DIY Tips: The Tao of Spring Closet Organizing [My Guest Blog on Diggerslist.com!]

DIY Tips: The Tao of Spring Closet Organizing

April 12, 2012

This might sound crazy, some stuff in our closets can be “crumpled” in a pile and STILL be considered “organized.” What?! Did this Professional home and office organizer say that I can let some of my wardrobe be “crumpled”?

Stay with me here.

We’ve heard of the Tao of Pooh or even the original Tao of…ergh…Tao.  Tao is just a Chinese word that means “path,” “way” or simply the underlying principles of the universe.  For our purposes, how can we become “one” with the most simplest ways to use our closets now that spring has sprung?  When it comes to using our storage spaces, how can we harness the fundamental principles of the Tao of Spring Closet Organizing, letting them work for us in the most effortless ways possible?

We’re not talking about over committing to “perfection.”  Let’s set up our Spring closets to flow with our lives, rather than force our lives to fit with it. Here are some basic “Tao” or ways to simplify your spring closet organizing.

Continued here at the full blog post at diggerslist.com!

White cardboard file boxes now turned into decorative storeage you'd be proud to display. Source: makeit-loveit.com

Organizing Essential #2: Slim Velvet No-Slip Hangers

EVERYone wishes they have more closet space.  Any closet overhaul must include an upgrade to the best hangers of the moment.  Screw that magazine that told you that getting perfectly uniform cedar hangers was essential for having a grown-up closet.  Those things are expensive, bulky and not very practical.

It is ALL about flocked or "velvet" slim hangers.  There are a bunch of companies making them now, originally popularized by those ubiquitous infomercials from Joy Mangano ("Huggable Hangers").  You can get them for a great price and they are excellent for making the most of your precious hanger space.

Oh! And while you're at it, feel free to use this neat-o checklist of Essentials Items for a Woman's Closet to help you pare down what you need to keep or toss.  This list is ESPECIALLY helpful for those who like to maintain rather preppy, wardrobe staples as the foundation of your closet.

Thin No Slip Velvet Suit Hangers, Black, Set of 50
Source: best value on Amazon.com (Costco had a great deal on these recently)
Price: $29.90
Awesome Sauce Factor: Takes up less real estate on your closet bar and never lets your strappies, silkies and boatnecks from falling to the floor.  And at 60 cents a piece from Amazon, it's a great value for the closet upgrade.

Do you agree that these hangers are the bees-knees?  If not, what do YOU recommend as the BEST hangers around? Leave a comment below! I'd love to hear from you!

PROJECT PORTFOLIO: Simple Bedroom Makeover - from CLUTTER to CLARITY

What happens when you need to move out the personal possessions for a physically disabled roommate and prepare your home for a new roommate to come in, all at the same time?

Chaos.

So ORGANIZED. By Jenny helped this IT professional to get some order in her otherwise disheveled bedroom. We taught her some basic principles around knowing when to keep items, and where to place things you use the most often for daily living.  Here are the results.

From Project Portfolio

She still has a nice mound of "To Sort" but now she has a closet that works for her everyday needs.  Believe it or not, she was actually getting her wardrobe from a couple piles in the middle of that madness on her bedroom floor.

This is what we did:

1. Clear out all the junk stuffed into the closet and onto the floor so we can assess what's useful.
2. Talk through her daily activities for getting ready for work, relaxing and coming home to rest.  Where are the things she needs to do these activities? Let's place them within reach in designated "zones" or "homes."
3. What is the clothing that she is ACTUALLY wearing on a daily basis?  Great! Let's put THOSE items back into the closet with plenty of room to spare!
4. Create space in the closet for 

• Laundry baskets,
• Daily wardrobe,
• Smaller essentials like underthings like socks and underwear in the drawer units,
• Workout supplies,
• An extra bed and linens for when mom comes over once a week and
• A space above the drawer units for your purse and backpack (you'll know exactly where it is for when you run out the door).

 Then let's put the shoes you actually wear in a shelving unit by the door, with some of your daily vitamins, medicine and hair products at eye level above the shoes.

That's it!  Your daily routine, simplified and clarified.

What do you think about the "after" closet? Do you have some "empty" or "white" space around YOUR clothing?

[Jenny's Crib] From Dark-Hole-of-Storage-Room-Doom to Organized Closet [Before and After]

I have a confession. I moved into my two-bedroom condo over two years ago and I STILL hadn't finished unpacking. I still had six big boxes of random things covered with construction dust stuffed in the dark hole of see-no-evil storage room doom second bedroom. I just shut the door and lived my life.

After two years of letting my things hibernate and two bathroom and a full kitchen remodel later, I was finally ready to use my space for exactly their intended purpose.

From Project Portfolio

Step 1: Clear out the 2nd bedroom fake storage room of doom and make it an ACTUAL bedroom.
Step 2: Sort, Purge, and Categorize all my homeless stuff while my mom helps deep clean the bedroom. (Thanks, mom!)
Step 3: Crush extra boxes and kick out the donations and trash!
Step 4: Set up my real storage closet to do its job!
Step 5: Enjoy the new storage closet almost every day to live an awesome life!



I wish I had photos of my sad 2nd bedroom when it was the storage room of doom, but no. I probably did not have the strength to stomach the shame.  Thankfully, I managed to squeeze six big boxes and more of random unorganized stuff, neatly and reasonably into my spacious storage closet.

This storage closet is centrally located by the living room and dining room.  It's the perfect spot to keep all the things I need for my entertaining, hobbies, outdoor activities, cleaning supplies and household projects.

From Project Portfolio

Scroll down for photo of my summer 2011 "storage closet reveal"!

Where are the random places around your house that you've turned into storage? Where are the nooks and crannies that have taken on your random things? Storing tupperware in the oven?  Clothes on the treadmill? Toys in the never-used tub? Please comment and let us know!

From Project Portfolio

From Project Portfolio

[How To Organize] Closets: 5 Tips from an Organized Kid [Inspiration]

Kids need organized closets, too!  This is a great example from one of my "obsession" websites, "House of Turquoise." This kid's closet uses GREAT organizing ideas that the grownups can use too! Check out these tips below.

Tip #1: Who Says Closets Need Doors?

If you are hurting for some bedroom real estate, take off the doors!  Other replace them with a finely tailored curtain.  The curtain rod can be hidden behind the closet opening or featured above the frame out front.  This kid's closet replaces the doors with a subtle yet colorful garland up top, almost like a window valance. 

Tip #2: Open Closet or Not? Keep It Beautiful.

Whether you keep your closet open or not, why not make it as beautiful as a featured display shelf in your living room?  

Take a cue from this organized kid closet, curate some of your open shelves for things you love up top and fun things you'd use at eye and hand level.  Get handsome containers like these gorgeous fabric-lined wicker baskets. Why not paint your closet walls! It's always a beautiful and inexpensive way to transform a space.

Tip #3: Keep Stuff OFF The Floors

It's clear kids in this room will enjoy the additional play space, but that's a great cue for grownup closets.  

Take a tip from supermarket shelf strategist who stock items they want to sell at eye level.  Grownups are not as likely to look down or up on a regular basis so keep your everyday and most used items on shelves and hanging rods at your chest and eye-levels.  

Stuff that gets on the closet floors tend to STAY on closet floors. They also have this strange way of attracting other STUFF. If you must, fill that space with a great inexpensive and simple drawer or cubbie unit if you'd like more storage space.

Tip #4: Go Vertical!

Most closets have ample dead space above the highest closet shelf.  Add another one! 

Even if it requires a quick trip to your local hardware store, simple shelving wood and brackets are so inexpensive for the added real estate you get by going upwards.  Get some handy baskets that breathe and put away your out of season clothing towards the top of your closets.

Tip #5: Shop Your Own Closet!

Give hanging clothes breathing room. Edit! Edit! Purge! Purge! Achieving that "boutique" look may be tough for most grownups, but it doesn't mean we can't afford to spend some time to "shop our closet."

Choose only the things that you would buy for yourself NOW.  That's a great strategy for editing your closet for a nice purge.  This creates a "quality over quantity" closet that will be more likely to be used.