Missus Smarty Pants: Bedroom Closet Clutter

Missus Smarty Pants: Bedroom Closet Clutter

Dear Friends,

Do you hide clutter in your bedroom closet? Is this a place to stash stuff to get it out of the way? What is in your closet? If you find that you have stored everything in your bedroom closet (including maybe a kitchen sink) you have created a mess of mass disorganization- and now it's time to attack the closet clutter! It's time to organize your closet and find some order to your life. What if you could easily go into your closet and pull out something terrific to wear? You would see how this can simplify your life!

Since I am MissusSmartyPants, I am often asked what is the right size for a closet. Perhaps you think the clutter is because your closet is not big enough! I have friends that have closets twice the size of mine and they still have nothing to wear! Some closets I have helped organized have been close to the size of my son's room! LOL! These ladies have not embraced how simple it can be to organize and put together outfits to wear. Instead, they just buy more clothes hoping that is the answer. (I even had a woman write me saying she was going to move her husband's clothes to the spare bedroom closet or have a contractor knock out a wall so she could have more space! Oh my! My answer is to tell them the size of my closet (I have 12 linear feet of space) I also tell them my mantra, "I don't have a lot of clothes, but I have a lot to wear!" Just follow the simple steps below and you can dress well with an organized closet and enjoy a stress-free morning everyday!

Sanford and Son. Have you stored extra gifts, found things in your closet you didn't know you had, canned food, pantry itemsÉbags of chips, and old household appliances in here? Stop it! I know some of you do this! Remove stored junk now! You need to remember this is your bedroom closet-a place to organize and store your clothes! You need to get the junk out of your closet! You are now going to start with some simple organization that will help you make sense of your clothes and put together wearable outfits!

Remember when? I am sure that you have a picture of you wearing that fabulous costume! It's time to move on. Do you have clothes that are out-dated, haven't been worn in years, clothes that no longer fit and ones that don't make you feel good? You know the answer to that question! Yes! Purge them now! Forget the guilt of how much they once cost, or who gave them to you, or what occasion you wore them! Purge, purge, purge!

Sort and separate. Put together clothes in a bag or basket that need to be mended and altered as well as clothes that need to be dry cleaned. You need to get them out of the closet since they can't be worn right away until something is done with them. (I always put this bag immediately in the car, so that next time I run errands-they can be taken in!)

For every thing there is a seasonÉ You need to separate your clothes into 2 main seasons. You should have spring/summer clothes together and clothes for the fall/winter seasons together. The off season clothes should be put at the back of the closet and out of the way of the current season. Or, if you have another closet (it's rare to have an extra closet!) available to use in another room-this is a great place to store out-of-season clothes. Plastic tubs can store out-of-season clothes safely for 6 months. I also recommend storing your accessories by season in plastic shoe boxes and rotating them. Or, you can hang up a wood mug rack to display your necklaces and other jewelry on (this keeps your jewelry from tangling up and makes it easy to see what matches what).

What's left? Now it is time to really organize and make a working wardrobe out of the clothes that are left in your closet! So let's start by categorizing the same types of clothes together. Start with the shelves. Fold and put in piles like clothes together. I like to put the short-sleeved t-shirts folded together and the long-sleeved t-shirts together. Next, put cardigan sweaters together and so on. Group together same types of clothes on each shelf.

Hang in there! Almost done! Now it's time to tackle the hanging clothes. First off, don't use the "free" wire hangers-they are worthless! Instead, invest in wood or padded hangers that keep you clothes nice. Or, if you are like me, the white plastic tubular ones aren't bad. Again, you are going to organize by category. Start with shirts and blouses. Put the long-sleeved blouses together, then the short-sleeved blouses. Do the same with your pants, denims, skirts, blazers, jackets, and then dresses. Like items need to be hanging together.

In living color. Now colorize! This makes your closet look appealing!! Put the whites together; cream together, tans, pinks, reds, blues and so on. Go from light to dark with the blouses, pants, skirts, dresses, etc. When you colorize, you will see what colors you have a lot of, and what you are missing. Try it and see!

All together now. Now for the fun part! You will be able to shop in your closet and find new outfits! If you have organized by categories with like things together and then by short and long sleeves and then by colorizing--you will find you can mix and match and put together outfits you didn't know you had! This system will also tell you what you need to help you extend your wardrobe and have more outfits. Dig through your jewelry or buy some inexpensive jewelry to give your "new" outfits an updated look!

Just listed. As you begin to see new outfits in your closet, write a list of what goes with what so you can remember different possible combinations. It also helps to have a trusted friend or sister help you put together new outfit ideas! Make a note also if you need something new to help make more combinations.

Lay out your outfit and call me in the morning. Now that your closet is beautifully organized-set aside the clothes that you want to wear the next day. Include the accessories too. I know you will call me in the morning and thank me for making it much easier and stress-free!

Leslie

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