Thank you California Closets for sponsoring this post.
I’m a Type A person. I’m detail oriented and always pushing for perfection. I want my house “just so.” On the other hand, I easily let things slide (think leaving a cereal bowl, or two, on the nightstand for a day, or two!) My closet is both organized yet a mess all at once. I strive for a pretty and functional closet but often get stumped on how to properly arrange it to make best use of the my space.
with home organization I believe
- You won’t use what you don’t see.
- Time is money. The longer it takes to locate something, the less time available to get things done in life.
- Know your skills. Seek advice where you need it – like other’s blog posts, or experts in areas you’re not super at!
advice from my mom
The best advice my Mom’s given me is to not try to be an expert at everything. She encouraged me hone my natural skills, and hire others who were experts at their skill set. This helps streamline my focus and avoid being spread too thin! Thanks Mom for this great advice!
why hire a closet design expert
This leads me to Carmin Francisco, an organization expert and veteran designer for California Closets Atlanta. I was offered the chance to meet with a California Closets designer. Carmin would review my closet and make suggestions to improve the use of my space. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I half expected her to nod and say “you’ve done the best you can.” But noooo…..she had fabulous improvement ideas (insert swallow of pride here!) Carmin walked into my closet, sized it up and immediately knew a few ways to improve it. I grabbed my notebook… 🙂
tip: avoid bombardment
My closet initially had a lot of dark and heavy things right when you walked in the door. A lot of heavy sweaters on hooks, dark colors up front and clutter at entryway. It made my closet feel heavy and not breathable. She suggested moving the clutter items (like my shoe drawers) to spaces less noticeable and opening up some of the shelving for practical items like my handbags.
Before and after of my entry. So much more breathable and fresh feeling!
tip: color coding clothes
I’ve always hung my clothes light to dark. Which worked fine. But Carmin suggested color coding clothes according to the rainbow spectrum of colors.
White : Red: Orange: Yellow : Green: Blue: Indigo : Violet : Gray : Black
A common acronym is ROY G. BIV.
Why ROYGBIV? Roy G. Biv is an acronym for the hue sequence in a rainbow. The colors are always in this order because that’s how the sunlight passes through the raindrops in the sky. So it only makes sense to follow what nature dictates as a natural layout of color. This is how the color wheel works as well!
Before and after using her ROYGBIV color coding recommendation!
tip: functionality over rules
I had all of my dresses hanging on one rack. I thought dresses should be hung as a category. However, Carmin suggested that with how my closet was laid out it was wasting useable space. She suggested putting maxi dresses in a space that allowed longer hanging items and lowering hang bar for shorter dresses. This would give me storage area above it with shelving. Such a simple change but it allowed me to move my shoe clutter to the back of the closet. Now I can see my clothes better, I’ve optimized my space and let more breathing room into my closet!
Before and after shelving re-arrangement.
What can I say – I love me some handbags and shoes. I justify my indulgence because they always fit no matter how bloated I feel that day! Because they bring me joy and I switch them daily, she suggested I make them easily accessible and viewable. They would become the functional art of the closet!
tip: open shelves can work
tip: optimize hang space
A lot of what I had crammed in my closet wasn’t necessary. I moved a lot of t-shirts and sweatshirts to my drawers. This freed up space for items that truly need hanging. I use the The KonMari Method for folding clothes in drawers.
what I had already done right
Whew. A few things were going for me in my closet. My hanging jewelry organizer was a good use of flat space. I could easily see, display and access my jewelry without sacrificing important storage area. So I got a thumbs up from Carmin at California Closets Atlanta for the inexpensive plastic hanging jewelry organizer!
My DIY scarf hanger worked well. I had just bought some towel rods for display. Carmin said she would have made them shorter to allow for more breathing room between the rods and the clothes if she designed space, but that they served their purpose fine.
why hire California Closets?
We are the second owners of our home, didn’t design our closet. She shared that awhile back there wasn’t software to allow design with exact size specifications. A lot of closets were sketched without complete measurements and finagled a bit when installed. This resulted in awkward corners, wasted space and less than ideal optimization for storage.
California Closets now has very sophisticated software that allows you to fully visualize every square inch of the design to see how it’s going to work. Not only that but as the design is built, each component is individually priced so you can play around to get the right functionality within your budget.
I highly recommend them and have already started working with them on garage organization! Fantastic company. I hope you watch this great video about why I love working with them!
My closet has never looked better thanks to California Closets – I’ve even been inspired to keep it clean, too! Miracle!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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