Meghan Carter: The right closet organizers can make a big difference when it comes to organizing your closet, but with so many options, I have no idea how to select the right one. So, I visited Master’s Simplifier and owner of the organization firm White Space Cynthia Ivie to discover which closet organizers work best.

I’m hitting the road searching for answers and finding great design. It’s a quest for beauty, function and of course inspiration.

When you go to the store, you see all of these different storage organizers and I always go and I buy one and I think, “Oh this is going to be perfect! This is going to work out great! This is so nice!” When you bring at home and it doesn’t work—

Cynthia Ivie: And it doesn’t work.

Meghan Carter: What’s the secret? How do you get the best storage organizer?

Cynthia Ivie: There is such a multitude of storage containers that you could choose today and companies have gotten very clever about making them attractive, about giving them designs and unfortunately it misleads the consumer. You have to think about what’s best for you. So, first and foremost are you a visual person? Do you need to see everything? If you do, you want a clear container. If you don’t want then don’t pick one. You want to choose a container that fits into the space that you have to occupy and most cases are start out at the minimum 12 inches deep that can go as and much as 20-20.

Meghan Carter: So, you definitely need those measurements at the store?

Cynthia Ivie: You have to have measure. Absolutely! Think about whether or not you want to pull out a container that has a lid on it and open it up or would you rather have the convenience of a door. Towards are often more expensive but for people who are on the go it can be the easiest solution for them.

Meghan Carter: Yes, because those tops are hard to take off and put on.

Cynthia Ivie: Right and if you do stock bins you don’t want to stock them deep. You want to stock no more than two together. And so, you rearrange your shelves to accommodate that. You want to think to some extent about how you want to feel when you go into the space you are organizing. You know in an office, you might use more decorative elements than you want in a closet. You’ve got to think about the functionality of it. It’s got be able to get out of the opening that you have to access through easily so that you can use it effectively and always put it back effectively. One of our clients says the best that we ever thought her was to put things away when she was done with them. We don’t use wicker at all at White Space because wicker collects dust. It snags and it also lets things slip through. We also don’t use mesh bins here very often because with the exception of files because mesh bins again mesh utensil folders collect crumbs. They get dirty.

Meghan Carter: Yes, they do.

Cynthia Ivie: So, don’t be misled by all of the trappings and the organization store. It really the sort of decide upfront before you go in. It’s just like they say, “Don’t go to the grocery store hungry. Don’t go to the container store uncertain about what you need. “

Meghan Carter: Or frustrated.

Cynthia Ivie: Yes.

Meghan Carter: Did you just get more frustrated when you walked in?

Cynthia Ivie: It is a sense of overwhelmed definitely.

Meghan Carter: And to ensure that I did not have to experience that sense of overwhelmed at first hand, Cynthia took me to her home to show me some of her favorite closet organizers and let me tell you, when we look at her closet and there’s no doubt she is a master simplifier. When do you use a container in a closet?

Cynthia Ivie: Again, it’s a style preference. Now, for me I did not want containers inhere but I easily could have put shoe containers here. In fact, I have two containers I can show you.

Meghan Carter: All right. And do you use the containers just for shoes? Do you use them for ties, anything else?

Cynthia Ivie: You can use it for any number of things if you’ll hold that for me.

Meghan Carter: All right.

Cynthia Ivie: This is a nice acrylic drawer. This woul