Shelbi's Fashion Chatter: Mom's Daunting Closet!

Last Sunday when I was visiting my mom in Odessa, we spent 7 hours cleaning out her closet! It was a mess! She had clothes, trash and random non-clothing items strung all over the floor and on every surface. Her winter and summer clothes were mixed in and there was dust everywhere! My mom is very lucky to have a huge closet, but because of the size, it can accumulate a lot of junk!

When we started the project is was daunting... where do we begin?!? Mom started to get overwhelmed very quickly, which is normal....that is where I came in. First we took out everything that was on the floor and started arranging it into piles in her room (trash, things that go in my siblings rooms, things that belong in the kitchen, laundry..) Then I started to gather the trash, I swear my mom hasn't thrown away a price tag from her clothes, she just takes them off and lets them land somewhere in the closet. By the end of the day we had accumulated about three 40 gallon bags of trash (some of this included clothes that would not be taken to goodwill).

Next we started on her shoes and purses. My mom has a serious shoe and purse addiction! We separated the shoes into three piles: winter shoes, summer shoes and shoes to get rid of. We stored the winter shoes away so they wouldn't accumulate dust. My mom and I like to save the bags that bedspreads and sheets come in to use for storage. We separated the summer shoes into work shoes and casual shoes (flip flops, tennis shoes). Then put them away. By the end we had a pile of shoes to donate that filled a 40 gallon trash bag!

We separated purses into keep and get rid of. Then we separated the purses to keep into dressy (for formal events) and everyday bags. We stored the evening bags together and the bags that she wouldn't be using this summer in a separate bag. We also filled a 40 gallon bag with her purses to get rid of!

Jewelry was next on our list. My mom has a neat jewelry case, but it didn't fit all of her jewelry. She also had some necklaces hanging on her wall on thumb tacks which initially was a good idea, except her hair and makeup station is located directly in front of them and hairspray was being sprayed around the necklaces so they were getting really dirty! Her "good" jewelry was mixed in with some of my great grandmothers costume jewelry in some of her closet drawers. We needed to get it all in one place so that she knew what she had. This process was long and tedious, but well worth it. I tell people to not get rid of jewelry (unless it is broken) because it is something that will return or at least you can give it to your grand kids to play with one day.. So we put away the broaches from several years ago and she gave me and my grandmother a few necklaces she doesn't wear.

Now with all the tedious projects taken care of, it was time for the clothes! About 2 years ago I had briefly gone through my mother's clothes with her and we did some major damage (about six 40 gallon bags of donated clothes). She had some really ugly clothes that had to leave her closet. This time around it was much different. We actually only got rid of clothing because of a bad fit or because it was worn out. I complimented my mom for buying better purchases and using the "rules" on color and style I had taught her. Our main focus was to arrange the clothes so that she knew wear to find something. First we tackled the drawers which had her socks, pj's and underwear, that didn't take too long. The we worked on her clothes that were hanging up. We put her blouses and t-shirts on the left side of the closet. Tank Tops went first went first in color order (white, black, brown, yellows, reds, pinks, purple, blue, teal, green, then prints). Blouses and work tops next, in color order, then we arranged her t-shirts the same. On the right side of the closet we put winter clothes that were left on the hanger in the back of the closet, and because her closet collects so much dust we put cleaning bags over them. Then dresses, where there was still some space for longer clothing. The rest of the right side is split into two racks. The lower racks held her pants and skirts. The upper rack held her jackets, cardigans, and button-ups shirts that she wears open as a jacket (these were also in color order.)

By this time we were exhausted! I saved making outfits for the next day....though I didn't take any pictures of her outfits with my camera.

Mom LOVES her closet, she says that she just goes in there to look at it in awe of its organization. She is putting her clothes away each night to keep from messing it up again.

Some of the junk we took out at the beginning.

Necklaces that hung on her wall.

The left side of her closet before organizing it.

After organizing it. (To make your closet look even better try to use the same hangers for everything and it will transform the look) I love the new thin felt hangers, it creates a lot more room.