This one is short and sweet, but impactful and enlightening. It’s a lesson in, “You may think you need a new closet system…but in fact, you just need to declutter, girl!”.

We can pretty much go ahead and end this post on that note.

But I wouldn’t dare leave you hanging. I do have a solid (and beautiful!) before and after that seals the deal.

BEFORE

This incredible mom of 3, loving wife and local small business owner (who I admire tremendously – she owns a popular and high-end hair salon with truly the sweetest staff!!) reached out to me about help with her closet. During my time talking with her about the space, she felt she needed a new closet altogether in order for it to work. This is a plea I read time and again when someone fills out the contact form online or during our phone consults. Of course, I know better. Been doing this too long. I need to see it before that decision is made.

In general, they think they need a new closet…but after our phase 1 declutter and re-organization, 8 times out of 10 they exclaim, “Wow! I can actually live with this!”.

Why? Because they spent the hard time decluttering with our team and I made the best use of space, organizing and putting everything away when it was all said and done…garage bags of donations out of our eyesight.

There are times when a new closet system is necessary and definitely a time when it’s a waste of money or something that can be put off. I am ALL about saving families money or ensuring when they do, it’s impactful for the long haul.

All that said, here was the before…without judgement, please…

Keep in mind – we always remove the sliding doors before getting started. It gives me a full view of the space and makes for easy access as we remove / return items by category. So what you see here was actually hidden behind 2 sliders.

Category by category we literally unload every last piece of clothing and shoes. We took over her bedroom completely for this process and it can be a scary sight for clients. It’s a total mess and causes high anxiety. It’s the ugly side of the process, but it doesn’t last long.

Then she decluttered category by category with my team, while I cleaned and edited the current system, fixing broken shelves and removing old hangers. As they wrapped up each clothing category, they brought items back into this space for me to put away. You can see here how it was already taking shape…

AFTER

This after is unbelievable…and all due to HER digging in and decluttering her entire wardrobe…

Big celebrations all around!

And in just 4-5 hours time! It’s true!

It’s always heartwarming and exciting to see their reaction. Once items have been decluttered, we let our clients go about their day – doing other chores, running errands, or playing with their children. They generally aren’t a part of the final put-away process. It was awesome to see her reaction to this beautiful closet. Which again was only re-organized by way of decluttering and better space planning!…

…NOT by investing a few thousand into a new closet system!

The only sad part of the job was putting those closet doors back on. Having full access like this, especially when it’s pretty and organized, makes it a lot easier than sliding doors back and forth.

As I mentioned at the beginning, this one was a short post but hopefully inspirational. If you think you need a new closet system or that it’s going to solve your organizing dilemma, think again. Product isn’t always the answer. Could be you have too much and just need to see it all, declutter and make some tough decisions. You may also need the eye of an organizing expert. Consider reaching out to a local organizer in your area…or if you’re near me, shoot me an email!! I’d love to help you!

Hope you enjoyed this little space…there’s a lot more of these I am looking forward to sharing. And I hope you had an amazing weekend!

Back soon!

xx,

Sam