Spring Cleaning - Master Closet

Spring has sprung and the urge to clean and freshen my house has hit hard.  I have been a busy bee this week cleaning out and organizing my wardrobe and I've also been doing a little painting and rearranging in the living room.

I've had "clean out closet" on my to-do list for some time but this week Simple Mom started her Project: Simplify and the first hot spot was the master closet so I figured now was as good a time as any.

Here is what I started with

The key to cleaning out a closet is to work quickly.  The more time you give yourself to think about if you want to keep something to more likely you are to keep it and not get rid of anything which is pointless.  I worked hard and fast.  I started with my hanging items and decided immediately that I wanted to store all of my dress pants and shirts that I used often when I worked in a showroom everyday.  Now not so much but they are classic pieces and if I decide to re-enter the workforce one day I won't have to build a wardrobe from scratch.  I pulled all of these things and put them in a pile.  Next I did a quick scan and pulled everything I haven't worn in the past year and made another pile.  Then I went through the rest piece by piece and quickly decided if it was a keep or give mainly based on how well it fit.  Then I pulled out all of my shoes and lined them up and pulled down all of my folded things and other junk from the upper shelf.

After an hour this is what I had

store and give piles

my shoes minus nine pairs of flip flops

kept items neatly hung and arranged

My next task was to go through my shoes.  This was the hardest part.  I love shoes.  I don't want any of them to go but some were past their prime so off they went.  I have always stored my more formal or dress shoes in plastic boxes so I decided to do the same with some of my "work shoes" that still go with things I wear but not ones I go to everyday.  I ran into a small problem with keeping all of my shoes together because I have a shoe lover in training who kept stealing pairs I was trying to put up.

After a quick trip to Lowe's and Walmart to pick up a few containers, I was able to put everything back and I am very pleased with my finished project.

In the top cubby I made a little make shift jewelry box for myself.  I don't wear much so I don't need a lot of space so this worked out perfectly.

If you are wondering the little flower plates were a wedding present (I got a total of 7 from different people).  When I got them I thought they were cute but I had no clue what they were used for.  I'm not sure if holding jewelry was their intended purpose but they do a pretty good job.

The closet I did in a few hours on Tuesday.  On Wednesday I went through my half of the dresser and my night stand which took me as long as the closet did but I was dealing with a lot less stuff.  Go figure.  It's done and I'm happy I get to check something off my to-do list.  I would love to paint or wallpaper my closet but baby steps.

You may be saying, "hey, Andrea you forgot the other half of your closet!"  No!  That is Chris' side and I have tried to make him part with clothing and it is a battle I'm not up for right now.  I may have more shoes but that boy has more clothes than SJP.

So tell me!  Has spring fever hit you yet?  Is there a project that you just can't wait to tackle?  If you cleaned out your wardrobe with me this week share your before and afters on my Facebook page!

~ Andrea