Feisty Girl

Everyone has one – that extra closet in the hall or guest room that tends to acquire all the stuff you don’t know where else to put. Over time, this closet can become pretty daunting, so in order to tackle it, I’m going to split this post into two parts. The first part will deal with de-cluttering, and the second part will deal with actually organizing the closet.

Depending on how big or how full your closet is, organizing it can potentially take up a big chunk of your time, so be sure to give yourself plenty of time – don’t try to do this the day before your in-laws are coming to visit, or in-between other chores. I’d recommend erring on giving yourself too much time, so pick a weekend when you don’t have anything else on the calendar, and don’t get discouraged if it takes you longer than you thought it would. Also, you might want to break your organizing into 2 big chunks (just like this blog post) – one to de-clutter, and a second block of time to organize.

The first part of de-cluttering is to pull out everything from your closet, sorting as you go. As you pull out each item, ask yourself, “Does this really belong here?” Maybe you picked up some Christmas decorations on clearance in January, but they never made it up to the attic with all your other decorations. So start a pile for stuff that can go elsewhere in your home. Remember that keeping like items together will help you stay organized, and prevent you from losing things or forgetting what you already own. When you can see all the decorations in one place, it’s much easier to know just how much stuff you have!

If the item doesn’t clearly have a better spot somewhere else in your home, ask yourself, “Do I use it?” and if the answer is no, then ask yourself why are you keeping it? Would it be better to donate it or throw it out? If you don’t use it, and you can’t part with it, why not? Does it have sentimental value to you? Some people are going to have a harder time with this than others, and that’s ok. Set it aside for now – we’ll come back to your “sentimental pile” later.

If you do use the item, then ask yourself how often you use it? You want to keep the things you use the most in an easy-to-reach location (your vacuum), whereas things that you use only once in a while (guest towels), or on a seasonal basis (your ski pants) can be kept toward the back of a closet, up in the attic or out in the garage (assuming that extreme temperatures won’t damage them).  Set aside the things you use most often in one pile, and those you use less often in another.

Continue this process until either your closet is empty. You should now have 5 or 6 piles of stuff: 

• Donate
• Trash
• Relocate
• Sentimental
• Frequently used
• Rarely used

Now that you can see all your stuff, it’s time to come back to that sentimental pile. How big is it? Do you have duplicate items in it? I’ll use myself as an example: my mom is constantly giving me flamingos. I collect flamingos, and I do have special ones that came from particular people. But my mom has given me the most, by far. Sometimes I’ll get duplicates, or ones that I don’t really like. I love the thought behind the gift, of course, but if it’s the 20th flamingo my mom has given me in 2 years, and I don’t love it – then I’m not going to keep it. I have plenty of other flamingos from my mom to treasure. (Watch out if you ever invite me to a white elephant party – because I’m bringing a lovely flamingo candlestick! Sorry, mom – love you!) So, if you have 20 lace doilies from your Aunt Edna, pick one to keep, and donate the rest of those to your local thrift store! Some theater props master will love you for it when she’s out looking for vintage decor for the next stage production. Hopefully you will be able to move some of the stuff in this pile into the donate or trash piles. For the remainder of this pile, decide what should be relocated to another part of the house — hey, if you like it enough to keep it, put it on display!

Now take everything in the trash pile and go trash it! Don’t wait, get that stuff out of your way asap.

Take the donate pile and put it in a box or trash bag and throw it in the back of your car. Then the next time you go out, swing by a donation center and drop it off. You can feel good about this for two reasons – you’re making more room in your home, and giving your stuff a chance to be enjoyed by someone else!

For the relocate pile, DON’T start putting this stuff away yet. Your closet organization could potentially get derailed as you start projects all over the house. It’s better to put this stuff into a bin or laundry basket for now – keep it in sight, but relegate to relocate it after you’ve finished the task at hand.

OK – give yourself a pat on the back, because part one of your closet makeover is complete! Take a break, do a few stretches and get ready for part two!