Remember when I was talking about Habits at the beginning of the year? I had this really bad habit of leaving piles of clothes everywhere in our bedroom. It annoyed the heck out of me but I couldn’t ever figure out what to wear and I never made the time to put things back where they belong. I really wanted to see if I could do a capsule wardrobe this winter and in doing so I created so many new/good habits! I owe it all to the foundation I created in my organized closet.
After living this way for 3-ish weeks I can now say:
- I put my clothes back where they belong
- I don’t have piles of clothes all over the place
- I haven’t felt like I’ve got nothing to wear & I’m not wasting precious time in the morning trying clothes on
- I’ve managed my shopping impulses and only buy things I need- which is almost nothing
- I love walking into my closet because it’s clean & I have focus
- My head is filled with less clutter because I have less to manage
So, let me show you the before. BTW- I am not really good at taking before photos. I realized this a few years ago because when I get an impulse to clean, I just right in and then I’m always like OH CRAP! We’re doing this. I forgot to take pictures!
So this “before photo” is right before I created my winter capsule wardrobe—
My closet looked much worse than this before that.
I started collecting some of the looks I wanted to emulate with my winter capsule.
They’re photos I printed out from my Pinterest board and hung them up in my closet so I’d have a good direction.
As you can see, the shelves are packed with pants…that I needed to sort through.
I also had several different types of containers. None of them matched and that kinda bugged me.
Also there are soooo many hangers. They were all white and I think they stuck out like a sore thumb. Before I hung up the pinned photos, I had shirts hanging up there in that section. This photo was taken after I donated a TON of clothes. We’re talking like 5 bags filled. BYE, clothes!!!!
You see this show rack thing? We used it as a dumping ground. We hung things up on it that we didn’t feel like putting away so it was always FILLED with stuff. Bags, scarves, Casey’s shirts, belts, etc. I decided to take it down so we wouldn’t have the urge to keep up that bad habit.
Also I didn’t like the wood rack, so I painted it black!
All these clothes and I always felt like I had nothing to wear….
Ok so the first thing I did was take EVERYTHING OUT OF MY CLOSET.
I put most of the clothes in our guest bedroom closet. I weeded through things that didn’t serve me anymore and kept only the things I love. When I am ready to start my Spring capsule, I’ll shop that closet for new items and put away some of my winter collection.
I took a trip to Target and bought new bins & hangers.
I got a pack of 40 hangers so I would be able to limit how many items I had.
After creating my capsule I have a ton left! I didn’t think that would happen!
I returned the rug…it didn’t look right in there.
I wanted to label everything (you know me!). I printed labels from my computer (font is Bebas) and laminated them with my laminator.
Labels made:
- SWIMWEAR
- CLUTCHES
- HATS
- BELTS
- TIGHTS
- DARKS
- LIGHTS
I punched holes in them and tied them to the bins.
Ahhh! So pleasing.
Ok. Let’s talk about hampers for a sec. The hampers we had were about 10 years old and totally worn out. They also weren’t that big so it meant that our laundry was almost always flowing over. I also had the hampers in another area of our bedroom, near the bathroom and NOT in the closet. No wonder I had clothes everywhere.
I took a trip to The Container Store and I found these laundry hampers.
These ones are almost twice the size. These are before I put labels on.
Ok, so I slowly added back the clothing I picked to wear for the next three months.
I paired my jeans section to THREE PAIRS OF JEANS. THREE.
I also consolidated my purse/bag collection.
I put all the other pants I want to keep to the left hand side.
I’m not sure what to do with those metal baskets. They’re just there for show. I dunno.
THIS IS THE AFTER!!!
Let’s move over to my “prep” section.
Inspirational quotes to Inspire.
I have a grouping of clutches/small bags.
I have some of my stuff organized in a drawer container system.
I printed out some labels on regular paper and then taped them with packing tape on each of the drawers. I like the way it looks. I started out doing it with washi tape but it didn’t have the polished look I was going for.
I also created a little section for perfumes. They used to be in my bathroom before I moved them into the closet. It’s the final touch to getting ready and I often forget to do it. Now that it’s apart of my habit, I don’t forget!
There’s linen spray in the spray bottle to freshen up clothes & a lint brush.
To the right I have my “looks” on the wall. It’s great to have a reference because sometimes I walk in and forget what combinations I am going for.
Here’s the rack painted. No more shoe rack above it!
Now I have some of my favorite necklaces on display. We won’t be hanging anything but necklaces on it because we PUT EVERYTHING AWAY like champs now.
Under my clothes I have a basket for things to be donated that rest on the floor.
Hampers in action.
These are all my clothes!
I think I have about 18 hangers left unused from my collection of 40! Not too shabby.
I wanted to see how much space my clothes take up now so I pushed them all to the side.
LOOK AT ALL THIS SPACE. It’s amazing and I have NO URGE TO FILL IT UP.
Those are all my scarves on this hanger. I used to have one of these organizers for my scarves, but it was such a chaotic mess and I could never see the scarves I actually wanted to wear…..so I paired down my collection and placed them on one of these hangers.
I love getting dressed now.
Hope this inspires you to create a solid foundation for your own closet!
Do you want to see my capsule wardrobe? Let me know!
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
