So this past week I completely forgot to post the challenge! I’ve had a lot on my mind the past couple of weeks, and it completely slipped my mind. For those who are newer to the blog, it’s just me running the blog. I have a full time job I enjoy. My blog isn’t cluttered with ads, because I want it to be authentic and educational. It’s just me (and the occassional guest blogger) sharing content that I think you guys will enjoy – diy projects, recipes, simple living, and money topics. But that sometimes means that blogging is sporadic if it begins to feel like a chore…or I casually forget to write a blog post. Now I’ll get off my soapbox and get to this week’s challenge!

Kudos to anyone who kept on trucking through the challenge! Week 15 is all about the master closet and dressers. I strategically placed the master closet and dresser closer to the end of the challenge as letting go of one’s clothing and sentimental items can be difficult for some. Hopefully the challenge up to this point has been inspiring to you and you have been able to see and appreciate your transformed spaces that will carry you through this week’s challenge.

Closets/Dressers

• Empty closets and dressers
• Give the dresser and closet a cleaning
• Set up your your piles – “keep current season”, “keep off-season”, “shoes”, “accessories”, “donate”, “sell”, “discard”, “remove”, and “store”
• Sort everything you removed from your closets and dressers into the piles you’ve established
  • If you haven’t worn items multiple items in the last 12 months or the items are beyond repair, they need to go
  • As I said before, it might be hard to get rid of some items if they hold sentimental value. There are a couple of blog posts I’ve written about this topic previously that you might find helpful – “Why is it hard to let go?” and “10 things to consider when simplifying your sentimental pieces”.
• Once everything is sorted it’s time to categorize!
  • Some categories to consider include: short sleeves, long sleeves, sweaters, pants, jeans, dresses, skirts, shorts, purses, bags, belts, shoes, workout, etc.
• Hopefully you will have pared down your clothing so that everything actually fits into your closet and dresser. However, if you still have a ton of clothing and not enough storage it’s time to pare down some more!
  • Once you’ve sorted everything into your categories, pick 2-3 favorites from each pile
  • Consider what you want to live with vs. what you want to live without
  • I promise that you’ll feel lighter once your closet is organized
• It’s time to decide how you want to organize your closet.
  • My closet is categorized into sweaters, long sleeves, 3/4 sleeve, short-sleeve, pants, jeans, and dresses and then organized by color.
  • My dresser is organized into socks, underwear, bras, workout, pajamas, shorts and t-shirts
  • One thing you may want to consider are dividers which can be handy when you are trying to create separate spaces in drawers
  • The floor of my closet houses a few of my shoes while the top shelf holds travel bags
• Now that your have a plan in place, it’s time to actually organize your items and zones!
• After you’ve organized, take everything from the “remove” pile and place back in their proper place.
• Dump your “discard” pile.
• List any items you plan to sell.
• Store any items in your “store” pile. Label it with a date of 1 month from now.
• If there’s anything last week that you tried to sell but either didn’t have time or it didn’t sell, add that to your “donate” pile. Include in your donate pile any items you may have put into storage a month ago.
• Take your “donation” pile to the donation of your choosing. Make sure to do this as soon as possible so it’s not lingering in your home.

The Sweep

Continue your pickup and cleaning routine each night before bed. Put away anything from the rooms you’ve refreshed that is out of place. Give the room a spot clean. As always, if you find that some of your systems aren’t working, make some tweaks and continue to reassess as you go! Your nightly sweep should start to feel more like a routine.

Next week we are headed into the garage!