Let’s talk Closet Organizing today!
Yesterday I was trying on some clothes when a man accidentally drew back the curtain of my dressing room, of course while I was standing there in my panties trying to pull a shirt on over my head and talking on my phone! I let out a big scream and pulled the curtain back as fast as I could and also got off my phone. No fun at all. I’m sure I scared him as much as he scared me!
On the topic of clothes, I recently helped a friend organize her closet. It was a blast! And yes, I’m weird. I get all excited helping people weed through their stuff. We spent two mornings going through every piece of her clothing. We probably hauled away at least a dozen sacks for donation. Ahhhhhh….it felt good!
Let me show you what we did for this closet organization project and I’ll share some tips at the end too!
Before
In her closet room, which is dedicated to only her clothes: she has two closets, all her shoes, and two dressers.
Closet in room number one has two sides. Here is the right side.
And the left side.
I give Rhina big props for having some great systems in place and she also has fantastic taste in clothes!
From the purse holder, to the over the door hanger, to the baskets designed to hold scarves and accessories, she had some put some serious thought into setting up her closets.
She also uses two closets in her daughter’s room. Here is the right side.
And the left side.
Rhina was using the closets in this room to hold more of her professional and dress clothes. Ready for the after?!?
After
First up, we tackled the shoes. We went through every single pair and also brought the flats and flip-flops that were in the over the door hanger and added them to the rack. She said goodbye to around 20 pairs of shoes and also took time to wash and clean a few pairs. Doesn’t it look nice?
After reorganizing things better all of her shoes were corralled and all in one place.
Room number one’s closet, the right side.
We ditched the purse hangers, they were not allowing her to close the closet doors and she also needed to purge a bit when it came to her purse collection. We were able to store and organize the purses on the shelf below the hanging clothes and also use the drawers. This rack holds all of her casual tops. Notice the hangers are now turned around backwards. (We have a Skype call scheduled for October to check on which hangers are still turned around, then I’ll cheer her on to do some more purging then.)
Turn hangers around, then in six months see which hangers are still turned around.
And…the left side.
Look what we did! The shoe rack became a better holding spot for all of her pretty scarves and we used the baskets to hold her thicker scarves. On this rack she has her casual pants and casual dresses.
Displaying accessories makes it easier to remember to accessorize your outfits.
We also addressed her two sets of drawers and purged a lot from these as well. And made the top surfaces all nice and clean.
Last up, room number two’s closet, the right side, now holds all of her coats.
The middle section holds all of her formal wear.
And the left side has her professional clothing. Her formal and professional wardrobe is now streamlined enough that we were able to leave the hangers alone.
Rhina was doing some things really well and I was impressed with the systems she already had in place. However she does have a lot of clothes and that can make keeping things more organized more challenging.
Here are my tips on how not to organize your closet.
Five Common Closet Organizing Mistakes
- Accumulating too many clothes. Less IS more, period. Work to streamline your closet. Whenever you try on something to wear from your closet and it doesn’t feel right or doesn’t have anything to go with it, put it in a holding sack and see if you reach for it again in the next 3-6 months. If not say goodbye!
- Holding on to clothing you might wear someday. Live your lifestyle now. Wherever you are now: physically, vocationally, or location, organize your wardrobe to match your needs for your life now.
- Keeping clothes that are worn out. Our favorite clothing items are usually pieces we have a harder time parting with, and often they are have passed their prime. It’s important to do regular assessments of your clothing and look at the pieces that are overly faded and worn out, and then get rid of them.
- Burying clothes out of sight. Baskets and bins have their place, but make sure you are not keeping things hidden and then not wearing them. Rotate seasonally, yes, but storing and then not remembering you are storing them, no.
- Shopping with no intention. Shopping is fun, but often shopping leads to buying more pieces which end up not having partners to match them. Shop off of a list and you’ll save yourself time and money.
For more clothing inspiration you’ll want to check out my capsule wardrobe tips too.
Happy Organizing!
