Decluttering - Start with the Closet

Having a home that is uniquely decorated for you and who you are at the mind body spirit level brings a whole new level of what interior décor can do for each of us. Home is our sacred space. It is our sanctuary, and it should reflect how we think and feel and love. 

The intention of interior design is to bring harmony between people and their homes. In traditional feng shui, one of the most important "cures" (a correction to adjust the energy in a space) is to restore order by the removal of clutter and negative energy from the home. This allows positive energy (chi) to circulate fully throughout the room.

By removing overwhelming stimuli (clutter) a more peaceful environment is created. Removing clutter is very beneficial, but that's just the first step of the process.

Maybe you're not ready to redecorate your home on a big scale, but you can start with one room or closet that will make a big difference. An easy way to do this is to declutter! If you have a walk in closet, decluttering this closet is a great way to visually change the energy in the space. This allows you to open up the closet door and easily see what you want to wear each day. It also allows for easy access to accessories and other items.  Organizing a closet can remove stress from your day, especially in the morning when you are rushing to get ready and get out the door.

Most of us have too many articles of clothing in our closet. On average, we wear about twenty percent of what's hanging in our closet and many other items, are what I describe as "someday items".  Someday when I lose weight, I'll wear those jeans again from ten years ago, someday when I go to a black tie event, I'll wear that dress again, someday I'll find a top that will go with that skirt that I bought on sale and has never worked with anything, someday I'll go back to that old job and need to wear that blazer again. I could go on but you know what I mean and probably recognize some of these items in your closet.

So begin by decluttering your closet. Pull everything out and take a good look at each item. Determine if you really wear this item, or if it's worn out and needs to go, or if it's a someday. If it's a someday item, give some real thought as to whether it's time to let it go. If you just can't let it go yet, then place it in another closet or storage bin, so you haven't gotten rid of it and it's there for that someday. Note: A year from now, if that someday is still sitting around gathering dust, you need to really think about letting it go.

Once you've removed everything from the closet, it's time to look at the bones of the closet. Are the racks really working for your needs. Let's look at a closet project I did here in my home.

Before picture, the original closet after everything was removed:

This closet has the basic racks we're all familiar with. My closet here has good space, but the racks are not doing anything to help with closet organization.

Look at all of the screw holes in these walls. The previous owners had moved the shelves around many times, trying to find the right height to best hang their clothes. They also finally hung the top rack very high in order to accommodate the long dresses they hung in here, which were someday dresses. Hanging the rack so high, resulted in having no storage space above for anything.

I could have moved these racks down and bought some additional racks to try to build out the closet, you can find these racks at any home improvement store. They work in a pinch, and are the most affordable option, but they can be irritating as hangers get caught between the racks. Given the choice, I prefer poles where the hangers can easily slide across.

Because this is my main closet, I wanted to invest more into the design and have it built out with shelves that would organize everything in the closet, includes shoes, purses and other accessories. I wanted to have some drawers in here for sweaters and other items that are better folded than hung.

Here's the after design:

A very basic closet that originally wasn't functioning well, now offers lots of storage space in the back with drawers and a cabinet above.  There's plenty of room to hang clothes on each side and the open shelves on the left side can be adjusted to create more or less space as needed to place shoes and other items. This closet can now function to fit almost any need.

Here's a look on how I store items in the new closet:

I've got storage space up top that I haven't even used yet and room to grow with shelves on the left side.  The bottom area in the back left side has a bar to hang pants if I'd like, but I've left this open to put a clothes basket here and folded my pants instead to go inside the drawers. It's very easy to walk into this closet and see exactly what I'm looking for to grab it and get dressed.

I have a personal love for luxury handbags and it was important for me to have some of them easily accessible as I like to change out my purse with my outfits. I designed this cabinet in mind of having some of them on display here ready to grab and change out with my outfits.

This is a much smaller closet than I'm used to from my other homes.  Previously I've had closets with much more space and room for additional cabinets and islands to store jewelry and other accessories. Some homes allow for great closets and some don't. I'm currently in a condo instead of a larger home. As any condo resident will tell you, space and storage is always at a premium and you have to maximize every bit that you have.

I think I've done a good job with this closet, even leaving me room to add more things.  The overall effect energizes me and I feel happy and relaxed when I enter the closet to get dressed.

I did keep a few someday items that even I wasn't ready to part with and I stored them in another closet. How did I store them? I stored the items inside my empty suitcases! The suitcases were already taking up space in another closet, so I decided they would work well to hold the extra clothing. :)

I hope this has given you some thought as to how you could declutter a small part of your home, even just starting with a closet to give yourself a refresh. 

If you'd like some help decluttering or decorating your space, reserve a Intuitive Interior Decor private consultation with me or study with me in my new Intuitive  Interior Decor School, a six week online course full of tips of how to redesign your home step by step.

"It's time to explore your spirit and discover how to create the life you’ve dreamed of living, by redesigning your life from the inside out.” - Kala Ambrose


WOW! There was such a great response to the closet makeover that I decided to show a second closet makeover that I did. This closet was much larger and had space to build drawers and islands on each side. Here's a few photos from this project:

 

 

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