How Do INTJ Personality Types (Pixie Type: Smart) Organize Their Closets?

We believe that your bedroom, whether you have an Ikea closet system or a cavernous walk-in, should be a haven of sorts, a restful retreat from the pressures and demands of your busy day. If your bedroom closet is a mess and there are clothes all over the floor, this is going to ruin the relaxing effect a bit. For INTJ personality types (pixie type: Smart), the bedroom closet needs to be laid out in a visible way, so that every little thing can be seen. This means open shelving or fan folding. This could also mean hanging everything — and we mean every piece of clothing except for undies and sleepwear —— up on (matching!) hangers. It means a lot of other things as well, but we’ll get to them. First, we’ll explain how INTJs (Smart pixie types) operate — and organize!

Myers Briggs Personality Type INTJ

If you’re not familiar with the Myers Briggs personality types, the letters INTJ will mean nothing to you. Because the Myers Briggs system was integral in our creation of the four pixie types, it is important to understand their meaning and how that manifests itself when it comes to home organization. There are 16 different Myers Briggs personality types, all identified by different letter combinations. These letters are: E/I, S/N, T/F, and J/P. They stand for Extraversion versus Introversion, Sensing versus Intuition, Thinking versus Feeling, and Judging versus Perceiving.

INTJ stands for Introversion, Intuitive, Thinking and Judging. Traits of INTJ personality types are:

• Visionaries
• Determined
• Thoughtful
• Logical
• Decisive
• Quietly innovative
• In pursuit of improvement and excellence

So what does this mean in terms of organization? Read on…

Pixie Type: Smart

INTJ personality types are Smart pixie types. Smart pixie types are folks who can be described as ENTPs, INTPs, ENTJs, or INTJs. In this case, Smarts are people who need things to be out in the open, not hidden away. These types have extremely visual memories, and need to see things in order to remember that they are there. This means no hidden storage, not even closed drawers (or if closed drawers are necessary, fan folding is too). INTJ (or Smart) types aren’t often detail-oriented, because they are too busy trying to see the big picture. Their ability to do this is superior to all other pixie types, and thus it is important to organize in a way that works for this type of visionary thinking.

Bedroom Closets and the INTJ

When it comes to organizing their bedroom closets, INTJs (Smart pixie types) need to follow a few simple rules:

1. Because organizing bedroom closets involve purging (have we mentioned purging yet?), it is essential to figure out what to keep, toss, and donate. Donating clothing is a great way to recycle things and give others an opportunity to get enjoyment from things that you don’t even look at anymore, let alone wear. Make a donation bin (clear and transparent, please!) and put it in the corner of your bedroom so that each time you come across a viable item of clothing that you don’t wear anymore, you can toss it in the bin. Certain Smart types have trouble with details and focusing, so this gradual approach to purging can be helpful.
2. Although certain Smart pixie types are naturally decisive, others lack this quality. Therefore, a trusted, type A friend to help them figure out what to keep and what to toss could be useful in the purging process.
3. After purging, hang everything on matching hangers. (We like Huggable Hangers, which don’t allow any slippage.) Doing this, as opposed to folding clothes and putting them in drawers, will make everything visible and easier to retrieve.
4. Embrace the ‘fan fold’: If you must put your clothing in drawers, be sure to use the fan fold, which is placing clothing into the drawers like a fan (horizontally) instead of on top of one another in piles (vertically). This will allow you to see everything in the drawer.
5. Store jewelry out in the open: Hang those necklaces and earrings up on hooks or a pegboard instead of putting them into a traditional jewelry box. Remember: putting things out of sight basically renders them invisible, which means, to Smarts, that they no longer exist.
6. Do not, under any circumstances, keep any home office items (such as a desk or paperwork) in the bedroom. This will not only detract from the ‘bedroom as oasis’ idea, it will create chaos where there need be none. Dual purpose rooms are a no-no for Smarts. Read more about this rule in chapter ten of our book.

General Bedroom Closet Organization Tips

For all you non-INTJs, here are some generally good rules to follow when it comes to organizing your bedroom closet:

• Purge Your Wardrobe: This means going through everything (and we mean, every little thing in your closet) and deciding whether to keep it, toss it, or donate it. Need help from a trusted (and fashionable) friend? Get it! Just be sure to do these kinds of purges on a regular basis, otherwise things will become unmanageable very quickly.
• Install hooks on the back of the closet doors: This will eliminate, or at least lessen, the tendency to take clothing off and throw it over a chair or onto the floor. Just as easy to throw it onto a hook!
• Shoes go on shelves: This will make them easier to find than if they were in a pile on the floor of the closet.

These tips and tricks are just the start of making your master bedroom work for you, but if you are an INTJ (or Smart) personality type (have you taken our Pixie Personality Quiz yet?), these rules will be invaluable as you embark on your home organization journey.