Do you still have your prom dress in your closet just in case you need a black tie outfit? Are you hanging on to your favourite pair of jeans until they fit you again? Are some of your double-breasted, shoulder padded suits gathering dust? Spring is just around the corner and it’s time to purge our closets!
Start by evaluating your space. If your budget allows, hire a closet organization company to come to your home and help you get the most out of your closets. Or you may prefer the more economical route of purchasing a closet system kit that you install yourself. Consider double hanging rods, shelving for t-shirts and sweaters and cubbies for shoes and purses. Either way you are going to achieve the same result – your clothing will be easier to access and will stay wrinkle free. Remember to utilize the closet doors as well – hooks are a great place to hang your robes, belts or even jewelry.
The first step to organizing anything is to start from scratch so you’ll need to take everything out of your closet in order to evaluate what should stay and what needs to go. Create piles in your room according to clothing type – blouses, pants, sweaters, skirts etc. If you come across items that you know you are going to donate to charity put them in their own pile. Also create a pile for items that are torn, stained or stretched to be thrown away. Be ruthless with your sorting and editing – try everything on and invite your most honest friend to ensure that you aren’t keeping things that you shouldn’t (like the above-mentioned prom dress!).
So now you have your new closet system installed and you have gotten rid of all of the clothes that don’t make you feel fabulous but what you have left is a giant heap on your bed. Put them away as they were sorted – keeping like with like. Turn all of your hangers in one direction and for the next six months flip the hanger (and leave it flipped) when you wear something. If items are untouched at the end of the six months, donate them. It is also important to switch your seasonal items so that the current items are the most accessible.
In terms of your children’s closets – be sure to either have a bin ready for hand-me-downs or donations so that as soon as they grow out of something there is a place for it. Kids tend to have fewer hanging clothes than adults so be sure to use any extra space in their closets for storing toys and books. As usual, baskets are a great way to keep items organized and allow kids to put things away easily on their own.
To keep your wardrobe current and your closets organized, be sure to sort thru ALL of your closets with each change of season. And please don’t keep that favourite pair of jeans from when you were sixteen hanging around taking up precious space hoping you will fit into them again one day – instead hit the mall and buy yourself a snazzy new pair that fit you right now!
I like how the cloths are even colour coded in Julie’s closet.
I find the most frustrating thing with kids closets is getting them to keep a closet neat after you spend so much time organizing it. Do you have them roll the close versus folding it?:)
Um, this is something I REALLY should get on. REALLY.
Your closets are divine. I need you to come by and do some more of that with my kitchen.
Great tips! Once your closet is organized, it’s also easier to maintain and update your personal style. When I conduct a Wardrobe Workout with clients, it’s amazing once the closet cleanup part is done, how many new ways we find to combine and wear great pieces of clothing we find in there. It’s like going shopping without spending too much!
It may seem overwhelming at first but once you’ve taken the initial steps to sort, purge etc. it is surprisingly quite a manageable task! You just have to commit to keep the process going on a regular basis. As moms of young children, both Fiona and I certainly understand the challenges of maintaining this level of organization but it can be done – these photos are of my own closets!
In your dreams! This just does not happen unless you are the only person living in your home.
You have got to be kidding me that someone’s closet ACTUALLY looks like this! Wow…I am really embarassed now. Help.