Every year, you make a New Year’s resolution to finally get your home organized, but by the time summer rolls around in Reston, you’re disappointed to find that none of your organization goals have stuck. You might have hundreds of shoes scattered on the floor of your walk-in closet or a tangled mess of ties sitting inside of a dresser drawer. And no matter how hard you try to clean out your wardrobe every January, it falls back into a state of total chaos by June.

Does this sound familiar? If so, you’re definitely not alone. The Journal of Clinical Psychology estimates that about 54 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail within just six months. Getting your Reston home organized is one thing, but keeping it that way can be a major struggle. However, you don’t have to live with a messy closet forever. Our closet designers have a few tips on how to stick to your organization goals in this new year, starting with a Reston custom closet that’s specifically designed with your New Year’s goals in mind. Here are a few reasons why custom closets will help you break the cycle of failed New Year’s resolutions for good:

They Help You Think Short-Term And Long-Term

If you want to get organized and stay that way, you need to have a specific starting point and end point to your organization project, as well as detailed steps in-between. Psychologists have found that you’re much more likely to accomplish a long-term goal if you come up with a few smaller, short-term goals first. So, rather than organizing your sock drawer at-random or adding yet another cluttered chest of drawers to your space, you should instead think about what the long-term goal is for your closet, and what specific steps you need to take to get there.

This is where a Reston custom closet can help. When you design a custom closet from scratch, you not only think about the long-term goal of the closet—to help you stay organized—you also consider the smaller, specific design elements that will help you reach that goal. For example, if you love paddleboarding at Lake Anne, you might need some extra space in your custom closet for your gear. A custom closet designer will help you identify some of these smaller goals and create a closet blueprint that answers all of your needs. You’ll literally have a blueprint for success.

Custom Closets Are Clutter-Proof

Organizing a closet can feel like a vicious cycle. Every year, you get excited about organizing your space, so you spend hours purging the clutter and carefully placing every item back in its rightful place. But weeks later, the thrill of the purge starts to wear off, and the closet slowly grows messier and messier. Clean socks end up in a big pile on the floor and dress pants get hung on the wrong rack. Before you know it, your closet is one giant mess, and you make plans to clean it all over again next year. This isn’t your fault; it’s just poor closet design. You naturally want to put your clothes in the most convenient spot possible, and that place is usually the floor.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Custom closets put a stop to this cycle of clean-clutter-repeat because they work with your normal habits, not against them. In most standard closets you don’t get to choose where your shoe rack is or how wide your built-in cabinets are. This makes it hard to stick with your organization goal because you’re forced to use racks, shelves, and drawers that are in inconvenient locations. When you design a Reston custom closet, you get to decide where to place everything. This means that your shoes are a lot less likely to end up on the floor since you’ll have a convenient rack to place them on the moment you enter your closet.

Custom Designs Make the Most Out of Every Room

Another common reason why most New Year’s resolutions fail is that people try to accomplish too many goals at once. The same is true when you try to tackle an enormous home organization project. Should you start with the hallway closet because it gets the most foot traffic? Or should you prioritize your own master bedroom walk-in? Before you embark on your organization journey, think about which spaces in your home could use the most organization right now, and then build a custom closet based on that room’s unique needs.

If you want your home to stay organized, then every closet in your home should be completely different. After all, your hallway closet probably doesn’t hold your priceless heirloom jewelry, so it doesn’t need the same secure features as your bedroom closet. To organize every room in your home, think about the storage needs of each space. You might need handbag storage for your bedroom closet, while your spouse needs an adjustable tie rack. Your child might need a place to store his toys or comic books, while the hallway closet might need sturdier hangers and racks for heavy coats. Adding these unique, custom features will help you find enough space for every item.

Positive Change Prevents Future Clutter

Never underestimate the power of change. A brand new closet space can be a strong motivation for keeping your home well-organized, especially if it’s a space that you designed yourself. With distinctive shelves, closet islands, specialized lighting, and unique color patterns, Reston custom closets are more than just spaces to store your clothes—they’re rooms that you can show off with pride. You can even create a custom lounge area in your closet, complete with a vanity mirror and luxe seating. A spacious walk-in closet could become a fun, chic hangout for you and your friends as you get ready for a big event at the Reston Town Center.

When you have a space that is truly your own, and that has all of the features you desire, you’re much more likely to keep it tidy and organized in the long run. Studies have shown that keeping rooms organized leads to long-term happiness, and could even improve your social life, as you’re more likely to invite guests over. So, when you organize your home using custom closets, keep these facts in mind as an extra boost of motivation.