The “HANG” Up
Written by Jaqui Lividini
Hello all “Mad Renovator” friends, sorry I’ve been on hiatus for a couple of months. March and April are always crazy for me, but now I’m back and ready to talk more about my favorite place in my house — my closet!
Where we last left off the closet had finally been built - YEAH! All my clothes were coming out of storage - YEAH! 👗👠👜👓 and now I had to figure out how to organize the space into a functional sanctuary for my morning ritual of dressing. I had dreamed of what my perfect closet would look like, but nothing is ever perfect, and I quickly realized my dream of having all my clothes, all 4 seasons worth, in one space was not going to be a reality. ☹️
I also realized I had a hanger challenge; I didn’t have enough — actually far from it. Since I had kept a seasonal closet in my last apartment, I only needed enough hangers for one season, roughly 1/4 to 1/2 of what I actually needed. Those hangers were custom made — white wood with linen cushioned bars (for hanging pants without a crease), padded skirt hangers, etc. I didn’t want to go to the expense (or time) to have more hangers made, but I’m a stickler for organization, so how do I resolve using 2 different hangers in the same closet?😱 I found the perfect solution. On one side of my closet hang the super lux hangers, and on the other side hang the incredibly economical Container Store white wood hangers. The custom hangers are rounded and the Container Store hangers squared, but other than that they are pretty similar. All my skirts, pants and super lux blouses now hang on the custom hangers and jackets, coats and dresses hang on the Container Store hangers. Problem solved. One other great tip — the Container Store hangers have grips for items that can easily slip off a regular hanger.
Lesson #1 — Always use wooden hangers ❤️ I know the huggable hangers are incredibly popular, and I actually use them myself to transport my seasonal wardrobe, but for everyday use, the wooden hangers will preserve your wardrobe and keep your clothes wrinkle free.
Lesson #2 — Be flexible, in my experience, no matter how much pre-planning I do for a space, it’s not until I’m actually working in the space that I can see the true possibilities. My closet went through many different versions before I found the one that really worked.
Now that the hanger issue was solved, it was time to tackle sweaters. I categorized the sweaters into basic and fancy. Basics went into drawers and were sorted by color, style, fabric: i.e.: black - sleeveless, t-neck, crewneck — cashmere, wool, cotton. The Container Store sells dividers for the Elfa mesh drawers I used, which worked like a dream. Each sweater drawer held two dividers that created 3 compartments. I used the Marie Kondo burrito folding method and voila’ instant organization. The fancy sweaters were folded and placed on the shelf by color.
Next-up the scarves 🧣. I reserved two drawers for scarves. All the smaller scarves were folded and placed in the drawer in color order, again I used two dividers to make three sections. The larger scarfs, like the sweaters were placed on the shelves in color order. In this instance I mixed scarfs and sweaters to keep the color blocks consistent - my one nod to form over function.
Lesson #3 — The more organized your clothing, the easier it is to get dressed in the morning — it’s a fact!
Lingerie 👙was next and this required an entire row of four drawers. This time I used 3 dividers per drawer for 4 compartments. Bras in one drawer divided by color. Panties in another divided by color, tights in the next, divided by color and opaqueness and finally night gowns and pajamas in the last drawer.
My favorite drawer in the closet is the drawer for my glasses. 👓🕶 Oddly enough it was a life changer. It wasn’t something I planned but was inspired by an item I found at the Container Store that slipped into the mesh drawers and provided small compartments. I used it for my glasses, which I have many! Sunglasses, reading glasses, eye glasses, etc. and I am ALWAYS losing or misplacing one or the other. Now they're divided by type and style, and I'm never in need of finding a pair of glasses again!
Lesson #4 — Look for innovative hacks to organize your treasures. New items are developed every day that may (or may not) solve an organizational problem for you. Be creative about everyday items that might be up to your organizational challenge.
Next time, basket case….
