Chris’ issue really came down to figuring out how to efficiently use his space. I told Chris how I organize my own space: the stuff I use most frequently gets the most optimal closet and drawer real estate. That way, I don’t have to go digging for my favorite stuff.
In the bedroom, we revamped the way he was storing things, which included folding things in a way that made it easier to access and see what he owns, and putting some things in drawers that used to be in the closet, and vice versa. We also got rid of the bins in his linen closet and got him clear storage boxes, which he used to separate toiletries into categories. We also ended up doing a fairly significant wardrobe edit. Originally, Chris thought he wouldn’t have enough to donate. In the end, we ended up donating two large trash bags to Martha’s Table. The after pictures are below. There's tons more space in the bedroom closet, a whole shelf freed up in the bathroom, and everything in Chris' drawers is easy to find. Not bad for initially thinking there was nothing to do!
And here's what Chris has to say about it all:
Hello fellow bitches.
Welcome to my guest post! It will most certainly be the greatest guest post in the history of closet-based organizational blogging. Of this I’m certain. So hold on to your hangers, and let’s get started.
In the interest of full transparency, I half expected The Bitch (what are you calling yourself on this blog?) to come over, look through my closet, marvel at its beauty, determine there was nothing to be done because it was perfect, and decide we should go to brunch instead.
But thankfully for me The Bitch has got an eye for closets. Mine was already organized and aesthetically pleasing (feel free to take a look back at the before pictures if you don’t believe me), but The Bitch determined almost immediately that I wasn’t making the most efficient use of my (admittedly smallish) space. Part of that was because I hadn’t gone through and edited anything in a while, and part was because I wasn’t maximizing the way I organized, folded, and stored all my clothes.
I will skip repeating everything The Bitch already described about what we did, and cut straight to the chase. After all our work, I have a wardrobe (closet and drawers) that is much more efficiently organized than I started with. And while the new way The Bitch taught me to fold my clothes (so they can be stored horizontally and not vertically) is taking some getting used to, it makes it so much easier to find things quickly without digging through (and messing up) a whole stack of clothes. And in the end, my closet still looks the way I like it, but I have a lot more space (and I have a coupon to Brooks Brothers so I can start filling it).
Cheers!
Chris (¡Viva la wooden hangers!)