Closets

Closets, Part I


The steps for clearing out closets are the same for organizing in general: sort, purge, zone. Here you typically encounter more contraints than in your overall organizing. Closets are pretty fixed in size, they often have architectural limitations like a slanted ceiling or awkward shape, and if you live in an old home, they are probably much too small. You don't want to run around the house getting dressed, so even if there are extra closets in the house, they may not be in the right spot.

That being said, there is much you can do to maximize your closet space. Begin by sorting. First sort by season, then within the season, but clothing type. Within the clothing type, sort again by length. Short-length clothing should accomodate a shoe rack, drawer unit, or another rod for hanging more short to medium-hang.

If lacking in space, why not store your off-season clothing in bins elsewhere, or in those spacesaver vacuum-packed bags?

Next, hang the clothing back by length and type. Separate into categories such as evening wear, sports wear, everyday, housechore clothing. Folding saves space, but it can also create wrinkles. I prefer to fold sweaters so the shoulders don't stretch out. Hanging sweats, if you have limited closet space, is a bad idea.

While sorting with each item you should be asking yourself "when is the last time I've worn this?" If it's been over a year, challenge yourself to get rid of it. Keep no more than a couple worn, stained, or torn articles. Don't hang on to the idea that the "style will return." It never returns exactly the same, your dated piece will appear dated.

It really helps to enlist another person in this process. That person can reason with you when you try to hold onto the past, that yellow shirt you love but makes you look sickly, your favorite pants that are ripping at the seams, those unsightly sweatpants.

A color consulation is also fabulous investment for you and for your closet. If you know the colors that complement your skin and hair tones, you will save a lot of money from not buying the wrong clothing, and your wardrobe will be brought to a new level. Once you understand the principles of color, and your own palate, you will find it easy to purge many unflattering pieces. The key to color is NOT to buy colors just because you like them, but to examine how they work with your own coloring. I am a "winter," which means I need to wear darker hues. But I was drawn to all of the pastels, and it was not until a color consultant called me on my mistake that I realized how washed-out I was looking in the pastels. It's easy not to notice how wrong the color is when it's on you. I must have filled 3 bags of clothing for charity. When you learn your colors, you are less likely to be swayed by the fluctuating fashions and more likely to develop a wardrobe that compliments you.

Organizing Distilled into 3 Steps!

1). Sort like-with-like.

2). Purge!

3). Define zones for each category based on where and when the item will be used.

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I. Sorting like-with-like
This step is simple and mindless, just take the time to do it. The trick is in knowing how detailed a sort you need.

II. Purge.
Purging yields the quickest satisfaction from organizing. You can get quick results and gained space, but the trick is being willing to part with things. Create your own rules as to what stays, what goes. It helps to have a clear vision of what you want out of organizing. If you have a mental picture of your de-cluttered house, purging will feel useful and productive rather than a sacrifice. Return to that vision every time you find yourself resisting your de-cluttering plan.

Here's an example of the rules you might want to create for yourself:

These things go:

• Anything I haven't worn in 1 year, unless it's special occasion
• All utility bills except the current ones (unless you itemize these on your taxes)
• Any decorative objects that don't represent who I am and my taste right now
• Kitchen items not used in the past year
• Books I've read and won't be re-reading
• Any ghosts from the past -- a cat carrier from a deceased cat who will not be replaced, for example

III. Zoning
I covered this issue in earlier posts. Your goal is to store your categories of things (which by now have been sorted by type), according to where and when you will use them. Infrequent-use items are stored away in the hard-to-reach cabinets and closets, frequent-use items are stored in your high traffic areas.

If you follow these three steps, and you really understand the concept of zoning, you'll be on your way to being organized. Paper management is the next big step, so I'll cover that soon.

Zoning

So we've discussed how to set your home up in "zones," like a department store is set up in departments. The trick is to figure out where each zone should be. Here are some typical items I find in most homes which can be organized by zone:

* Home Repair etc. (anything you'd find at, say, Home Depot)

* Games (adult and kid)

* Toys

* Outdoor activities and toys

* Holiday stuff

* Off-season clothing

* Pet supplies and food

* Memorabilia & photos

* Gifts and gift wrapping supplies

* Office and computer supplies

* Music (tapes, CDs, I-pods, etc.)

* Film/Video

* Product manuals, warranties

* Crafts/hobbies

* Books

* Bulk food & household supplies (as opposed to your food in your kitchen or pantry -- this is that year's supply of green beans that you just bought at Costco)

* Cleaning supplies

**IF THERE IS ONE ORGANIZING MISTAKE I SEE OVER AND OVER AGAIN, EVEN IN THE MOST ORGANIZED OF HOMES, IT IS THIS:

The zones in your home must be organized according to when the items in them will be used.
This is the TIME ELEMENT to organizing. Store the infrequent-use items in the far from where you are everyday in the home. Dormant files don't need to be taking up valuable file drawer space. Bulk purchases from a wholesale outlet don't need to fill your kitchen cabinets.

Visualize your home's floor plan in sections. Color the areas of the home where you are EVERY DAY, most of the time, red. Color the areas where you are some of the time, say a couple times per week, blue. Now why is your entire costco purchase of paper towels in your kitchen, a red zone, when you only use one roll per week? Your prime real estate --- that is, where you are most frequently in the home -- should be used ONLY for the items you use on a weekly, or at least monthly, basis. The goal is to prevent you from zigzagging around the house seeking the items you need most regularly.

10 Ways to Cut the Clutter!

1. Make a rule: when one new thing enters the house, another item leaves.

2. Edit your clothing each season. Give yourself a deadline --- if you haven’t worn it in two years, donate it. If you don’t love it, out it goes. If the color is not complimentary, say goodbye. It helps to enlist a friend for this process. Leave yourself 2 outfits for house projects and getting dirty, toss the rest of those shirts with stains and pants with holes out.

3. Apply the same rules for everything else in your house! If you haven’t used it in 2 years, ask yourself: is keeping it worth more than the space you will gain by giving it away?

4. Is your pantry and fridge overflowing to the hilt? Even if you won’t stick to it 100%, make yourself a menu for the next 10 days, giving priority to the food already in the cupboards, and see how much you really need to buy each week at the grocery store. Don’t be lured by coupons and special offers to clutter up your cupboards! The pennies you gain cost much more in the loss of space.

5. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO TO DE-CLUTTER! Set aside time for decluttering! Each season. De-cluttering is a way of life, not a one-time project.

6. Purge books not used as reference.

7. Use the library!

8. Don’t bribe your kids with gifts.

9. Work room by room and evaluate each object. Do you love it? Are you using it? Does it hold memories? Are you keeping it “just in case?” Don’t!

10. Take stock of memorabilia and sentimental items. Is your house full of them? Do they cover the walls and tabletops? Consider that you might be stuck in the past, and giving these items away may unblock you from living in the present.

Welcome!

Hi! I'm starting this blog to give some guidance and inspiration to those on the path to decluttering and reorganizing their lives and spaces. Hopefully you'll be inspired enough to share your experiences and stories about organizing too! And I'd be happy to answer your organizing questions.

My name is Debra and I am a professional home organizer in Chicago (also traveling to New York and San Francisco). My business is called "Spatial Solutions" because in addition to organzing, I help clients with space layout, closet design, and any other problem with space. The premise is that our space reflects our emotions and our state of mind. Dealing with the physical clutter clears the mental clutter as well.

* * * *

Organizing issues usually stem from one or more of the following problems:

* Not enough space

* Not enough time

* Some event -- illness, birth of a baby, etc., took the person off track

* Don't know how to organize

* Compulsive hoarding and collecting (the "pack-rat")

* Fear of letting go of the past

* Fear of poverty (This takes the form of "I can't get rid of it because I may need it someday")

We'll go through each one of these in greater depth later on.

If you are truly lacking in time, I highly suggest you hire someone to help you implement systems that will ultimately save you time. Most of us have some combination of all of the above to a certain degree, and I hope that by sharing with you my strategies developed over the years as a professional organizer you'll gain the tools to really change your life!


Getting Started : Journal Exercise

1. Connect with your motivation. Why do you want to get organized? Go to a place where you can really relax -- in this Chicago winter, the best place might be a hot bathtub, with pen and paper. I want you to visualize what you really want and expect out of organizing. Write down the following:

a. Why I dislike being disorganized. (One client came up with a list that was over a page long! See how many reasons you can come up with). Here are some examples: "I can't have friends over. The clutter stresses me out. I waste so much time trying to find things. I pay so much in late fees because I can never find my bills. I never have enough space. I feel unproductive and inefficient."

b. How would being organized improve my life? (Here I really want you to spend some time in fantasy. Write all of the fantasies down -- these will be powerful reminders when you are overwhelmed.)

c. What are my fears about being organized?


Step 2: Identify the Problem & Strategize

Here's how I like to start with clients. I ask them, "on a daily basis, what about being disorganized causes you the most stress?" Usually they know right away. "Too much clutter." "The kitchen -- I can't cook anymore." "The front entry closet." "Papers."

If the primary stress is overall clutter, then we'll need to conquer that in steps. If it's a particular part of the house, then that is where I suggest you begin your organizing work.

Is your issue clutter or space layout? For many, it's both. But for the moment, we're just going to focus on the layout of your space, and how that effects your ability to cope with all of the stuff.

I strongly suggest that you think of your home in "zones." The easiest way to conceptualize this as you are organizing is to look at the department store as the model for an organized home. Things are placed in a department store according to usage. Office supplies are in one area, recreation another, clothing another. Your home should be divided up in the same way.

Not sold on the idea yet? Sound too simple? Let me give you an example. At any given time, I might be working on anywhere between 10 and 20 homes. On occasion, a client will call me in despair asking "do you have any idea where my such and such is?" There are times when I've never seen the such and such to begin with, but I can guarantee you that if I put it away, I can tell you exactly where it is in your house. How can I keep track of all of these houses and all of their belongings inside? Because every item is placed according to usage! All of the holiday stuff is together, separated by holiday. Anything you'd typically buy in a hardware store is together. Gifts to give and wrapping supplies are all together on one shelf. Outdoor toys and games are separated by season. Excess office supplies are all together. And so on.

** There is one little caveat to this simple system. Sometimes you need two or more zones for the same category. For example: you might have some light bulbs, a small tool box, some batteries and flashlights, and a few other hardware doodads in a convenient closet near the kitchen, but most of your hardware-related belongings are stored in the garage. So here you have two activity zones for the same category for convenience. Entertainment items may be spread throughout the house according to usage and season. Off-season clothing may be stored away from your closet (and I recommend this if you are short on closet space). But overall, these are just little exceptions to an overall system you can follow: each category should have it's own zone in the house.

Creating zones in your house is the first, and most important step to becoming organized. Defining WHERE each zone should be can be tricky, especially if you are low on closet space.
More on that later...