My closet makeover

It's finally done! It took four days, nine boxes and two trash bags, but I'm done...my master bedroom closet is clean and organized.  My original guesstimate was correct:  over one-third of my total closet volume was expendable. 

Take a look at the clothes rack in the very back before I got to work:

Here's a better view of the purses on the shelf. I had 12+ purses up there, and only a few that I will ever use in the future.  See the box on the right?  It contained an odd assortment of items: clothes, perfumes and keepsakes from the Little Guy's baby years.  The box had never been unpacked from our move two years ago, and I had almost completely forgotten about all of the items in there.

After some sorting, this is what the back rack looks like: 

From left to right I've arranged sweater sets, long sleeve blouses and nice short-sleeve shirts.  At least 25% of the original items did not make the cut, and are now in a box waiting for my summer yard sale.
The rack below held everything from old maternity clothes to my everyday work clothes.  There was no order here.  At all.

I got rid of the maternity clothes, took a hard look at what was left, and then got rid of some more items. At least half of the contents of this section are now gone. This is what I have left: 

Here is the portion of my closet dedicated to my suits, skirts and dresses.  Some maternity clothes were also in this section.  Many things hadn't been worn in years, so letting go of those pieces was fairly easy.  I actually cut the volume of this rack in half, too!

Here's the finished rack:

The dresses and suits are nicely grouped together.  Before, the suit shirts were on a different rack. Now, they are hanging with the suits which makes a lot more sense.

This was my shoe rack/area before my organizational rampage:

Isn't the "after" photo such a relief?  I trimmed my shoe collection by a full third.  Many shoes were so worn (holes in the soles!) that they had to be tossed, which had me wondering "Why did I keep shoes I could never again wear? Why?  WHY?"  I stood there shaking my head for a while over that one.   

 



 My closet makeover was not limited to the racks and shelves.  Oh no, my dearies...I tackled my dressers, too.  Between the two dressers in the closet, and the dresser and nightstand in the bedroom, I got rid of two boxes of clothing, and freed up two entire drawers!  Plus, I found a few items that I had forgotten about.  Now, all the drawers are manageable and everything is in its place.

This is a great visual representation of all the clothes that are no longer hanging in my closet.

So now my master closet is clean, organized and entirely functional.  There are no more piles of shoes on the floor, no more fleece shirts bulging out of the dresser, no more clothes that I don't wear taking up space.  It's amazing!  If I kept cookies in my closet, it would seriously be my favorite room in the house right now!

The purge felt great.  This had been a huge chore hanging over my head for the past two years, and I'm glad I finally tackled it. 

So, are you inspired to give your closet a makeover?  Have you already started?   Getting organized is a great way to start the new year and a great way to live every day.  You can do it!