White - Long sleeves; Black - Short sleeves; Tan - Undershirts; Red - Dress pants; Blue - Dress shirts
Here are the two changes I’ve made to my closet that you should follow. It’s easier to pick out clothes, easier to identify the clothes you don’t wear, and makes it simple to find which clothes you need.
Color coded hangers
I’ve moved to a completely color coded hanger system. Hangers are $2 for 10 of them. Go crazy and you’ll have a closet that makes sense for less than $10. I’ve heard people get fussy about the idea, but it doesn’t make sense any other way. Group the clothes by hanger color and you’re all set. I don’t hang everything, so I needed a total of 5 colors. To be honest, the “undershirt” category was simply because I had a few extra tan hangers.
“Queueing clothes” – Clothes on rotation
This has been covered other places before me, but this particularly compliments a hanger-color coded closet. When I pull clothes from the dryer, I put them on the right side of the group they’re in. In the morning, I pull from the left side. I never wear the same shirt within a week or two, and any shirts that have been on the left side for a few months are destined for donation. The dryer and the act of hanging clothes randomizes the order, keeping the queue from repeating order.
Trivia fact: “queueing” is the only word in the English language with 5 consecutive vowels. Impress your friends!