With summer just a few days away, it’s the perfect time to stop procrastinating and organize that closet. It’s not too late for spring cleaning guys! Who says it has to be in the “spring” anyways?

Four months ago, I cleaned out my closet and organized the hell out of it. The closet of our home was not built correctly. It’s a walk-in closet with plenty of space, but there is a lot of unused space that leaves room for clutter and disorganization. I had to get really organized and figure out a way to make it work. Our closet was really a mess!  I decided to really Marie Kondo the whole closet and get deep into spring cleaning.

This year has been one of change for me. I have been working towards getting more minimal and focus on quality over quantity. Having a clean fresh and organized closet seemed like a necessary step towards that. I turned Maries show on to give me ideas, also put on a few episodes of ‘Hoarders’ to scare the crap out of me and simultaneously give motivation. To get in the mood, I poured myself a glass of wine, which later turned into a bottle (don’t worry, John was helping too) and got the job done. It took me a whole day but was so worth it!

Having my closet organized made everything better. I only have pieces I absolutely love in my closet so dressing in the morning is easier. It’s much easier to keep everything tidy when everything has a place and purpose. I highly recommend fully committing to cleaning since it makes all the difference and helps your space stay clean for longer.  Months later, my closet still looks as good as the day I cleaned it. It’s not perfect, but it’s organized and feels amazing!

How to organize your closet in 4 easy steps:

1. PURGE!

There are two things I took from Marie Kondo: her folding methods (more on that later) and purging! Take absolutely everything (ALL OF IT) out of your closet and put it in another room. You will most likely be overwhelmed by how much you have! I know I was.  Looking at all your clothes off the hangers, out of the drawers and in one place helps you see exactly how much clothes you have and get a  good look at every single item before you put it back on the hanger. Next, go through every single item and see what you really need and what you want to keep. Below you can see the mess that my closet and room looked like during this phase! If you look closely, you can spot my dog Jaya “helping out” too.

A few questions to ask yourself during this phase:

Does it bring me Joy? Another Marie Kondo method (I know, cheezy, but it works!). Can it be donated to a local shelter or goodwill? When was the last time I wore this? Do I have various of the same type of item? Can it be recycled? If you do choose to recycle, there are a  few cool recycling programs: The Bra Recyclers (for all your old bras)  Soles 4 Souls (for your old shoes), Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program where they take old athletic shoes, grind them up, and use them to create courts, fields, tracks, and playgrounds (this is so cool!)

2. ORGANIZE

While purging everything, make sure to stay organized by putting different piles together: a donation Pile, a
give to mom/sisters/cousins” pile, a selling pile (I love to sell things on eBay And Poshmark for example) and a keep pile! Keeping them in boxes or bags helps keep everything more organized too!

3. BUY SUPPLIES:

Before bringing things back into your closet, take a good look at your closet and see where there is room for improvement. There are a few things I bought to help organize my cluttered closet :

• Drawer Dividers: Perfect for that messy underwear drawer but also work great for socks, bras, panty hoes..etc.
• Umbra hitch Accessories: These hooks are amazing! You can hang anything you want on these. I bought a few to hang my nicer designer bags on that I didn’t want to fold or didn’t fit on the shelf.
• Multiple scarf hanger: You guys know I love a good hair scarf! This is where I store them all. I just tie them all on here so they don’t fall off.
• Shelf divider: Shelf dividers for your top shelf are a game changer! I was able to get better use of my top shelf by folding up all my jeans, pants and chunky sweaters and using these dividers to keep them in place. I’ve organized them by color: blue jeans, black jeans, leather pants, patterned and sweat pants. Who am I even?  EDIT: while the shelf dividers were great for my jeans, it wasn’t as easy for my sweaters to stay organized. I ended up investing in these Drop-Front Sweater boxes months later to stack on the shelf and it looks so organized. If you have the budget, definitely upgrade to these for sweaters.
• Storage Bins: For those awkward pieces that are annoying to store because of their odd shapes (like duffle bags and travel backpacks), I bought a few of these bins to place on the highest shelves of my closet.
• 6 hook Rack for belts: I have two of these on my door. One on the back and one on the front. We use them for our shower towels and also belts and John’s ties.

4. FOLD

Now back to the second thing I loved from the Marie Kondo method, her folding! I was skeptical at first because it just seemed TOO simple. I actually took everything out and refolded it a few different ways just to see what worked best.  Like, C’mon, how much could this folding method actually change things? Guess what, it 100%  saved a lot more space. This method also helps so you can see all your clothes perfectly without having to sift through it all. Even John has his clothes folded this way now and he’s also a firm believer in it as well. Check out this video here to see how to fold them this way.

Let me tell you, my drawers are STILL in perfect shape months later. I have never in my life been able to keep my drawers organized for this long! My drawer below looks a bit cramped but I have a LOT of shirts. Either way, they stay this organized now.

Extra tips:

• Make sure you don’t have any wire hangers or plastic from the laundromat in your closet. It can make things look messy! I like to have the same hangers throughout the closet. It looks much cleaner. My favorite ones are these. They are minimal, take up less space and the clothes don’t slide off!
• Always put your clothes away when you take them off. Don’t leave a pile lying around, because most likely you will not get to it and will keep adding to it as the week goes on. Build the habit of always putting things away and you will always stay organized!

Hope this helps!! Happy spring cleaning friends and thanks for reading!!

xx Francesca