The
Closet
For the most part I am honestly
pretty organized. I do have to admit
from time to time things do get thrown into a pile, rather than being placed in
their proper spots. Eventually, the pile
grows to the point that I can no longer stand looking at it and I am forced to
sift through it and put things where they belong. Does this cycle sound familiar to
anyone? I actually have taken the time
to create a space for several of the items in our home. At times it is so much easier to just toss
items in a pile rather than ‘find’ their proper space. I became overwhelmed with the contents of our
home. We just had too much
STUFF!
After Christmas I began
cleaning, de- cluttering, and reorganizing our home. Who needs soap from a hotel stay that
occurred 3 years ago? If it hasn’t been
used in 3 years, am I really going to use it?!
Why am I hanging onto this stuff?
As difficult as it was I really had to force myself to stop and think
about many things we had collected or accumulated in our home. I’m not sure why, but for some reason I was
feeling even more overwhelmed with stuff than normal. Oh that’s right, at Christmas time you are
given more items to add to the already overflowing pile of stuff. In my opinion this is the perfect reason to
take a look at what can stay and what needs to go!
I needed to get rid of things
that we simply did not use or need. I
gave myself permission to part ways with many ‘things’ I was holding onto. I’m not going to lie, at first it was hard to
just toss things, but in the end I had to put this all into proper perspective .
. . these were just things. They were
not serving a purpose and in the long run they were taking away from the little
precious family time we have. If I don’t
put things away the junk pile accumulates.
At some point I am eventually forced to deal with the pile rather than
doing something more enjoyable. The junk
also takes up space that could be used for materials we do actually need and
use.
Armed with garbage bags and a
sharpie I began my mission in the closet.
I labeled 3 garbage bags: Trash, Donate, and Garage Sale. I am into labeling. Labeling helps to define what belongs in a
specific container and eliminates just tossing items into a container which will
eventually result in the over flow problem.
My clothes were the first items to be evaluated. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I
actually had many items I used to wear in high school . . . wow, really?! I graduated from high school 10 years ago; I
think it’s time to say GOOD BYE clothes!
Another problem I have when it comes to my clothes is, that I tell myself
I could wear them again someday . . . well someday hasn’t come in the last 7
years that I have been married; I don’t think it’s coming anytime soon! –LET IT
GO, SISTER! While I was sifting through
items I added a 4th bag and
labeled it, Downstairs. I put items in
this bag that needed to be put away downstairs.
When all the de-cluttering was said and done I had 3 bags of stuff to
donate, 1 bag of trash, part of a bag filled with things to put away downstairs,
and 1 small garage sale bag. It blew my
mind that all of this stuff came just from my
closet!
Ok so the de-cluttering was
done, now that’s a step in the right direction!
Next, I moved on to straightening and re-arranging. Basically this means finding a specific
‘Home’ for items and labeling where necessary.
On the left wall, as you walk
into the closet, my husband added 4 shelves shortly after we moved in. His
clothes are on the top 2 shelves (because I can't reach them) and mine are on
the bottom 2.
I sorted through my clothes
and those that made the cut were organized and neatly stacked as you see. I
have to give my husband credit because when he saw me going through the closet
he took it upon himself to do the same. I only sorted and organized my stuff,
he did his own!
Continuing around the closet
to the right of the shelves are my hanging clothes. I sorted the clothes
according to type and then by color. For example, you will notice that all of
my camisoles and tank tops are grouped together. They are then sorted by
color. All of the green together, blue together, etc. Grouping them like this
eliminates some searching time in the morning when I am trying to find a
specific item. On the shelf in between the 2 hanging racks I have 2 baskets
with tights, pantie hoses, leggings, and trouser socks in them. I don't have
room in the dresser for these things and it was hard to find specific colors so
I put them in baskets. I added labels to the baskets as well. My boots are in
boxes on the floor under the lower rack of hanging
clothes.
My husband added shelves on this wall for our laundry baskets. The top basket is for towels and sheets. The next basket is lights and finally the bottom basket is for darks. Sorting items when we are finished with them eliminates having to do a whole bunch before starting laundry. We also hang our empty hangers in the space above the baskets so we don't have to search for hangers when it's time to put clean laundry away.
My husband has a million hats! He claims that that I have too many shoes. I guess he is to hats as I am to shoes! Anyway, I put some of those Command hooks (you know the kind that you can take down without leaving a mark) up for him to hang his hats from.
My husband's side . . . the
final wall! His clothes are arranged like mine, by item and then by color. I
have to confess, I actually got the idea from him. He arranges his by color
because he is color blind. It helps him to have like colors together. I put
hooks on this wall for his belts.
You may have noticed the
hanging organize with the Vera bags. If you did notice it I'm sure you're
thinking, wow her husband uses Vera bags!? Rest assure, he does not! Those are
mine. I didn't have room on my side of the closet for, so he shared. What a
nice guy! I got the organizer at Target in the dollar spot (it was actually
$2.50). I used to keep the bags on the top shelf, but it was difficult for me
to reach them that high.
Ta-Da! The closet is DONE! On to the bathroom next. Please let me know what you think and share any organizing tips you may have
