Hello Fall!

Its time to put your warm weather clothes away and get out your winter ones. 

If you used the the hanger trick this is where it comes in handy. Remove the items on the backwards hangers. Then inspect your winter clothes for wear and fit. Those that don't make the cut can join your summer rejects for donation or re-sale.

To make the spring wardrobe switch easier, be sure to use the hanger trick on the clothes you keep. 

Here' s a testimonial from Lisa in Menlo Park:

Every time I opened my closet I was filled with dread. I couldn't make decisions about what to wear every morning, because nothing was organized and a lot of it didn't fit. I used to really love coordinating new outfits and felt good about how I looked when I left the house in the morning. But dressing became a chore, and my outlook and appearance was beginning to reflect it.

I had moved and downsized and had tough decisions to make about paring down my wardrobe. Indecisive and reluctant to face reality, I actually had a rack of clothes in my bedroom and was using part of my daughter's closet. I also had gained weight and was storing three or four sizes of clothes -- wishful thinking! It just added to the clutter. Normally a decisive person, I was having a difficult time parting with quality clothing that seemed in good shape. But I was no longer able to judge what looked good. Procrastination ruled and my closet was a mess for almost two years.

Enter Catherine, who was frank about outdated styles. (Shoulder pads? Gone. Ankle-length dresses? Gone. Clothes from the 80s and early 90s, out of there.) She also was not hesitant to tell me what looked good and didn't. And she was efficient -- tackling one closet section at a time, making huge progress in one hour increments.

We separated everything into piles: Toss, donate, consign, and to accommodate my real reluctance, store in the garage my favorite pieces until that day that a diet may actually get me back to a size 6.

I couldn't have done it without her firm guidance. Now, I can open my closet in the morning and have fewer decisions. I don't waste time digging through things that looked good long ago. I know what is there fits, looks good and I am starting to get creative again about outfits. It's a huge relief to look at a less cluttered, more organized space. The first step was admitting I needed some help!

Seasonal Closet Switch-out Part II

Here is some simple math. If you have 100 feet of hanging space in your closet you should have 100 feet - or less - of items to hang.

When she ran out of room in her closet, this client set up shop at the foot of her bed. Not only is this unsightly, but it invades her a space which should be serene.

We were able to move all this to her actual closet after discarding some outdated clothes.

Now her room no longer looks like a yard sale.

Seasonal Closet Switch-out

It is evident that this client really loves clothes. She has loads of them! Even with abundant closet space, she eventually ran of room and started hanging clothes on a portable rack in her bedroom.


The photo below is only about one-fifth of her closet space. 

The change of season seemed like a good time to review her wardrobe and discard what was out - worn out, out of style, out of her current size.


After removing SEVENTY-TWO POUNDS (!) of clothes to be consigned, donated or stored - and we're not done yet - this is the result: room to see what she has.

The goal is to have everything in her closet fit, both her and in the closet. The next post will show you where she hung the clothes that spilled over.

rePURPOSING Things: for Good!

I recently helped a client move from this spacious home.

They needed only a fraction of the furniture in this house for their new home - and you can imagine how much furniture a house like this can hold - so they did a very generous thing. They held a family and friends furniture sale and donated ALL the proceeds to the Parkinson's Foundation.

What an ideal way to dispose of unwanted items and do some good at the same time. Hats off to them!

rePURPOSING Things: Single Earrings

If after organizing your jewelry box you are left with single post earrings, rePURPOSE them into pretty push pins. They will be a subtle, unexpected eye treat in your kitchen or home office.

rePURPOSING Things: Grandmother’s Dresser

Inventing new uses for old objects can be really fun. After our storage clean-out I had a few items from my family that I absolutely could not part with but for which I had absolutely no use. So here is the first of my personal examples to inspire you to rePURPOSE your own problem possessions.

Grandmother’s Dresser

According to my mother, this poor dresser had seen more than its fair share of abuse. Family lore is that it came on a ship from Ireland in the 1890’s along with my immigrant Grandmother. It supposedly had an attached mirror and gingerbread decorations but when it came into my hands in 1969 it was a plain pine dresser with sticking drawers. I was a hippie, so I painted it red, white and blue.

When my hippie phase passed and I decided to clean up my act, the dresser became my first furniture-refinishing project and was transformed into an attractive honey color. Over the years our family used it as a dresser, a baby changing station, a dining sideboard and it even had a brief stint holding the microwave in a temporary kitchen.

Then we moved into a small casita. We had a nice dresser and no room for a sideboard. So it went into storage.

Cleaning out the storage I had an idea. We had a window in the living room that could use a table in front of it. But the dresser was too tall; it would block the view. So, I cut it in half... length-wise. The formerly four-drawer dresser was now a two-drawer side table…and a perfect perch for out cat!