Before we get too technical, I am admittedly talking about my clothes closet! Staying organized is not my strong suit (maybe pun intended), as many of my readers, friends, family, and the universe know. 

My name is Vickie Rubin, and I need to be more organized! There I said it; let’s move on.

Each winter and spring, I tackle my closet. Optimistically, this is the season I am keeping it systemized. Some strategies that may or may not work for me are:

COLOR CODING THE CLOTHES

My cousin Andrea is my “closet mentor,” and it’s not her fault that I can’t keep up. Many years ago, when Andrea lived on Long Island. I arrived at her beautiful, meticulous, spotless home for a visit. On this particular day, Andrea brought me up to see her closet, and I was never the same! Each hanger was aligned (yes, they were all in the same direction), but the feature that hit me first was the color coding. And I knew I could do this too!

I went home and color-coded. It was more challenging than it looked. For example, what about plaids, patterns, and paisleys? What about shirt styles such as long sleeve, short sleeve, and dressy? Is everything in a different category and then color-coded? 

Yes, I was overthinking. 

It didn’t matter anyway because whatever decision I made about shirt types and patterns by the end of the season, it was back to a rainbow of color and style.

Yet, each season, like a new school year, I go in with the hope that this is the moment I will keep it perfect.

For more information about color coding , click here. 

THE HANGER TRICK

Start each season with clothes hanging on the hangers facing backward. As you wear an item, turn that hanger in the forward direction. Voila! At the end of the season, you will have a visual of what you wore and what just took up closet and color-coding space. Here is an article that explains it better than me.

I tried this one season, and it worked, but I never did it again.

PURGE

I don’t mean a finger down the throat, although sometimes getting rid of clothes makes me feel like physically purging.

Whether you are using the hanger or some other method, you probably need to get rid of some stuff. Raise your hand if you look at your clothes and say, “I haven’t worn this, but maybe next winter?” Yes, purging my unworn clothes is a frequent mantra of mine, and I am working on it.

THIS WEEK

It was 80 degrees in Buffalo! I should have known that switching my closet would change the weather forecast. The day after I finished changing over the clothes, the weather hit a high of 42 degrees! The following day, snow flurries.

Anyway, I blocked out Monday of this week to complete my closet. I removed all the clothes I didn’t wear and justified why I should keep them just one more winter. I threw everything on our bed in a heap and systematically reviewed each item.

Mitch came home during this task and took one look as he grimaced and asked, “What’s Going ON?” In my defense, he really should know about my bi-annual tradition. This year I was able to purge some items, and I color-coded the spring/summer clothes and did not attempt the reverse hanger tip.

I’ll let you know in September how this worked out. You can start betting now….

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If you want to read something I really know about, choose three time award-winning Raising Jess! Mother’s Day is around the corner!

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