ORGANIZATION WEEK TWO – YOUR CLOSET

There is nothing quite as beautiful as a well-organized closet. Seeing all of your clothes neatly lined up on beautiful hangers, your shoes marching in a row and your bags and scarves perfectly stored is the ultimate organizational high. This state of nirvana is not easily attained but once you reach it you will never leave. 

Being a “neat nick” at heart I have tried many ways to hang, fold and stash my clothes. My closet space has ranged from the size of a small door to the walk in I have now. I have bought rack systems, hanging pieces and shoe organizers by the dozens. But still it seemed as if the clutter in my closet was multiplying. I swear it was channeling those Tribbles on Star Trek that reproduce every time you turn your back. I would open my closet door and my wardrobe would attack me. I kept saying, someday I will have a big enough space to organize everything. But that “someday” never seemed to come.

Then the most amazing thing happened. A friend of mine bought me a starter set of wooden hangers for my birthday. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with my closet (yes, I quoted Casablanca on purpose). I wanted my closet to be worthy of those wooden beauties so I set out to create an organized space that adapted to any size closet and didn’t involve thousands of dollars. The result is what you see here, an inviting, accessible system that can adapt to any space or shopping spree.   

 

 

 

Let me walk you through the basics:

1. Make your closet space inviting by painting it a pretty, soothing color that will showcase your wardrobe. I happen to love blue.
2. Purchase good, matching hangers. Why matching you ask? It adds to the overall feeling of uniformity and style and helps your eye to focus on your clothes and not the jumble of different hangers.
3. Invest in bins – clear, wire, with lids, without it really doesn’t matter. The key is to find the right sizes for your needs and to be able to see what they hold without opening them. My bins hold my t-shirts, workout pants, scarves and undergarments. Everything else I hang up as I like to be able to access my daily wear clothes without any fuss.
4. Make space for your shoes. This may involve allocating existing shelves like I have done or purchasing good shoe racks. It is important to store your shoes neatly to help them retain their shape and last longer. Some people like to go the extra step and put them all in bins with pictures on the front to identify what is in them. This is a good option if you don’t mind un-stacking and opening bins every time you get dressed. I suffer from “shoe indecision” so I would undoubtedly end up with 20 bins and 20 pairs of shoes strewn over the closet floor every time I get ready. Knowing this about myself, I keep it simple.
5. Finally, take the time to put up pictures, find interesting knick knacks and line drawers with scented paper to pretty up your closet. This makes it more than just a space to house your clothes. It makes it somewhere you enjoy hanging out while you play dress up.  

Once you have all this in place you can get down to the business of hanging, folding and stacking until your closet is just the way you want it.

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter this week as I post ideas for great bins and hangers to set you on the road to the perfect closet.

http://www.facebook.com/SignatureServicesLA

@castuttle