Try a 30-minute closet triage

Calming the chaos may take less time than you think

Closets can get out of control fast. When you’re getting dressed in the morning, you’re in a hurry. When you’re changing out of your clothes at night, you’re tired. Neither state is conducive to basic maintenance.

But I maintain that basic maintenance can be just that…pretty basic. I was emailing someone recently who told me that her closet was chaotic, which made getting dressed in the morning stressful. I suggested she carve out 15 minutes 3 nights a week to work on it, and that within a month her closet would be pristine.

Of course, I was just guessing on that. But it made me wonder. How quickly could a closet get in better shape? What could happen in 30 minutes? I tried this myself and here’s what I found.