ADHD closet hacks work for ANYONE wishing their clothes closet wasn’t so overwhelming. Read on for 7 ADHD-friendly closet tips to make getting dressed a joy.
The story.
Sliding back the door to our walk-in closet, I stepped inside to find the blouse that I wanted to wear. I knew exactly where it was, and my hand automatically stretched out to the spot.
But it wasn’t where it was supposed to be.
I frowned. Where was it? I know it wasn’t in the –
Then it hit me. Duh. Of course. Like always.
I glanced down at the floor. Sure enough, there it lay. It had slid off the stupid hanger for the millionth time. Sighing, I picked it up. If I weren’t so adverse to ironing, I would just shove the thing into a dresser drawer.
No patience for closet frustrations? No worries!
As neurodivergent and/or postmenopausal women, we often have neither the energy nor the executive function to deal with rebellious clothes.
You know what I’m talking about. The ones that, like my blouse, like to slide off the hanger. Or hide themselves in illogical places, like a pair of white cotton slacks amidst dark sweaters and your “good” winter coat. Because it’s all the clothes’ fault, right?
Fortunately for you, I have some ADHD closet hacks guaranteed to whip your clothes (accessories, too) into shape and convince them to behave.
ADHD closet hack #1: Declutter your closet.
Chances are good you’ve already done this. But the next reader may not have. She may have procrastinated the nasty job and clicked on the title of this blog post, hoping I would tell her that she could create an ADHD-friendly closet with a hundred pieces of clothing strung up on a four-foot rod.
Far be it from me to burst anyone’s unrealistic bubble, but that ain’t happenin’, sistah. The first order of business in getting your clothes under control is to sift out all the pieces that you never wear.
If you have the space, an easy way to do this is to shove all of your clothes to one side, leaving enough space on the rod for, say, twenty pieces. For one month, return anything you wear to the other side. Let’s call it the “keeping” side. To take care of both warm and cool weather items at once, pretend each day that it’s the opposite weather, choose the thing you would wear for that weather, and move it to the keeping side.
After a month, whatever’s left on the non-keeping side has to go.
Follow the same procedure for shoes and accessories, including handbags and jewelry.
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that here’s where being a stereotypical autistic female has come in handy. I couldn’t give one flip about fashion; wearing jewelry is inconvenient and annoying; I’ve never owned more than four pairs of shoes at one time; and for years my “purse” has been a fanny pack.
But I’ll try to empathize with you. I have other areas of my life where I struggle to let go. It can’t be that different, right? 😉
ADHD closet hack #2: Velvet hangers.
If those existed back in 2010, I sure wish I’d known about them! The last thing we women with executive dysfunction and anxiety need are blouses and other tops constantly sliding off hangers.
No need to deal with that frustration anymore – purchase hangers covered with velvet, and your clothes will never go rogue again.
ADHD closet hack #3: Do a 3-step organization.
Now that all your clothes are being forced to behave themselves, the next best ADHD-friendly closet tip is to get everything organized.
I suggest doing so in three different ways.
**1. By season. If you hang warm and cold weather items in the closet, hang all the warm-weather pieces on one side, and the cold-weather pieces on the other. If you have a four-season wardrobe, group everything accordingly.
**2. By outfits. Now that you have them arranged according to weather or season, in each of those groups, hang the pieces that coordinate next to one another. This isn’t necessary if either all of your bottoms or all of your tops are neutral. But if not, hang the tops and bottoms that can go together to create an outfit near, if not next to, each other. Guaranteed, that will cut down on the “what do I wear this morning” angst.
**3. By color. If you do have a wardrobe full of color, then once you have potential outfits grouped together, fine-tune this arrangement by hanging items of the same or similar dominating color next to each other. So you would have everything in a shade of green together, everything in a shade of blue together, and so on.
ADHD closet hack #4: Hang coordinating accessories nearby.
Using a scarf hanger, drape scarves near the outfits you usually wear them with. Use the hanger for jewelry, too, if you have pieces you know will stay in the loops. If you only have a few such scarves or jewelry pieces, and they go with anything, hang them in the middle of the closet, between the warm-season clothes and cool-season clothes. That way, they’re always easy to see and grab.
ADHD closet hack #5: Use a hanging shoe organizer for extras.
Face it: hanging shoe organizers don’t work that great for shoes, especially long-term. But they’re perfect for storing winter items such as knit hats, gloves and mittens, and winter scarves.
You can also shove small purses and handbags, as well as pantyhose and other socks, into them.
ADHD closet hack #6: Use a wooden cubby for shoes.
If you’re not like me and own more than a few pair of shoes (which you actually WEAR, right??), forget a shelf. Shoes fall off of and get mixed up on those. Invest in a cubby specifically invented for that purpose.
If it doesn’t fit inside your closet, keep it against a bedroom wall.
ADHD closet hack #7: Use clear storage boxes.
If your closet is big enough, you store a variety of things other than clothes inside it. They may be Christmas decorations, old journals, or extra blankets.
If you’re on a super-tight budget, go ahead and use cardboard boxes and label them.
But if you can spring it, buy clear storage bins.
Sure, you can use opaque boxes and label them. But I’m talking to women with ADHD, and/or tired postmenopausal women. Your intention is good. You fill a box with things, label it, and put it up. Then you make a hundred vows that you’ll never, ever put anything different inside the box that doesn’t match the label.
But then, one day, you do. A few months later, you do it again.
No judging here. It’s just something we do when we’re distracted or have zero energy.
But if you can see through the sides of the boxes, you know what’s in them at a glance. No guessing. No forgetting. No having to take them all down and spend an hour looking for that one thing you know you stuck in one of the boxes last year.
So, invest in clear plastic storage boxes.
Welcome to your ADHD-friendly closet!
Or you might say, your executive dysfunction-friendly closet. Now, you no longer have to waste time looking for clothes, accessories, or shoes.
Opening your closet no longer overwhelms you.
In fact, some days it may be the most rewarding thing you do all day.
You’re welcome. 😉
