Systems like factories or airports work more efficiently when they operate at a level below their maximum capacity to allow for minor disruptions. A good example is major freeways. Most freeways always have a spare lane on the right hand side. If there is an accident during rush hour, the emergency crews can usually move the accident over into the spare lane on the side of the road and sort out the mess while traffic continues to flow. This does not happen when there is no spare lane like in a bridge or tunnel. If an accident occurs in one of these locations, traffic comes to a stand still until the accident is completely cleared.
Your closet is the same way. When your entire closet rod is full of clothes, you can not push clothes aside to find what you are looking for. You must judge a shirt or dress by the half-inch of cloth that is sandwiched between all the other items of clothing. To pull a piece out, you must force open some space to get the item of clothing and as soon as you let go, the space is instantly filled. You then have to fight to put the item back if you don’t want it.
This closet is at maximum capacity
In essence, your closet is operating at 110% efficiency. There is no room for error and every time you want to see an item you must force open space.
To solve this problem, closet rod manufacturers should give feedback about the capacity of your closet. The can do this by adding a Red Zone to one end of the closet rod that covers 15% of the closet rod and the other 85% of the rod should be normal. When you push all your clothes to one side of the closet rod, no clothes should be in the Red Zone. If you do have clothes in the Red Zone, you need to clean out your closet.
When your clothes enter the Red Zone, it is time to clean.
This way, when you are looking for an item of clothing there is more free space in your closet to move your clothes around and you will be able to quickly see the front of your clothes. Additionally, you can quickly remove an item as well as put it back without fighting the other clothes. The clothes that you enjoy wearing will be easy to get to and the clothes that take up space will be removed.
By adding a Red Zone to closet rods, manufactures can help your closet operate at an ideal 85% efficiency. Not only will it be easier to take clothes out and put them back, but it will help you find your favorite clothes which is the whole purpose of a closet.
1 comment:
The foundational issue with "over capacity" closets relates to the amount of clothing in the closet and the frequency of how often an article of clothing is worn and whether it's still necessary/desired to keep the article of clothing. Perhaps, a system that can track the frequency of use would assist in the determination of the necessity of retaining the lesser-used clothing items. A simple general rule is that if you haven't worn it in over a year, you may want to determine if it's worth keeping. A color-coded hanger system and color-coded closet rod organization system can assist with this process. Green for frequent use, Orange for occasional use, Red for the "once or twice a year use" and the "should I keep this" items.
Post a Comment