The Hanger Trick: How I Keep Our Closet Organized & Save Money on New Clothes

The Hanger Trick is an incredibly effective method for organization of your clothes! These tips make a closet look so uniform and clean – and can save you money too.

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I have a really simple (but effective) trick that I've used for the past few years to keep our closet clean and organized. When I started doing this, I really had no idea how much time and money one little trick would save me! If you're looking to organize a closet, this would be (without question) my #1 recommendation.

These hangers. That's it. Really, you can use any hangers – the only requirement is that they all look the same. But I love these hangers because a) they are designed to be no-slip and low-creasing, b) they are very thin, making hung clothing as un-bulky as possible and c) they're a little pricey. Yes, that is a good thing – you'll see why in a second.

How to Follow the Hanger Trick

First, you'll need to go through your closet and count the amount of clothes you have. Be realistic – actually count what is hanging right now (or is supposed to be hanging). Then, take a look at your hangers and price what it will cost to hang every last thing in your closet. When I purchased (and at publish date), the hangers I have linked are around 50 cents each – so divide that number of hanging items in half to see roughly what you'll pay to change out the hangers in your closet.

That number hurts a little, doesn't it? It's supposed to.

Now, go through your closet and take out what you realistically haven't worn in awhile. Some people recommend turning all of your hangers one way and turning them around as you wear an item, but that takes time. I just went through and asked myself, “am I actually going to wear this again?” If it was no, it went in the donate pile.

After that's done, count again. This is the amount of hangers you'll really need to order for this method. For my husband's and my clothes, we needed about 150 hangers.

I'm telling you – having a uniform set of hangers absolutely transforms a closet. All of a sudden, everything looks so uniform and organized. I'm a bit of a Home Edit junkie, so when their show came out on Netflix last year, I organized everything by color – and it brings me a little bit of joy everytime I see it, so I keep it up. That part is totally optional. 🙂

Now, here's the most important part of the trick – as time goes on, don't buy any more hangers. Of course, hangers can break over time – so if enough break that you need another pack to replace your originals, go for it. I've had these hangers for 3 years now and have only had a handful break, so that hasn't really been an issue.

If you don't buy additional hangers, you don't have the room to store additional clothing – meaning you're not going to buy things that you don't truly love. I can't tell you how much money this has saved us in the clothing budget! Each time I go clothes shopping, I have in the back of my mind that I'm going to have to replace something in my closet if I buy this. That makes you so mindful of your purchases.

This also spurs the occasional closet clean-out. As I'm doing laundry each weekend, I'm mindful of how many hangers we have for hanging clothes. If I run out, it's time to do a mini closet clean-out. If I need 2 additional hangers, 2 things go in the donate pile. No exceptions – you can't let hanging clothes pile up on a chair if you want this to work.

And why are expensive hangers more effective in this method? You're less likely to buy more! You want it to hurt a little bit to buy more hangers – those dollar a ten pack hangers don't hurt very much to throw in the cart, so you'll be more likely to let additional hangers creep back into the closet. Trust me, the initial price tag seems a little high for hangers, but they'll save you money in the long run if you follow this method.

And yes, the hanger trick can totally be used in the kids' closets too. They'll need smaller hangers of course (these are similar to the adult hangers and to what I have in my kids' closets), but it's the same principle – buy a reasonable amount of hangers and don't buy more unless they break. I would try to count the hangers for the kids right after doing any seasonal shopping, just to make sure you count at the maximum number that is necessary. I know my kids' clothes kind of dwindle down as the season goes on and they outgrow things – make sure to account for that.

Now, when Journey to Clean closet cleaning day comes around, I typically have very little to do. The difference between mismatched and uniform hangers will shock you – it makes keeping a closet organized so easy. I'd love to hear if you try the hanger trick – comment on this post with what you think!

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