Taking It All Out and Putting Some Of It Back In

You have a closet design…

You found your closet storage solutions…

Now it’s time for Closet Organization!

By approaching each closet in your home with clear intentions followed by a session of decluttering, cleaning, and simplifying, closet organization and maintenance will become a snap.

Define Your Intentions

Why do you want an organized closet? Before you begin taking everything out of the closet, Write down your intentions.

For example:

• “I always find what I need in my closet because everything has a place.”
• “I have plenty of space for my favorite clothes and shoes, and I help others by donating what I don’t appreciate or use anymore.”

Now it’s time to get physical!

Declutter Your Closet:

Start be removing everything from the closet and donate or toss the items you don’t use, need, or like.

Remember! Closets are not just larger versions of junk drawers!

Tip: Save money by repairing your favorite clothes instead of throwing them away.

• If you are the type of person who can sew on a button or take up a hem, then doing it yourself makes sense. But if you don’t know how to sew and you have clothes that need repair, pay the small extra cost of taking it to the dry cleaners. Often they have clothes repair and mending services.
• Get a fresh start and make sure all of your clothes have been repaired, laundered, and/or dry cleaned BEFORE putting them back into your newly organized closet. Then keep a basket on the floor of your closet for clothes to go to dry cleaning or that need to be repaired in the future.

Tip: The 80-20 rule applies to closets. Generally, we wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time.

• When clearing clutter from your bedroom closet, think about the 20% that you wear most often. They are probably the clothes that make you feel good when you put them on. Maybe you like how a color looks on you, or how the fabric feels. Maybe it fits you just right. Maybe it is a classic piece of clothing that you can interchange with other styles and colors. Maybe you have a few “fun” pieces that you use to dress up your classics. Those are the types of clothing that should be in your 20%. Sometimes when you find something you really love that you consider a “20% item”, consider buying 2 in case the original gets damaged or wears out.
• Now think of your 80%. Maybe the color or size just isn’t right. Maybe the fabric is itchy or takes too much effort to take care of. Maybe you bought 6 of the same things in different colors because they were on sale. Maybe they are accessories such as scarves, hats, purses, shoes, belts, etc., that you haven’t worn in a while. Consider putting part of the 80% in the donate or toss pile.

Clean Your Closet:

Sweep, vacuum, and/or wash the floor, baseboards, corners, and shelves in the closet.

This is the time to remove the old closet system and install the new one.

Simplify Your Closet:

You’ve already partially simplified most your closet by choosing your closet design and closet storage. Now we can start to put things back in!

The 80-20 rule says that the most efficient way to organize your clothes is to have the 20% you wear more often readily available and within reach.

Fold or hang your favorite 20% within reach now.

For the clothes you only wear once or twice a year, make sure they are clean and then store them in a clear garment bag to prevent them from getting that musty smell (make sure part of it is made of fabric for ventilation). You can hang the bag off to the side of the closet where you won’t need to access it as often, but can still see what is inside the bag.

Tip: Use natural cedar wood blocks, spray, balls, or other products to keep your linens smelling clean and to avoid musty odors. If you have a lot of humidity where you live, buy a closet dehumidifier and empty the water (or charge it) regularly.

Finish hanging and folding your clothes, filling the rods, shelves, and drawers, and then take a step back to appreciate your work. Take some “after” photos now that you have a finished product. Remember what you’ve learned throughout the process of closet organization, and maintenance should be a snap.

Next…

What about the rest of your bedroom? Learn how to organize your bedroom, inside out!.

Then…

What about organizing that other closet? Time to tackle linen closet organization!

Tags: closet, clutter, natural cleaning, products, simplicity

This entry was posted on March 9, 2011 at 6:48 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Cleaning Declutter Simplify by admin-olio No Comments Yet