the organized closet tutorial

Bear with me, it's about to get scary. I want you to do something for me, either physically or mentally, it's your choice. Close your eyes {or step away from the computer}. Open your closet door. All of your closet doors. Look inside, root around, try to find the floor. Not possible? Are you in the fetal position sobbing yet?

Ok, you can stop, i've hurt you all enough for today. Think about it, closets are what we LIVE out of. Every day. At some point or another we're opening those doors, pulling/heaving/tugging out contents for the day, pushing/shoving/tossing in items to the abyss. Well, maybe it's not all that bad, but if you're ready to be at peace with your closets, here's a good way to get started. I'll walk you through making yours sparkle. Who knows, maybe you'll even start showing them off to your friends. Or maybe this will just make your life feel a little more simplified and clutter/stress-free. Either way, prepare for closet zen.

Carrie so lovingly agreed to let me use her closet as our tutorial model. Isn't it lovely packed full of, well, stuff. Lots and lots of stuff. Go Carrie! Hardly any room to walk in! This must be bugging her...

First step first. Clean it out! Take everything out so you can see what you have to work with. Think of this as the perfect opportunity to clean those baseboards, or if you're feeling really motivated, give it a fresh coat of paint! Depending on the amount of time you have of course. Keep an hour free for a small hall closet, a couple of hours for a regular closet filled with junk, and up to three hours for your own personal clothes closet. You'll have a lot of decisions and organizing in there to do to make dressing every day that much easier.

There. Now we have a blank canvas. SO stop and think about it. What do you use the most? What would you like to see facing you every time you open the door? What can you do with that corner space? I personally think it's best to keep the floor as clean and clear as possible so think about storing things higher, or in labeled canvas boxes. I use open top so I can just grab and pull whatever I need without having to mess with tops/lids.

We're putting all of Carries shoes on the wall facing us, that way, they're easy to spot without having to crane your neck. Also, it takes away the unsightly sides of the canvas hanging storage compartments. Try to match your accessory holders and organizers as much as possible, that way they won't distract visually.

One huge thing I recommend is to go through all the items you pulled out. Donate anything that's out of style, doesn't fit, or really is just one hot mess {In fact, maybe you should just toss those}. Pack away any off-season clothes/shoes. These boot boxes are great storage for flip-flops and summer sandals and will easily be swapped out when it's time to put those winter boots away.

Also, grab a bin or two and pack away all the clothes, label them and put them in the basement, easily visible so packing for vacations isn't daunting. {A great tip: use old rolled magazines in your boots to keep them standing straight on shelves. This also helps the life of the boot, preventing leather from creasing and cracking.}

Another pet peeve of mine is store hangers or metal hangers. They're so bad for your clothes and really, just ugly and unruly. Toss them all and spend 4-5 dollars on a whole stack of new plastic ones. I prefer all white but i'm obsessively organized like that.

Another huge way to create space, is buy a double-hanging closet rod. This way you can hang shorter items like skirts and pants at the bottom and tops and jackets can go above. Double the hanging space for about ten dollars. You can't go wrong.

Keep large items like scarfs or hats away from the back of your door or your face-level on a wall. They can be bulky and unruly. I like to keep them in decorative baskets like these:

And now, we have a finished product. A closet that's organized, simple, clean and even color coded. I would normally get rid of any excess extra hangers, even packing them with the off-season clothes but for now, we're keeping these around to swap out with old metal/store hangers.

I realize that's a lot of info to throw at you, but if you have any questions let me know. Now go get those closets purty! {Maybe next week I'll show you all my closet...}