Happy Monday, y’all!
I’m proud to announce that I did it. I got off my butt this weekend and tackled the beast that has been greeting me every morning for weeks. The beast that was my master bedroom closet:
Good Lord that’s a lot of stuff!!
Now, let’s just be clear…showing you my before closet is extremely embarrassing. I am an organizing freak, so the fact that I let this room get this out of control is like letting you see me naked. But, the fact is, life gets busy with a family and there are rooms and areas that just get out of control sometimes. And, here it is, the sad truth…it’s a disaster!
It took most of my day Sunday, but I dug deep and got rid of a ton of stuff I didn’t need.
Even though I still have a lot of things, I feel a thousand pounds lighter. And, after getting everything orderly and organized and I can see what I own and it makes me feel like I have new clothing choices – yay!
I didn’t change my basic organizational structure too much, I finessed and tweaked, but mostly I just edited and cleaned. It had been waaay too long.
Whenever I organize, I try to keep a few simple things in mind. These principles have served me well whether I have had a walk-in or a standard closet. So today, I’m going to share my basic organizational principles with you.
Categorize:
After I’m all done editing and I know what I’m going to keep, the first thing I do is sort all my clothes in to categories:
- Dresses
- Slacks
- Jeans
- Sleeveless shirts
- Short-sleeved shirts
- Long-sleeved shirts
- Sweaters
- Jackets
- etc.
And then within those groups, I sort them by color or color families.
I do the same with my drawers (although not so much into colors but you could).
For example, I have one drawer that houses all my yoga/workout clothes, and one drawer for swimsuits, one for shorts, etc.
To Hang or Not to Hang?
After I’ve sorted my clothes in categories, I decide what is going to hang and what isn’t. This may be dictated by the amount of space your have in either your closet or your dresser, but I like to hang more things than fold. So, if I have the space, I hang it up. Yes, even t-shirts! Why? I don’t like to iron and folded things can get wrinkled easily, so I like to hang. Very often the things I have folded are things that don’t need much ironing.
What I do fold, I fold as neatly as I can and sort by category and color. And, yes, I do own an iron — see it there all neatly tucked away? I use it as little as possible – ha! See the blue bottle next to it? Downy Wrinkle Release — a girl’s best friend. (Smile.)
Choose Your Hangers Wisely
Not all my hangers match, but I will get there one day. Matching hangers makes everything look neater. Right now I have a combination of metal and clear plastic hangers mixed with standard white plastic hangers.
I have my eye on those nice-looking velvet hangers that I keep seeing at Home Goods. It looks like they wouldn’t leave the little shoulder marks and stuff wouldn’t fall off either but, hey, not a big priority in my life at the moment!
Keep Things Within Easy Reach
This tip is somewhat geared toward those of us with walk-in closets but it’s also true for “regular” closets.
When arranging your things, think about how you get dressed in the morning and what you are reaching for all the time. For example, I get dressed inside my closet. When we first moved here I kept my perfume in my bathroom. I found that I was constantly going out into the bathroom to find my perfume. I ended up moving it inside my closet so it is now handy where I get dressed.
I also keep things that I wear all the time at an easy-to-reach height. My cowboy hat, for example, only gets worn when I volunteer at the rodeo for Junior League so it’s way up high in my closet. (Hey, this is Texas — yes, I own a cowboy hat!)
And, because we don’t have a basement in our home, this closet stores seasonal items like our ski gear and luggage. Again, we keep it up higher because we only need to access it once or twice a year.
Corral Things Together with Bins and Organizers
I never met an organizer I didn’t like. Well, that’s probably not completely true, but I absolutely love bins, baskets and organizers.
Some of my storage organizers come from the store and some are things I find around the house.
Shoe boxes make great baskets. You can either use it as-is or jazz it up with wrapping paper!
Neatness Counts
I find this especially true for shoes. Keep your shoes neat and put away and you’ll always be able to find the other shoe! Simple, right?!
I also decided this go-round that I wasn’t going to keep my shoes in shoe-boxes anymore. I find that I just don’t bother to put them back that way. With all my shoes exposed like this, I’m going to have to actually dust them. Yes — dust my shoes! Just the ones I don’t wear during the off-season, though. Weird.
Create Extra Space
This last tip is an important one for me. And, I’m going to add a few more of these “extra” spaces in my own closet this week.
I’m talking about hooks and places to hang a bathrobe, a purse or clothes you wore for two minutes and will wear again tomorrow kinds of things. You know what I’m talking about? Like when I wear a pair of yoga pants to walk my kid to school and I don’t want to fold them and put them back with the clean clothes, but I’ll probably wear them again tomorrow and don’t want to throw them on the floor…see what I’m saying?
I currently have one hook for my bathrobe and pajamas so I find that I’m often leaving the aforementioned items on the floor to pile up. Not great. So, number one on my Lowe’s list is to get a couple of hooks for those extra items.
And there you have it — my top closet organizing tips.
Are you ready to get organized?
Next, I’m on to the pantry…
Linking up to:
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Between Naps on the Porch
Uncommon Designs
Cedar Hill Ranch
Between Naps on the Porch
Uncommon Designs
Cedar Hill Ranch
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Looks Great! I’d give anything for a closet like that!
I’m visiting you today from C.R.A.F.T. I hope you get a chance to stop by my blog and leave a comment and Link Up, too!
~ Megin of VMG206
Spring Hello
It looks amazing. I just need that much closet space to begin with. lol Hugs, Marty
Looks fantastic! I did the same thing but on a smaller scale this weekend. Our AT&T Uverse system was out this weekend so we had no phone, TV, or internet. Can you imagine? It forced me to work on my closet and take some things out. The back of my car is full of bags now.
Isn’t it a good feeling?
I’m just dying to see how your dining room is coming along. I didn’t miss the finish did I?
I have “velvet covered hangers”. I have found that if you buy the cheaper ones the dye comes through to your clothing. ‘Joy Mangano” line of these hangers have proven to be colour-safe. Another few that I purchased at Winners are NOT colour-safe-these I use specifically for my darker hang-ups. (There are a few “bumps” at the shoulders no matter which hanger).
Nice job Julie! Love an organized closet too!
joan
I am IM-PRESSED! Maybe I’ll actually tackle my closet someday
Hey!
I love your blog! I’m so happy I found it!! I’m adding you to my favorites! I can’t wait to move into my new home, get in my closet and organize it like you did! Come visit me on my blog sometime!
Toodles-
Sarah
Loved seeing how you did your closet. I wish mine was that big, might be ,but I’m sharing with DH so it’s a little tight but we can work it out. Thanks for some ideas…
Great tips and advice, thanks for sharing – I really need to tackle our wardrobes!
That is impressive – and what a great closet!
Looks great!! I know what you mean, when I re-organized my closet I felt the same way. It was SO out of control which was not at all what anyone would expect. You did an awesome job!!
Sherry
http://www.thelifeofthepartyblog.com/2012/09/master-bedroom-closet-organization-part-4.html
Love your blog, the theme is so sweet and this post is great for helping out! Check out my blog too please
http://designsquared2homestaging.blogspot.ca/