The Flow On Three Lakes: Wardrobe Finally Done

Wardrobe Woes was a post I wrote about my closet dethugging procrastination. It is dated March 27, 2007!

Perhaps inspired by the arrival of the new year, I began to chat with Doug about tackling my disorganization. For several months, files and documents have gotten stacked in to a lower cabinet at my desk. Our fourth bedroom is scattered with unpacked boxes of photographs and keepsakes as well as books for both gift giving and donating. The garage is stacked three levels of boxes high with unpacked and unassembled patio furnishings. And despite my lamenting in March, and taking several passes to delete wardrobe items, I still had yet to strip my closest of the ill fitting, the out of style and the unnecessary.

This is the week we found the will, the energy and the time to address two areas: the garage (check done) and my closet (check done!).

This is the state of my closet when I started. I have implemented a new rule: if I bring a shopping bag home, I have to fill it up with discards and take it to my donation station. As you can see, I still have packed shelves.

I have an easier task than most. California Closets had already installed shelves, drawers and baskets. There are other systems where they provide the plan and installation or for do-it-yourself. We have used both with equal satisfaction. My suggestion is to make the investment.

As any man or woman who has watched HGTV would do, I began the process by completely emptying the entire closet. All those shoes lined up that were underneath the hanging clothes - not worn since I put them there!

My entire closet was laid out on my bedroom floor. I began separating the clothes into "keeping" and "going" piles. I purchased two boxes (75ct) hangers at the Container Store. My strategy was to only put back as many items as I had new hangers. This required me to handle every article of clothing, assessing and reassessing as I rehung them.

Along with the hangers, I bought drawer organizers. They have
seemed a frivolous purchase before. However, I had to tell myself the
truth about the state of my lingerie drawers. As you can see, only the items I really wear were kept.

Here you see the finished product. Everything is
hanging on a calming sky blue hanger. The shoes
peeking out under the hanging clothes are the ones
I really wear everyday; sneakers, flip flops and ballet slippers. Since I don't expect two many
more cold days, I folded up my heavy winter wear
and they are housed in the bins overhead. I organized clothing like so: light to dark, prints to solids, no sleeves to long sleeves. Suits are hanging above blazers and sweaters. Skirts are hanging above slacks. Print shirts are above solid ones.

The entire process took about 4 hours.