Jillian's Wellness Team
Margaret Moore is a residential designer whose firm, MPM Design, is based in Los Angeles, with projects nationwide. She believes that an integral part of healthy living is maintaining an organized, clutter-free, and comfortable home and is committed to using eco-conscious materials and practices.
New Year, New Closet
Happy 2010! I hope that all of you have gotten off to a good start this year and, if you are like me, are determined to improve their health and fitness. Well, good health includes the health of your home, and one of the places in my home that constantly needs improvement is my closet. Now that spring is not too far away, I thought I would share some ideas for cleaning and organizing your closet. You’ll need about 4-5 hours, so a weekend afternoon might be a good time to tackle this.
First, you need to assess the situation in your closet and determine what you want to keep and what you need to eliminate. If you have not worn an item in three years, if it’s damaged beyond repair or too small/too big, it’s time to say good-bye. You can also ask yourself if you’d rather keep an item or have the closet space it currently occupies. You’ll need to separate these items into piles of what to throw away, what to donate to GoodWill, Dress for Success, a homeless shelter, or a charity of your choice, and, if you’re lucky, what to consign to a resale shop or sell on Ebay. Once you have purged your closet, it’s time to organize. Start by dividing your closet into zones: shirts, pants, dresses, shoes, accessories; within those zones, you’ll need to subdivide by work, dressy, casual, and, of course, seasons. Toss the wire hangers; it is worth the money to purchase wood hangers. Check out sustainable earth-friendly hangers from Richards’ Homewares (you can see these on Amazon) or bamboo hangers from bgreenhangers.com. For storage bins (for winter clothes in the summer months and vice-versa), drawer organizers, and hanging shelves/bags, go to The Container Store or to organize.com (for recycled plastic drawer organizers). For more detailed information on closet organization, I highly recommend Melanie Fascitelli’s Shop Your Closet, which I have used as my closet bible! Once you have an organized closet, you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel! Happy cleaning!