Organize Your Closet: The 5 Step SPACE
Program
By Chris Rasure
In a fit of Martha Stewart-induced organizing
frenzy you've completely emptied your cluttered
bedroom closet. So now what?
Before you return all those clothes and other
items to the closet. Have you initiated the
S.P.A.C.E. program? Consider
following the 5 simple steps listed below to help you
de-clutter, organize and get the most out of your
now empty closet.
Sort your clothes/belongings into three
piles or boxes:
1.To Keep
2.To Donate
3.To Trash
Be ruthless. (You have never and
will never wear that sweater that great-aunt
Bessie made you 8 years ago.) Be honest. (The last
time those jeans fit President Carter was in office!)
And sort without hesitation. (Why exactly
have you kept your old high school marching band
uniform?) Keep what you actually use and wear,
donate what you can, and toss the rest.
Purge your sorted piles to rid yourself of
everything except those items you actually wear
and use (meaning you’ve worn it more than
twice in the past year). There may be a multitude of
reasons why you don’t wear something-- doesn’t fit,
out of style, dislike the color, scratchy fabric. It
doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if the article of
clothing is old or new, expensive or cheap, a gift
from a relative or picked up from the lost-and-found
box. The bottom line is that if you don’t wear it then
it’s stealing valuable space. If the item is still usable,
donate it to charity-- Goodwill or the Salvation Army.
If it's too far gone, toss it in the dumpster-- today!
Assign everything to a particular
place/storage area. When items have a
designated storage area they have a greater
tendency to find their proper home rather than end
up on the living room floor or in the infamous “junk
drawer”. The key to maintaining organization is to
make it convenient to put things away in their proper
place. It will always be easier in the short run to just
drop what you’re using on the nearest shelf, but
what about finding it the next time? The 10 seconds
you save now by not returning the item to its proper
place will cost you 10 very frustrating minutes
searching for it later.
Containerize and label everything you
can. That may mean placing items in actually
containers (see-thru plastic is best for most items)
or it may mean, as mentioned above, simply
designating a space for each item or type of item.
Always try to put complimentary or like items
together. For example-- all pants on one hanging
rod, all your make-up in one drawer, your red belt in
the same cubby as your red shoes, etc. Needing
something and then finding it quickly because it’s
right where it belongs can be a surprisingly gratifying
experience.
Evaluate your closet and your method of
keeping it organized at regular intervals in the future.
Is your system working for you-- 1 month, 6 months,
12 months later? If not, you can change yourself and
your habits, or you can modify your system to best
work with your personality. When possible, modify
your system to match who you really are. You’ll be
far more organized and happy in the long run, and
that, of course, was the ultimate goal to begin
with.
About the Author
Chris Rasure is the owner of InnerSpace Custom
Storage Solutions, located in Tyler, Texas.
InnerSpace provides computer-aided design and
professional installation of custom closet systems as
well as organization systems for the garage, laundry
room, pantry and home office. The InnerSpace
website provides information and example photos of
their professionally designed and installed systems as
well as helpful organization tips and links to purchase
closet and organization accessories for the do-it-
yourselfer.
http://w
ww.innerspacesolutions.biz
Take control of your life. Start with the
closet. TM
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