I am finally finished with this project! I did a brief update back in November when I had cleaned out the pants part of my closet. I was trying to get it done a little at a time so as to not get overwhelmed. While that wasn’t a bad idea, I was waiting until I “felt” like cleaning the closet out instead of just setting an appointment with myself and just doing it.
I finally did that and I got the project done over the course of a few hours.
The other thing to know is that this is NOT a Pinterest worthy clean out and re-organization. This is real life in a real space working with what I’ve got. I got rid of a lot of clothing that no longer fit me or my life. Now, I have a closet where I can see what I have, found a few pieces that had been hidden and I don’t get stressed out when I go to get dressed.
BEFORE
Way back when, this is where we started:
You can see that the bones of organization is there but with too much stuff. Stuffed to the gills! Shoes all over the place, all sorts of items on the floor-not a fun place to try and get dressed in. Clothes were stuffed in so tight that I couldn’t even see all that I had. And, it was hard to even move stuff around so that I could see the pieces next to each other.
THE PROCESS
I started by going through my jeans and other pants. I also went through my skirts because there weren’t very many of them. This didn’t take very long but I also did not get back to doing anything for several weeks. The one positive is that I was able to secure many hangers as I got rid of items. This had been one of the problems which necessitated this clean out. I had effectively run out of hangers due to buying clothes but not getting rid of anything.
When I finally did get back to it, I decided to just finish this project to completion. Next up were the dresses and other longer items.
Once again, I am amazed at how much I can get in a small space. There was quite the pile on my bed as I went through each piece to decide what to keep and what to donate. I also had some sentimental special occasion dresses that I decided to store rather than continue to hang in my closet. Storing is not the best solution but it’s where I am at this point. I am a sentimental person and getting rid of sentimental items that I know I will not use or wear again is very difficult.
Next up are the shirts, casual jackets and sweaters and then the shoes. I knew when I started this that it would not be the clothing that took up the bulk of the time to clean out, it’s the shoes and accessories. I had so little space even on the floor of my closet that I had to leave some of my shoes out of the closet or I would’ve had no floor space at all!!
Putting It All Back Together
I pulled it all out, made new piles for items being kept and items for donation and put everything back in the closet. As I said before, it’s not pretty Pinterest worthy but it is clean and efficient and I know where everything is!
Admittedly, there is still some work to be done including going through the bins on the floor but these don’t negatively impact my using the closet.
The floor is cleaned off and nothing is trying to jump off of the clothes rod!!
I also have several leftover hangers even after putting quite a few in the donation bin. While this is good news, I don’t plan to use them and fill the closet up more. I might do a bit of color coordination but we’ll see. For now, the goal of cleaning out the primary closet is done!!
Many people believe in the “one in, one out rule.” I’m not opposed to that rule and I may try it. The other thing that I try to do is that if I wear something and it’s no longer comfortable or I don’t like how it fits anymore, I try to remember to put it in the donation box after I clean it!
How do keep your closet in order? Share in the comments and thanks for reading.
