Give Your Closet and Wardrobe a Facelift! By Kathi Burns Does your closet explode when you open the door? Or maybe, instead, it hides your favorite clothes for months on end? If you have a dysfunctional closet and can't ever find anything to wear, you are not alone. Consider this fact: on the average people wear only 20% of the clothes that they own. With this in mind, it is easy to see that most of the clothes in our closets are simply taking up too much space. If your closet is crowded and unmanageable, the neglected and forgotten items will cause mayhem with your ability to get dressed and out the door on a timely basis. They can also keep you from looking put-together and crisp. When a closet is overcrowded, clothes take a beating and need more maintenance. Being smashed and smooshed together decreases the likelihood that items will come out in good enough shape to wear 'as is' without steaming or ironing. Getting dressed should be easy, joyful and stress-free. If this is not your experience, please read further. I will explain how to organize your closet, decrease the amount of unwanted clothes, buy the right clothes for your body shape and optimize your closet space. Before you get started, gather a few boxes and trash bags, along with a notebook and pen. One box will be for donations, another for alterations, and the bags are for, you guessed it: items not even worthy for charity! If possible, enlist the help of a friend whose fashion judgment you respect. This person will be invaluable in helping you release the clothes that no longer serve you. Additionally, make sure this helper has no vested interest in your wardrobe, i.e. they have not given a lot of it to you. Family members are typically not your best bet--too much history and drama… Get your friend and pull everything out of the closet. That's right, everything! You will be amazed at what you will find in the deep dark corners of your space. As you unload, place like items together and pile them onto every horizontal space available. As you pull each item out, take a good look to see if you still want to keep it. If it does not fit, place it in the donation box. If it needs mending, place it in the alterations box. If it needs cleaning, is still in good shape and fits, place in the dry-cleaning bag or wash hamper. Side note: If an item does not fit, but you LOVE it and I mean LOVE it, you can keep it in a plus-minus size box. This box should be no larger than 2 by 3 feet and no deeper than 18 inches. The ONLY clothes that should go into this box should be fabulous clothes. Fabulous means clothes that are classic and timeless, of good quality and in great shape. The last thing you need is to gain or lose weight and open this box to find old, tired clothes that never looked great on you to begin with! Inspect each item thoroughly for wear, snags and stretching. If none of these factors exist but you still can't decide, try it on. Let your friend inspect you from all angles and tell you if it fits, is flattering, or needs to go. It takes someone else to truly see your backside in its full glory (so show them the booty view!) This is where fashion violations frequently occur because people can't ever see themselves from the back, so can't tell if things fit them appropriately. As you purge your worn-out, ill-fitting, and just plain bad items, keep a list of the things that you need to replace them with in order to keep a well-stocked wardrobe. If you are in need of a good checklist, you can request the 18 Essential Wardrobe Elements for Women by emailing advice@addSpaceToYourLife.com and requesting it in the subject line. You will receive this list along with a free subscription to addSpace eTips. Once you have inspected each item and know what gets to be placed back in the closet, you can begin to figure out the right closet set-up [to accommodate your clothes]. There will be areas that you know didn't work, like, all-too-often, the shoe department. Maybe you need more pole space or an additional dresser or a second shelf above the poles. Amazingly, the typical closet design with one rod and one shelf above is the least efficient. There are many tools [or ways] to increase your closet storage space. You can add additional pole space by purchasing a drop down pole that hangs off your main pole. This will double your pole space without hiring a carpenter and give you an area to hang high and low items like blouses and skirts. If you wish to demolish your closet and start over, you probably need mostly high/low space with two poles and only a small pole for long dresses and coats. Examine the vertical space within your closet. You can probably add an additional shelf above the original to double your space. Shelves are handy for folded jeans and sweaters. You can even buy shelf dividers to hold your stacks neatly. If you have extra pole space and too many shoes, shoes can be stored in a very small amount (8 inches) of horizontal space in hanging shoe bags. These stack and hold ten pairs of shoes . Shoes that you don't wear frequently can be stored in plastic shoeboxes on the top shelf. For off-season clothes, keep plastic bins on the top shelf and rotate clothes in and out between seasons. Another option if you have extra pole space is to add a hanging shelf bag. These bags attach to your pole with Velcro and provide 6 to 7 pockets for sweaters and t-shirts. You can add baskets in a few shelves to store socks and lingerie. Check to see if you have any space on the back of your closet door. This area can be used for pajamas, or another storage device with clear pockets for hose or jewelry. Whatever you choose, make sure that what you mount on the back of the door does not impede the door from opening all the way, or from closing completely. There is nothing more fatiguing than to fight with a door while you are deciding what to wear or trying to get dressed! If your closet still will not function properly, this indicates that you did not purge enough of your old wardrobe. Life is too short to fight with your closet. If stylists like myself seriously recommend a wardrobe based on 18 elements, you really might want to simplify by keeping only the clothes that are perfect for your body and style. You will look better, get ready faster in the mornings and know that what you wear is perfect for you! Also see: • Equip Your Hall Closet for Toy Storage • Setting Up Your Home Office Kathi Burns is a syndicated columnist and founder of AddSpace to Your Life!, a Professional Organizing and Image Consulting Agency. Adding space is Kathi's mission and transformation is her passion. Learn more at Kathi's website www.addspacetoyourlife.com.