Going Into The Closet

Even if you've only been following my blog or twitter a short time, you have likely noticed I've got a preoccupation with chaotic closets...and trying to rebuild order.  My house is not normally a place of clutter, but for the past 6 months or more I have found myself in state of disarray with clothing and shoes piled up all over the place.  It actually started to hinder my ability to think clearly and I felt a little depressed, so as my birthday approached I made a commitment to myself to pull it together and regain a well-kept space.

Off my dining room is a narrow walk-in closet that beckoned to me in the night, "I will house your clothing in an orderly fashion kind woman.  If you build it, I will store."  Apparently it must have been whispering to the Chef too because he showed up here a couple weeks ago with a rad closet organizer that saved my life.  Last week I said sayonara to a year of my life and a bunch of clutter, too.  Yippee!!  My clean house is back...and it all started with this closet.

You don't have to be kind.  It was a hot mess.

Can you say clutter?

Don't worry I'll say it for you. 

But now look!!!   

What was that?  You want a close up??  Me too!!

To the left is a wardrobe/shelving unit that holds 

hanging items, boxes of boots...

and some of my most favorite folded cashmere.

 On the right are personalized hooks I found at Anthropologie.

They're perfect for holding bags, belts, and scarves.  

I love to see my initials hanging on the wall when I walk in.  Cool!

 The upper part of the back of the closet was the perfect

place to install a hangbar for coats and jackets. 

They were taking up so much space squishing blouses, dresses

and other fine articles of clothing.  Now I can shop my closets!

Below them is shelving that is ideal for storing shoes.

It doesn't hold all of my shoes, but at least it holds several

pairs of my favorites and creates more order in the other closets.

Here's the space behind the door.  

There's still room for more shelves higher up to hold 

additional pairs of shoes.  I want to use as much of the space as wisely

as possible - without overcrowding it.

Here's the view out of the closet.  

It gives a sense of how deep the space really is. 

I picked up a couple of these rugs at Ikea.  

Today I actually laid down on them right inside the closet.

It's my new happy place.

For months I've looked at fancy closets far and wide and wished I could figure something out in my own space.  One day it dawned on me...uh, Carrie - you're not Olivia Palermo (or anyone else who has a big ol' space for a big ol' closet).  Fortunately (at least a little anyway) I don't have her wardrobe to house either.  All it took was the willpower to get rid of a bunch of things and re-organize the stuff that was remaining in order to clear this walk-in and regain a sense of order. It also took a boyfriend who shopped Home Depot's aisles like a pro to get the best configuration possible for the limited space I have to work with.  Thank-you again Chef.  I owe you big time!!

I've never had a nice closet like this - at least it's a big deal to me - and I wanted to share it with all of you to encourage you to reconsider an area you might have that could be waiting for you to use it in a new way.  I was so overwhelmed with stuff that I couldn't think straight.  A good purge and a reasonably priced closet organizer later, I'm feeling so much better. 

Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation?  Are you ever tempted to just throw it all away and start fresh?

P.S. Don't forget to enter the CSN Giveaway!!  Goes til Wednesday at 11:59 PST.