• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • The Magazine
    • The Peachy Team
    • 2025
      • Spring 2025 (Båstad, Sweden)
      • Summer 2025 (North Carolina)
    • 2024
      • Spring 2024 (Jacksonville)
      • Summer 2024 (Boston)
      • Fall 2024 (Aspen)
      • Holiday 2024
    • 2023
      • Spring 2023 (Anniversary Issue)
      • Summer 2023 (Turks & Caicos)
      • Fall 2023 (Charlotte)
      • Holiday 2023
    • 2022
      • Spring 2022 (Nantucket)
      • Summer 2022 (Austin)
      • Fall 2022 (Asheville)
      • Holiday 2022
    • 2021
      • Spring 2021 (Charlotte interiors)
      • Summer 2021 (St. Louis)
      • Fall 2021 (Palm Beach)
      • Holiday 2021
    • 2020
      • Spring 2020 (Richmond)
      • Summer 2020 (Greenville, SC)
      • Fall 2020 (The Hamptons)
      • Holiday 2020
    • 2019
      • Spring 2019 (Santa Fe)
      • Summer 2019 (Charlotte Garden Issue)
      • Fall 2019 (Cape Cod)
      • Holiday 2019
    • 2018
      • Spring 2018 (Boston)
      • Summer 2018 (Ponte Vedra)
      • Fall 2018 (Anniversary Issue)
      • Holiday 2018
    • 2017
      • Spring 2017 (Birmingham)
      • Summer 2017 (San Francisco)
      • Fall 2017 (Jackson Hole)
      • Holiday 2017
    • 2016
      • Spring 2016 (Savannah)
      • Summer 2016 (Los Angeles)
      • Fall 2016 (NC Mountains)
      • Holiday 2016
    • 2015
      • February March 2015 (Nashville)
      • May June 2015 (Washington, D.C.)
      • July August 2015 (New Orleans)
      • September October 2015 (Austin)
      • Holiday 2015
    • 2014
      • January February 2014 (Park City)
      • March 2014 (Chicago)
      • April May 2014 (Charlotte)
      • June July 2014 (Charleston)
      • August September 2014 (Santa Barbara)
      • October November 2014 (Atlanta)
      • Holiday 2014
    • 2013
      • September 2013 (Charlotte)
      • October November 2013 (Dallas)
      • Holiday 2013 (New York)
  • Style
  • Beauty
  • Entertaining
  • Interiors
  • Gardens
  • Wellness
  • Insiders’ Guides

Peachy the Magazine

You are here: Home / Real Estate / Tips for Organizing Your Closet from Ellen Kelly and Simplicity Organizers

January 28, 2022

Tips for Organizing Your Closet from Ellen Kelly and Simplicity Organizers

Practical advice from both a Homeowner/Realtor and a Professional Organizer

Behind every successful, fashionable woman is an organized closet — or not! Whether your closet is magazine-worthy or your dirty little secret, we can all use some tips on getting and staying organized. 

We sat down with Broker/Realtor Ellen Kelly to get some closet tips.

closet organization
BEFORE
closet organization
AFTER

ORGANIZATION SHOWS — AND SELLS!

“As a Realtor, I see countless homes,” says Ellen. “When I walk into a house that is organized, I want to bring my clients. If the closets, pantry, cabinets, and drawers are in order, I know that the rest of the house will be too!” 

Ellen recently saw a house where three small children lived — and she says she never would have known! “The kitchen was so clean and organized that I couldn’t wait to get upstairs to see the closets and bathrooms. The linen closet was divided into bins labeled with each child’s name,” shares Ellen. “The homeowners’ organizing skills gave me confidence that the whole house was well-maintained.”

CONSIDER HIRING A PROFESSIONAL

If organizing is not your cup of tea, ask a professional to help. Even if it’s just a closet or two, you might be inspired to do the rest of your house. “For Christmas, my kids gave me a day with Simplicity Organizers to get my closets under control. Because my brain doesn’t work that way, I picked up some great tips from Lisa Solis at Simplicity Organizers,” says Ellen.

closet organization
BEFORE
closet organization
AFTER

ELLEN’S CLOSET TIPS

  • Use the same hangers for all your clothing or divide areas into felt and wooden hangers.
  • Organize dresses by sleeve length (who knew?) and color code them, light to dark.
  • Fold sweaters. A confession from Ellen: “I would love to fold my sweaters, but my folding skills are so subpar that my sweaters get messy too quickly, so I must hang them!”
  • Place exercise clothes in small, labeled bins. T-shirts, leggings, yoga tops, socks, and underwear look neat in bins even if they’re not folded
  • Separate pants into dress pants and jeans.
  • Organize tops the same way — everyday tops separated from dressier tops.
  • Put handbags on a shelf so you can see them. Plus, displaying bags adds to the stylish look of your closet.
  • Hang necklaces on wall hooks — belts too!

AN UNEXPECTED BONUS

“You just might find some items you forgot you had,” says Ellen. “Lisa found my cashmere gloves that were hidden under all the chaos!”

closet organization
BEFORE
AFTER

More Tips from Simplicity Organizers


THREE QUESTIONS

Simplicity Organizers owner Laurie Martin recommends asking yourself what you want to accomplish:

  1. Why do you want to get organized?
  2. What is your goal? 
  3. What is disorganization costing you?

FIRST STEPS 

Recognize clutter — Clutter is anything you do not use or love, plus anything untidy or disorganized that exceeds the space available. This includes items that are torn, stained, or ripped.

Pull it all out — Remove every item from your closet before making any decisions. Sort items in a different room/area. You are more likely to let go of items when they are outside of their normal space. 


AN HONEST ASSESSMENT

Assess your items — When was the last time you wore that item? According to Laurie, if you continue to buy new clothes, that’s a sign you are unsatisfied with what you already have.  


GETTING ORGANIZED

Group “like” items together — For example, group all your long sleeve shirts, all your black sweaters, and all your workout clothes together. 


DARE TO DUMP

Try the hanger trick — If your closet is jam-packed but you still have little you want to wear, switch the orientation of your hangers so the hook comes over the bar from the back rather than the front. When you wear something, re-hang it the normal way. At the end of the season, donate or discard anything that hasn’t been worn. Don’t rethink it or make excuses — just get it out of your house.


INEXPENSIVE SUPPLIES TO KEEP YOUR CLOSET NEAT

Consider organizational supplies — Drawer dividers, shelf dividers, clear containers, and labels all help keep your closet organized.

Invest in uniform hangers — Matching hangers make the biggest difference in your closet. Turn your clothes to face the same direction.

Real Estate Leave a Comment

Previous Post: « Favorite Cold-Weather Beauty Products
Next Post: Weekend Wants…Splurge or Steal? »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Instagram icon   Facebook icon   Pinterest icon   LikeToKnow.It icon

Subscribe to Peachy

Sign up for your free subscription to Peachy the Magazine.

Kirsten Dexter Spring 2025 Ad
Capizzi Fall 2024 Ad
Cake For Dinner Summer 2025 Ad
Road to Resolution Ad
Ellen Kelly Homes Summer 2025 ad
Wendy Bilas Ad

Contact Us

Questions? Comments? Interested in partnering with us? We would love to hear from you.

Privacy Policy and Disclaimers

Footer


A special thanks to our fabulous partners:
Kirsten Dexter Fine Jewelry logo     Capizzi MD logo     Road to Resolution logo       Ellen Kelly Helen Adams Realty logo       Cake For Dinner logo     Lisa Cashion SparkWell logo     Wendy Bilas Fine Art logo

© 2025 Peachy the Magazine · Wordpress theme by Design By Bloom