As Sue prepares to leave her current home (or not!), we next tackled the bedroom closet. It was packed full. Its top shelves held clear bins with varied clothes, including winter and summer tops. The bins were labelled, though their contents didn’t always match the labels. Some bins were cracked or otherwise broken, which we would toss. Using my professional organizer’s tried-and-true method, we worked top-to-bottom.
Standing on her step stool, I started pulling out the top shelves’ bins. Using her trusty label maker, Sue typed new label names, then printed them. I folded and folded, and rolled and rolled, placing “like-with-like.” We strategized about the bottom of the closet, where we would place bins that were salvageable, plus some new ones, which she bought some time ago. (Handy!) Winter clothes would go on the sides, with the middle reserved for items to wear now. We also set aside things she would wear on an upcoming seaside vacation.
We put some things on the lower of the top shelves, leaving the top one completely empty. No visual noise! Better for showing the house to potential buyers!
Next, we worked on the bottom of the closet. As with the top shelves’ contents, we set aside some to donate or discard. Beyond better organizing it, I wanted to leave the floor clear. If the house were to be shown, it would look better. Plus, it might encourage Sue to keep it that way.
As with the top shelves’ contents, we set aside some to donate or discard.
Now, Sue could easily find things to wear. If she decides to stay in the house, it will be a snap to move summer clothes to the sides, and winter’s to the middle. If she does decide to move, the already-labelled bins will be easy to pack. Bonus points – since they’re mostly the same size and shape, that will make it even easier.
When we were done, the only item on the floor was the step stool. Another Success Story! Next? The downstairs bookshelves? Okay!
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De-clutter Me! offers non-judgmental, competitively-priced and confidential assistance to help clear clutter in your home and/or business. We’ve been changing chaos to calm since 2013.