Project Move & Mix: My Closet

When Derek and I first discussed the prospect of us moving in together we covered several topics: new living room furniture, my kitchen stuff vs. his kitchen stuff, painting, redecorating, where the heck all my stuff would go, etc.

We agreed on most points, then the topic of closet space came up and I told Derek point blank I wanted the second closet. 🙂

It took him a minute to grasp the concept. He sort of blinked his eyes for a minute and said, “You do know I have a large master-closet that we can share, right?”

“I know, but it’s not big enough.”

“Big enough? It’s a huge walk-in closet.”

“Trust me, it’s not big enough.”

Maybe I should have warned him about the little addiction I have with clothes? It’s bad. Really bad. 😉

You see, I LOVE, LOVE to shop and I hate, hate doing laundry, so it all balances out in my head. I prefer to have enough clothes to go well over a month (sometimes more) without doing laundry and then I never have to worry about it.

I, also, hate wearing the same thing over and over again. Yes, I’m one of those weird people who refuses to wear the same outfit twice in a month. It’s an awful habit that dates back to high school when I refused to wear the same shirt twice in a semester. I know.. i know.. but I’m ok with it.

That addiction and habit turned my previous closet into this state.

Yikes. I’m not sure I could have packed another thing in there if I tried!

To me this was a no brainer. Instead of arguing with Derek over closet space, I was just going to take over the second closet. This way he didn’t have to move any of his stuff and I got what I wanted without disturbing the peace (minus a disagreement or two on where the stuff that was currently in the closet should go).

But, just to show you what I mean, here’s a glance at the closet in the master bedroom.

It’s a walk-in with lots of shelves and space. Don’t get me wrong, I knew with a little effort on my part we could make this work, but if you had a second option – wouldn’t you want to give it a try too?

Say hello to closet #2 in the second bedroom.

Still a walk-in, still lots of space, but this one was mine for the taking.

When moving day came it was a rush of just getting everything in the house, the fun of finding a place for it all came after. Though, admittedly, when I first stepped into the pre-organized closet I got a little overwhelmed with the work ahead of me.

This was just the first loot of stuff that had to go in. All my jackets, sweaters, shoes, hats, etc. were still boxed up outside ready for a place to go.

At my old apartment I relied on my closet, dresser, and laundry room for clothes storage. In the new house I eliminated the dresser (there wasn’t any room) and laundry room (which I had used essentially as a coat closet for jackets, sweatshirts, etc.)

The first thing I realized in the new space was the need to eliminate more clothes.

Despite doing one purge over a month ago, another one was clearly in order. I easily found 30 more items that found a new home at Goodwill.

I’m not a very neat or clean person, but I am an organized one (most of the time anyways). I had a color-coded system in my old closet that I fell in love with and had to replicate in the new one.

On the bottom you’ll now find dress shirts, vests, cardigans, long sleeve shirts, and jackets. All separated by style and color.

Above those are my dresses.

Dressier tank tops and short sleeve shirts (can you tell I prefer white shirts?)

And, lastly, my remaining tank tops in the bottom corner.

No dresser meant I had to be a little creative with my undergarments, sleepwear, and work out clothes.

We measured the little cubby space under the built in shelves and came home Sunday with an adorable cubed shelving unit from Target to maximize the space provided.

Thirty minutes of following directions later….

Now, we had more shelves to play around with!

The blue drawers hold all of my work out shirts.

Dark Blue = Tank Tops

Light Blue= Short Sleeve

Tan = Long Sleeve/ Running Jackets

All of my flats and heels filled the bottom shelves

With my favorite boots on the side.

I found these GREAT baskets on the clearance rack at Target for $2.95 each! Talk about a deal!

We have bras

Sports Bras

And Flip Flops

The built in shelves held my remaining comfy clothes and athletic wear.

I found a space for:

Comfy pants

Pajamas

T-shirts

And Running shorts

The three drawers contain my underwear, swimsuits, and socks.

And to finish it off, my hats, belts and scarves are stored in plastic drawers at the top.

All together

🙂

There was still the matter of my shorts and jeans. Luckily I had a bookcase from my old living room that could be repurposed.

My sweaters and various laptop bags fill out the middle shelves.

Winter & rain boots take up the top.

And all my remaining bags have a home in the same fabric drawers I’ve had since college. 🙂

Whoa! Talk about a lot of work, but it was all fun work and totally worth it.

Let’s just hope I can keep it this neat1