Happy New Year! Now take off that party hat, it’s time to address those resolutions. Listings editor and zealous neatnik Caroline Lock is here to help us all get our shit together — in fact, she’ll be writing an occasional column for eyeweekly.com called Get Your Shit Together With Caroline Lock. Caroline kicks things off at Style ground zero — your overflowing closet — with a guided tour of her giant and freakishly well organized Ikea wardrobe. 

For best results, keep tops on top “Jeans are at the bottom and shirts and sweaters are at the top … because your jeans are on your bottom and shirts are on your top. It’s easier to find something by visualizing it as you would wear it.” 

Go COLOUR blind “I have about 80 t-shirts — thanks in part to all those creative marketing people who send us t-shirts no matter what they’re trying to publicize — so I organize them by size rather than colour. When I’m feeling bloated or it’s too hot out for form-fitting clothing, I reach into the large-sized pile, and when I’m supposed to look presentable, I reach for the more fitted t-shirts.”  

SORT it out IN A SNAP “Because I don’t have a single closet in my apartment, all my clothes belong in this wardrobe. Laundry also lives here. I have two delicate wash bags hanging from nails on the inside of the door — one of them is for whites and the other is for dark delicates.” 

DO THE COLLAPSE “I have this giant Umbra laundry container that can be scrunched down — it’s this weird plastic-coated fabric. It holds so much laundry that I only have to do laundry once a month, and when it’s all done, you can push it down.”

Hook yourself up “Hooks are where I put tank tops that are a pain in the ass to fold and the cardigans that I wear all the friggin’ time — there’s no point putting them away.” 

BALLS OF WOOD “I use the dollar-store cedar mothballs rather than those scary stinky chemical ones. You just buy these balls of wood and keep them with your sweaters, ’cause moths apparently hate cedar. And lavender satchels — they make your clothes smell like lavender. I got mine in the south of France, but you can get them at Noah’s Natural Foods (667 Yonge).” 

DOUBLE time “Hangers are expensive and take up space, so I often use a single hanger to hold a hoodie or shirt and then stick a zip-up sweater or cardigan over it. That way, I can still see both of them at once.” 

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