Out of the Closet.

I have serious issues when it comes to closet organization. I can't stand for my husband to put away laundry because he hangs everything facing the wrong way and just shoves stuff wherever there is empty bar space. Drives me nuts. Add to that my failure to ever catch up on laundry, and you get a closet that begs for a closed door at all times.

This weekend I tackled that closet, as well as the armoire in our bedroom, and did some serious organizing/washing/puging/crying. Ok, I didn't really cry, but I did really want to cry when I saw the sheer volume of clothing I can't fit into since having babies.

Here was my system:

~ I took all dirty items, whether we wear them regularly or not (so this includes the random clothes in the back corner behind my shoes which I've not worn for months and I can't be sure whether they ended up their because I wore them and dropped them on the floor, tried them on and they didn't fit, or they fell off a hanger) and put them out by the washer in piles to be washed.

~ I took the clothes that had been sitting in the dryer all week (yeah, I'm one of those people) and hung them.

~ As I went to hang the clean stuff in the closets, I pulled out empty hangers.With my husband's clothes (his is the only closet with NO organization whatsoever), I just threw the clean clothes on a bar for now, but with all others, the clean stuff went where it 'belongs'. In my closet, it's organized like this:
sweaters
tank tops
shirts (solids together, prints following)
skirts
pants
dresses

Everything is arranged in ROYGBV style. Rohan's closet is set up similar. In Luca's, it's the same set up, but in each category I have solids first in ROYGBV, then prints for her shirts and dresses.

~ The kids' stuff gets purged pretty regularly, as they try something on and I notice that it's either stained/damaged beyond saving or it doesn't fit anymore. In Luca's closet, most old dresses become shirts when they are too short to be worn alone.

~ In my closet, I then pulled everything off the racks that I was unsure of: Did it fit? Did I like it enough to keep it? I took those items into the bathroom for Operation Reality Check. I hung them all on the shower curtain rod and one-by-one tried them on.

From here, they were sorted further. Items I liked that fit went back into my closet to be put in rotation. Items I liked that were too small went back into a separate area of my closet (I know most people would argue I should toss them or give them away, but a lot of them WILL fit again once I reach my weight loss goals). Items that didn't fit and/or weren't flattering and that I saw no hope for went into the 'sell or donate' pile, which was later sorted further.

My bar in the closet, with only the clothes I know fit and were clean at the time.

Pile of clothes to try on.

Sorting items after trying them on.

My little helper.

Love this tank, don't love my arms and the armpit flap thing...so it went back in the closet to be worn with something over it for now.

Oh look. Another little helper.

~ Last, I went into my husband's closet and organized it much like mine it. He has two smaller bars opposite each other, so one side is casual and one side is work. I sorted them by season and color, and hung his jeans and shorts on a lower bar.

~ As I finished laundry everything was reviewed before it got a home in the closets, and if it was deemed no good, it went immediately into a pile (sell, trash, or give away).

~ At the end of all this, my closets are better organized and easier to nagivate and we have the following to add to the YAWYK challenge:

Donate:
- 5 pairs of dress pants
- 13 'unmentionables' in good condition (Goodwill takes 'em!)
- 4 PJ bottoms
- 13 of my shirts, 6 of the hubby's
- 4 pairs of men's shorts or casual pants
- 7 sweaters/sweatshirts/hoodies

Trash:
A full bag of stuff ruined beyond donation, including holey socks and stained shirts. Estimating it's about 50 items.

Sell:
- 12 of my shirts
- 3 of my dresses
- 4 of my sweaters

At the end of the weekend, I have empty laundry baskets, clean closets to start the week off right, and I even managed to clear some storage space in our closet and the downstairs coat closet as well. We dropped a bag of 52 items at the local Goodwill, and I'm working on reviewing the items I have to see what the gaps in my wardrobe are. Already I know I need/want:

- brown boots
- short sleeved cardigan in white or off-white as well as one in black and one in brown
- shirts in red, green, and brown
- 2 more pairs of jeans
- 2 more pairs of work pants

And, last but not least, here are some 'after' shots of the closet. I didn't take befores, but just imagine that big pile you saw above sitting on the bed, all hung in this little master bedroom closet.

His side of the closet. In that back corner is stuff I want to hold onto for when I hit my goal weight.

It's really sick how much I love a color-coded closet. I predict his side will look like this until the next time he hangs laundry.

His dress shirts.

My tank tops.

The whole closet. The lower bar on the left is Darrick's jeans and shorts. To the right is his work clothes, and straight ahead is all my hanging clothes.

How I felt after two days of closet organization.