E ven the best-designed closet can get messy if you don’t control your stuff. Here’s how...

Sort through your wardrobe, and give away things that you rarely wear. Fewer clothes means less time wasted each morning searching for what to wear. Crowded closets look messy no matter how nice your fixtures... and hanging clothes tend to wrinkle when they’re packed in tightly.

If discarding unloved clothes does not create much space, move out-of-season items to a guest room closet or attic. If your attic gets hot, avoid storing clothes in plastic bags from dry cleaners -- the heat may melt the bags. Best: Wrap clothes in pillowcases or sheets and store in a cedar trunk.

In the future, each time you buy a new article of clothing, remove one old item from your closet.

Select the closet components that best match your needs. Cubbies can organize shoes... a chain with clips holds hats... wall hooks keep purses out of the way.

Double-hung rods maximize closet space by adding a second row of hangers below the first. Only dresses, coats and robes need the full vertical space offered by single rods.

Group clothes by type -- put all polo shirts together, all suits together -- or by outfit, if you tend to wear the same pieces together repeatedly.

Designate a space for clothes that need to be washed or dry-cleaned. Arrange your closet components so that the clothes you wear most are easiest to reach.

Box and label items on closet shelves. Keep a folding ladder in your closet for easy access. The Container Store’s Slim Folding Step Stool collapses to just 1.5 inches in width for easy storage (888-266-8246,
www.containerstore.com, $39.99).