In the words of Eminem… I’m cleaning out my closet. But first a closet-themed dance break for the Marshall Mathers fans out there (I can actually do a mean Eminem impression):
Ok, now that we have that out of the way, I’ll get to the meat and potatoes of this post. I’m actually not currently cleaning out my closet, the deed has already been done. And it’s not just my closet, it’s both of ours. We’ve mentioned a few times that before we got a proper dresser we were living for over three months with piles of socks and pajamas on the floor of our bedroom closet. Yeah, it was a disaster, and we just couldn’t seem to get it together until we brought in a permanent dresser (with functional drawers since the old one had a busted one that threw off our organization mojo). So with the new dresser in our midst, we had no more excuses when it came to all of the skeletons piles of clothes in our closet. So of course we put it off for a few more weeks and finally forced ourselves to get organized. Here are a few before shots (that we actually semi-cleaned up for, you know so my underwear and John’s boxers weren’t front and center):
The first order of business was trying to sort out those cubbies in that middle pic that were stuffed with things for no rhyme or reason and to decide what would be stored in those cubbies and what would come live in our dresser.
We decided that all of the cubbies in the closet would be John’s and the top two and middle drawer in the dresser would be mine. My socks and underwear went in the top left drawer, bathing suits went into the top right one, and pajamas and bras went into the middle one. This freed up the bottom drawer for John’s running clothes while his pajamas, underwear, jeans, swimsuits, and shorts got organized into those cubbies in the closet thanks to some old baskets we’ve had forever (originally from our wedding registry at Linens N’ Things) that serve as fake-o drawers to keep things like socks and underwear from runneth-ing over. Oh and we moved the cluttered looking hamper into the bottom opening in the cubbies where we can easily toss clothes without needing to crack the lid anymore (we just screwed it off and left it open for easier access).
Then John pared down all of his clothes and we started a big donation bag. He surprised me and decided that hanging his t-shirts was actually the smartest use of space for us since we didn’t have room for all of them in the cubbies or our new dresser (I think he realized that keeping more shirts hinged on hanging them so they were all in one spot, or I might just start questioning why he needed to keep so many t-shirts to begin with, haha, smart guy).
Here’s my side. I also pulled out stuff that I never wear for our big donation bag (other “transitional” things from right after I had Clara got stuffed into my maternity clothing bin in the attic) so here are all of my t-shirts, tops, sweaters, cardigans, scarves, jackets, pants, dresses, suits, blazers, skirts, etc (since we don’t keep any of those things folded in our drawers and we don’t store out of season clothes anywhere else). Aside from pajamas (which are in my dresser) and winter coats (which are in the coat closet) this is every item of clothing I own.
It’s hard to tell in the pics above (since the closet is so small it’s impossible to take wide shots) but the shelf above the hanging bar on my side got some major organization. Three pairs of I-wear-them-now jeans are all that remain (all of my maternity ones finally got put away) and two sweaters that I wear all the time are folded in the corner (as opposed to ten that I never wore).
Pardon the yellow glare in this pic (forgot to white balance again, and I’m too lazy for Photoshop fixing) but this shot was meant to demonstrate how much space we still have to “grow” in there now that there’s a completely empty top shelf on my side and only a few items on the shelf below it.
And just for fun, here are my shoes (well most of them, some are over on John’s shoe shelf because he’s sweet like that – and only has about five pairs for himself). I love shoes. They’re my weakness and I get nearly all of my shoes for less than $20 at places like DSW (those studded heels on the bottom right were $7 from a consignment store in never-worn condition) so I allow myself to “hoard” when it comes to the amount of “special occasion” footwear that I have going on. Because I’ll be honest, things like lime sandals or red wedges aren’t everyday occurrences. But when they do come out to play they make me happy (yes, shoes can make my day). And yes I do have two (count them, two) pairs of leopard heels. Maybe they’re like ceramic animals to me, I just like to have them around to “cuddle.”
And now that this has turned into a fashion blog here’s a shot of the other side of the shelf on top of my hanging bar with a few favorite scarves, a wide black belt, a few clutches, and two out of rotation purses.
Ok, one more gratuitous shoe shot, just because I’m giddy for footwear.
The closet definitely looks a lot more organized with so much floor showing (stashing the hamper within those cubbies on the side really makes it a lot roomier in there too).
And if it ever gets crazy again we’ll just turn off the light, draw the curtain, and hide the chaos like this:
What? At least I’m honest.
Sazmataz says
Looks great! I wish my closet was so nice!!
One of the smartest organization pieces we ever bought was a hanging sweater shelf to store shoes in. Before that our shoes were all over the floor of the entry way’s closet, smashing each other in a big messy pile. Now that’s hanging up in there and the shoes are stashed in it in nice neat pairs. I recommend them highly!
http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-8-Shelf-Hanging-Organizer-White/dp/B001F51ADU/ref=pd_sim_hg_4
alma says
This is exactly what i should be doing right now, however, my project requires some mental preparation. A glass of wine or two…haha…great job, well done. It looks neat and organized. I love the purple shoes Sherry!!! ;)
janie says
I have the perfect use for the top shelf. Mine has labelled spots for each upcoming child size, so I can see at a glance what we need and what we have tons of. Since my kids clothes all come from the sale rack or from hand me downs I shop several years in advance.
Kay says
Lots of people are saying they have a ton more clothes (myself included). Have you had more in the past? Did you just decided to simplify things? My sister got rid of 70% of her closet and donated everything to Haiti. She loves it, she says it takes her less than 10 minutes to pick out an outfit.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kay,
I think we’ve both been this way for a while (living in NYC meant that we had tiny closets and little room to hoard very much of anything). I figure if I have three pair of jeans that fit me really well and I love them, why would I need more. I probably would wear my three favorites if I had ten pairs anyway. Thoughts like that help us keep things from getting out of hand. Plus we’re too cheap to buy lots of stuff. Haha.
xo,
s
Amber says
I have the same pair of leopard print pointy toed shoes! (the middle ones) I think I got them years ago at Shoe Carnival – never seen anyone else with those! Closet looks awesome… I’m inspired!
kb says
I’m cringing at the moment with embracement. I could fill that closet and two more with all my cloths and my husbands. How do keep thing to a minimum?
YoungHouseLove says
I think we’ve been that way for a while (living in NYC meant that we had tiny closets and little room to hoard very much of anything). I figure if I have three pair of jeans that fit me really well and I love them, why would I need more. I probably would wear my three favorites if I had ten pairs anyway. Thoughts like that help us keep things from getting out of hand. Plus we’re too cheap to buy lots of stuff. Haha.
xo,
s
kim b says
love the cut and paste, sorry I didn’t read all the comments before posting. Didn’t have time as we had 6 power outages today.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, no worries! We know it’s a lot to sift through!
xo,
s
Sheryl J says
This makes me realize that I have way too much unused junk in my closet/dresser. I don’t even wanna get into my husband’s hoarding tendencies…
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
Looks great! That looks like the amount of clothes that I have, too. But I’m an at-home mom with not a lot of chances to dress up. I have a few dressy things, and mostly casual clothes. It was different when I worked in an office every day! I like the set up, how one side is “his” and one side is “hers.”
Ana Silva says
My husband is actually the one with more clothes than me. I organize his closet all the time just to have him make a mess out of it. For some reason he just cant seem to hang things back in their place. But I like cleaning and organizing and once I get started no one can stop me.
Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co says
Loving the closet re-org! And Sherry… might I say that you have lovely BRIGHT clothing! It’s like an injection of energy into the closet! :)
Luckily, Eric put in a quick closet kit when we first bought our house to immediately manage our clothes (there wasn’t even a pole to hang anything because previous mean owners ripped everything out), but we are quickly building a desire to build a custom one! :) Can’t wait!!!
Sidenote… I need to join the “go through the clothes and donate” train…
Nicole says
I just did the exact same thing this weekend.
http://canny-cole.blogspot.com/2011/04/weekend-project.html
Feels good to finally get rid of lots of things i wasn’t wearing and donate them. I know they will all find great homes. Cleaning out my closet also helped me get to work a whole 15 minutes earlier!! I didn’t have to TRY to find what i wanted to wear. I arranged everything in “Dresses, Sweaters, shirts, tank tops, skirts, pants”. =) Looks like everyone seems to be “cleaning out their closets” these days! Happy SPRING cleaning everyone!
Sarah@StyleandCentsability says
Looks great! I so wish I had your space but I try to make the most out of it! I need to attack mine and donate, donate, donate!
http://styleandcentsability.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/wall-display-closet-fun/
The Nester, Meagan says
Oh I adore the knottiness (he he that made me laugh)of those baskets!
meagan
row house nest
Jennifer Darling says
You’re too funny! The best line of this post is “What? At least I’m honest.”
Great organizing and I agree, purty it up. A chandelier and artwork will be fabulous in there.
Jenn
p.s. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your purple heels!
ginger says
there is a post on my baby’s desk on Oh Dee Doh today and I gave y’all credit for inspiration :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Woot! That’s so sweet of you. Can’t wait to see it!
xoxo,
s
bethany says
this post was just another reminder that i NEEEEED to go through my clothes and actually donate/toss things that i dont wear on a normal basis. this morning i went through that horrible uh, this? no, that? but? uh! while running late and then your post was a super motivating reminder to get it done!!!
did you see this: http://simplemom.net/closet-before-and-after/ ? that apparently wasn’t enough motivation for me a few weeks back…
YoungHouseLove says
Love it!
xo,
s
Allison says
I love closet organization posts!! When I first started reading this blog over a year ago you definitely inspired me to totally purge my closet and I’ve kept it that way. It’s so nice knowing everything I have in there are things I actually enjoy wearing!
Charter says
Are those gorgeous red, patent leather wedges a recent purchase? Are they Jessica Simpson? Did you get them on sale at the Dillard’s in Short Pump for $20? Me too!!?!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- yes! Not Short Pump though, the Dillards at StonyPoint! They were $14 after all the sales were applied!
xo,
s
SShaw says
I started working on my seasonal closet “switch-out” this past weekend (fold & put winter clothes in storage, take summer clothes out of storage & hang them up) and was kind of disgusted by how much stuff I have. But at the same time, I wear most of it so couldn’t let any significant amt go. It really made me feel stressed out! So I am also aghast at how few clothes you have; I admire your ability to edit & let go!
carolinaheartstrings says
Makes me want to go home and clean out my closet right now!
Carolyn says
Love the closet post! Couldn’t come at a better time. We’re currently in the process of enlarging the opening to my itty bitty closet. Won’t have any more room in the closet (which isn’t a walk-in, just a standard closet) but the hope is that I’ll actually be able to see everything that was hiding behind the wall before. Love the shoes too! My feet are huge (like 10-11 huge). Cute shoes don’t look cute when they get that big, haha.
Christian says
I think you guys will like this:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljhbx9bk7z1qzlr04o1_500.jpg
YoungHouseLove says
Bwahahah, it’s Burger! On burgers!
xo,
s
Laura says
BIG fan not only of your blog, but of the purple shoes! :)
Kristin says
I am in LOVE with your pink and white scarf!!!
Totally off-topic, but you’ve talked about white balancing your camera before, and I’m curious..I’ve noticed the pics where John has WB-ed it before made a difference (not that I don’t love your yellowy-tint above Sherry :).. do you manually do a “custom” white balance, or do you set it to one of the programmed settings? (I have almost the identical camera as you guys do) Thanks so much!! Love you guys :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we like to manually do it (John always does and his pics are much better). I’m a fly by the seat of your pants girl so sometimes I forget…
xo,
s
Liz says
Okay, our closet is only a foot deep. Our dresser has 3 doors. It seee-yucks.
Jennah says
My close it like 1/3 the size of yours and hubby and I have about 4x the clothes in it. Ack! (it’s organized, though! Color coded, even!)
Jennah says
PS we just donated FOUR FULL TRASHBAGS of clothes. And we still should prob purge again.
Angie says
What color blue is in your room? Love it!
YoungHouseLove says
It’s Carolina Inn Club Aqua by Valspar (color matched to Olympic’s No-VOC paint).
xo,
s
sarah (sarah learns) says
ooooh, i have those purple wedges that you showed in that last shoe-shot! they’re going to be my wedding shoes! :)
Paige says
Your closet looks great! I was about to wonder how you get by with so little clothing, but then I remembered that you guys work from home and don’t need to worry about a dress code for an office (ugh).
I organized my closet a few months ago, too:
http://finalclothesout.blogspot.com/2011/01/miscellaneous-closet-clean-out.html
YoungHouseLove says
That’s definitely true but I’ve always been a minimalist when it comes to having a few good classics that I wear a lot (and a few accessories to switch things up). Back in NYC when I worked in advertising I had a tiny studio with a mini closet and no dresser, so I had three pairs of good jeans, one pair of black pants, one black blazer, a few cardigans and shirts and skirts, and some accessories to switch it up. Which is ironically still the general number of things that I own. I think it’s definitely a habit of mine to challenge myself to work with less whenever I can. Plus I’m too cheap to buy lots of stuff. Haha.
xo,
s
Crafty Texas Girls says
I really liked hearing about your party planning and seeing you run the 10K. I am can’t believe your Dad beat you- your time is fast! Congrats on your 2nd fastest time :)
craftytexasgirls.blogspot.com
sommer says
In case no one else noticed, I feel that someone should give props to the fact that when you photographed your bedroom, you centered your light fixture oh-so-perfectly in your vanity mirror. Nice! Just want you to know that someone out there noticed and appreciated that! :D
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- thanks! I’m crazy like that!
xo,
s
Kathy says
Love the redo! I really need to go through our clothes and deal with it…especially since we have two huge dressers and a huge closet (one of our dressers is IN the closet) with all the clothing for our three person family. Oh, and a closet in the living room for our coats. And there are formal dresses hanging in the office. This is motivating me!
Oh, and you should totally check out the White Balance Lens Cap: http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/white-balance-lens-cap/ Seriously, the awesomeness will change your life!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the link!! Off to check it out.
xo,
s
Tania says
So, it sounds like one of the keys to keeping your closets so organized is that you don’t buy a lot of stuff to begin with (I’ve already failed miserably). But when you are purging your closets, do you have a system? Meaning, do you say “I need # of casual pants, # of sweaters” or do you just go through and hang on to what you love? I’ve tried both ways unsatisfactorily. With the former, I was left with a very practical yet totally uninspiring wardrobe divided into work and weekend. With the latter, I loved the stuff I had, but wasn’t practical for my lifestyle (meaning I ended up hanging on to too many cute cocktail dresses and not enough work basics). I’d love to hear how you’ve gone about it.
YoungHouseLove says
I know I can live with a small number if nice things that I wear a lot (classics like one good black blazer, three pairs of jeans, a few cardigans, two sweaters, a few tops and skirts, etc) thanks to my days of living in NYC (in a tiny studio with a tiny closet). So I just go through things ruthlessly and pull out what I don’t wear. I’ve heard a saying like “you wear 20% of your wardrobe 99% of the time” and it’s definitely true! No need to hold onto things “just in case” if there hasn’t been an “in case” in over a year! Time to let go. Haha. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Tania says
Thanks, Sherry. I heard a similar stat a while ago, it’s helpful to think about that again. I am really working on getting better at letting go of stuff. I realize how much my overflowing closet stressed me out in my old apartment and am very determined not to let that happen in my new place. I donated a handful of grocery bags of clothes already preparing to move but still need to be more ruthless as I am unpacking here.
laurenjanelle says
First of all, I love that you referenced Eminem. Classic. Second of all, impressive closet! It looks great and clean now. Your shoe collection is so nice!
Lisa says
Wow, I am totally impressed — mostly that you can function with so few clothes. It’s inspiring. I really need to purge my closet. How do you find time for massive projects like this with the little one crawling around? Do you just wait until she’s sleeping?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, I’d estimate that 99% of our painting/project/cleaning/organizing productivity is done while the bean is napping or asleep for the night. When she’s awake one of us is a “stay at home mom/dad” and the other is writing posts, taking pics, answering comments, coordinating giveaways, etc.
xo,
s
Christie DeSilva says
PEA ME!!!! I hope that my kids see a world with an eternal vantage point, in every scenario, asking themselves “What eternal value do my actions have?” A world where despite disasters, famine, and plagues, a world of people that are all created spiritually equal with a greater focus on the eternal good, instead of the temporary good. Sometimes, what is best is not always what is right. I pray they grow-up in a world where they can recognize people doing what is right, and stand firm with others in fellowship to help those that need help, to be quick with charity, self-less with their time and resources, and loving…no matter WHAT this world ends up like.
Christie DeSilva says
Okay…this always happens on my google reader. Everytime I comment on specific post, it posts it in the wrong blog post. How crazy is that? I didn’t even have your website open, just clicked from the PEA ME give-a-way from Google reader. This post wasn’t even visible. My google reader is driving me crazy! :)
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry! I don’t know what that would happen. So strange!
xo,
s
Kel says
What a fun post. I’m feeling a little inspired myself to do a spruce up of the old wardrobe. Maybe this weekend..
Love love the purple shoes, and from payless who wudda thought??
Sarah says
Hi YHL! I am loving the organization post. Perfect timing for spring cleaning. On another note, this weekend we finished installing our versions of the built-ins like you did in your first house. Our room is so similar to your old one that we basically copied you design. I love it. Almost all of my clothes fit in my tiny 29″ wide wardrobe and it feels soooo good to be organized and have all of my things in one place. Thank you so much for doing what you are doing and don’t change a thing!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Congrats!
xo,
s
Allison says
http://www.epbot.com/2011/04/hows-it-hangin-flop-tutorial.html
Saw this post a few days ago and thought of you guys. If you have extra flip flops (or flats) that you can’t figure out how to store, this is an easy way to get them off the floor and organized.
YoungHouseLove says
Smart!
xo,
s
Ellen says
Are there any diy or design blogs that you visit everyday? or often?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, tons! See that button on the sidebar that has our faces on it? There’s a tab on there that says Link Love. Just click that to see a ton of our favorite daily reads!
xo,
s
Annalea says
Great job! I wish that my husband’s full time job was home improvement/organization/helping with child care. You’re such a lucky gal. ;o)
You know, I saw somewhere in blogland how someone had taken crown molding, fastened it to the wall in such a way that it was attached at the bottom and angling out so you could hang high heels on it. Super-classy, very streamlined, and made use of ALL available width for fancy shoe storage. Just a thought. (I’d love to see you do it, though!)
Have a great week!
Shannon Hoving says
Well of course you need two pairs of leopard-print heels… one pair has a pointy toe, and the other pair has a more rounded toe. Duh! And I typed this with a straight face, too. (Oh, I’m good! If you need me to justify any other footwear purchases, shoot me an e-mail; I have years of experience!) Love the closet, too!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha it’s true! The pointy guys look so good with long flared jeans and the roundies look cute with a little black dress!
xo,
s
diana says
Listen, you can make fun, but I didn’t see anything funny about having two animal print pair of shoes! I have three VERY different raspberry pair of shoes, what do you imply by the straight face? And stop taking it on Sherry! Roar!
Sherry, it’s alright, every girl understands, sweetie.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, now I want three pairs of raspberry shoes!
xo,
s
Shannon Hoving says
I, myself had two pairs. When asked why I needed another pair, I smiled sweetly and told him, “Simple… one pair are loafers, one pair are ballet flats, and now I need a pair of heels.” He walked away looking confused.Since the heels I bought have a rounded toe,I just decided I need a pair of pointy toes, too. When he asks why, and he will,I’ll tell him, “Because Sherry said they look cute with flared jeans!” He’ll never learn…
Allison says
Oh dear. My first reaction to seeing “every item of clothing” you own was to feel so sad for you. I own, quite possibly, 10x as many clothes and they make me so happy…you know, except when I am continuously paying Banana and J.Crew bills or staring at my closet utterly overwhelmed as to what I should wear and end up being late to work…Okay, I think I need to get some trash (donation) bags and go have some introspection time. Thanks for showing me that you can be classy and cool while having a minimalist closet. (For the record, I have at least 70 pairs of shoes and I don’t even like shoes!)
JennyC says
I would LOVE to be able to let go of things I don’t wear that often, but I find it hard to… my wardrobe (since I don’t have a closet) is busting out! what if it comes back in? what if i lose the extra 5 pounds? I’m that classic hoarder I guess… hehe..
LOVE your black/gold sandals btw!
michelle says
I suggested putting baskets in our closet to tidy things up….my husband told me baskets were “too hard to use”…I think I’ll still try it after seeing how tidy your closet looked after!!
Marla says
Wondering, have you done a blog post on daily steps you take to stay organized and keep house clean? I’m always reinventing my method. Like to know what ideas others come up with, especially you guys with your busy schedule with a little one and working at home. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, check out our projects page (we have a category about cleaning and the first post in that category should be the one). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Sarah says
YHL! This is my second post of the day… I was just thinking that I would LOVE it if you guys would share how you organize Clara’s room (closets and drawers). I am preparing to move my daughter from her nursery into a larger room to make room for a home office and I am organizationally challenged! TIA!
YoungHouseLove says
Well that’s easy. We have cloth diapers in one of the six drawers in her dresser. One of them holds clothes-she’ll-grow-into and one of them has socks, headbands, cream, etc. Three on the right side hold all of the clothes she currently wears now (arranged in outfits with tops and pants together so John can grab something and not worry about matching). Then in the closet are her dresses and jackets. And in the drawer under her crib are all of her sleepers. The biggest help is a bag for clothes that she outgrows that we keep in the closet (we toss in whatever doesn’t fit and eventually put items in the bag up in a marked tupperware container in the attic for our next baby and return the hand-me-downs). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Karla says
How good is an organised closet (or wardrobe as we call them over here)! Love your red shoes!!!
Korina says
prime example of why I heart YHL: Eminem+$7 shoes, I feel understood. Thanks Sherry!