Closet Organization with the Covet House
If you live in a cluttered space, you know that it can be overwhelming; it doesn’t feel good. Just by having a clean space where things are put away in an organized fashion can instantly make you feel more at ease. So why not have a closet that you can confidently walk into every morning and that makes you feel ready to conquer the world? We asked our friends at The Covet House to help us help you… and help they did! Enjoy the tips and tricks shared by these professionals, and get ready to start the year more organized than ever!
The idea behind The Covet House is to create functional organized spaces tailored to a client’s specific lifestyle. Our mission for every client is that by us coming and organizing their spaces, they will feel a weight being lifted off their shoulders, enabling them to enjoy their homes to the fullest.
The Covet House wants to help you achieve the home and lifestyle that you desire! Life is already filled with chaos and stress, so wouldn’t you want to begin and end your day in an atmosphere that feels good? The word “covet” is defined as something people yearn to possess. That’s the whole idea behind The Covet House—giving you the home and lifestyle that you yearn to have.
Getting started is the hardest part, especially if you are trying to tackle this on your own. It can be overwhelming! The only piece of advice we can give is just to get started—rip everything off of the shelves, throw it all on the floor, and just start going through it. Keep in mind: it always gets worse before it gets better.
Declutter—clutter happens when we have too much stuff and not enough room. We accumulate all these things and, before you know it, you are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff—and you’re even unsure of what you actually do or don’t have. How many times have you heard the words, “I don’t have anything to wear,” even though someone’s closet is bursting at the seams with clothes? This is why it is so important to have your closet organized so you can actually utilize all of the great pieces in your closet! Somewhere along the line, clothes get hidden underneath all the clutter and you totally forget what you have. If everything doesn’t have a particular place, it begins to get thrown all over.
Label—if everything has a basket or a drawer, you can always put it back where it goes, no matter who is doing the clean up. Also, use the policy “one in, one out.” Every time you buy a new pair of shoes or a dress, try to donate at least one item out of your closet that still has some life left but that you aren’t in love with anymore. It doesn’t matter if you have the biggest closet in the world if you can never find anything!
Use your space efficiently—you should examine your closet space. Everyone’s closet is a bit different. As much as we all wish we had a glamorous walk-in closet, for most of us, that’s just not the case. Know where your closet’s strengths and weaknesses lie. For example, some closets have a ton of hanging room but not much drawer space—or vice versa. Once you understand where those strengths and weaknesses are, you will be able to plan the most efficient way to use your space.
Categorize—one of the first things I do when I begin an organization session with a client is to pull everything off of any shelves and hidden surfaces. This allows all of the unidentified or forgotten clutter to come out of the dark and into the light. Start by making categories and grouping things together; e.g., short sleeve, long sleeve, dressy, casual, winter, summer—you get the idea. Once everything is in a category, do another scan and take note of what you have the most of and the least of. This is where you start to figure out how can you make these things fit in a more efficient way. And where you realize, “Wow! I could really get rid of some of this!” If you want to take it to an even deeper level, start color coordinating each group; that way, you can start to see that you have five identical pairs of black pumps and seven black tanktops. Try to cut your number in half, and, most of the time, it won’t be hard to tell what should go.