Has your dog accumulated pet supplies that have taken over your home? Does it take you forever to search for your dog’s leash or that one grooming tool you need? If you said yes, then it’s time to use my organizational tips to declutter and get your dog’s space organized! Start by pulling out all of your pet’s supplies and sorting through them. After purging and letting go of items not serving you anymore, create a designated space in your home for your pet’s belongings. It can be in a laundry room, home office, mud room, extra dog closet or simply a few storage bins in bedroom. Scroll down to see the before photo of my dog’s closet!
For reference, my dog’s closet is a part of my home office closet. Living in an apartment with small closet space, I understand it can be difficult to find any extra space to devote to your pet. I also realize that not all dogs have the amount of stuff my dog does. I have added links to everything I used to organize my dog’s closet so you can shop the post.
3 Easy Steps To Declutter Your Dog’s Closet Fast
As a millennial dog mom, I love my dog and he’s as much a part of my family as my parents and sibling. Which is the reason why my dog has a lot of stuff that ends up cluttering my home. The lack of organization has gotten to a point of frustration where I can’t find things I need and dog clothes can be found scattered all over the home. For me, If my home is unorganized then my mind is also cluttered. It was overwhelming for me to start the process of organizing my home. So I started small with my dog’s wardrobe and created storage solutions in my home office closet that work for us. Use these 3 easy steps to declutter your dog’s belongings fast!
1. Pull Out Your Dog’s Entire Wardrobe
The best way to organize your dog’s space is to see everything you have accumulated over the years. Pull out your dog’s entire wardrobe on the floor of your room. This includes dog toys, leashes, dog clothes, bandanas, bow ties and any other dog items. It will be an eye opener when you see the quantity of stuff and you may even realize you have duplicates of dog items. You may have feelings of being overwhelmed during the decluttering process as I did and be unsure about tackling this organizational project. It helps to take the next small step until the whole project is completed. I promise it will be worth it at the end when you feel joy for your organized home.
2. Sort Through Your Dog’s Belongings To Keep/Toss/Donate/Sell
Start by sorting through your dog’s belongings and create four piles. Keep, toss, donate and sell. This is the time to ask yourself questions on how often your dog’s items are used and purge anything that doesn’t bring you joy. I recommend having your dog try on all the dog clothes you want to keep to ensure they fit properly. Give your dog lots of rewards while you try on clothes and take breaks. Research local rescues in your area to donate dog toys, dog clothes, bandanas that aren’t personalized and any other dog items that are in good shape. You can even sell gently used high quality dog items such as bandanas and clothes from popular retailers such as Maxbone, Lucy & Co and Dog Threads on Instagram to make a few dollars.
Letting Go Of Sentimental Dog Pieces
As you sort through your pet’s belongings, there may be pieces that have sentimental value. Your dog’s first bandana, toy or collar that is now dirty and in pieces. Despite the state of these sentimental pieces, you may want to keep them as a memory of your dog. I get it. I can’t seem to let go of the first personalized bandana I bought Teddy where the letters are falling off so he can’t even wear it anymore. This article from Life in General helped me let go of dog items that no longer serve me (or my dog). Truthfully answer the questions in the article and it’ll give you the clarity you need to help you decide if you should keep an item or not. I ended up keeping Teddy’s first bandana but got rid of his first collar.
3. Organize Your Dog’s Belongings Into Your Current Space
Before you spend hundreds of dollars at the Container store buying storage bins, think about how you would like to organize your dog’s items in your space. Do you plan to hang or fold your dog’s wardrobe? How can you ensure everything has a spot and you can find it when you need it? For my dog’s closet, I decided to hang seasonal clothes and bandanas while folding the rest away into these storage bins. This allows me to see every item in a glance. I used the closet system that came with my home (I believe it’s an Ikea PAX system) to my benefit by creating a toy storage area in one of the bins. Get creative with the storage space present in your home before you invest in bins that don’t end up working. It’s okay if you don’t have much space to store dog supplies. I recommend storing things like dog food, treats and dog grooming supplies in the kitchen near your dog’s feeding station. Consider folding dog clothes using Marie Kondo’s technique as it will help make your closet look neatly organized.
Don’t forget to step back and admire your work when you have completed purging and organizing your dog’s supplies!
Shop the post
Dog Closet Makeover Before & After
My home office closet is a standard small apartment closet that came with Ikea’s PAX system. I had the doors of the closet taken down and stored because when the closet doors are open they take over half the room. To organize the closet space I decided to hang my dog’s clothes using these hangers. I added an extra rod to hang dog bandanas which is really a dowel I purchased at Home Depot. Clear shelf dividers keep the folded dog clothes looking neat. I organized miscellaneous dog items in these storage bins from Target which are $6. The clear bins that contain bow ties are shoe bins with drawer dividers from The Container Store. Shout out to Tay from @GusandTaytakeNYC for this idea! It goes to show that even if you have a small amount of space you can find creative ways to organize your home.
Leave a Reply