This morning I woke up wanting to do spring closet cleaning. As the day progressed I decided that I wanted to write about this instead. Whenever I need a change, am feeling stressed or bored I like to get organized (typical Virgo). Spring cleaning, re-arranging my closet and fluffing are thus some of my favorite activities.

Here is my first post about how I go about “fluffing” some of the troublesome cluttered areas in my home and in my head.

CLOSETS/CLOTHES:

I sometimes really have nothing to wear. If I happen to be down and have nothing to wear I find the nearest affordable place like Zara or H&M or the like and buy a whole lot of “inexpensive” new things.

Then I end up still not having anything “nice” to wear but also having spent way more than I had hoped for on my junk-clothes binge.

Don’t get me wrong I like Zara and H&M but one has to be strategic about what one buys from stores that appear to be “inexpensive”but which often cause you to over-spend. Just like with empty calories, these clothes will not keep you satiated/satisfied for a long time.

It would seem logical to buy more clothes when you have nothing to wear. However, one actually needs to get rid of clothes and turn their closets into alluring shop-like spaces in which everything is beautifully and clearly displayed. If you have too much junk in your closet, there is no way you will find flattering fresh outfits. You also won’t shop smart.

There is a lot of information on the web about closet organization and closet purging. My main tips are as follows (They are oldies but goodies):

1. Use matching wooden hangers (IKEA has the best and cheapest)
2. Organize your closet by color (color and categories if you have the space). Clothes grouped by color is the most pleasing arrangement to the eye.
3. Leave a lot of space between your items so you can see them.
4. Keep all of your clothes in one space if possible, dividing clothes you wear between two-three closets + drawers makes it really difficult to throw outfits together and see all of your clothes.
5. Put away anything you think you might need in your next pregnancy or when you lose weight. Bring them out gradually if and when you need them. Recheck this box yearly and toss anything that you know you will never love again.
6. Give away anything that looks used and abused, that has a stain or that is just “not flattering or your style” anymore. Try a clothes swap with a friend.
7. If you have somethings that you love but that just don’t fit…take them to a tailor this week. I found one that resized all of my silk shirts and blazers beautifully for me.
8. Put away coats and boots if they are not in season. Same goes for beach/really hot weather wear or super warm wooly wear. Everything else can stay as clothes are worn layered a lot and silk has become acceptable in the winter and sometimes one needs cashmere/light wool cardigans on chilly summer nights.
9. Do a style board using programs like POLYVORE to mix what you have with what you want to add to try to determine your “look/style” for the coming seasons. Purge anything that just doesn’t go (unless it looks amazing on you).
10. Don’t ever wear anything mediocre just for the sake of wearing something different. Wear something fabulous even if you have to wear it twice, three times a week. Accessorize it for impact.
11. Get rid of saggy jeans which make your thighs and butt saggy. No matter what size you are you can find flattering jeans.
12. Same tips goes for shoes. Super pointy shoes will never/should never come back in style. Please get rid of anything that pains your feet like crazy. One often forgets the pain and wears these shoes again after a while only to end up limping home again.

Here are the IKEA hangers I spoke of. You can also go around the house and swap out hangers from other household members to make both yours and theirs as uniform as possible

The closet below exemplifies color coordination but probably highly difficult to find anything when everything is folded like that I like hanging almost everything.

Here is what I mean by color grouping and making it look like a rack at a designer boutique…

This is obviously the nicest example…Simple and sweet…very few items

Check out The Apartment Therapy Website http://www.apartmenttherapy.com for the best advice on organizing and purging both your closet and your home.