(And how I keep it that way)
I’m so excited to be writing and sharing my VERY FIRST blog post. If you’re wondering how this blog came to be, you can check out my “About Me” on the home page. I’m new to this and hopefully will figure out how to do that before you try to read it. haha. This has been quite a learning experience.
Our master closet is not big by any means, but it’s not quite small either, you can “walk into” it, and there is a light on the inside. What it lacks in actual “space” I think it makes up for storage wise. It’s been a work in progress over the years and I tweak it every now and again as I’m constantly looking for ways to make it more efficient for us and the way we live and dress.
I look through and edit the closet at least twice a year (Spring and Fall) the clothes I no longer wear go either to my sister :), a local second hand clothing store, or a close by salvation army thrift store.
This past January I did edit again, more the Marie Kondo way I guess, I got rid of things that did not bring me joy, but I also only kept the clothes that I wear often and the ones that I would be disappointed about if they were no longer in my closet and I purged the ones, when I held them, I would not be disappointed about if they were gone. Make sense? It seemed to work 🙂 I’ll get to how I (try) to keep it organized at the end.
I change things around in the closet every few years or so, doing little bits at a time so it never feels like a daunting task to start. But if your closet is a hot mess, I suggest only starting the organizing process when you have large chunks of free time. If you can, take everything out and EDIT, EDIT, EDIT. Do you REALLY need the shirt you haven’t worn for 4 years? Or the shoes that you wore 9 years ago? If you have clothes that are still in excellent shape, but no longer love, sell on line or donate to a friend or family member. It may not be your favorite shirt or jacket but it might be someone else’s new favorite piece!
Wipe down the walls. I decided to paint the back wall of ours my favorite color. Make it pretty, make it your own! What items do you own that you like to see? My favorites were the purses. Find a storage solution where you can see them when opening the doors. (Make sure you measure areas in your closet before you buy storage solution pieces, sometimes I take measuring tape to the store haha) Think about how you dress, how you pick out your clothes, how would your closet function the BEST FOR YOU? And start there. It will make opening those doors so much more enjoyable!
To keep it real, I guess I should also point out that most of the clothes I decided I didn’t want, still need to be dropped off and it’s been 2 months. haha. I usually don’t sell them on line as it seems like a bit of a hassle.
I realized quite a few years ago that when clothes were in dresser drawers, I had a tendency to forget they were there and then they never got worn. So I sold the dresser that we had at the time and got a smaller one (that one holds some of my husbands clothes, and the rest of his are here in the closet) and I eventually ended up putting a shelf to hold all my jeans ( I think there must have been some in the wash when I took these photos 😉 My thinking was that it’s easier and therefore quicker to fold the jeans rather than hang them back up when trying to decide what to wear. seems to work. And I can pretty much tell what jeans they are, quickly, by the pockets.
The baskets hold seasonal items (scarves in Winter and Fall, flip flops or flat shoes in Summer), undergarments, and socks. (mine are a Loblaws/Superstore find, but there are 1000’s to choose from, the link above has similar) My thinking was that these items are worn daily, so I wanted them easy to see and easy to grab, and also then, easy to put away. * I painted the back wall of the closet with left over paint, it’s Benjamin Moore but I forget if it’s Wyeth Blue (my front door) or Palladian Blue (the laundry closet).
I already had these smaller shelves, I just got my Dad to come over and screwed them to the wall, they actually look built in. There are 2 of them with one stacked on top of the other.
I store my pj’s and gym clothes in them. The gym clothes (tights and sports bras) get rolled up so they are easier to see and grab. The tank tops for the gym as well as long sleeve gym tops, hang on the rod.
My husband has mostly “work clothes” which consist of old jeans and t-shirts. Haha. His side does not always look quite this neat 😉
I have mostly casual clothes, a few dressier type pieces and gym clothes and some work scrubs for my nursing job. I keep my work scrubs on the shelves on the back left wall and the hanging clothes hang in front, sort of hiding them. The work scrubs don’t bring me joy when I open the closet, so it’s ok that they are hidden. haha The clothes have a bit of an order, but it’s hard to tell from the photos. Gym clothes are at one side, and dresses, not sure why I picked this particular order. haha. The rest of the closet is sort of by color, with tank tops first, followed by short sleeves then long sleeves in each color category. Then sweaters and coats are near the middle and my husband has the right hand side for his shirts. My jeans are all folded on the shelf (in summer there are also shorts and capris on the shelf. My husbands “good” pairs of jeans are on the top shelf.
Out of season clothing goes in the boxes at the top, or also a storage container under the bed. I do plan, at some point to get prettier seasonal storage boxes but these fit perfectly so i haven’t searched for any in a while. I don’t have a huge amount of clothes and I (somewhat) try to buy items that I know I will like for at least a few seasons or years. To keep all the hanging clothes neat, I bought the slim, velvety hangers, they also stop the clothes from sliding off which is great! The extra hangers are stored on the top shelf.
I also don’t have a huge amount of shoes, ( I plan on getting some new ones for Spring and Summer) but they are something I like to purchase, (shoes and purses always fit) 😉 so when I do have more of them it gets harder to find a spot that I can both view them easily but also so they aren’t really in the way of walking into the closet. I store them mostly along the side of the floor or on the longer shelf or a smaller shelf on the top right hand side. I think you can see in one of the earlier photos.
I also don’t wear a lot of jewellery, what I do have goes in the gold box, or the tall necklace holder on the top of this set of shelves.
I bought this hand held clothing steamer a few years ago and I love it! I’m very particular when it comes to my laundry and most of my shirts and even my gym clothes (OCD, I know) haha, get hung to dry and end up quite wrinkled. So, before my clothes get hung in the closet, (the wrinkled ones) I give them a quick once over with the steamer. I want to be able to pick out my clothes and get dressed without fussing with wrinkles 🙂 I plug in the steamer. It heats up quick, and I usually leave the reservoir full of water so its ready to go! The steamer comes with its own convenient storage and hanging hardware. I have it hanging just inside the closet over the top of the door. It’s a little bit in the way when trying to open the door of the closet but not too bad.
To steam the clothes, I hung a small hook inside the upper part of the doorframe and then used a ribbon by tying both ends together to make a loop and this hangs from the hook and then the hanger is able to hang from the ribbon. There is a plug in for the steamer, just to the left of the closet door.
I should also point out that I’m not organized enough to have this done all in one day, and clothes do sit on the chair, or the drying rack for a while before they are all put away, haha. Which is currently the reason the closet is more bare than usual. There are a few attachments to the steamer but I just keep it on the same one for all my clothes. It does have a high and low setting for different types of material. *If you do buy one, make sure you read all the instructions, and follow the garment care tags, don’t just take my word. 🙂
Another reason (besides OCD) that I try to keep the closet neat, is that our dog Wally likes to lay on the rug, despite the fact that his own bed is between our bed and the closet. haha, go figure!
Wally, checking up on me, I think he thinks I’m crazy…. and he very well could be right! haha.
Thank you sooo much for sticking with me for that long and very first post!! 🙂 I would love feedback so you can leave me a little note in the comments.
Also feel free to leave comments as to what other types of posts you may like. I have quite a few in mind already but If people are taking the time to read my little blog, I’d love to make sure it’s stuff you want to see. 🙂 Thanks again!!
