Your Guide to Sharing a Walk-in Custom Closet
Keeping all of your clothes in a custom walk-in closet should be a breeze, but it’s not as easy when you want to add in a partner’s clothes and belongings. Too often, one person will feel shoved aside – their clothes get buried under or behind their partner’s clothes or they’re just difficult to reach and shoved into far corners. Additionally, the closet may get disheveled with two people’s wardrobes inside if it wasn’t set up to handle that in the first place.
Here are four steps you can take to more effectively share a closet:
- Start With A Purge
- Don’t be Afraid to Take Sides
- Add Organizers to the Space
- Compromise on a Cleaning Schedule
Take a look at some of the ways that you can make sharing a walk-in closet more palatable for both of you.
Start With A Purge
If it’s time to reorganize the closet, it’s also time to go through the closet items and see what can be removed. Chances are that both of you have clothes that no longer fit or that you no longer need, so getting rid of those is a good start to creating a closet space that works for both of you.
Pull everything out and separate items you no longer want from the ones you want to keep. If you’re wondering how to separate the rest of the items, you may want to try using a method that helps you get into a mindset of letting things go instead of holding onto them. For example,
The Spruce explains that the KonMari method is about keeping only the things you really love. Thinking about whether you actually want and like an outfit or you’re holding onto it “just in case” can help you figure out what to get rid of.
Don’t be Afraid to Take Sides
Once both of the people who use the closet have reduced their belongings by getting rid of unwanted or unneeded items, it’s time to take sides. In this case, though, that doesn’t mean getting into an argument. In fact, it should prevent one.
This step is about deciding where each person’s territory is going to be in the closet. Start by dividing the closet into separate spaces. It doesn’t have to be an exact 50/50 split if that’s not what works for you – if one person has significantly more hanging clothes than the other, for example, the person with more hanging clothes should get more of the hanging space. However, each should be able to see and access clothes in their spaces.
Add Organizers to the Space
Once it’s been decided how to split the space, the two of you will need to store your things in the place so they’re neat and accessible to you. Closet organizers can help with that. There are many options, and each person should be able to pick the ones that work best for them.
While some closet features can be split – for example, each person could take one side of a hanging rod that stretches across the closet, or two drawers each out of a four-drawer dresser – many organizers could be specific to each person. Maybe one person needs a tie rack on their side and the other person needs a scarf rack.
Compromise on a Cleaning Plan and Schedule
No matter how organized a closet is, it’s going to need occasional tidying up and the walls, floors, and other areas will need periodic cleaning. Since two people are sharing the closet, one shouldn’t be stuck with all of the cleanup on both sides.
Instead, couples should discuss cleaning strategies and come to an agreement. This may mean that each person is responsible for their own sections of the closet, it could mean going through the closet together, or it could mean assigning different tasks to each person – one person does the whole floor, someone else does all the walls, for example.
Once the two of you have agreed on how to split the responsibility, the next thing is to set up a schedule. Compromise and negotiate until you come up with a plan and schedule both are happy with, then stick to it.
Conclusion:
Sharing a custom walk-in closet can be difficult, but there are ways to make it work. Get rid of unneeded items so both people have more space, give each other your own sections of the closet, use organizers to help you put everything away, and set a plan for cleaning and organizing the space.