After waiting nearly three years, our closet is finally complete! From the initial buildout to hiring NEAT Method Highland Park to organize everything, we are so thrilled with how it’s turned out. I’ve mentioned time and time again how our old closet was set up in an inefficient way. It made organizing and putting away clothes the biggest pain. Even though Johnny and I are very neat people, we dreaded doing it. We’re so excited the NEAT Method team was able to truly work with us to create a system we can maintain easily. I’m so excited to share how they tackled our closet organization.

Before jumping into our actual closet organization, I want to share a little about working with professional organizers. The NEAT Method Highland Park team not only does closet organization but really takes it to another level by making sure they create a system you can live with and maintain. They asked what I like to wear on a regular basis, what do I reach for often, in an ideal world, where would I store things. A beautifully organized closet you cannot maintain easily is not going to stay organized. The NEAT Method Team took everything in our closet out, categorized it, made sure they were all things we still need and then started the organizing process.

I’ve mentioned before how we had to take out everything in order to install the custom closet. I literally was going to dump all of our clothes into the guest bedroom, but NEAT Method said no. They created a makeshift closet where we could still access our clothes during the installation process, which truly helped keep us sane.

A few weeks into our new closet, I can say everything is still neat and organized, which is a testament to their system and their talent.

Hanging Space

Right when you first open our closet door, you see this big LED-lit display of hanging space and massive 30-inch drawers. All of the dresses I have that aren’t for super formal occasions are hung here. This way they are right where I need them. I also wear blazers pretty often so they have a front-and-center spot. Then we have coats hanging on the righthand side.

Everything else is organized by type. There’s a section for light-colored tops, dark-colored tops, jackets and then bottoms. Johnny has his clothing separated by long-sleeve shirts, short-sleeve shirts, jackets and pants. For us, good closet organization also includes everything being sorted by color so we can easily know where things are.

Drawers

I love drawers. Love, love them. I always think you can use more drawer space. These six 30-inch drawers really are the reason why this closet functions, I think. We used to have an eight-drawer IKEA dresser shoved in our closet and everything that was in there is now in one of the drawers in this closet. I even have an empty drawer! It’s crazy what good closet organization and design can do!

One of my favorite drawers they did is the pajama and loungewear set drawer. If there are matching tops and bottoms, they are folded together into a little bundle so you’re not longer looking for a missing top or bottom.

Knitwear

If you’ve been following me for a while you know I love knitwear. Cashmere and wool sweaters have a special place in my heart. However, it’s best to fold your knitwear and not hang them. This way the knit doesn’t get stretched out because of its weight and you prevent divots from the hangers in the sleeves or shoulder area. Since I have quite the knitwear or sweater collection, I specifically wanted a place to fold them and have them easily accessible. I love this narrow shelf where I can stack up to six or seven folded sweaters. For me, this was a critical part of our closet organization because I want to be able to grab whatever sweater I need quickly without making a big mess.