Closet Makeover Tips from the Pros

We can all dream...

National Clean Out Your Closet Week (March 13-19, 2011) is the perfect time to declutter your closets and make room for new things in your life. Read on for tips from the pros for giving your closet a makeover, decluttering your life, and giving much-needed support to charities like Hearts of Gold. All in one afternoon!

VIDEO

Featuring Hearts of Gold, the Thrifty HoG Boutique , the fabulous Organizta, and Roberta, our lovely host, we’ll show you how to make cleaning out your closet simple, fun, and, importantly, extremely beneficial for those in need.

Real World Before

Real World After

The above image is a gorgeous model from the Container Store.  Just like human models, what’s featured is “the ideal,” and  normally outrageously unattainable (unless you have a lot of cash, a lot of space, and crazy bone structure).  Here are photos of actual before and afters from Roberta’s closet.  Makes it seem a little more doable, don’tt it?

THE ORGANIZTA’S CLOSET ORGANIZING TIPS

• Try it all on, especially the items that you swear you’ll get back into, keep what fits, donate the rest!
• If you haven’t left the house wearing an article in two seasons, get rid of it;  it’s just taking up precious closet space.
• Put like with like – pants with pants, skirts with skirts, etc; then color code from light to dark.
• Place all bulky sweaters and sweatshirts inside bins; when they’re contained, you won’t be at risk of a clothing avalanche.
• Hooks are your friends! Hooks on your closet door (inside or out) are a great place for necklaces and belts, and the one or two purses you use regularly. Grab and Go!
• Pocketbook disaster? Place all of your black bags inside your biggest black purse, and do the same with all colors. Like with like works with all things.
• Second-choice purse storage:  grab some open-top fabric bins and store them together – on the floor or on the shelf, whichever works best for you.
• For those of us lacking walk in closets, long under-bed bins are perfect for shoe storage. Easy to pull out and grab shoes, easy to push back under the bed out of sight.
• Having the same kind of hangers throughout your closet will save space; also it looks automatically, fabulously organized. I personally love the Huggable Hangers by Joy Mangano, nothing slips off, and they are super thin, giving you access to more space in your closet!
• If you are in need of extra storage at the bottom of your closet, free-standing shelves create clean-looking storage space, for those extra bins of scarves, purses, or shoe overflow.

MAKING SPACE FOR SOMETHING NEW

On the subject of ridding yourself of clutter, here’s an excerpt I love from The Success Principles, by Jack Canfield:

“In addition to professional incompletes, most households are also groaning under the weight of too much clutter, too many papers, worn-out clothes, unused toys, forgotten personal effects, and obsolete, broken and unneeded items.  In the United States, the entire ministroage industry has sprung up to help homeowners and small businesses store what they can’t fit in their homes and offices.

But do we really need all this stuff? Of course not.

One of the ways to free up attention units is to free your living and work environment from the mental burden of this clutter.  When you clear out the old, you also make room for something new.

Take a look at your clothes closet, for instance. If you’ve got one of those where you can’t put another thing into it – where you struggle to pull out a dress or shirt – that may be one reason why you don’t have more new clothes. There’s nowhere to put them. If you haven’t worn something in 6 months and it’s not a seasonal or a special-occasion item such as an evening gown or tuxedo, get rid of it.

If there’s anything new that you want in your life, you’ve got to make room for it. I mean that psychologically as well as physically.”

DONATE

Once you’ve followed these pro tips and have given your closet and your mind a makeover, take the extra effort to drop off your castoffs to your local thrift store.  You’ll get a clear mind, a lovely tax deductible receipt, and the knowledge that you’ve helped people in your community make strides towards a better life.