Cleaning House, err Closet

This weekend, as promised, I cleaned out my closet and boy was it in need of cleaning!  It had gotten to the point that when I opened the closet, things would just come tumbling out.  Not a good situation and definitely not safe for Woods, who tries pretty regularly to play in our closets.

Worse, I could never find anything to wear, despite my bursting at the seams closet.  After reading a few blog posts about frugal living and clothes (here and here are some good ones) I felt ready to attack the closet.  Because I want to keep it real on this blog, here is a before picture of my closet.

Woods carefully inspects the danger zone

The first thing I did was make the bed so I had a large flat surface to work with.  Then as I took out of the clothes, I sorted them by type: short sleeve shirts, long sleeve shirts, dresses and skirts.  Any summer clothes (extra pairs of sandals, shorts, tank tops that don't layer well) went into two long plastic containers to be stored under our bed until next spring/summer.  While I was at it, I also emptied every single drawer, continuing to sort and store as I went.

Woods helps sort clothes

Once absolutely everything was out on the bed and dresser, I began paring down or editing my wardrobe.  I created two new piles: items headed for consignment or those headed to a thrift store.  I tried on every pair of pants and those that no longer fit went into one of the two piles.  Any item that had not been worn since we moved to St. Louis or was stained or torn also went into the piles.  All in all, I was left with one brown paper bag for consignment and two paper bags for thrift stores.

Next, I sorted the remaining items by color, from dark to light.  The idea here is that it will be easier to find clothes to wear for work if I can match colors quickly.  Once they were pared down and sorted, back into the closet they went.  I also visited Hobby Lobby on Saturday and got two fabric hat boxes for belts and other odds and ends that needed corralling.

My purses and bags that were previously deflated and bunched up on the floor got wrapping paper stuffed inside them to help them maintain their shape and found a new home on the shelf in the closet.  A red plastic bin that I had gotten a while back the Dollar Store found a place on the lower shelf to store my perfume, watches, hair ties, and so forth.

So there you have it, that's how, after several hours and a fierce commitment to simplifying my closet and my life, I cleaned house, err closet.

Woods inspects the final product

I must say that having a clean and organized closet has definitely made getting dressed for work in the morning easier!  I can clearly see what items I have to work with.  I am also more motivated to hang clothes up as soon as I am finished with them, since they have such an orderly home to go back to, keeping the whole bedroom clean and tidy.

Have you recently cleaned out a closet?  Any tips for ruthlessly paring down your wardrobe?  Please discuss...