MY CLOSET MAKEOVER WITH THE WELL-ORGANIZED WOMAN

I’m so excited to post the next episode of my spring cleaning and organization adventures today with a special guest – Claire Kurtz of The Well-Organized Woman. This week I had the absolute JOY of working on a virtual closet makeover with her, and we’ve done everything we could to get my clothing and shoes cleaned up, culled out, stored, donated, trashed, folded, sorted, hung up, categorized, color-coded…and the list goes on! Read on for tips and tricks!

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FIRST, IDENTIFY THE ISSUE: My number one question was – where do we begin?! When I explained to Claire what I thought the real problem was, it sounded something like this. Upon first glance, I’m seemingly organized. But when you take a look at my BEFORE photos, you’ll see that my closets are over-crowded and cluttered. I’m also plagued by an inefficient use of space and am definitely guilty of treating my valuables – like handbags – poorly.

BEFORE:

Because my things aren’t organized in the best way, I’m a victim of what Claire calls the ’20/80 split’. In other words, “most women wear 20 percent of their clothes, 80 percent of time. They know those items work for them, and they’re front and center in their closets because they keep cleaning and putting them away over and over. They’re the easiest to reach, so a busy woman will grab them first.

“If you take the time to organize your items efficiently up front, though, you’ll be able to see and wear everything you have 100% of the time.”

Ummm…SIGN ME UP!!! I love all of my things and chose each of them for a reason, so it’s important to me to give these pieces the love and attention they deserve by wearing them all in any given season.

SECOND, TAKE STOCK AND DECIDE WHAT TO STORE, DONATE, TRASH and KEEP: Claire explained that this is the toughest step for most women, and she goes gentle on every person who she takes through the exercise. “Some personal organizers are militant in ordering you to throw away any item you haven’t worn in 6 months, but I think a woman needs to make the decision for herself when it’s time to let something go and when it’s time to hold onto it for another year. I recommend doing this with a friend or a personal organizer who can talk through each piece with you.”

She gave me two examples:

• Me: I’m a blogger so I have more clothes than one might wear in a year. That’s not reason to get rid of my things but instead to make sure I’m storing them appropriately so that they are in good shape when it’s time to pull them out again. 
• Claire: She recently passed along a beloved vintage coat that had lived in her closet for years. It got plenty of love and admiration but barely any wear. When she was finally ready to pass it on, she chose a friend who she knew would wear it and more importantly, cherish it as much as she did. At the same time, there’s another vintage coat in her closet that she’s just not ready to pass on yet. It will stay in her closet  until next year when she re-evaluates – and she’s okay with that. 

Then we went through the exercise in real time, and here’s where we landed:

STORE:

The seasons are changing so I pulled out the shoes, furry vests, sweaters, coats and gloves that are no longer appropriate for spring. Sure, it’s still cold outside, but it’s nearing April, and it’s time to put them away until next year.

DONATE:

This dress is beautiful and classic. I got if for $20 after waiting and waiting for it to go on sale at Zara. This was just after my 30th birthday when my hips hadn’t filled out, so a size small fit me well on the top and the bottom. I had nowhere to wear it and as time kept passing, my butt turned into a size medium.

After talking it through with Claire, I made the choice to pass it along. It’s not doing me any good hanging in my closet unworn with tags, and the efforts I’d have to extend to make it fit are simply beyond what I’m willing and able to do. Someone else should be able to enjoy it. I just needed to talk it through with someone, say it aloud and acknowledge how much I loved it.

Oh, and Claire encouraged me to take this picture of it so that I can always look at it and admire the dress if I want. What a great idea!

TRASH:

I have about six pair of shoes that are in terrible shape – holes in the bottoms, ripped seams, broken heels, off-trend styles, too small, or just plain ugly. They aren’t redeemable, and it’s time to let them go to the trash can. I never wear them, and I’ve given away enough items to know when it’s okay to just toss it – without guilt.

Another good thing to toss and restock regularly are your basics, like white and black tees. They get stinky, holey and stained pretty often. 

Okay, phew! That was refreshing, but now it was time to really get down to business with all the items I was going to keep and continue wearing. Claire had some great ideas for how to organize each category of clothing I had. In so doing, we ended up with beautifully displayed and coordinated items and fully-utilized closets. YES!

THIRD, ORGANIZE WHAT YOU WILL KEEP BY VISUAL CUES: Your eyes are your best friend in identifying what you’ve got!

• Group your items by category, then by length (if applicable), and then by color for consistency of eye line. For example:
  • my jackets (sorted by color, reds through metallics)
  • shirts (vests, then sleeveless shirts, then short-sleeve shirts, then long-sleeve shirts)
  • skirts (minis, then knee-lengths, then midis)
  • coats (long to short, female to male)
  • shoes (by style, then by color) – note I didn’t colorize my man’s shoes because he won’t stick with it. No biggie.
  • belts (by color)
• Use your hangers as a visual guide: In addition to colors, categories and lengths, Claire also encouraged me to use different colored hangers within the categories. For example, I used white hangers for all jackets; different types of skirt hangers for different length; dark hangers for sleeveless and short-sleeve shirts, and light green hangers for vests and long sleeves.
• Don’t be afraid to use the vertical and horizontal spaces in your closets: I was letting entire rods go completely unused, while cramming belts onto hangers; stuffing shoes where they wouldn’t fit while leaving floor space uncovered; throwing yoga mats on the ground while leaving shelves piled with winter items I no longer wore. Instead, we:
  • Pulled out the winter stuff thrown on the shelf and stored it (see above), leaving only a couple hats, one scarf and one pair of gloves in case there’s a random dip in temps.
  • Put yoga mats onto a tall shelf – they’re now easy to reach, at eye level and made room on the floor of the coat closet for my man’s shoes.
  • Made use of an empty rod by strapping belts onto it – it’s too low to hang clothes.
  • Made use of empty floor space beneath it by adding a shoe rack. 
  • Separated different types of shoes into different spaces – my man’s shoes in one closet, my dressy shoes into another, my flats into another, and a blank space in another where my spring sandals will go.

AFTER:

CLOSET MUST-HAVES:

Claire gave me a whole list of products to consider purchasing for optimum space use. I’m going to save those for another post – partly because this one is getting pretty long, and partly because I didn’t have a lot of money to spend on new items this month. “No problem,” she said. “Let’s make a toolkit out of what you have. I always recommend keeping the following on-hand and in a basket in your closet:

• Fabric shaver-for pills on sweaters
• Portable steamer-for wrinkle removal-works better than an iron!
• Fabric glue and safety pins – for triage on fallen hems
• Armpit protectors – for shirts that show sweat (e.g. Button-down collared shirts)
• Lint roller – especially if you have pets
• Saddle soap – for removing small stains on leather goods
• Black shoe polish – for scuffs on your most basic shoes
• Suede brush – to freshen up your suede shoes, especially the toes, before you wear them
• Shoe horn – for lace-up and tight booties
• Shoe inserts of all shapes and sizes – not all shoes are true to size, and as the seasons change, so do the sizes of our feet!”

I think next, we’ll have to tackle my dresser drawers – they are a disorganized mess! And I can’t wait to work with The Well-Organized Woman again! 

AND NOW FOR THE BIG REVEAL…CLAIRE KURTZ IS MY WELL-ORGANIZED SISTER!!

Thank you so much to Claire, and for more information on The Well-Organized Woman and her services, visit www.thewellorganizedwoman.com.
 

XOXO,

Belle

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