My lost cause...

I met a friend for lunch a week or so ago. We'll call her K. K told me of her recent dilemma about her closet and her clothing issue and how she needed to organize her closet. She had finally gotten so fed up that she was going to hire a professional organizer to the tune of hundreds of dollars to come in to "organize" her closet.

Stunned that someone could make that kind of $$ doing something I absolutely LOVED, I offered K my organizational skills to help her clean out her closet. All I asked for in return was dinner and maybe some wine. She was thrilled. She thought I was crazy to see this sort of thing as "fun", but whatever.

On my drive back from lunch I was surprised at how excited I was to be helping her clean out her closet. I've done this several times with Blueberry too and knew I had to come up with a plan and get a commitment from K regarding how to proceed. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I missed another calling in life.

I think because of all the moving I've done in my life, I'm an expert at purging. I'm not a keeper, a pack rat, a whatever you want to call a person who keeps stuff around. Don't get me wrong, I have kept sentimental items, and such, but overall, I'm not a pack rat.

I read somewhere, or heard or something, a long time ago about how people attached memories to things and so can't get rid of the thing. Our emotional side kicks in and we have to hold on to the old ratty sock with holes in because it was the sock your kid was wearing the day his first tooth came in. Know what I mean? This "expert" had said that people don't realize that even if you get rid of the item, you still have the memory. And suddenly it made sense. It is, however, a lot easier said then done...but still.

So in preparation to help K with her closet I started thinking about what I knew to be true to help organize the closet. The rules if you will. I had posted on FB that I was excited to help her and couldn't believe the number of people/friends who emailed me or left a comment asking me to help them when I was done.

So, for all of you who are ready, here are the rules of engagement:

1. Be ruthless. You have to willing to part with items in a logical, non emotional way, and you have to be ready to let go. You have to be willing to ask the hard questions and answer them honestly when it comes to 1) how long has it been since you've used/seen/worn an item, and 2) how realistically likely would it be that you'll need it in the next year?

2. Allow yourself three piles and stick to it. The two piles should be 1) Keep or 2) Goodwill or donation. There is some debate to have a third pile of items that might be worth selling or sending to consignment. If you're that type, then by all means - but that pile has to go too. There may be a need for a 3rd pile of "unsure". In that pile should be items you need to try on to make the determination.

3. Decide quickly. Don't hum and ha. Your initial gut decision should be the one you go with. Then no going back.

4. Once you've gone through the piles. Bag up the donation pile and put it in your car ASAP. Do not allow it to linger in the house. If you let it linger, you may how dumpers remorse and want to dig something out of there. In K's case, I took the bags (12 of them) with me so she couldn't go through them again.

5. Now, go through the pile to keep. Double check for stains, tears, anything that makes you think you should get rid of it.

Once you have your "keep stuff" now starts the harder part, what to do with it. In the case of the clothing, there are several "theories" on how best to organize a closet. Some people prefer Winter / Summer type of organization. I feel strongly that you should keep all your clothes together and separate by color. You'll be amazed to see how many new outfits you might come up with because now you can see all the brown shirts you have. The other benefit of sorting by colors is you now have a look at the spectrum of your clothes. Next time you're out shopping for a new shirt, you now may know that you have no purple shirts, or not as many as you want. If you're like most of us, you automatically drift toward a single color (mine is black because it's slimming). But now you're aware that you have 15 pairs of black slacks and you don't need any more. (I'm a minimalist and don't have 15 pairs of slacks in all my colors combined - I have 7 that's it.)

Now, that you've got room in your closet you can sit back and focus on more important things. I won't lie to you though, keeping it this way is a commitment. And it may require you to regroup in a couple of months again. I tend to go through my closets every 4 months give or take. My rule of thumb is if I've not worn it in a year, it goes. Chances are high I've purchased something I like more and wear more often, so get rid of the excess. I happen to have a huge closet with loads of room, and by loads of room, I mean LOADS of room. I'd say maybe, 1/3 is used right now with clothing - including all the fancy stuff you only wear once in a while.

So after helping K, on my way home I started thinking about a career in this sort of thing. Clearly there were people out there who did it already. But the key, to me is, not cramming something down someones throat, but rather figuring out what "process" works best for them. The way I organize my closet and or life works for me, but may not work for K or Blueberry or anyone else. So really being a professional organizer isn't about just organizing, it's about the psychology behind why people don't organize to begin with. Organization is NOT something you're born with like good hair or straight teeth, it can be learned.

And to K - good job. You were such a trooper as we went through every single piece of clothing you have. I so wish we would have taken a before and after shot...you know, for my portfolio should I decide a career change is in order.