New Organization Habits with Granting Order

Have you ever had something you’re so terribly bad at that you just have to get professional help? That’s me with clothing organization.

No matter how hard I try to clean up and get organized, I always find myself in just as big of a mess as I started with a day or two later. My family or my friends had always laughed while I dug through my sock drawer trying to find my pajama pants, but no organizational solutions were ever offered that made sense to me, so I never changed. Sometimes, you’re so blind or so used to your habits that you don’t think you will ever change. However, one of my best friends, Taylor Grant, happens to have her own personal organization business called Granting Order, and offered to help me out, so I said “what the heck?” and it ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’m making it one of my New Years Resolutions to keep my closet clean and organized, and if I let it get too bad, to ask her for help again.

Most of the photos in this post were taken after all the dirty work had been done because I was too embarrassed to share, but here is one photo of what it looked like before we started that I took on my phone (after a bit of cleaning up to be honest).  That yellow and grey thing in the top left corner is Patsy’s harness, casually hung on a hook that was also holding 4 purses, a grocery tote, and a scarf. Over on the right, you have a scarf hung up with a jacket in what was supposed to be my tank top section. There in the back, all my luggage on top of several items of clothing and topped with a few pairs of boots. This was just my life before Taylor.

So, here are the 4 steps Taylor took me through to help me de-clutter and start off the new year with a neat, organized closet.

Step 1 was to take everything out. EVERYTHING. Oh boy, did that stress me out. We had stuff all over my apartment, but only half way through I was already amazed that all of it fit in my tiny walk-in closet and I realized I really needed to clean it out. There was too much in there for me to access it all, so most of it was crap that was shoved back in the corners that I never even used, and that stuff needed to go. I quickly had heaps of junk I was ready to donate and a lot more trash than I had expected.

Step 2 was to sort all the clothes and stuff as I took it out into “keep, donate, and sell” piles. Gah, this was so awesome. It’s easy to think you want to keep everything when it’s all hanging up in your closet, but once you have to take it out and are forced to hold an item in your hands and actively decide you like it enough to put it back in your closet, it makes it so much easier to get rid of things. I got rid of the clothes I had been keeping but hadn’t worn since high school, along with old picture frames, mismatched shoes, destroyed purses, and anything else you can think of. I ended up having to add a “throw away” pile along with keep, donate, and sell.

Step 3 was to sort everything I wanted to keep into very specific categories. Tanks, short sleeve tops, quarter sleeve tops, long sleeve tops, sweaters, ect…This way, I could see everything that I had and it would make it easier for me to be organized as I put items back in my closet. This third step also made me think more closely about what I really wanted to keep.

Step 4 was to put everything back in where it was within a glance (aka don’t hide shoes under long dresses, don’t hide junk on the bottom of top shelves) and organize by clothing type, which would be my key to organization moving forward. She put my luggage up on the shelves where I previously kept mountains of shoe boxes and other various items that didn’t have a place. Since I have shoe racks outside of my closet, she also had me take all my shoes out so I wouldn’t keep throwing them in the back corner. From this point on, everything has a place so there’s no reason for me to start throwing things on the floor or stuffing shelves.

All in all, it probably took us 3 hours to get everything sorted, organized, and back in my closet, and it was the best, most productive 3 hours I could have spent.

Not only does having an organized closet just leave me with the since of having a better handle on my adult life, it has also has helped me with my blogging! I now know where all my clothes are and have a much easier time putting together outfits. It’s going to save me money because I have a habit of replacing “lost’ items of clothing (clothing that is either shoved under my bed, in my hamper, in my dresser, or deep inside my closet) and now I can clearly see what I have and take better care of every piece.

If you’re thinking after this post that you may need some organization help as well, contact Taylor at taylor@grantingorder.com or check out her website here! Like I said, she’s my best friend, so I’m obviously going to shamelessly plug her business here, but I wouldn’t if I didn’t believe she was absolutely amazing at what she does. Also, really ask anyone who knows me, I ABSOLUTELY needed this help. There have been times when my closet floor was stacked with piles of clothes up to my knees, no joke.

Thanks for reading! I hope Taylor’s tips will help you get inspired to clean out one of your spaces, or get the help you need, and get the year started off on the right foot. Happy organization!

Photos by: Carlos Barrón Photography