Clutterbugs: Making Your Closet Work
Most closet organizing articles focus on throwing stuff away. Sometimes that is a necessary step, but not always. I mean, you paid a lot of money for those clothes and at some point, you really liked them, so I'm not always in favor of throwing stuff out. However, you do need your closet to be functional and organized.
First of all, take a good hard look at your closet. Is it crammed to the max? Is stuff thrown in there haphazardly? Do you have enough shelves and hangers for the things you need? Can you clearly see what you have, so you can quickly put outfits together? These are the types of problems we are going to look at today.
What Should be in Your Closet: The only items that should be in your closet are clothes that fit, are appropriate for the season, are in good repair, and are items that you like and look good in.
What Shouldn't be in Your Closet: Everything else!
Most organizational experts swear by the idea that you should throw out anything that doesn't fit you. I'm sorry, but I think that is just dumb. It is a fact of life that people's weight goes up and down throughout their lives, sometimes by a wide margin. So if you are throwing out the clothes that are too small, you are setting yourself up for a big hit to your budget if you throw them out. Same thing for the big clothes. It is sadly possible that you may eat your way back into them and if you don't have them around, you are likely to wear your too-small clothes past the point of decency because you can't bear to go out and buy that larger size.
So my advice is to keep them, but not in your everyday closet. They are taking up valuable real estate you need for today's clothes. One idea is to store them under the bed in your suitcases. You can put them temporarily in a clean laundry basket if you want to take a trip and then pop them back in the suitcases when you come back. Or if you've been on a cruise, it may be time to bring out those big mama outfits for a while! Or rubbermaid tubs in the garage or storage area. I've tried those space saver bags and actually some of my skinny jeans are languishing in some of them right now!
Same thing with out of season clothes. No one wants to be digging through capris and tank tops in chilly January. Move them out if you can, or at least rotate them to the back part of the closet. If items need repair, either take them somewhere, set aside a sewing day, or toss them out. You might accidentally wear them and get all the way to work before you realize there is a hole in a very awkward place - I've done it before!
Another category I forgot to mention is dressy clothes. If you're like me, dressy occasions are few and far between, but you do need to have a few nice outfits for those special occasions. I keep a small section way at the back for my few dressy outfits and also for a few sentimental pieces that I'll never fit into again, but have special meaning for me.
I should just take some pictures of them and release them to people who would enjoy them, but I feel I can spare the room for them at this point because I have gotten rid of a lot of excess clothing to me a little extra breathing room for them. I do use those dry cleaner bags for those pieces because they get a little dusty sitting back there. However, my square dance clothes are another story. We haven't danced in years and aren't likely to soon, but square dance clothes are hard to find, so I have them in a Rubbermaid tub, just in case we get bit by the dancing bug again.
OK, now that you are down to your core wardrobe, it's time to organize it so you can see what you have. Everyone has a different way of doing this, so you need to figure out what makes the most sense to you. You can organize by style, color, type of clothing, or work vs. weekend wear. That is up to you. However, it is helpful if you can group items of similar types together. For instance, if you have five black T-shirts, it's helpful to keep them all together so you can see if one or two could be decluttered, or at least so you don't buy three more of them!
For organizing accessories, I think Ikea is the place to go. They have a ton of inexpensive ideas for organizing shoes, scarves, necklaces, socks, and anything else you care to organize. I have a couple of very pretty green & white striped boxes from Ikea that hold most of my accessory items. They have about a dozen little compartments each that are just perfect for that seldom-used scarf or belt. And they fit perfectly on top of my shelf.
What are your best tips for keeping your closet under control?
Come back every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to see past posts on the subject, just click the label at the bottom of this post for a complete list.
By TwitterButtons.com
First of all, take a good hard look at your closet. Is it crammed to the max? Is stuff thrown in there haphazardly? Do you have enough shelves and hangers for the things you need? Can you clearly see what you have, so you can quickly put outfits together? These are the types of problems we are going to look at today.
What Should be in Your Closet: The only items that should be in your closet are clothes that fit, are appropriate for the season, are in good repair, and are items that you like and look good in.
What Shouldn't be in Your Closet: Everything else!
Most organizational experts swear by the idea that you should throw out anything that doesn't fit you. I'm sorry, but I think that is just dumb. It is a fact of life that people's weight goes up and down throughout their lives, sometimes by a wide margin. So if you are throwing out the clothes that are too small, you are setting yourself up for a big hit to your budget if you throw them out. Same thing for the big clothes. It is sadly possible that you may eat your way back into them and if you don't have them around, you are likely to wear your too-small clothes past the point of decency because you can't bear to go out and buy that larger size.
So my advice is to keep them, but not in your everyday closet. They are taking up valuable real estate you need for today's clothes. One idea is to store them under the bed in your suitcases. You can put them temporarily in a clean laundry basket if you want to take a trip and then pop them back in the suitcases when you come back. Or if you've been on a cruise, it may be time to bring out those big mama outfits for a while! Or rubbermaid tubs in the garage or storage area. I've tried those space saver bags and actually some of my skinny jeans are languishing in some of them right now!
Same thing with out of season clothes. No one wants to be digging through capris and tank tops in chilly January. Move them out if you can, or at least rotate them to the back part of the closet. If items need repair, either take them somewhere, set aside a sewing day, or toss them out. You might accidentally wear them and get all the way to work before you realize there is a hole in a very awkward place - I've done it before!
Another category I forgot to mention is dressy clothes. If you're like me, dressy occasions are few and far between, but you do need to have a few nice outfits for those special occasions. I keep a small section way at the back for my few dressy outfits and also for a few sentimental pieces that I'll never fit into again, but have special meaning for me.
I should just take some pictures of them and release them to people who would enjoy them, but I feel I can spare the room for them at this point because I have gotten rid of a lot of excess clothing to me a little extra breathing room for them. I do use those dry cleaner bags for those pieces because they get a little dusty sitting back there. However, my square dance clothes are another story. We haven't danced in years and aren't likely to soon, but square dance clothes are hard to find, so I have them in a Rubbermaid tub, just in case we get bit by the dancing bug again.
OK, now that you are down to your core wardrobe, it's time to organize it so you can see what you have. Everyone has a different way of doing this, so you need to figure out what makes the most sense to you. You can organize by style, color, type of clothing, or work vs. weekend wear. That is up to you. However, it is helpful if you can group items of similar types together. For instance, if you have five black T-shirts, it's helpful to keep them all together so you can see if one or two could be decluttered, or at least so you don't buy three more of them!
For organizing accessories, I think Ikea is the place to go. They have a ton of inexpensive ideas for organizing shoes, scarves, necklaces, socks, and anything else you care to organize. I have a couple of very pretty green & white striped boxes from Ikea that hold most of my accessory items. They have about a dozen little compartments each that are just perfect for that seldom-used scarf or belt. And they fit perfectly on top of my shelf.
What are your best tips for keeping your closet under control?
Come back every Monday for a fresh dose of Clutterbugs. If you'd like to see past posts on the subject, just click the label at the bottom of this post for a complete list.
By TwitterButtons.com
2 comments:
All are great tips. I have made it a mission this year to do one or two posts a month on organization. We all have too much stuff. When I talk with my grandmother about her clothes growing up she had three dresses and a few other things. None of this crazy 80 outfits that we never wear stuff. Great post!
Great post! I could use a little organization in my closet! I only have 1 closet in my entire apartment so it holds everything I don't want to look at everything. Thanks for commenting on my blog. I am a new follower of yours now
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