A reorganizing of the closet

It wasn't an impossible mess but after six months and change in my apartment I was noticing that my closet was NOT staying clean. This is the first time in my life I've ever had this much space and my reaction seemed to be to just shove everything in there. It started with the best intentions and I definitely had some good systems but it all needed to be reassessed and it's a new years so time for a (very brutally honest) closet purge as well. This is what the closet looked like before I got started, not crazy but I did like to throw things on the floor/bench as I got dressed and undressed in stead of putting them where they belonged.

Luckily the January Cure was reading my mind and had last weekends project as a bedroom and closet clean out and reorganize (more on the bedroom later) so I figured I may as well go for it. My closet is a relatively big walk in space with one door to the hallway and a curtain separating it from the bedroom. There is a clothes rod along one wall with two long shelves above it and a window. I added a bench, a small table and a makeshift "dresser" of some sorts, with bins to hold socks and such when I moved in. I didn't want to buy anything else, just use what I had. I also use this space to store my suitcases, boxes for my sewing machine and computer, and most of my art supplies, fabric and portfolios so despite it's size, there is a lot of stuff that has to live here, and I have to both be able to access it easily, but also not have it get in the way of the space functioning as a beautiful walk in closet! 

So I rolled up my sleeves, sent out a message to a friend to come rescue me if I didn't emerge in 24 hours, put on some music and got to work.

When the dust cleared it looked more like this. 

Obviously a huge part of this was picking everything up off the floor and putting it back in drawers or on hangers. I was able to eliminate about two trash bags full of stuff now bound for the Goodwill and I fixed an alarming mending pile as well. Then I sorted the hanging clothes by type, (jackets, dresses, skirts, sweaters, blouses) and hung each garment type in color order. All of the bins were purged as well, pants and jeans were folded, some of the bulkier sweaters went away and the rest were reorganized and folded as well. I moved all my shoes around so that the most worn are all out and some of the pretty but less worn styles are displayed under the bench. 

I like to hang a favorite item on the door as decoration. As it is still January I picked this 1920's rabbit fur coat I was gifted, and also I like to pet it when I walk by! The white storage boxes above the hanging clothes have fabric (which was carefully sorted and folded and relabeled) as well as various party supplies and book projects. I made new hot pink labels for all the boxes to replace the old mismatched ones. I have a long mirror which fit right next to the window which I hung when I moved in, but I switched out the art above it and rearranged my hats which hang above the molding above the door and along that wall. There's also an old gold and black tassel garland from a previous apartment that I hung to the side of the doorway.

I would say in general that most of the decoration in this room was in the vein of "because I like it." That's how I picked the pepto pink paint color, gold accents, the antlers, fur and fake birds that adorn the walls. And finally in the corner by the door is my jewelry, accessories and basically just an indulgently pretty vignette for me to look at in the morning. The old foam wig form (which has been glittered previously from a black swan mask project) holds whichever vintage hat I'm feeling like at the time as well as sporting my father's pink polka dot wedding bow tie. The antlers got a floral update (I was feeling very springy) and the necklaces and earrings hanging on cup hooks below the shelf got straightened up as well. The table below was made by my mother and hold my collection of vintage beaded bags as well as a basket of printed silk scarves. And that's everything. Now is it weird that I sort of want to sit in here just to relax?