Tackling the Mess: Closet Clean out

This past week I had a few days off and I finally decided I needed to tackle my closet. I had been talking about fixing my closet since OCTOBER! After losing a shoe or having the closet monster eat something I wanted to wear, I knew it had to be done.

I am actually embarrassed to show this photo of what my closet looked like- I am a neat person and I I try to be organized but somehow the closet monster completely took over my closet.

Here is the BEFORE photo of my closet. 

 I had my idea in my mind and I found on Pinterest and I spoke with my carpenter AKA Daddy and he said it was very doable. We took measurements and talked about what my needs were- a specific place for my shoes, enough room for all my clothes and the ability to see all my clothes. Daddy drew up the plans to make this and off we went.

Pinterest Inspiration

 

After posting Project Organization with Lindsey, I took her advice. First I went through every single piece of clothing, shoes and accessories in my closet and separated into three piles- keep, storage and donate. I am happy to report that the donate pile was ginormous and I felt amazing taking these clothes to the thrift store so someone else can use them. Unfortunately there were no photos of this because I knew if I stopped I wouldn't finish.  After everything was sorted into piles, I went through and color coordinated the clothes. I always feel like I can find things easier if its color coordinated.

After the colors were all coordinated, I made sure all my hangers were the same- I had some of these thin, plastic grippy hangers that I really loved. I had the hardest time finding them- TJ Maxx didn’t have them but Home Goods had them and I am not ashamed that I bought every single one they had. Check out these from Bed, Bath and Body

I organized my shoes into two groups- summer/spring and fall/winter. The current season shoes are on the shelves and the out of season shoes are all on the top shelf. I also split my clothes up into three different categories- Tops, Bottoms and Dresses. Tops are in one area, Bottoms are below them and Dresses are on the other side. This made it easier to see what I have.

After organizing, rehanging clothes and straightening things out, the only thing left to do was to straighten out my handbags totes.  After a lot of discussion and looking on pinterest, I decided on hooks to hang my totes and handbags. 

I am so pleased to share what my closet looks like currently. This is the AFTER photo of my closet.

I am overjoyed how my closet came out. This was desperately needed and I am happy I accomplished it. It is making my life so much easier to get dressed now and being able to see what I have.

How do you organize your closets?