According to this wacky calendar of days I found, today is Use Less Stuff Day. Now that is a day that I can really celebrate! It speaks to me on so many levels -  about my own home, my family, my clients, my Declutter Your Life groups, the world we live in, the trend towards going green and… my closet.

Yes, my closet.  Or should I say, more succinctly, my clothes. Now, my closet is organized but I felt a little stirring after I read Rachel Meek’s Small Notebook blog. She talked about her clothes; how she decides what to purchase, her “3- piece rule”, and about her comfortably dressy style of clothing.  That blog post really spoke to me and prompted me to explore reducing the amount of clothes I have. If you know me then you know I don’t have as many clothes as the average American woman, but I still have more than enough.

Use Less Stuff Day is a good day to talk about my clothing reduction plan. My plan is not entirely formulated yet but here is the direction I

am headed (or at least I think it is at this point).

1. Adopt the 3-piece rule, adding more sweaters and scarves to my wardrobe

2. Only own 4 pairs of jeans (blue, black, brown and a dressy pair)

3. Only keep 3 pair of dress pants

4. Only have 3 pair of  pajamas

5. Have a “color of the season” (this season it’s blue)

6. Get rid of old clothes and t-shirts I’ve had forever

7. Have a 3:1 ratio of shirts to pants/jeans

8. When I purchase things, make sure they will work for more than one outfit and that they are quality items (and not JUST on sale).

I haven’t decided on my plan for the dresses and skirts yet but I’m sure a goal will come to mind soon. I have already donated one bag of clothing this week.  Right now I see this plan slowly developing but eventually I would like to have less clothing and accessorize more with scarves and jewelry to change things up a bit. What does that look like?  Like a closet that’s half empty! Yep, less to maintain, less to decide, less stuff. I don’t know who made up Use Less Stuff Day (maybe an organizer?) but it is useful to reflect on, isn’t it?

Enjoy this guest post by fellow organizer, Beth Giles!

Your closet may be the smallest “room”, yet it contains the most individual items.  You want it to function well, with convenient access to items and stress-free use.  Here are a few CLOSET tips to tackle the space and help you reach that goal.

Clear out – Take every thing out of your closet, so you can begin with a clean slate.  As you consider each piece of clothing, ask yourself the following questions.  Does it fit? Have I worn it in the last year?  Do I really like it? Is it in good condition? Is it in style?  Do I really need it?  Is it different from other pieces I am keeping? If you cannot answer yes, with certainty, to each of these questions, then it’s probably time to say good bye to that particular piece of clothing. If you are still hesitant to get rid of a few items, place them in a box, tape it shut, and mark it with a date 6 months out.  If the box is still sealed in 6 months, leave it unopened and donate it to your favorite charity.

Let it go- There are many people and places that can benefit from your discards. Consider donating your items to Dress for Success, Career Gears, or your local shelters.  If you want your castoffs to benefit your wallet or closet, take your clothing to a consignment shop or schedule a clothing swap party with your friends.

Organize – Now that you know what will be going back into your closet, sort them by clothing type.  A few possible categories are shirts, jackets, pants, skirts, and dresses. Within each category you may want to specialize a bit more, arranging them according to additional characteristic such as color or sleeve length.

Step up the amount of space –Several ways exist to create more space in your closet.  An over the door shoe organizer can act as storage for more than just shoes. Placing all long hanging items in one area and short hanging items in another allows shelving or bins to fit under the shorter items. Double your hanging space by purchasing a secondary rod that hangs from the main rod.

Expose your closet – For your closet to function well, all your clothing should be easily visible.  If your closet has sliding doors, consider replacing them with bi-fold doors to make the whole closet visible at one time.  A battery operated “tap” light installed inside the closet can help you see the items in the darker areas of your space.

Think “One in, One out” – You have probably heard this many times, but it is very true. If you want to maintain an organized and clutter-free closet, remember that when you buy something new, something old must leave to create space for it.

Following these tips will put you on your way to an organized closet that can serve you well throughout the year.

© June 2010 Beth Giles

For more information about Beth Giles visit: www.nworganizingsolutions.com

Connect with Beth on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NWOrganizingSolutions

Last week, I talked about how getting rid of my son’s dresser and having used only his closet for clothing organization was a success.  Many of you responded on Facebook that it was a great idea and that others have tried it with success. So today, let’s stay on the topic of clothing organization.

At the end of each season (now for example) is a good time to purge and re-organize your wardrobe.  Taking a look at what you did not wear all season and deciding to donate it or give it to a friend.  Some friends even have “swishing events“, where they swap clothes that they are no longer interested in and create a whole new look with some new (free) pieces.

This is also the time to look at the incoming season’s clothes and decide what key pieces should be purchased this year.  Using a personal style consultant like my friend Krista Carlson can help you to select a few pieces to add impact to your wardrobe without spending a fortune.  I had Krista come over and help me see what was missing from my wardrobe.   She also helped me to see new combinations I had never considered!

Organize your clothes by category: shirts, pants, jackets, etc.  Then organize each category by color: greens, blues, browns, etc. Seasonal sweaters are better stored folded than on the hanger; you don’t want to have it mis-shapen.  If you want to store your sweaters in the closet, purchase shelf dividers.  If you place them 10 -  12 inches apart, you can stack folded sweaters in between and have your stack stay neat and tidy. You can find them here. Another option for sweaters that works well for handbags, scarves and hats is the hanging sweater shelf.

While you are working on your clothes, create a space or system for those things that need to go to the dry cleaners.  Install a hook in your closet or behind a door. Place a laundry bag on the hook and when the bag is full, go to the cleaners.  No more dry cleaning lying around “in wait”!

I recently went to a community event where the speaker delivered valuable information on AD/HD or ADD.  This topic is always of interest to me as one of my sons, now 19, has ADD.  He was diagnosed in the 3rd grade and was on and off medication.  The side effects of the medication were lack of appetite, hard to sleep, and “feeling weird” (per my son).  So we set about to find other solutions that worked for him.

One of the solutions was to get rid of his dresser.  Sounds weird, right?  But we had a constant battle with him about his clothes.  We expected his room to be cleaned up ( just once a week) and his clothes were always the biggest hurdle.  There were clothes on the bed, on the floor, falling out of the dresser – pure chaos to his professional organizer mom!  One day when he and I were arguing about this,  I asked “What’s it going to take to get you to put away your clothes?”.  His response was “I don’t like my dresser.”

What??!! What is there not to like about a dresser. It’s not your best friend, but it does hold your clothes… Then I asked more questions.  He eventually related that he hated having to open and close the drawers.  He only wore the clothes on top because he couldn’t see the ones underneath. He felt the drawers were a hassle.  I really listened and realized that although most Americans use dressers, it didn’t mean that he had to.  There were other ways to manage his clothing.  So we removed the dresser and here’s what we did:

1. Purchased more hangers, and hung up all his clothes. Yes, even his jeans and skater t-shirts.
2. Put 2 baskets on the shelf above the closet rod; one for socks, the other for underwear.
3. Seasonal items like his gloves, snowboard pants, and other winter gear we put in a clear zipper bag under his bed.

This simple solution cost less than $10.00 and has worked for the past 5 years!  Even now that he does his own laundry!  It works for him because he can “see” all of his clothes at a glance, he doesn’t have to fold anything, and he doesn’t have to open and clothes several drawers to get dressed in the morning.

Sometimes we have to step out of the mentality of  “that’s what everyone does or uses” and come up with systems that work better for us, whether we have ADD or not!  Please share some solutions you have come up with to help stay organized and on top of your day-to-day activities.   I would love your comments!

Fall is in the air finally! I love this time of year, my senses come alive with the color changes, the glowing pumpkins, the hot ciders and everything else. It is also a good time of year to work on your wardrobe! Here are a few tips to organize your closets

1. Hang all hangers backwards.
Sounds strange I know, but bear with me. When you pull something out to wear it, the hanger gets turned around and hung the usual way. At the end of the season it is easy to see what you did not wear; anything that is still on a backwards hanger! This way you can purge quickly as you prepare to change your closet for the next season.
2. Use different color hangers for clothes you want to wear a 2nd time. Many of our clothes are dry clean only so we tend to wear them a couple of times before they go back to the cleaners. Sometimes it is difficult to determine if this is a second wear or not. When hanging up something you have worn once already, use a different color hanger to indicate that you have one more wear before it goes in the dry cleaning bag. Speaking of dry cleaning….
3. Install a hook in the closet or behind the bedroom door to hang your dry cleaning bag.
This keeps the clothes from being piled in a corner or on a chair. When the bag is full, then it’s time to go to the dry cleaners.
4. Use multi hangers to create space.
There are some really cool hanger products on the market today. For example, one hanger can hold 5 skirts or 5 shirts, there are innovative pants hangers out there as well. Another tool that might help increase your closet space, short of a complete closet system, is a second bar. These are bars that hang, from the existing closet bar, down lower to hold your pant hangers beneath your shirts.
5. Use baskets on closet shelves for bulky sweaters and sweatshirts.
Our fall and winter wardrobes are a bit bulkier, so use the top of your closet to hold baskets to hold the bulky, less frequently worn items. Of course, at the end of the season if you have never worn the item, you should donate it. There are also shelf dividers. When positioned between stacks of clothing on your closet shelf, the dividers help everything to stay in its place, in an organized manner.
That’s all we ever want, right?

Well, I haven’t posted in a few days (make that over a week now).

I have just had carpul tunnel release surgery on my left hand. Thank goodness I’m right handed, right? Wrong! I need this left hand to type on the computer and do all the organizing that I do! If you could see how many mistakes I’m making just typing this, you… well you wouldn’t be able to read it! So to keep it short here are just a few quick tips:

1. Use a business card holder in your purse or tote bag to hold all those java punch cards, discount cards, and gift cards you have to use up.
2. If you have a place where you store your gift bags and wrapping paper, why not add a pair of scissors and tape? When it’s time to wrap, it’s all right there and saves you time.
3. Don’t let flyers with upcoming events clutter your life. Write the information in your day planner, calendar, or pda as soon as you get it and get rid of the paper!
4. Have a few “kitchen only” cleaning rags. Write “kitchen” on them with permanent marker so your loved ones don’t use it on the car or the toilet.
5. Store your seasonal clothing in your suitcases… they’re empty and taking up space, right?
6. Use towel hooks in the bathroom instead of towel bars, the towels will be hung up more often because it’s quick and easy.