Welcome to day 1 of the 5 days of organizing series! I'm getting the biggest, baddest, most intimidating one out of the way first. Closets.
Just how intimidating is going through your closet and organizing it? Well ... let's see ... the fella ran away from home around 8 or 9 months ago and I still haven't moved the things from my closet into his. (his closet was the smaller one in the bedroom, while mine was the larger walk in closet in the hall)
I've been wanting to/meaning to/hoping to/avoiding to move my seasonal clothes into the bedroom closet, while leaving the out of season clothes in the walk in. 3 seasons have passed without me doing this. I'm pretty much a great closet organizer avoider.
So while you read all of these posts this week, know that we're all the same. We all want to have an organized, perfect life and home, but we don't. But if you follow each of my 5 organizing posts this week we CAN be. For a little while, until the mess builds up again, anyway. Which in my book is better than nothing.
Organizing your closet isn't what you'd call brain surgery with a butter knife. It's pretty simple and we all know what has to be done. It's just that it's sometimes easier to do it when there's a list telling you exactly what to do. And a person you've never met before looking at you sternly from behind her computer screen.
So here is that list.
1. Identify what to do with each item.
- Keep
- Garbage
- Donate
- Reuse/recycle
Put everything into separate piles and deal with them immediately. Throw the garbage clothes in the garbage, wash and fold the donate pile and put it in a box (at the very least put it in a box and in the laundry room to wash and fold later), set aside things you know you can use for crafts and or projects later. More on things you should save and the things you can use them for later on in the post.
The clothes you keep are the ones you wear THAT a) look good on you b) are comfortable c) aren't hideously out of date or inappropriate. No matter how much you loved the dress you wore when you were 25 and how good it looked at the time, chances are 20 years later you look like a lunatic wearing it. Sorry. But, someone had to tell you.
2. Clean and decide how to categorize your clothing.
- Clean your closet.
- Buy or make shoe organizers.
- Decide whether to group your clothing by colour or season. (I do a combination of colour and season)
- Don't forget to use the back of your closet door for storage. Hanging hooks can hold purses, belts, jewellery or your housecoat.
- I *also* have a work category. Clothes that I can get paint, grease or goo on without worrying. These clothes go in their own drawer.
3. Put it all back.
- Hang pants and shirts.
- Fold sweaters and put on shelf or in drawers.
- Organize shoes. Do NOT keep them in their boxes. Out of site, out of mind. Even if you do that super-organized thing and take a picture of the shoes and paste it on the outside of the box, you'll wear them less than if you can just see and grab the shoes. We're all pretty lazy at heart.
A shot of my larger closet "before" ...
A shot of my larger closet "after" ...
Tips from my Closet
* Try EVERYTHING on. It'll remind you of how much you love or hate something. Looking at it doesn't work. Put it on!
(to make it less overwhelming, grab an armful of hangers and go through that pile. Try on, separate into piles, put keepers aside, repeat.)
* Put a pair of neutral heels on and try all of your dresses on at once. It's just easier. To clarify, I don't mean put one dress on top of the other until you're wearing all of your dresses.
* If you're iffy on something put it in your keep pile. Then when you put everything back in your closet, go through everything again. After trying everything on you might decide that thing you were iffy on is actually a throw away.
There are a few ways you can recycle old clothing into new crap!
SWEATERS!
Sweaters that don't fit, have holes or you don't like anymore?
Turn them into grocery bags ...
... or pillows! (like Centsational Girl did)
Jeans
Jeans too tight? Jeans too ugly?
Turn them into a hanging pencil holder.
Old shirts
Cruddy old shirts?
Turn them into MORE grocery bags!
Or cut the fabric out and use them as embroidery hoop wall hangings.
Hanging Embroidery Hoop Hanging tutorial
Approximate time for project: Well for me it took a whole day. But you're much better at keeping an organized closet than I am so I'm sure it'll only take you a few hours. If your closet is exactly as big a disaster as mine is ... give yourself the weekend.
On a side note, it'll take you a lot less time if you make a real effort to stay focused.
I made no such effort. You might say as I went through my closet I got a bit distracted going through all the stuff I found in there. Mind you ... I was just sticking to my rule of trying everything on.
Consider yourselves warned.
Have your own tips? Tricks? Let everyone know.
Feral Turtle
This is too ambitious for me today. (dentist appointment) In fact I think I will do this next week as I have to leave for a few days to dog-sit. (this is not an excuse...honest)
Katie
So good! Six hours later and I have been through three closets and two dressers! Excited about the rest of the week!
Karen
Good job! The closets were the bigget job so it should be a piece of cake for you from here on in! ~ karen
Carolyn
I love the black wig on you, the second one. You look like Betty. Scarey.... I noticed your favorite color is blue.
And I love all the ideas of what to do with old clothes. thank you...
You need to go shopping.... You are so pretty. Get something sexy, or fresh. It will make you feel good.
Karen
LOL! People HAVE to stop saying that second picture looks like Betty! It looks nothing like Betty! She'd be mortified. Betty wouldn't be caught dead looking like that, lol! Oh! And thank you. Off to buy something new soon. ~ karen!
Debbie
I, too, confess to being a closet neatnik (yup, you can take that two ways).
I wear hats and every hat is in a hat box on the top shelf , two boxes high(yeah, the closet is a nice size). I have one of those small stepstools that fold right up when you pick up the handle to reach them and it stores away with a slim footprint. There is a photo of every hat on the front of the box. Just in case I want to switch boxes, each photo is in a plastic sleeve that is velcroed to each box. I can switch photos or switch plastic sleeves.
Jennifer
Well I guess I'm just anal. I have taken photos of my shoes and taped them to the end of the shoe boxes. I don't forget what I have because they're right in front of me, on the shelves below my sweaters. Since I keep good shoes and boots for many years, the boxes prevent the leather from drying out. To add insult to injury, I also stuff the toes with tissue and use paper to separate the shoes inside the box. It cuts down on scuffs. Sorry, you had to know there's one of us in every crowd. Love your wigs:-))
Laura Bee
So, now I know what I am doing on my day off tomorrow. Ack. Awesome.
Thanks for the laugh & the inspiration & guidance through this journey I am about to embark on.
Kristin
I heard a good tip (may be redundant--you have too many damn readers who comment and I can't read them all!)
After you organize your closet to your satisfaction, hang all your clothes back up with the hangers facing to the front. Over the course of the year, every time you wear something, put it back in the closet facing back again. At the end of the year, you will see which clothes you actually wore (the ones with hangers facing the usual way, towards the back), and can then decide to get rid of the things you never wear. Of foolishly hang on to them for sentimental reasons.
Karen
Heh. I think you're the 5th one to leave that tip. Damn readers. :) ~ karen!
Maryanne
Great tips Karen!!!
My favorite tip is using pool noodles as inserts in your boots. Cut to fit.
Dollar store finds in the summer.
Karen
That *IS* brilliant! ~ karen
Melody
Well, here's what I did. We have a 3-bedroom house and only really use 1 (one is for guests, theoretically). I took the one we had been using as a 'junk room' and made it into a closet. I should note that we have an older house and only a couple of dinky reach in closets otherwise. I spent a week at it, but I got rid of 10 (TEN) bags of clothes and organized everything. One year later, it still is working great. Bonus - I can see everything and now put together combinations I hadn't tried before. Having enough space for everything really changed my ability to keep it neat and tidy.
Denna
I saw two empty spots on your shoe racks, that means shoe shopping
Jamieson
The lighter wig somehow makes you look like Nurse Jackie! The world does not need to find out how many wigs are in my tickle trunks. Every house should have at least one wig per guest!
Karen
Genuinely laughed out loud at one wig per guest. Wait. You have more than one tickle trunk? ~ karen!
jenny
When storing shoes on shelves, you can get more room by turning one shoe the opposite direction (like they would be in the box) instead of having both shoes facing the same direction.
Noelle Smith
Thanks doll!
Pati Gulat
Karen, would you believe that before I read READ this, I cleaned my closet out today ???? You and I are so in tune !! Wanna go out for coffee ?? Since I live in LA....I'll make it easy on ya & meet cha halfway...I'll be the one sitting on the side of I-95, waving ! Lol
jamie
Oh yay! I adore an organized closet...for fun I went to to my sister's and organized 2 of hers a couple weeks ago. My closet, my purse and my silverware drawer are my tidy organized spots. The rest of my world is a mess. I can't wait for the rest of the posts. :)
Stefanie Barrett
Thank you for showing the before picture. I didn't know other people lived like I do. It gives me hope.
Noelle
On my way! Packing stuff for value village as I type ( sort of) so i'll do that and come grab it. Thx!
Karen
No problem! Just grab it off the porch! ~ karen
Erika
I just picked up one of those hanging shoe organizers (you know, the one with 24 pockets) and hung it on the inside of my closet door. I put my scarfs each in a pocket, and then did the same with my tights (separated by color), ped socks, knee-highs (yes, apparently I am an 80 year old woman), etc. each in their own pockets. Much better than jammed into my sock and underwear drawers!
Wendy
I don't want to toot my own horn . . . but I am already really good at closet organizing. I purge every other season. I get rid of things that are pilled, pulled, annoying or depress me. I never regret, and I always figure it costs more emotionally to hold on to something than it does to keep it because I spent a lot on it. We all make clothing purchase mistakes . . . do we have to keep them too!?
The rest of my house is pretty crazy. Too many toys. Too much weird stuff in my basement.
I am very good with my things . . . not so good with my husband's or my kids'.
Noelle Smith
I see someone else with an old house beat me to the "no closet" joke. My reluctance to organize my clothes is a concern as to where my poor cats will sleep if I actually get the clothes out of the Ikea bags, and laundry baskets in which clothes often reside. I'm trying to turn the basement into a huge walk in closet with rolling racks of shoes and clothes, but I have to clean the basement first... ;/
Karen
Well the nice little rack with shelves on the bottom you see in the before picture is on my front porch and up for grabs right now if you want to start your basement now! ~ karen