Start organizing your clothes closet by giving yourself plenty of time and space to do the job. It's crazy-making to think that we can organize an entire wardrobe in even a full day of working.
After all, how long did it take you to shop for all those clothes? So, take the pressure off yourself by doing a little work every day for a week or maybe even two weeks.
The ideal in organizing a closet is if you have a place you can put all the clothes you haven't yet sorted while you're working. Then you can start by taking every single item out of the closet and moving them to a different room. Pull out the clothes you're currently wearing each day and put them away first, where it's easiest to reach them. You'll want at least a week of clothing that you've been wearing already organized so you can take your time with everything else.
Lay the rest on a couch or a table, preferably in another room from the one where your closet is. If you can close the door on it at the end of each day, even better! Then, leave the mess for the rest of the day and go about your life.
On Day 2, sort the remaining clothes into their natural groups—frequently-worn; rarely worn, but well loved; would be worn, but something's broken (zipper, missing button, etc.); never worn because they don't fit. If you have had sweaters hanging in your closet, make a promise to yourself to buy a decent sweater storage system.
On Day 3, repair your broken clothes or take them to a cleaner's that will do the repairs for you.
On Day 4, buy additional hangers and sweater storage containers. If you have a million shoes, buy shoe racks too.
On Day 5, Add the frequently-worn group to your closet. Organize that group in the closet either by item type (pants, skirts, blouses), or by color, depending on what makes it easier for you to put outfits together on the fly.
On Day 6, Find a separate storage place (either closet, chest or boxes) for clothes that don't fit. Don't keep them with your currently worn clothing. Don't worry; you'll still be able to wear them whenever your size changes. **This may be the most difficult phase of your organization! You may find that more than 50% of your clothes are in this category, which is why you've wanted to keep them hanging in the closet. Be strong! Clean them out. You don't have to give anything away—just put it in boxes and get it out of the way.
You may find there are things you have never worn and will never wear. Call your friends to see if they want to come over and "shop" your closet. Otherwise, give these items to charity. If you can't stand to do that, put them in their own box and keep them until you can stand to part with them or until you decide to turn them into a quilt.
On Day 7, add the rarely-worn but beloved clothes to the closet.
On Day 8, add the repaired clothes to the closet.
You should be done by now!
