Let's Have a Converse-ation About Shoe Storage
Shoe storage is an important component of an organized closet. If shoes have a home, they are less likely to end up in a pile on the floor of the closet. Here are a few ways we keep our shoes organized!
Shoe storage is an important component of an organized closet. If shoes have a home, they are less likely to end up in a pile on the floor of the closet (Hey there! Yep, I see you!). Shoe storage comes in a variety of shapes, styles and prices. They range from boxes with removable lids, boxes that stack like Lego’s that open to the front or pull out like drawers, all the way to custom shelving with rotating columns (If you have rotating columns, please send me a picture! Jealous!). It’s all about what kind of space and budget you have in your organized closet.
It’s important to categorize your shoes, (running shoes, casual slip-ons, business flats/heels, party pumps, Mardi Gras shoes, flip flops, sandals ….or whatever it is that you have in YOUR closet), so you can find them quickly when you need them. After sorting by categories, I like to ROYGBIV them…it’s a little extreme but it’s really pretty! lol
Putting shoes on shelves is a great way to use vertical space in a closet. Custom shelving or store-bought shelving can be useful and practical for the shoe lover that doesn’t worry about a little dust on her shoes. You can find store bought shoe shelves at any local Target, Walmart, Home Goods, Home Depot or Lowes. Here’s a link to some we like!
Another idea for shoe storage is using shoe boxes. Shoe boxes are great for keeping the dust off of your shoes and keeping piles from happening on the shelf They can slide out like a drawer or have fronts that drop down like a door. Check out these varieties!
No matter what shoe storage choice you make, just remember that storing shoes rather than piling them, helps them last longer and keeps them beautiful!
Send us your shoe pics! We’d love to see your organized shoe space!
For more on shoe storage, check out this article.
Want to learn how to organize your own space? Join our Declutter Days online class!
LOVE THIS BLOG?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!
Swapping out Your Seasonal Favorites for Fall
Football season is a time where we Southern gals reevaluate our closets. For some, that means switching out Spring and Summer clothes for Fall and Winter clothes. Here are 5 tips to help get your closet ready!
I’m on a plane heading to Montana in a flannel shirt and puffy vest and all I keep thinking is...Fall is here! For us in South Louisiana, that means football season, hunting season and cooler temps (Well, hopefully by Christmas). Football season, like everything else this year, will be a little different. There will be more at home gatherings and a little less tailgating at the stadium. Football season is also a time where we Southern gals reevaluate our closets. For some, that means switching out Spring and Summer clothes for Fall and Winter clothes. Here are 5 tips to help get your closet ready!
1. Clean your summer items before retiring them for the winter to help them last a few more years. Nothing is worse than pulling out your favorite linen shirt only to find it has a stain.
2. Move warm weather items towards the back of the closet or higher in the closet, making space for the fall and winter items (In other words....swap your stuff!). For me, that means taking swimwear out of drawers and putting them in a bin at the top of my closet and bringing my bin of sweaters down to put in the drawer. Garment bags are a great idea for special summer items to keep dust and moths away. Tip: Swimwear can be stored in an air tight space saver bag if necessary for space.
3. Evaluate your flip flops and sandals. I know we southern girls wear our flip flops and sandals pretty much year-round, but this is a good time to evaluate what you wore in spring and summer. You might find some that are uncomfortable, loved so much they are falling apart or even a pair or two that you bought on impulse, but you really just don’t like. Let them go. If they need replacing, this is also a great time because summer items are on sale.
4. Evaluate your winter boots and shoes. Do they need to go to the repair shop for new heels or soles? Do they need polishing and conditioning? You can add this to your errand day list if needed.
5. Are your winter clothes clean and stain free? Do any items need repair? Is there anything trendy that needs to be added so that you are your amazing, stylish self? Add this to your action list or errand list so they are ready to wear at the first cool snap.
That’s it. 5 simple things that will make the seasonal switch much easier! Now go out and cheer on your favorite team in style! (Don’t forget your mask in your favorite team’s colors!)
Want more Fall inspiration? Check out our blogs on tailgating and decorating for the Fall!
LOVE THIS BLOG?
Sign up to get an email with our latest posts!
Capsule Wardrobes, Closet Cleanouts, and Pre-holiday Decluttering
“Your home needs to be a place of calm, peace and fun,” Stewart says. “Focus on more of the family, and less on the stuff.”
This article was first featured in InRegister. Original Source.
Despite Louisiana feeling like an actual oven, summertime is nearly over. The days are getting shorter and schools are back in session. However, there is no need to succumb to summertime sadness, because fall is only a few short weeks away. Ah, the season of pumpkin spice and sweater weather. Well, not really the second one. The temptation to break out a cute sweater is almost unbearable, at least until you step outside. The South has no understanding of fall weather. So what do you do when it’s mid-November and still 90 degrees outside?
“Have a capsule wardrobe,” says Martha-Carol Stewart, founder and CEO of Chaos Organizing. The versatility of classic, staple pieces will make seasonal transitions easier, while also creating more closet space. A win-win.
Stewart, who started Chaos Organizing with a mission to help people organize their homes so that they could live efficiently, shares a few tips on how to calm your closet no matter what the wardrobe demands of the season require. The key, she says: Define your goal and then ask yourself if each item is helpful or hurtful toward your goal.
“You want your closet to feel like a happy place,” she says, not a room filled with clothes you no longer fit into. Create a pleasing aesthetic by using matching hangers, and organize by labeling and having a home for everything. “It simplifies life.”
Decluttering our homes is especially important during the fall as we prepare for the upcoming holiday season, Stewart notes. The holidays, she says, have a reputation of unforgivably filling homes with chaotic clutter.
After all, tis the season of decorations, cooking, candy and, of course, presents. Yes, holidays mean peace and joy, but let’s be honest, they can be stressful. Think endless trips to the attic for decorations, desperate searches for the perfect presents, and wrapping paper everywhere. Basically, a clutter nightmare. How to ease the pain? Organize it.
“Your home needs to be a place of calm, peace and fun,” Stewart says. “Focus on more of the family, and less on the stuff.”
To avoid losing your sanity searching for Christmas presents, Stewart recommends gifting “experience gifts” like concert tickets, spa days and gift cards, instead of tangible items. This no-stress-needed method takes the worry out of shopping, and prevents the possibility of Christmas presents becoming clutter.
“Emotions are more attached to experiences,” she says. “My son’s 18th birthday present was tickets to Paul McCartney, and he’ll never forget that.”
These types of experience gifts are about the gift of time, and creating memories that will last much longer than a scented candle or clothing.
Since spending time with family members is a staple of the holidays, Chaos Organizing is hosting a clinic to share their favorite holiday-decluttering tips to ensure that the season will be centered around family, not stress. The clinic will be held Tuesday, October 1, at The Royal Standard from 10 to 11 a.m. Stewart and her team of professionals will cover tips like decorating without clutter, organizing gift wrap and clutter-free gifts.
“My goal for this class is to each people how to find peace,” Stewart says. “My Christmases are so special now, and not anxiety ridden.”
Every day during the month of December, Chaos Organizing will post clutter-free gift ideas on its social media and blog posts. For more information about Chaos Organizing, and tips on how to create an organized home, click here.
What's In Your Closet?
Welcome to our newest guest blogger, Ann Marie Stewart, who is all about minimalism! She’s been gracious enough to share some of her tips on how to clear that closet clutter!
Welcome to our newest guest blogger, Ann Marie Stewart, who is all about minimalism! She’s been gracious enough to share some of her tips on how to clear that closet clutter!
"I had more clothes than I had closets, more cars than garage space, but no money." -Sammy Davis Jr.
When I was a kid, my closet was the place for all the things I had to dump in a hurry so that my room looked clean. I HATED it when my parents would force me to clean my closet. n cleaning, I would usually find that I didn't need all the things that were in there in the first place.
When I became an adult (which I've found didn't really happen until my mid-30s) I decided once and for all that my closet was for clothes, period. Still, if I wasn't careful, other things that I needed to clean up would find their way into the sacred space.
This month, I've put together three posts (one old, two new) about closet spaces along with a list of what I specifically fill those spaces with.
7 Tips to Help Your Closet Look and Feel More Organized
Keeping your closet organized can be a challenge, and we know it! Whether you are looking to organize your closet all at once, or you’re wanting to make a few lifestyle changes - we got you covered. Check out these 7 easy tips to making your closet look and feel more organized.
1 - Keep the floor clear.
If it’s clean enough to hang on the “chair” then you can hang it back on its hanger. You know we ALL have that place we like to leave the ½ dirty clothes. (I’ve worn them, but they aren’t dirty enough to wash or dry clean.) Hang them back up!
2 - Keep like items together.
Group the pants, skirts, and shorts together. Tops can be grouped by sleeve length. Dresses, coats, vests, and exercise clothes all get their own hanging space. You can use garment tags to help remind you what goes where!
We LOVE these garment dividers.
3 - Group like items by color.
ROYGBIV - Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Neutrals can be grouped at either end.
4 - Use the same hangers.
Whether you like the velvet-lined, plastic, or even (gasp) wire, using the same hangers is visually appealing and helps your closet appear more organized. Velvet hangers are great at keeping the sleeveless shoulders on the hangers. Plastic and wire are easier to pull clothes off and on. (A must for my husband!) Wood hangers are excellent for keeping a nice shoulder shape to a garment such as a sports coat or jacket.
Here are some of our favorite hangers.
5 - Group shoes by category.
Tennis shoes, heel style, sandals, flip-flops, short boots, and long boots all get their own space. To keep tall boots standing up, use boot inserts, pool noodles (cut in ½) or simply a magazine!
Here are those boot inserts we’re talking about.
6 - Don’t forget the accessories!
Jewelry gets its own space, too. I love using belt and tie hooks hung on the wall for necklaces and slender bracelets. Jewelry trays or ice cube trays works great for storing earrings or rings. Bangle bracelets can be stored in a bin on a shelf or in a drawer. Scarves get folded in a bin unless you have hanging space. (Less wrinkles if they are hung.)
These jewelry trays are to die for!
7 - The stuff has to fit the space!!!
Your closet will never feel organized if it looks like boudin (Louisiana sausage) trying to come out of the casing! As one friend put it, “I was feeling like I needed new clothes this weekend but if I buy new clothes, I’d need new hangers. I have 250 hangers! That’s way more clothes than I need! I refuse to have more than 250 pieces of clothing.” Limit the clothes to the space.
