBIV is an acronym for the colors of the visible light spectrum. It stands for red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Bringing a little science to closet organization!
Now that I had a plan, I was ready to get started. Follow along as I make order out of the chaos that happens when you’re kicked out of your closet for months! I hope it inspires you to give a little love to your own closet.
How to Organize Your Closet by Color
Choosing the right hangers.
Before I could start organizing my closet by color, I needed to address the hanger situation. The time had finally come. My plastic, mismatched, multi-colored hangers had to go.
I had lived my entire adult life thinking 99-cent hangers were the standard in closet accessories. How could I have been so wrong? It turns out there are serious hanger snobs out there. I’m pretty sure I’ve become one of them!
I knew felt hangers were not the answer. I’m not a fan of the amount of fuzz that collects on them. Struggling to get a shirt onto one of those things once was enough for me to know I never wanted to do that again.
These wooden hangers were the right choice. I knew their soft wood color would pair perfectly with my gorgeous white cabinets with gold handles. And I was right!
Starting with t-shirts.
I started with my t-shirts because that’s what I have the most of. Being part of the Framed T-shirt Club ensures I have a new tee to add to my wardrobe every single month, and I am here for it.
I started by setting up anchor points for my ROYGBIV colors. This meant hanging one shirt in each of the colors as anchors or dividers and then placing the rest of the shirts in the appropriate area.
Some tees require more thought than others. When I came across a t-shirt with patterns or multiple colors, I placed it in the area of its dominant color. This camo tee is mostly green, so it went in “G.”
ROYGBIV doesn’t include neutrals, so I added them to the end, starting with white and working my way to black. It turns out I have a LOT of black t-shirts! I have a feeling I’m not alone in this.
Moving on to sweatshirts and hoodies.
Once the t-shirt section was complete, it was time to organize sweatshirts and hoodies. I set up my anchor points and continued sorting by color.
After I finished organizing sweatshirts and hoodies, I realized something. It would look SO much better if I switched from color coding by “type” of clothing item to meshing them all together. This way I would have one big section of each color, not small sections of different types of shirts.
The lesson here is to pick a system but be willing to be flexible. I didn’t know until I was deep into color coding that the way I thought would work best wasn’t making me happy. Don’t be afraid to shift gears and make the system work for you!
Organizing my closet my way.
I shifted the whole closet down, started with colors, and ended with the neutrals. It was at this moment that my imagination took over and I started to think that only serial killers take this much time to organize their closets. LOL.
No doubt this thought was a result of listening to too many episodes of my favorite true crime podcasts!
Nevertheless, I continued and finished the job strong. I felt organized. Like everything had a place and I knew exactly where to put everything.
Color coding my closet is such a logical solution. Most of the time, I know exactly what shirt I’m looking for. By organizing my clothes by color, I will cut way down on the amount of time I spend searching for “that shirt.”
My closet looks so neat and organized now. Organizing by color is the perfect layout for my new beautiful closet.
Organizing my closet by color also made me realize how disproportionately large the black clothing section was compared to every other color in the closet.
What can I say? Black is my favorite color.
I gave myself a few minutes to appreciate my beautiful closet and then headed off to tackle the never-ending piles of laundry. The bright side? I’ll get to hang even more things up in my fabulous new closet!
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