How to Organize Your Winter Clothes — and Make the Most of Your Closet
From the ideal time to start to must-have closet accessories, we spoke to the experts at California Closets Nashville to pick up tips for organizing seasonal clothing.
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While the afternoons are still unseasonably warm around Middle Tennessee, crisp mornings and chilly evenings mean sweater weather is officially on the horizon.
Welcoming cozy layers back into rotation is exciting, but finding space for chunky winter knits and heavy coats can be a challenge. To help you reclaim your space, we turned to Laura Gornicki, Lead Sales and Design Consultant at California Closets Nashville, for her favorite tips and tricks that maximize your closet’s footprint. From custom storage solutions to innovative organizational items, you’re sure to be inspired!
Know Where to Begin
Nashville weather can be finicky, but prepping your closet for cold-weather clothing doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You just have to know where to start.
“Changing things out for the season is a great time to curate and get organized,” she explains, and adds that creating ‘keep,’ ‘toss,’ and ‘donate’ piles can be helpful. “Ask yourself what needs to stay and what can be let go of? This frees up additional space for new or additional items.”
It also gives you a chance to think through how you want your closet to look and function. Items you wear more often, for example, should be the easiest to reach for, while super bulky or outdoor clothing might live in a different area altogether.
“Our basic process when we meet with a client, regardless of the scope of the project, is to customize the space for how they want it to function,” explains Laura. “We specialize in collaborating with you to determine what works best for you.”
Once you’ve established how you want your closet to function, you can talk about aesthetics. Are you a hanger or a folder? Do you like to see your entire wardrobe, or do you prefer items tucked into drawers or on shelves behind doors? Whatever your preference, there’s a California Closets solution.
Smart Sweater Storage Solutions
Sweaters are one seasonal item that can take up a lot of valuable space, and how you store them matters. Laura explains that most of her clients like to fold their sweaters. “Folding sweaters versus hanging them eliminates stretching and puckered shoulders,” she says.
However, stacks of folded sweaters can take over a closet fast. That’s why California Closets offers deep drawers in both wood and a popular fabric finish, designed not only to house your sweaters but also to keep them looking like new.
Laura explains that the soft material allows more airflow to the garments while also preventing delicate knits from snagging on sharp corners. And because they have a drawer face and use the same rails as their wooden counterparts, they blend seamlessly into your closet design.
“People also like these for lingerie,” she notes.
Adjustable shelves or shelf dividers are another way to keep sweaters corralled, while built-in cabinets with doors keep everything dust-free and out of sight for a more streamlined look. Plus, they are a great way to create additional storage space for off-season items or things you don’t reach for as often.
“Many closets have higher ceilings that leave a lot of wasted space,” Laura explains. “We can maximize your storage options in that area by creating closed cabinets above your traditional closet hanging areas. You then have an area to store your off-season clothing and accessories and keep them clean and out of sight until you need them again.”
If your closet square footage is seriously spoken for, Laura says you CAN hang sweaters — as long as you do it right!
“If you’re limited on space and have to hang sweaters, I recommend folding them over a hanger, as you would a pair of pants … It just protects the garment a lot better.”
Think Outside the Primary Closet
Heavy parkas, snow boots, and thick, heavy outdoor layers can crowd out other items. To reclaim that prime closet real estate, give them a home in a dedicated mudroom, coat closet, or entryway drop zone instead.
“We do a lot of coat closets with dedicated hanging spaces, shelving, and baskets, and that’s where those outdoor items live,” says Laura, who says that benches with cubbies, hooks, and shelves are popular options. “We can even build in a wardrobe cabinet to serve as a closet in a space that doesn’t have one.”
For a stylish and space-saving option, consider the California Closets Maddox wall organizer. “It’s a multi-purpose, wall-mounted organizing system,” explains Laura. This unique organizer has a narrow profile that lets it fit easily behind doors or along narrow closet walls.
As beautiful as it is functional, the unit is wrapped in vegan leather, comes in multiple sizes, and features customizable hook attachments so you can configure (and reconfigure) it to suit your needs. “You can even add a little mirror and pockets for keys, phones, etc.,” says Laura.
Keep Accessories Easily Accessible
Winter brings specific accessories such as scarves, gloves, hats, and tall boots. Making space for these things in your closet doesn’t have to involve a complete overhaul. Use pull-out belt racks to store ball caps, and keep your scarves easy to find with a California Closets-designated pull-out scarf rack.
Drawer dividers keep stored items neat and organized. The newest version from California Closets is made from vegan leather. It features a liner and movable components that let you shift the dividers in varying directions to create different sizes.
If your drawer space is already taken, consider storage bins and boxes. Available in multiple sizes, widths, and heights, the boxes are made specifically for California Closets and are guaranteed to match the finishes in your space.
As for those tall winter boots, adjustable shoe shelves that can be raised and lowered are a must. “It makes it so much easier to rotate shoes seasonally when the shelves are adjustable,” says Laura.
Communicate and Collaborate
The most important part of organizing your closet for the season is understanding that you don’t need a massive walk-in closet to make a major impact on your daily routine. Partnering with the experts at California Closets makes it easy to maximize the footprint you already have.
The collaborative process starts with an in-depth consultation where a dedicated design expert listens to your needs, takes precise measurements, and inventories your wardrobe. Using a proprietary CAD program, they create a custom solution tailored to your lifestyle now — with built-in flexibility for the future.
Best of all? Your design is kept on file for easy reference, should you want to make changes later.
“Clients come back after building a simple design and then want to add, and can go back years to see exactly what we did and what we need,” says Laura. “It’s much easier than starting from scratch.”
With California Closets, your custom design is never a one-and-done project. It’s a relationship designed to evolve and grow alongside your needs (and your wardrobe) for many seasons to come.
Happy organizing!
This article is sponsored by California Closets Nashville.
Bonny Osterhage
Bonny Osterhage is a professional journalist with more than 25 years of experience in both print and digital media. An avid fitness fanatic, when she isn't exploring the next trending topic, Bonny can be found cycling, running, and leading classes at SolidCore. Find more of her work at Mind Body Green, The List, Business Insider, and more.
