Since I knew that Ali would be at work pretty late I took Maya to the park in an effort to kill some time. Then we came home and did the usual – I made her dinner, gave her a bath, and read her some books. Then I had dinner and cleaned the kitchen and it was still only 6:45! As I wracked my brain trying to think of a project it suddenly came to me – we could organize my closet!
Normally my closet is museum perfect because it is off limits to everyone else. I love everything to be perfectly neat and aligned and color coded. But lately I’ve found myself getting lazy and sort of haphazardly hanging things up where they don’t belong. Or even worse, I’ve been throwing things in my laundry hamper because I can’t be bothered to fold or hang them again. This is very out or character for me because I usually cannot function unless every single thing is in its place. This may explain why I have been functioning at about 75% of my usual efficiency. My feng shui is off!
I was determined to get back on track! So Maya and I headed to my closet, Dirt Devil in one hand (by the way, Dirt Devil is the worst vacuum ever…don’t ever buy one!) and Method Cleaner in the other. She moved things out of my way while I vacuumed and sprayed, and then she helped me clean up the dusty corners with the vacuum attachments. Conditions were worse than a Nike shoe factory.
When the dust finally cleared and we could see again, I put aside any shoes I hadn’t worn in a year to give away and then we arranged the rest on the shoe racks from light to dark.
Running shoes and flip-flops went in this handy hanging shoe rack:
Dresses were next:
I am never sure how to fit patterns into the color scheme but we did our best and moved on to the pants.
Previously I stored my jeans folded and in stacks on my shelves but Maya and I decided it was more prudent to hang them with the rest of my pants so I could find them easily. So we did:
At this point my pajama clad helper decided to take an unauthorized break:
But when I bribed her with some TV time she mustered up the energy to help me evenly space my shirts.
Next we tackled my sweaters. I’ve heard that it is bad to hang sweaters up because they often become misshapen, but I am tired of constantly rearranging stacks of fallen cardigans. Plus, my sweaters drape well from these new velvet hangers versus the old wire hangers I used to use. So I think the closet police will excuse my transgression.
At this point Maya thought we were done and tried to make a break for it. Silly, silly Maya! She forgot all about my Indian clothes, scarves, and shawls.
After a minute of pouting she agreed we couldn’t leave the job half-finished and we headed to the other closet.
I filled a huge bag with the Indian outfits that were out of style, didn’t fit, or were too scratchy, and was SO relieved at this newly edited version of my Indian closet.
We tacked the scarves and shawls next. I put a bunch of them in a bag to give away and Maya and I spent a good 20 minutes re-folding and stacking the rest.
I know that it was an exercise in futility though because the next time I need something and reach in to the stack, the entire thing is going to topple over. Again.
I need to research a better storage solution. Any suggestions?
To Maya’s utter relief my coats and jackets were in pretty good shape so all we did was switch out the hangers. I can’t say enough about these velvet hangers. They are a very reasonable alternative to wooden hangers and in my opinion are much better for your clothes!
After Maya picked this hat up off the floor:
I realized I still had my hats in a disorganized jumble and my skirts were kind of a disaster but even I was too exhausted to care. I thought Maya would be too but as we walked back to the laundry room to put the vacuum away she asked:
“Are we going to do my closet now Mama?”
I was so proud! She is proof that it is never too early to learn how to organize.
