TWEAKS+inspiration : Are You Ready for a Closet Purge?

Just so you know, cleaning out my closet wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Now that's it finished, I'm thrilled. It's like a weight has lifted off my shoulders. I allowed 4 days but mostly just worked in the mornings.

I hadn't had a real purge in six years and it was way overdue. My closet was neater before I remembered to take photos but you get the idea. After an initial purge three years ago, I still have some of P's clothes. I don't want to let go completley so I folded and put in drawers what I wanted to keep. Now, I could concentrate on my stuff. Let's see what happened.

Closet organizers suggest you completgely empty your closet before organizing. Make a pile for what you're keeping, a box for giveaways and one for thowing away. Some suggesgt having a friend come over to give advice. On Ophra, I heard an idea to hang each item on the clothes hanger backwards. When you wore a garment, hang it the "right" ggway. At the end of the year, toss out all you haven't worn. I didn't follow any of this advice but did go throughg a section at a time.

It helped me to have my 1980's "Did you have your colors done?" swatch book handy when making decisions. Unfortunately, these clothes were too small. Would they ever fit again? I let them go.

I really never wore these green clothes (and now I realize they weren't in my color palette - doh!). I take a photo of most everything I donate. For some reason, knowing I have a memory of what I use to have is all I need not to miss things.

In April, 34 clothing pieces and some other stuff went off to the Salvation Army. It was a start but not that satisfying.

Last Wednesday, Jayne came along for the ride as I dropped off 84 pieces of clothing, only 27 of which were P's. Now, that was completely satisfying.

All the baskets on the top shelves are now empty. On the right side, an entire rack of clothes vanished.

I wanted to put more books on the shelves but the shelves aren't strong enough. I shopped my basement to fill the shelves.

The left side of the closet is a bit more full. Almost everything fits although I kept a few smaller items I love. After all, it's nice to see them in the closet, too. The emergency fire ladder is hidden in the white box.

I went through each drawer in my bedroom and closet - purging and then organizing.

Here's the original closet when we moved in. These shelves were on the back wall before the mirrored sliding doors closets were installed. The yellow power tool made me smile as I remember that P was raring to get started building the new closet. I ran in to take a photo before he moved our clothes. Unfortunately, that was in 1999 and I still have a few of these pieces. Enjoy your Sunday!