Yikes! There is the before... totally exposed.

AFTER

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me they wanted to hire me but... that they were too embarrassed to show me their closet, I would never have to work again. So in the spirit of full transparency… I am showing what my closet looked like before and after my personal closet edit. I, like many, suffer from Cobbler's Children Syndrome... though in my case it's not for a lack of shoes!

Like so many of my clients, my life got busy and my closet got messy. I was frustrated everyday with a closet busting at the seams and I was wearing the same five outfits every week. To be clear, they were great outfits! Still I was overwhelmed with too many clothes and I was uninspired to be creative.

They say those who can’t do, teach. I have no problem working in other people’s closets and yet facing my own mess was quite daunting. My closet looked like it had thrown up. I was wearing about 20% of what I owned and I was wearing them the same way.

Getting Started

To get started I worked in sections, starting with blazers / jackets, then dresses, pants, etc. If I couldn’t use a piece to create a great outfit to wear in the next month, I removed it from the closet. I wish I could tell you I got rid of it but that is too aggressive. I simply moved it to a different room, out of sight.

My closet now has about half the clothes and now I see why people pay me to help them in this process. I no longer feel overwhelmed with selection. I don’t feel disappointed to see a dress I want to wear but can’t until I lose 10 lbs. I am not frustrated by seeing a suede skirt that I can’t wear until the weather is chillier.

Pictures & Examples

I have an obscene amount of jewelry. Here is how I store it.

I found these old school cassette tape grid racks at Goodwill and removed some of the slats, perfect for bracelets!

I used the popular Pinterest towel rack / shower curtain hooks for necklaces.

I needed more space for bracelets and necklaces and had no towel racks on-hand so I made some out of wooden toilet paper holders and cut wooden rods to fit then spray painted them bronze. (They were actually left over from my shoe closet project.)

The best part about my pared down closet is the amazing outfits I have created using clothes I already own. It’s like I have a brand new wardrobe.

My shoes live in another closet in my bedroom. I converted a tiny linen closet into a shoe closet. I used crown molding to hold heels, a rod with hooks for boots, and then shelves for ankle boots, wedges and flats.

Use crown molding to create perfect ledges for those heels.

Use a rod with hooks to hang up your boots.