Day 01- Your closet.

Our Closet Pre-Organization...

(October 2010)

Most people would think that the pictures below are still a 'neat' looking closet, but of course it drove me nuts! It didn't help that both of the cats liked to sleep in the closet. Contessa liked to sleep on Joe's clothes (left side and center top shelf) and was very good at knocking clothes on the floor! Also, cat hair became a problem!

Contessa

Center top shelf

Contessa sleeping on Joe's sweatshirts

Norman decided it would be a good idea to take over my side (center bottom shelf). I also have the right side, but it's more difficult for them to get up on shelves that side.

Norman

Center bottom shelf

Thank you for knocking my sweater off the shelf!

Norman

...but Mom I'm so happy here!!!

Sooo... In November 2010 I decided it was time to do a little revamping of the closet! Here are some good tips to go by to organize your closet!

Tips on organizing your closet

1. Clear it out! Distinguish clothing and shoes that you wear and items that you need to get rid of. Spring cleaning can be done any time of the year! Probably something we need to consider doing again very soon! Typically we do this each season and during step #7!
2. If the Shoe fits! If you are keeping your shoeboxes, label what is inside. Alternatively, invest in clear shoeboxes with drawer-front pulls; they allow you to see what’s inside so you can easily access your shoes.
3. Measure up! Once you have whittled down your wardrobe, you need to assess the layout of your closet. This will help you identify what type of baskets, drawers, etc you want to buy.
4. Get Hung up! Invest in the right kind of hanger for the type of clothing you are hanging.
5. No Sweat! Sort sweaters, T-shirts, and other folded clothing by color as well. Always remove sweaters from hangers and fold them. Hangers will ruin the shape of sweaters over time.
6. Eyes have it! Keep items you use frequently at eye level or below and items you rarely use higher up.
7. Seasonal Change! Resort to a seasonal system by rotating your fall/winter clothes with your spring/summer clothes.

Our Closet Today

(July 2011)

Unfortunately we don't have a very large walk-in closet. It's actually very small, approximately 4ft x 8ft. We do the best we can by organizing, but it still makes it very difficult. To me, it still looks very clustered, but with limited space we can only do so much!

LEFT SIDE

(Joe's side)

Left Top Shelf

This is where Contessa loved to sleep pre-shirt organizers. She was pretty good at getting them furry and knocking them down. Since we've purchased the shirt organizers she doesn't sleep up there anymore. They were purchased at Target (specifically the Cary store, as the Apex store did not carry them).

Joe's Shoe Rack

CENTER

(Top Left Joe - Pants and Sweatshirts)

(Entire Bottom Shelf and Top Right Amanda)

Top Right - Organized by short sleeve and tank tops

Bottom Center - Organized by long sleeve, cardigans, nice t-shirts, skirts, sweat pants, and jeans

RIGHT SIDE

(Amanda's side)

Organized by work pants (color order) and dresses

Unfortunately, we do not have a linen closet for the master bath, so the towels are in our closet. This winter 2011, we plan to do some renovations to the master bath area. Hopefully one of the reno's will help with storage for bath items.

As you can see I've labeled my boot boxes as to which ones they are, what color, etc. The smaller basket contains fun socks and the larger basket on top contains all of my bathing suits and cover-ups.

The shoes... I have a shoe rack on the bottom for heals and then a shoe hanger on the right for smaller type shoes. Hopefully during the renovation of the bathroom Joe will make me some nice shoe shelves!