One night a few weeks ago, Ally and I were getting ready to go out together at my house when she looked in my closet and gasped.  She was appalled by the amount of clothing, shoes, and accessories I had stuffed in there.  “You better have this closet cleaned out before we go shopping again!” she told me.  I just laughed her off but, unfortunately, every time I saw her after that (which is every day) she would ask me if I had cleaned my closet.  Of course, the answer was always no.  After a while, she got tired of watching me purchase new clothes without getting rid of anything and dragged me in there to get it done. 

Two and a half hours later, I had four black garbage bags full of items to be taken to Goodwill (and Ally had a few “new” things to take home to her own closet).  I have so much room in there now that I was able to put everything on its very own hanger! I can also see what I have now which helps me to get dressed quicker.  

 

 

 

Melissa’s Tips for Closet Cleaning & Organization:

~If you haven’t worn it in the last year, get rid of it.  It’s not likely you’re going to wear it anytime soon.

~If it doesn’t fit—whether it’s because you’ve gained or lost—toss it.  Keeping it in case you fit in it again takes up space for new items that you can fit into now.

~If you have any items that are similar to each other, choose the one you like best and get rid of the other (For me, this philosophy works on all things except camisoles since I wear them almost every day in the summer).

~If you are holding onto an item due to sentimental or nostalgic reasons, take it out of your closet and put it away with your other valued items (my place is my hope chest).  Just because it is clothing doesn’t mean it needs to be in the closet if you’re not going to wear it.

~Get rid of any shoes with scuffs that cannot be repaired, even if you love them/they’re your favorites/they’re Manolos!  

~Keep all your items categorized together: pants with pants, dresses with dresses, tanks with tanks, and so on.

~Color coordinates you items in their categories.  This is not about being anal retentive. It’s about convenience.  For example, you have on your salmon colored mini and you know you want to wear a black shirt with it.  Instead of searching through all the shirts to find the one you want, you only have to look through the section of black shirts.

 

Happy cleaning, Fashionistas!