As a professional organizer, I have spent tons of hours color-coordinating closet wardrobes. The reason so many organizers, like myself, meticulously color-code their clients’ closets is not only because it looks beautiful when it’s complete (which it definitely does).

Creating blocks of color in an organized closet is far more functional than beautiful. In organizing, the key is to set up a space so that you can retrieve what you want, when you want it. The best systems make finding what you’re looking for quick, easy, and brain-less.

Many of us can quickly recall the color of a dress or blouse in our wardrobe. If you know that all your red blouses are within a 2 inch section (or 5 foot section… if you’re Mariah Carey), it makes sifting through to your blouse of choice that much quicker.

Have you ever came across an item in your closet and thought, “I forgot this was in here!” Chances are it was wedged between two jackets that completely camouflaged it. Am I right?

Color-coding your closet and drawers can dramatically reduce the likelihood of this! I promise. Not to mention, it will shave off the time it takes to find something. And trust me, when it comes to something you do every day of your life, like getting dressed, it’s worth investing time now to save time later.

The reason is that time is like money. It compounds! Save a little time here, a little time there, and all of sudden you’re freeing up hours of your life to put towards things that are really important to you.

So go ahead, spend a couple hours and color-code that closet! I promise you it’ll make getting dressed in the morning more fun, your closet more beautiful, and your routine more efficient.

Here’s how I like to organize those colors, patterns, and styles for ultimate closet efficiency:

• Group “types” of clothing together first. (ie. dresses, blouses, jackets, etc.)
• Within each group of clothing type, create color blocks.
• Use the rainbow (ROY G BIV) to color coordinate: White, tan, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, brown, grey, black.
• If you have patterned items with multiple colors, create a “patterned section” or decide on it’s primary color and group it with that color.
• If you prefer to wear a lot of black and rarely white, put the black color-blocks at the front of the line up (vice versa)

image via Apartment Therapy