I’ve had the decluttering bug ever since we renovated our coat closet last week. Emptying cabinets, organizing toys, labeling boxes… no storage space is safe. This week I turned my attention to our neglected, cavernous, and dusty bedroom closet. I love to clean and organize, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have areas that get ignored. Hey, if I never let things build up, then I’d never have anything to organize, right?? Today I thought I’d share a few decluttering and organizing tips!
1. Make a big mess
Do you guys remember that Tidying Up with Marie Kondo show on Netflix? My favorite part of every episode was watching her clients pile up all the stuff from their closet. WHOA. What a brilliant idea! You never know how much stuff you actually have until it’s all piled up in front of you. Whenever I declutter a space, I always make a huge, messy pile in a spot where it can’t be ignored- for example, on top of our bed. I’m motivated to climb under the covers tonight, so you better believe this junk is either going or getting put away.
With everything out of the closet, I was able to see how truly neglected this space had been. Granted, second stories are always the dustiest, but guys…. phew. It was rough. After some de-gunking, I was feeling really motivated to put everything back in order!
2. Keep things up and off the floor
We’ve learned a thing or two about spiders after living in the woods for 4 years now. Never store things on the floor, especially fuzzy, woven, or cardboard containers. Spiders liiiiive for that kind of stuff. And if there’s one thing that really gives me the heebie jeebies, it’s thinking about spiders all up in my closet space! If you do need to store things on the floor, keep them in sealed plastic containers.
**Special 80’s furniture note** We have my parents’ old bedroom set from the 80’s that came with a four post bed frame. We have since replaced the squeaky frame and are saying au revoir to the frame that’s been living in our closet for way too long.
3. Let’s talk about shoes
My first tip, especially for those of you with a small-ish closet like us- don’t bother storing casual sandals on a shelf. They never look nice and are almost always dirty (just me?). I opt for underbed storage for all of my strappy Target sandals that I can’t seem to part with. Underbed storage comes in all different shapes and sizes. I just have an old Sterilite box like this.
While on the topic of shoes- ditch the shoe boxes. I understand the urge to keep them-trust me, I do! But unless you have some big plan to use the boxes right now, just recycle them! Your shoes will look so much better on a shelf or a shoe rack. The only boxes I keep are for suede or other dust-loving fabric shoes.
4. Hang short sleeves above long sleeves
One of the best tips I can give you is to store your short sleeve shirts on the top rack and save the long sleeves for the bottom. Keeping bulky sleeves below eye level will make your closet feel so much more open and spacious, especially if it’s long and narrow like ours!
5. Consolidate down to one or two colors of hangers
When we first got married, we had a mish-mash of multi-colored hangers that we’d collected throughout childhood and college. A couple of years ago, we bought a bunch of white hangers and a big pack of black velvet hangers to streamline our closet. (Tyler hates the velvet hangers but I think they’re uber necessary for a lot of women’s clothes.) Instead of swapping them out all at once, we started cycling them in after washing clothes that we had worn. At the end of that year, we donated the unworn clothes that were left on the old hangers! Now we have less clutter and a only black and white hangers!
* Bonus Dude Tip
Tyler says… Don’t pitch those garment bags that come with your suit and jackets! Keep them in their bags and stored in another closet (if you have one). Dusty coat shoulders are no fun, especially when you have to be at a wedding in half an hour!
That does it for our closet decluttering and organizing tips! Eventually we plan to expand our bathroom (on the other side of the right wall) into this space but for now, we’re thankful for this quirky closet! There’s not a huge difference between these before and after photos, but I’ll have you know- a lot of bags and pre-baby clothes were donated during this clean sweep! It feels so much more open! Now to find something else to organize…….
See you next time with the long-awaited DIY basement door install!