Jessica Valentino is the ‘certified neat freak’ at the helm of the The House Binder, an organizational design firm here in Los Angeles. Friends recommended Jess to us for her services and we quickly took to her sustainable approach.

Watch any organizing show and you’ll see so many plastic containers. We can appreciate the value of clear, uniform tubs and bins, but it just doesn’t fit with our overall goals for the home.

Jessica and team pair their keen eye for design with a desire to equip clients with an intuitive and sustainable approach to keep their homes calm and ordered. Apparently, it’s working as The House Binder‘s client roster already includes A-list actors, musicians and L.A. execs.

These closet organization tips will shave time off your morning routine…

Organize Your Closet The Way You Get Dressed In The Morning

Get Your Closet Organized We know this sounds counterintuitive, but you have to pull everything out and start from scratch. It’s easier to tackle your closest once you have a blank canvas to start with. It’s tough to visualize your new space when you’re looking at what is already existing because it’s hard to picture it any other way.

+ Get matching hangers. This is an easy one. Swap out anything mismatched to take your closet up a notch. We like velvet or wood.

+ place Undergarments at the top in a bank of drawers, a dresser, or whatever you have. This is a great place for socks also, if you’re short on space.

+ Save the hanging space The rest of your drawers can be reserved for workout clothes, sweatpants, pajamas, things that don’t need to be on hangers. Save the hanging space for your weekday attire.

+ All tops should be hung. This makes for easier flipping through. Grabbing a shirt from the middle of a folded stack is not the most practical choice. If hanging everything isn’t possible, tees can be folded accordion style in a drawer.

+ Bottoms can be folded in half and hung on regular hangers or dedicated pant hangers. Fold and stack the pairs you wear more often, hang the ones you don’t so you remember you have them.

+ For shoes: Some people like toes facing out. Others like heels facing out. Some prefer a combination. Use whichever method you prefer, but consistency is key.

+ Things you don’t use frequently or swap out often (purses, rain boots, etc.) should be up high or down low.

Most importantly, make it make sense for you. The idea is to figure out your order of operations, then lay out your closet accordingly. Left to right or bottom to top, however you get dressed in the morning is how you should categorize. Think: underwear first, top, then bottoms, maybe accessories, and then finally footwear. If you’re a bottoms first and then top person after, hang your pants above or in front of tops.

Spend a couple of hours moving things around this weekend. Your future self will thank you!