Hi, friends! Don’t we all wish our closets looked like that? I mean, come on. Dreamy! However, having a closet like that would definitely mean I had to spend some money. Like a lot of it. And that just doesn’t fit with the theme of today’s blog post.
I mentioned in week one of the Wear Color Challenge that I had cleaned out my closet and had a pretty decent amount of space left over (like a whole foot). You can read what the Wear Color Challenge is here. Most of you know that I live in a small, two bedroom apartment. When we moved from Louisiana, we left a three bedroom house, so we definitely downsized. However, coming here to two small closets meant that I was not sharing. I moved all of my clothes, shoes, and accessories into the closet of the guest bedroom, and Paul got the closet in the master. I’ve always had a sort of “system” to how I organize my closet, but since this is the smallest closet I’ve had since I’ve been married, I had to get creative in order to fit everything in (and then some).
Since we are renters, I didn’t want to put in much money, or any really, into any type of nice closet organization system. I knew that I could find a way to do this Fo’ Free! And I did it!
How to Organize the Shoes
Because it’s time to put away the boots and break out the wedges, I made sure to put those front and center for easy access. I still keep my fall/winter wardrobe in my closet because I don’t have anywhere to store them, so the booties went to the back row and the tall boots when to the back corner. I like to turn one shoe around so that I can get a visual of what each shoe looks like from front and from behind.
For sandals, mules, and flats, I found two shoe boxes that I had lying around, and put them in there. The sandals are the first of the shoes to get thrown around in the closet and lost when there’s no organization. So when I saw the boxes, I thought it would be the perfect place to corral the shoes. It may not be pretty, but it didn’t cost anything…well…maybe the price of the shoes, but they weren’t expensive. And no additional money on storage containers.
How to Organize the Clothes
I like to organize the clothes by category. Starting from left to right: maxi dresses/skirts, short dresses, kimonos, pants, luxe tees, tanks, blouses, black tops, white/grey/stripe tops, t-shirts, cardigans/sweaters, jackets. Within each category I try to have a sub-organization going on. For instance, all of my jeans are together then the other pants whether they be linen or trousers. My t-shirts are color coordinated as are my tanks.
Making these sections within my closet helps me to put away clothes easily and to find something to wear each day. I used to just throw everything in with no rhyme or reason, and it would take twice as long to get ready in the morning because I didn’t know what I had. This system definitely works for me.
Another thing that I would have done had I decided to spend money on this project would be to invest in the same type of hangers for all of my clothes. We acquired so many from who knows where, but they definitely work and have held up for years. I know that most of those thick, plastic, colored ones are from my childhood. 🙂
How to Organize the Accessories
I do not remember who gave me this scarf organizer, but I know that it was a gift. To say that I love it is an understatement. I can see every scarf I own and know exactly which one I want immediately. I love a good scarf in the cooler months; I wear them in place of necklaces quite often. This contraption makes it so easy to just grab and go.
How to store my purses took some real thinking. I knew I didn’t have a lot of storage in the top of my closet because, like most teachers, I have about 100,000 tote bags. And I can’t just get rid of them. I might need one. 🙂 So, I found some old nails and put a few holes in the back of the closet. They are all emptied out before they are hung on the nail, and the clothes don’t bump them off ever. When I want to change a bag, I just open up the clothes.
The top shelf of the closet is used for storing all of those bags, a few picnic baskets, a basket of gloves, winter hats, and my wider brim hats. I also keep my sewing machine up there along with the sewing kit. And what good southern girl doesn’t have a punch bowl set stashed somewhere in her house? Mine’s in this closet.
How to Organize the Rest
A dress, of course! Paul and I share this monster of a dresser that lives in the master bedroom. The drawers are huge and deep, and we couldn’t survive without it. It holds all of our pjs, undies, shorts, socks…so many socks, and all other foldables.
That’s what I call organizing on a budget. Haha 🙂 I suppose I could have invested in a cute shoe rack, but why? I don’t have THAT many shoes, so this method totally works. But let’s not leave on my closet. Let’s have a look at Cassie’s from Hi Sugarplum.
