My Favorite Closet Accessories
January 11, 2011
When I organize a closet, there are just a few items that I use in just about every job. My objective is to achieve a uniform look in the most efficient manner. I wanted to share just a few of my favorite things!
Velveteen Hangers
1) Velveteen hangers are a must. They serve 2 functions; one, they create a uniform look for the closet that can not be achieved with wire and/or tubular hangers (I see the combination of them all of the time and it really distracts from the look of your closet). Second, they are great with ALL of your clothes. They work with spaghetti straps, sweaters and everything else in between. They retail for $29.99 for a box of 50 at Bed Bath and Beyond and come in 3 different colors (black, stone & blue). You can also find them at Costco for $19.99 for a box of 50 (they only come in black). The only drawback with the hangers at Costco with their newly designed assortment is now they include 10 suit jacket hangers. You have to determine your closet needs before making that decision.
Handbag Organizer
2) My next favorite closet accessory is a handbag organizer. I can’t tell you how many closets that I organize and I find handbags tucked away into all different corners of the closet. My philosophy is “out of sight, out of mind.” If you don’t see what you have, you will not wear it or accessorize with it. This is a great hanger that goes over a clothes rod and holds a ton of purses. This retails for $9.99 at the Container Store.
Scarf Organizer
3) Then comes the scarf organizer. I have not been in a closet that a client hasn’t had a few scarfs. No one really knows what to do with them and I have seen them on all sorts of hangers and hooks that do not make any sense. Again, this is a great way to pull just a few scarfs or a bunch of scarves together so they are at your fingertips when you need them. It is a great price point and retails at $6.99 at the Container Store.
Belt Organizer
4) And finally, another great accessory is the belt organizer. Again, a lot of us have a hard time figuring out what to do with the belts that we have. They are all over our closet and I like to pull them together so they are easy to find when you need them. Again, it is not a price point that will break the bank and retails at $6.99 at the Container Store.
I would love to hear of any great closet accessories that you can not live without! We all have what works for us. These are just a few of mine…
Happy Organizing! Bridges
Hanger The Possibility
November 1, 2010
The fastest way to put your closet in order is to make all of your hangers uniform and to turn your clothes so they are all facing the same direction. This in and of itself will make your closet so much more functional. This may also motivate you to start weeding out some old clothes and shoes and create some space!
1. Wooden, velveteen or plastic hangers are so much kinder to your clothes than the wire hangers. Remember, with the wooden hangers, they tend to take up a little more space so go into this decision knowing the space limitations in your closet. My preference is the velveteen hangers from either Costco or Bed, Bath & Beyond (the most affordable). You can hang anything up on these hangers and the clothes will stay…this includes spaghetti straps!
2. Use hangers with tops that swivel. This way no matter what way you hang up your clothes, you can swivel the hanger around so that all of your clothes are facing the same direction.
3. Keep a section where you collect empty hangers. If you take something off of a hanger, place it at the end of the rod or a designated spot so that hangers are easy to retrieve when you need them.
Happy Organizing! Bridges
One In, One Out
October 28, 2010
One in...One out
Is it realistic to get rid of an old item every time you buy something new?
For some people it is. For others , it’s too much to think about on a regular basis. Your overall goal should be to maintain approximately the same amount of clothes in your closet. If it works for you to follow the “one in, one out” rule, then my all means do so. But if you’d rather rebalance your wardrobe every six months or at the change of a season, that is fine too.
Happy Organizing! Bridges
Over-the-Door Shoe Organizer Isn’t Just for Shoes!
October 22, 2010
Blog information compliments of Jeri’s Organizing and Decluttering News:
Over-the-Door Shoe Organizers: Not Just for Shoes Picture: Simply Stashed How many ways can you use over-the-door shoe organizers? I listed a lot of possibilities back in May 2008 – using the organizers for bathroom supplies, cables, toys, craft supplies, gloves, office supplies, etc. But I’ve since found even more creative uses for these shoe organizers.
1. Real Simple writes about using them in the pantry.
2. Re-nest suggests you could use one to hold silverware.
3. A Police Wife uses one to hold some of her husband’s gear.
4. A member of the HGS horse forums says she has one on the back of the tack room door to hold brushes, shampoo, etc.
5. Over on the Imaginisce blog, Roberta says she uses one for the punches she uses for scrapbooking.
6. And Urban Greenery shows a shoe organizer turned into a tiny herb garden!
I thought this provided some great ideas and I wanted to share the information.
Happy Organizing! Bridges
What Is A Valet Hook?
October 21, 2010
Compliments of Real Simple…
“Outside of your closet, install a hook or a pullout rod for hanging dry cleaning before it goes into the closet. You can also use it to organize outfits for parties, vacations, or the next day’s work.”
I actually use one inside of my closet that I use to plan my clothes on for the next day. I do this if I know I will be in a hurry and will not have time to make the selection in the morning! I also use it to accessorize my outfit or to match colors.
Below is a picture of one that California Closets uses as an option for their clients. What can I say, I love the valet hook!
- Save valuable time with a valet hook!
Can you share some other ideas that a valet hook may be used for in a closet?
Help! My Closet Is A Disaster
May 4, 2010
Closet Before Get Organized With Bridges Arrived
Does this sound like you? Well if it does, don’t despair, help is on the way. Start simple. Empty the entire closet and sort clothing by type. For example:
- All Sleevless Shirts
- All Short Sleeve Shirts
- All Long Sleeve Shirts
- All Jackets
- All Pants
- All Skirts
- All Dresses
You get the picture! If you are so inclined, this is your opportunity to start a pile to be donated or consigned (we will get to that later). After you get everything sorted and you are ready to start putting your items away this is where you are going to colorize your clothing within like items. For example, all of your short sleeve shirts are colorized from light to dark, your long sleeve shirts are colorized from light to dark, etc. After you have put everything away in this orderly fashion, you will notice “do I really need 15 black t-shirts?” and this is your opportunity to purge even further.
Another great idea is to transfer all of your clothes to the same colored hangers. As you will note in the after picture below, I used the black velvet hangers ($14.99 for a box of 50 at Costco) to make a nice, organized statement in the closet. This is an inexpensive way to really made a difference in your closet!
Another thing to keep in mind is to determine how you use your closet? Are you saying “what do you mean by how do I use my closet?” In the sample pictures that I have included, one of the questions that I asked my client was “what is working in your closet?” The answer to the question was “The hanging part is working for me” and “I don’t like my folding.” So, with that said, I went to work hanging all of her folded T-shirts and you can see that it freed up a lot of space. As a result, she is turning that into a dresser area with a mirror, a jewelry drawer and a tilt out hamper because she like to completely dress in her closet!
Now, let’s talk consignment! I offer a service to my clients called ‘Turn Discards into Dollars” and what that means is that I open a consignment account in their name so they can make some money on their hard work to Get Organized! and clear out the clutter. This is a great incentive to take your purging to a different level. I will either manage the money in their account and they can agree to take 45% of their proceeds or they can shop at the consignment store (and get the full 55% of their monies) and have some “mad money” on their account. Either way it is a win-win situation! Don’t forget, you can also donate your items and receive the tax benefit too. Don’t forget to get a receipt, mark down that types of items that you donated along with a valuation for your donated items!
Closet AFTER Get Organized with Bridges
And finally, you might have to make some adjustments to the way that you use your closet. If you were not an over-achiever about hanging up your clothes or leaving your clothes on the floor, now is your opportunity to make those adjustments to your old habits! Come up with a new habit to do it (whatever it is that you need to do) ASAP! It is not easy to make those changes, you just have to make up your mind if it is that important to you!
So, here is to your organizational start! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Bridges
