%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 The world from a short person's POV - not Australia or New Zealand. |
Random thoughts, pointed comments, and whatever else crosses my mind 
|
| "It's time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I'd much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure." Ernie Harwell. For many of us, closets may present the most difficult area to organize. We have spent years accumulating things - collections we were once excited to own, gifts from family and friends, decorations with special meaning for the holidays, momentoes from concerts/plays/trips, and tons and tons of pictures, and of course, clothes/shoes/handbags. But now we look around and find our shelves, closets, basement, and even the attack disorganized, and overcrowded. HELP! Are you overwhelmed wondering where your favorite pair of sandals got to or where you put the recipe you really wanted to try tonight? Are you frustrated because you can't find the jacket that goes with the dress you want to wear to the party tomorrow? Or maybe it is that time of year when you want to change closets from winter to spring and you keep putting it off because it seems too daunting. In this post, I have tried to include tactics that may prove helpful in the never-ending battle to declutter and organize your life. Is your closet so disorganized that you take too much time just trying to get ready for the day or a special event, have you pulled something out to wear and found that it had a tear or a stain, are other family members bugging you to find what they need for the day? Did you spend hours in the basement trying to find all the decorations for a holiday or complete sets of recreational equipment? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are ready to get started on decluttering and organizing projects that can create a less stressful life for you and your family. A good rule to follow is "Divide and Conquer." Don't try to do every project at once. You will find that little successes go a long way toward encouraging you to keep working on any project. Set reasonable goals for yourself. Do a "walkabout" to get a sense of what you are struggling with and what frustrates you most about your daily routine. Take the time to think through what you need to store and where you want to store it. A little time evaluating your needs and planning a strategy will go a long way toward the successful completion of any project, especially ones requiring decluttering and organization. So let's say you have decided to tackle the closet in your master bedroom first since you are most frustrated dealing with the clothes, shoes, and accessories that you need on a daily basis from season to season. If you are anyone like me, you can't keep all your clothing year-round in one space, especially if you share that space with another person so this closet requires at least one seasonal purge/reorganize session. While we go through all four seasons where I live, they can be subtle, changing from fall to summer and back or winter to spring and back in any given week. Knowing something about the changeable weather patterns in my area requires planning a closet with easy access to changing weather needs or at least an additional area where transitional clothing is stored. Then too, we often travel to Mexico or other "South of the Border" areas during the winter so I need to access summer clothing even in the winter. In other words, take a look at your lifestyle and organize accordingly. Now that you have a better idea of what needs to be given a home in the master closet and the actual size of the space you are working with, you can start the process. Step One: Designate a space to put everything once you have taken it out of the closet. Separate the items by category. The first sort could be in broad categories like tops, pants, dresses, suits, shoes, accessories. Later as you think how you dress for certain activities, you may need to refine the categories, like casual tops and bottoms, business wear, formal wear. Create a sperate area for out of season clothes that may need to find another home. Designate a space for all the miscellaneous items that need a new home. Remember, only keep items in this closet that function as wearables unless this closet has space to also function as a linen closet for the bedroom. If you need to store blankets/quilts and sheets for this room in the same area, consider storage options like underbed bins or baskets. (home goods stores have any number of options that can help with this type of storage.) When it comes to closet space, consider increasing usable space by hanging double rods for shorter pieces of clothing on top and longer pieces on the bottom. (Doesn't work so well for me since I am short but still a good idea for most people.) Here again, you can take a walk through the DIY or home goods stores for ideas or you could find closet organizer companies that will give you a free closet design, then you can take it from there. But before you start buying closet accessories, you will need to do the hard work of deciding what you are going to keep in this space. Step Two: Decide how the closet will function best for you. I am retired and wear casual clothing especially during the week so when I recently redesigned my closet I put casual tops first, then special blouses; casual bottoms followed by dress pants; skirts followed by dresses because this is the way I plan for any particular activity. I tend to color like items together so each section goes from light to dark. You may have different needs so different plans. Play around a bit, try some different schemes. Just make sure it works for you. Step Three: With clothing and accessories stacked in "neat" piles, it is time to get down to the most difficult phase of the project, deciding what to keep and what not to keep. Go through each stack and ask yourself: does this fit, is it still in good shape, do I still want to wear it? If yes, set aside to go back into the closet. If no to any of these questions, decide what to do with it (NOW). Create three bins, boxes or bags. One is for "give away", one for "sell", one for "recycling". As you handle each item, decide where it goes and put it there. Try not to leave "undecided" piles when you are working with these items. If it helps make your decisions any easier, you can "thank" the item for working for you and then put it aside. This can help you have closure as you move to a new lifestyle. For those items that you want to keep, sort out any that need to be cleaned or repaired and put them either in the laundry or a sewing basket. Both should be kept in the closet/bedroom or bath. Step Four: With everything out of the closet and items sorted, it is time to consider any changes you might need to make to the space you are working on. Add additional rods, baskets, or dressers as needed. Remember to be creative; every item needs a home. Consider purchasing slim-line hangers since they can also create more space in your closet. Those items that are not going back in the closet can be set aside for now, but remind yourself that you will need to find the appropriate location for them. Don't add to the confusion by stuffing them just anywhere. With clothes, shoes, and accessories sorted and the closed designed, start re-housing items meant just for this closet. Now, step back, take a deep breath and congratulate yourself on successfully completing another project. Give yourself a few weeks of use to decide if you need to make any adjustments. This will give you opportunities to live with the system you have designed and if needed you can always re-arrange. Now might be the time to institute a new rule if you haven't already: One Item In means One Item Out! Congratulations! Now on to finding homes for all the items you took out of this closet. Next, we will consider children's closets, linen closets, and holiday storage. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
Puzzle Hub
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
Fire dancers!!! Wow! What fun! You really are in Paradise! So happy you for you! 
But I wish I loved it. That would be SO HANDY! So, I've been working on positive self-talk regarding cleaning. I smile when I say these things and I say them out loud if I'm alone or in my head if I'm not. I say things like, "I love to clean. Cleaning is fun. Cleaning makes me happy. I enjoy a tidy space." Blah, blah, blah...
Sure, it's dumb, but if it works, it doesn't matter. 
). 
I'm the prime example of someone who needed her own advice over 40 years ago. 