apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

What about clothes in drawers? Use an empty drawer, maybe? Might be hard to come by at my place. ;)

@Allsunday - when I did this for my dresser drawers, I used four laundry baskets, and filled each with different clothes (jeans & shorts, pj's, tee shirts, sweaters). Once something had been worn, it got to go back in the drawer. In some ways it worked better and quicker than the hanger trick. Since I got SOOO sick of seeing the laundry baskets in my room, I made some very drastic decisions.

It's also a good idea to weed out the things that don't make you feel good about yourself. If a shirt hangs funny, you're constantly adjusting a skirt, or a jacket doesn't fit through the shoulders, it's time to get rid of it! Sounds like common sense, but it's surprising how many clothes people keep because they "spent good money on that". I see it all the time...

@hmr - Hmmm, that sounds like it could be a plan!

I could never keep this up, when I've tried.

Instead I had my best dressed friend come over one Saturday when I was swapping winter for summer clothes and we put a white sheet on the living room floor, took all my clothes out of the closet and drawers and she helped me make outfits. I got rid of everything she told me to, and we made a list of a very few items I needed to add. This was a few years ago. I've added a few pieces and got rid of a few since, but having someone with taste help me structure things really helped as a basis.

It's a bit of a pain, but it feels SO nice to have only the things that look and feel good! I just went through my closet, and now as I wear items, I consider how they feel or make me feel, and if they are not up to snuff, I get rid of them.

after my massive clutter clearing project last year I came up with my own little method. As I have a lot of outfits that are 'special occasion' or 'once in awhile' types of pieces (like black tie affair dresses which took up way too much space, etc)... I got these great garment storage bags at Bed Bath and Beyond that open to a semi hard box shape. I just folded all the pieces and put them in a few of those (loosely so they didn't wrinkle) and put them on the top shelf of the closet. I also did this with all the really impossible to walk in shoes that I hardly ever wear... but love too much to part with as well as my hat collection. this took up a full top shelf. A few of the extra coats & purses I couldn't decide on yet, I put in my large suitcase that I use for major trips. This way I have more room to find what I wear on a regular basis but get to keep those occasional outfits too. The rest, well, my friends all have a lot of new clothes, lol.

ps: it's a good idea to throw in some sort of bag with a scent in the storage bags (I love the ones from L'Occitane, especially the Verbena scent) as it prevents clothes and shoes from getting that musky been stored too long smell...

what about comforters, duvets ect?

Since I'm away at college through the year I noticed my closet has become the bearer of all my mum comforters, blankets, ect. Would those space bags be good enough(I used them when they first came out and the bags always ripped!)? Every time I open the door a pillow lands on my head!

I just did a project where I cleaned out my closet and dresser and limited myself to 100 items for spring/summer and 100 items for fall/winter (since I live somewhere with all four seasons, though winter seems the longest).

Like this post, I figured I should only keep the clothes I really wear, so I had a lot of decisions to make. It was easier to do than I thought, though -- one trick/cheat I used was that items that counted in both seasons (bras, underwear, layering tops) only counted for a half an item in each season. When I finished doing spring/summer, I realized I was actually coming in under my self-imposed limit of 100 pieces because I'd gotten rid of so many tops that I just didn't wear anymore for whatever reason. I got to go buy some new summer tops!

Hi Charlotte, where does your friend live?

lol @ witchbaby! whenever I open the work suits/shoe closet, which is to say every week day, I succumb to an unprovoked top-shelf-pillow attack.

This is pretty weak advice IMHO. It would be annoying and difficult for most people since 1.) most of us don't hang up our clothes again right away... although it's key to keeping your clothes organized, clean and wrinkle-free and 2.) for people who don't have swivel top hangers it can be frustrating to always flip the hangers around.

My advice (and I do closet therapy as a job) is to invite someone you know well and who has great style over to your apartment and have a day of going through everything you own. Try on all the clothes in your closet. With that other person as a second opinion you will be able to see what really doesn't suit you anymore and also what you forgot you owned and can now wear again.

If anyone is totally lost on this, email me and I'll be happy to give you free advice or point you to the most inspiring reading on getting your wardrobe together. You can contact me through my website www.styleadviser.cz I think it's fair to say that this isn't a plug for my services since I live in Prague. lol...

When I clean my closets, I found out that I need a step between "cleaning" and "purging." I put items that I'm not sure about in cloth bags in the back of my closet. If I find myself pulling items out, I know that they should be kept (or replaced with a similar item). If I haven't reached for it, I donate it. Most of the time, I find that when an item is out of reach, I find that I don't miss it.

I recently decluttered my closet and dresser. If you're honest with yourself, you know what you routinely wear. I got rid of everything I don't wear at least once a month, including a full length leather coat and black leather knee boots! I now use only half my closet space and three of my dresser drawers are empty. Have I missed anything I disposed of? NO. And I'm now ready for when I move to a smaller place with less closet space and I could even get a smaller dresser, like a lingerie chest that will take up a LOT less room in a condo.

I live in Utah with summers in the 100s and winters hovering around 0. I can't possibly wear everything I own once a month! But I do try to cull twice a year as things wear out.

I've found my biggest challenge these days is my age. What was cute at 30 is not as cute at 40 -- though there are plenty of classic pieces that won't ever look too young.

I also hate the weight change thing. I hang on to some favorites because my weight tends to fluctuate from year to year. Two years ago I was a skinny 4. Last year I was an 8. This year I'm a 6. If I got rid of my 6 jeans last year, I'd be spending $200 this year for two new pairs. But sometimes, yeah, you gotta toss the skinny or the fat clothes out.

I have learned something super helpful: SOLID colors in harmonizing palette are the most versitile. I am minimizing prints to scarves and a few fun pieces.

Oh, and acessories totally change an outfit. Shoes/belt/sweater change to sandles / no belt /neck scarf make a solid colored dress more flexible.

The lazy method of closet decluttering: don't do laundry for a month, or two weeks, or however long it takes for you to get into the "things I only wear when I'm out of quarters" territory. Anything that's left in the closet, that you refuse to wear even though you're totally out of clothes, goes in the bin. Anything you wear reluctantly also goes in the bin. This won't help you if you totally lack personal style but it will help if you have a lot of clothes you don't wear because they don't fit or aren't emotionally comfortable.

Allsunday - for clothes in drawers, the trick I learned from a magazine (not sure which one) was to put a safety pin on the tag of each item (which can take a really long time to do). When you wear the item (either before putting it on or before washing it or when you take it out of the dryer, whatever works for you), you remove the safety pin. After 6 months (or some other predetermined length of time), you can easily tell which items you haven't worn (like the hanger rule in this article).

Of course, the challenge then is making yourself actually get rid of the items with safety pins. I have some t-shirts in my drawer that have been safety pinned for about 2 years now, and I still can't seem to let go. :)