Alright, so most people do a yearly “spring cleaning” where they clean out their closets, donate clothes they haven’t worn in a while, etc.
Well – this year, I’m doing it a little earlier, since I am going to start a new job soon, just bought new clothes (Losing weight = good. Need to buy all new clothes = bad) and have no room in my closet to hang the clothes (nor do I have any hangers left).
Before:
Donate
I started my organizing endeavor by going through my closet and taking out everything I hadn’t worn in at least 1 year, or no longer fit. Sadly, there were actually a lot of things that I had never worn – mostly things that were given to be as gifts that I never got around to exchanging. I took those items out & put them into a bag to be donated. {Note: Whenever I make a donation, I also ask my mom & sisters to go through their things as well, that way we can all do good!}
Consolidate
Next, I went through my things & took out anything that could be folded and put into my dresser drawers. For some reason I had a lot of shirts in there that could definitely be folded up & tucked away – basically anything I would wear with jeans & didn’t need to be hung up.
Organize
Finally, I went through and put the color-coding system back in place – with the exception of my Ralph Lauren long-sleeved button up shirts. Since those have stripped and are multi-colored, I grouped them together by themselves (it was too hard to decide if a shirt a shirt belong with the pinks or greens, blues or whites). Before, I had all of my short-sleeved shirts grouped together, and all of my long-sleeved shirts grouped together. After going through everything, I sorted the short-sleeved shirts back into the color sections that they belonged in.
Also, while I was organizing, I took care of the top shelf. I put purses back in their dust bags, and put my large Vera Bradley overnight bag into my L.L.Bean Tote Bag to save space. I piled my hats/gloves/sunglasses neatly together in the middle of the shelf, and made sure the [empty] Coach boxes were all stacked sturdily.
After:
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| Color-coading system is back in action! |
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| Top shelf is organized and pretty. |
Read more about my organization system (including what’s up with all the plastic bins) after the jump!
The shelf above my clothes has purses/wallets, sunglasses, suitcases/overnight bags, hats, gloves, etc. I try to keep all of my purses/wallets in their dust bags, and if they don’t have a dust bag, then in the small plastic container on the shelf. For some reason I also keep the boxes that they came in (Coach, as you can see). All the boxes are empty, but they’re so pretty/sturdy that I just can’t bear the toss them (I guess I’ve got a little bit of a pat-rat tendency).
Shoes are kept in a shoe organizer on the back of my bedroom door (for high heels) or in the wicker basket on the floor of my closet (Uggs, flats, sneakers, boots). My Hunter boots, since they aren’t very flexible, kind of just stand on the floor of my closet.
In the set of plastic drawers in my closet I keep all of my toiletries (makeup, hairdryer, brushes, extra deodorants, razors, soaps, bandaids, medicines, etc.) and extra sheets and towels.
I stuck all of my extra hangers (… which I had none of before!) in a bag & placed it on the floor next to my hamper, so I didn’t take up space on the clothes bar.