Unclutter: Organizing Your Closet

We can't all have a Carrie Bradshaw closet,

...but a girl can dream, right!?

This weekend for me was all about order.  It's amazing how much one can accumulate after three years!  Prior to moving to Philadelphia, Jason and I had an enormous yard sale selling nearly everything we owned. We've probably accumulated three times what we started with.  What gives!?  How does this happen?

Having order is a daily task, or if you choose not to make it one, you're summoned to be a hoarder. 
Therefore, I am forbidding myself to buying anymore flea market finds, must have dresses, and that extra pair of shoes that I just can't live without!  Simply stepping foot into Target is dangerous!

Before I buy, I must unclutter!

On a recent trip to NYC to see Jason's family, I learned of a book to help with all this clutter, Unclutter Your Life in One Week.  Whoa, a miracle all in one tiny package.  Jason's cousins, like us, live in a tiny one bedroom apartment, but in Brooklyn... with a BABY!!  How do people do it!?

Living in a small space has definitely challenged my thinking as to what is a necessity verses a really strong desire.  I really don't need those shoes.  So this weekend, it began....

All contents from within my closet were ripped out an thrown onto the bed into a giant organized mess!  Damn, where did all these clothes come from?

Separating the haves from the have-nots.

What is to be consigned and what is to be dumped (or donated, if you're like me and can't bare the thought of some perfectly (although used) item going to the landfill to waste away.

The last thing I want to do is bore you with a generic "How to organize your closet" post, but I will tell you some things that I found most beneficial:

1.) Think quick!  Have I worn this in the last year?  If not, donate.

2.) Don't hold on to something for too long.  You will grow an emotional attachment to it. 

3.) Order people, we need order.  Organize by item, then by color.  Dresses go with dresses.

4.) Use the same hangers.  It saves space and looks neater.  Wire hangers must die!  Get rid of them now!

5.) Use what you have! Like a bookshelf for a shoe rack!  Perfect. 

And Tada!

I'm no Carrie Bradshaw, but for a married couple in one tiny space I feel pretty proud!  And check out my shoes!  Before they were all thrown together in a hamper (shoe blasphemy)!  Not ideal at all!  I would have to dump the hamper out every morning in order to find a match.  Now they have their very own happy space.

For more tips on how to become an unclutterer visit this cool site.  My favorite section is Weekend Projects.