This fashionista purged her closet. You can too.
items Smallwood was able to sell on the Real Real, an online luxury consignment shop. Pinsky also recommends selling items on the website Tradesy and donating to local thrift shops.
After editing, Pinsky assessed the remaining items, grouping clothes that needed to hang together and those that needed to be folded or stacked together. She then set about reworking and maximizing Smallwood’s space. “We got rid of all existing shelving and built a new system that used the full height and width of the room.” For a cost-friendly option, Pinsky recommended using Ikea’s Pax system. By creating an efficiently designed framework that included hanging space, shelves, drawers and bins, Smallwood even ended up having enough room for a vanity area.
Once the closet architecture was in place, Pinsky and Smallwood organized the items by category: tops, dresses, jackets, pants, skirts, shoes and bags were each given their designated area and within each grouping, the items were arranged by color. Pinsky says if you make sure every item has a place, then you have no excuse not to put it back.
For hanging items, Smallwood invested in all new coordinating hangers, which help create visual order and symmetry within the closet. “It’s crazy how much easier it is to get dressed in the morning when you start your day with a sense of calm,” Smallwood says. “I am no longer frustrated by not knowing where to start.”
As for Pinsky’s parting words to Smallwood, she thinks they were, “Do not bring anything into your house that you do not need, love or will have no use for, even if it was free, a good deal or a gift.”
The exercise had a profound effect on Smallwood: “I think we often don’t realize how much our environment plays such a big role on our mood, our self-esteem and even our style and the way we dress. By organizing my closet, I can now create looks I had never put together before and I don’t dread that moment every day of deciding what to wear.”
Pinsky adds, “When you are organized, everything in your life begins to feel more efficient.”
But, she cautions, “you have to be ready to make the change. You have to be ready to let go of things.”