Be Merciless!

If you've been following our blog for a while you know that we've moved twice in the last year.  One of the things that I learned in that experience is that I really needed to work on being more organized.  We had so much stuff and there wasn't a lot of order to our home.  When we moved from Virginia to Connecticut we doubled the size of our house.  Sadly, our stuff just seemed to multiply to fill the space.  Our home in Georgia is somewhere in between those two homes and I, armed only with my label maker, am determined to change all that!  

I decided to document my challenge of the master closet.  I love our master bedroom and bath and wanted the closet to feel calm and like an extension of the space I already enjoy.  I think I had been waiting for a large chunk of time to do something major, like clean out a closet.  This experience taught me that as a mother of two boys under 4, that "large chunk" of time is an hour.  Take it or leave it.  So it took me about 5 weeks to finish, but I'm so glad I did.  The feeling I get walking into our closet is very different now.  

There were two main issues with our closet.  There were too many clothes in it and we weren't using the space or organizing tools effectively.  

It started with a merciless attack on our clothes (mainly mine.)  I have had a really hard time letting go of my pre-pregnancy clothes for the most part.  I'm not sure why, but I have held on to a number of things that I will never be able to wear with dignity again.  I'm okay with how I look as a mom and I think it's time to purge a bit.  So, I took several days to go through my clothes and get rid of a bag or two at a time.  

I mainly put clothes into 3 categories, using simple paper bags.  Cleaners or Repair.  Consignment.  Charity.  I sorted carefully through my clothing to find the pieces that were name brand, and not worn or damaged to go to an upscale consignment store.  The rest went to a local charity.  (Be sure and itemize anything you donate for your tax records.)

Altogether I have pulled at least 8-10 bags of clothes and shoes out of my closet.  If it didn't get worn this season it had to go.  My only exception was formal or semi-formal attire because we only get dressed up a couple times a year.  But I really tried to be merciless with the rest of my closet.  If it didn't get worn this past season, it didn't get to stay.  

The next thing I did was break out my label maker.  I had purchased all these bins to use above our hanging rack when we first moved last fall, but both my husband and I had simply thrown clothes up in them with no rhyme or reason.  It was messy and disorderly.  I looked at what we both had to organize and chose a bin for each category.  Then labeled the bins so that we could see what was in them.  I also moved an extra step stool into the closet to stay so that accessing them would be easy for me.  (Not really an issue for my 6'2" husband but I'm a whole foot shorter.)

Here are the results:

I think matching hangers are important to making a closet look orderly.  I really like the Huggable Hangers you can buy at Target.  I have been buying them a few packages at a time every time they go on sale.  Eventually I plan on replacing all of our hangers with them.  Until then, we also have white plastic.  (But NO WIRE HANGERS!  Sorry.  I couldn't resist!)

I tried to consider what gets worn the most.  My husband wears a uniform to work daily, so it made sense to create a place for that and the hats he wears most often.  By making it easy for him to put things in a proper place, he is much more likely to be interested in keeping the closet looking nice.  If it's too difficult for either of us, the organization won't last very long.

One of the only things I purchased for the closet redo was a large plastic bin for all of our extra baggage.  Our large suitcases are in the garage, but we needed a place for totes and backpacks and the smaller luggage that gets used for day outings or short trips.  It fit nicely in the back corner out of the way under some lesser worn clothing.  

Lastly, I tried to organize our clothing by type.  Short sleeve to long sleeve.  Clothes are easier to find when you know where to look.  Plus, they look more orderly which creates that feeling of calm I was trying to achieve.  I think I did it too.  Now I just have to do this to all the closets and the garage and the kitchen cabinets and...  

Do you see anything you think could help you to organize a space in your home?  

See any spots I've missed in my closet?  I'd love some input on making it even more organized!

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