About two weeks ago I saw a photo posted by Amanda at Slow Like Honey on flickr of her closet to be organized. I too have been putting off organizing mine and thought,”This is ENOUGH! I NEED AN ORGANIZING CHALLENGE!!!”
Why?
-because I too needed to clean out my closet (duh)
-because I felt like I could be held accountable if someone else was doing it (it really helped that she set a deadline for me)
-because I’ve been wondering what the carpet in my closet looks like
-because I’ve been watching the Rachel Zoe Project and am dying to figure out what I can come up with in my closet. I have sooo many clothes and nothing to wear.
Over the past week I’ve been working on this project. I just looked at the before photos and CANNOT BELIEVE I lived in such chaos. No wonder I felt like I didn’t have anything to wear. Why did I not do this sooner? Oh yeah..cuz I had a kid maybe.
BEFORE:
What I learned about organizing my closet:
-I decided to change all of my hanger from multicolored haphazard land to pristine white hangerville. In this process, I was able to try on at least 50 items and decide if I really wanted them in my closet. Also, white hangers were a hot commodity in my house and it made me really question if I wanted to use them on a less-than article of clothing in my closet. There are a few black hangers in the mix, but come on! It was 11pm and I wasn’t about to bust out and buy some new white ones 😉 I’ll wait for my next Target trip.
Let’s take a look at my hangers!
-I re-learned that buy a LOT of the same things. I’ve already come to this realization before but somehow forgot. I have a whole section of red pattern/striped clothing because that’s the only way I really wear red. I also realized that I don’t really like red! And I won’t even get into how many black shirts I have! Or tank tops! Must think of this when I decide to shop again.
Here’s a nice little stack of tanks. Ahhh refreshing!
-There were a lot of things that I wasn’t completely sure about tossing so I put them in a pile of “STUFF TO DYE” Dye as in…use RIT dye in my washing machine and see if I like it when it’s dyed black (or gray in most cases). I ended up keeping a lot of clothes because the dye was a nice reinvention! Re-purposing at its best! And because I have a lot of gray items now, I am able to start the Fall season off right.
-When I took everything out of the white wire baskets to sort, it made me realize that a couple of my baskets should have been switched. Ie: I needed a bigger basket for black pants & sweaters instead of sleepwear. This is something that made a HUGE difference. And this is why I recommend going through your closet completely. When we moved in, I immediately put stuff away not really KNOWING what my needs were. Three years later, I realize that I have been doing it all wrong. So this is the very reason why this process is important.
I put my maternity clothes in a huge tupperware container and labeled it!
And the grand finale, wide angle shot!
Let’s look at the floor, because we can!!! White carpets!
Note to Self:
Tracy, Look at these pictures. Damn girl. Your closet looks fly. Hang your crap back up. Don’t throw your clothes around like a 13 year old girl! Slow down and put shit away. You will dress more creatively when you have the opportunity to see what you have. If you go back to the old way, I am totally giving up on you. I mean it. Best,Tracy
