Closet Clean-out! ~ Diane's Vintage Zest!

Closet Clean-out!

*Update* Here are the posts of my DIY folding tool and my DIY belt organization!


Last week I carved out some much needed time to clean out my closet.  The change of seasons, my new interest in sewing, and the holidays had all contributed to new items in my closet.  I temporarily  housed them in a plastic bin stuck in my closet, but it blocked access so it was time for a minor clean out and folding!

One thing to mention is that I have very little lighting in my closet, so hopefully things show up okay.  Also, this is what my closet looks like 90+% of the time.  No styling here, just showing how I actually keep my closet, and a few tips for organizing!




First of all, I have a bureau of drawers where I keep my smaller folded T-shirts, blouses, cardigans, and workout items.


Folded shirts!
Sweaters & cardigans


I have a handy-dandy homemade tool that I use in order to fold my clothing right size.  That way, folding is much easier and more uniform!


Now for my closet!

I have the luxury of a small walk-in closet, and I love it!  I can't store my off-season items anywhere else, so my entire wardrobe has to live here.  Hanging items on the left, shelving directly in front, and a pegboard on the right wall.  On top of everything is a small space where I store shoes & boots.  I'll skip the hanging items because there is nothing special there: I just organize by style and keep all of my hangers the same.

Here is my wall of shelving!


12 bins of clothes!


I keep all of my items in office bins from IKEA, which was the most economical way to fit my space. Each bin is labeled appropriately.  Most frequently worn items are below and off-season clothing is above.  It's as easy as swapping the top shelves for the bottom!


A little bit off center, but you get the gist!


I organize by color, to make things easier.  Now you may wonder how it is possible to know which shirt is which in this tank top bin, but this bin holds only camisoles, etc. that are completely plain without embellishment, more for layering.  My "real" tops are either hanging or in my bureau.




Sweaters work great in the bins!  I like to make my labels sometimes a little bit specific, but at least I know what's in them!


Yes, there is a different bin for long sleeved thin sweaters that aren't plain!


It works great for pants too!


A rainbow of pants.  :)


Under the shelves, I have a space for my most used shoes.  The only way to squeeze all of them in there was to stack them sideways!  I may have a bit of a problem...  More casual towards the bottom, to flats, then short boots/kitten heels/wedges on top.




On the right wall, I have a pegboard with hats.  I know there is a tag on the summery wide-brim hat there, but it was on sale recently and I will have something fun to wear in a few months!




Under the hats, I have a scarf organizer (like this one) that I bought from IKEA yet again.  I organized it by thickness with the lighter scarves on top.  Nearly all of the scarves on the bottom two rows were knitted or crocheted by me!


Closet 6 - Scarves


On top of the whole shebang are my less worn shoes, meaning special occasion heels, rain boots, hiking boots, etc.  My larger winter boots are towards the back as well.




It doesn't photograph well, especially with my tiny closet light, but it is actually easy to see the shoes inside their boxes.  See below!






So that's how my closet looks for the most part, with some great storage solutions and my favorite DIY tool for laundry.                                                                                                                             The best part of  my closet is being able to knowing what I have without a ton of visual clutter.  Things are easy to find when I pull down the bin that I want, because items are "filed" away instead of stacked.                                                                                                                                                                                      Also, now that I see how many plain sweaters I have, I'm going to have to reconstruct some of them into something cuter perhaps...                                                                                                                                                                                                                Stay tuned for my folding tool tutorial later!



This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase using one of the links, a small commission will go to support Vintage Zest.  I will only recommend sites with products that I think you will love and enjoy!

40 comments:

  1. I loved how you stored your scarves! I think I might just try that!

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    1. Great! It's super easy to find all of them at one glance, and I think it looks pretty as well, with just a pop of color contributed by each scarf. :)

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  2. Nice job! I can't wait to see the DIY folding tool tutorial!

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    1. Thanks! I'm working on it this weekend because the light was so bad this week during the rain.

      And yes, it does rain in California!

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  3. Wow, so organized!! Very impressive! I love how you can label the bins. That would seriously help my husband with some of his clothes organization issues... ;)

    Can't quite see all the pics, but I bet if you made them X-Large they'd look great!

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    1. Thanks!

      You're absolutely right about the pictures, I just updated them. Thanks to you!

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  4. Awesome closet and tips!!!! I love organization posts!!

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  5. I've never seen anyone be this organised in their closet (or have this many clothes!!) well done you! I'd be thrilled if you'd come on over to Pink Recipe Box and link up at Creative Wednesdays: http://pinkrecipebox.com/creative-wednesdays-with-pink-recipe-box-3/

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  6. I must go to ikea and get a scarf organizer, mine are all stuffed into a tub!

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  7. You're so neat! Could you just come over and organize my closet for me? :-P

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  8. Ha! I have a hard time throwing anything away, so some of those items are probably 15+ years old from my school days. It's a good thing I haven't grown since then!

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  9. Definitely! It's so fun and easy to pick one out when I see all of my scarves laid out so prettily. :)

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  10. Ha! Professional organizer was on my short list of careers and I regularly organize my family members' homes, but I have yet to be paid. I highly doubt that you would want to be my first client!

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  11. Thanks for the tips, Diane. Cleaning out my closet is certainly something that I need to do.

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  12. It's such a huge project to tackle, but well worth it in the end. :) Good luck!

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  13. Holy cow! (found you through the Kraft linky) I can't even begin to think of how much work it took you to get all your clothes that neat and tidy in the closet. Hopefully the upkeep isn't too hard. It looks fabulous. Making me look at my pile of clean clothes that is basically permanently in my room...

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  14. Upkeep is pretty easy actually! However, it really took a little bit of work to get it there in the first place. :)

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  15. Thanks for sharing your closet. I love the idea of storing items in bins. Much simpler than my system. I will make sure to check out your folding tool as well. Thanks for posting to the Get Inspired Weekend Blog Hop! :)

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  16. Wow, holy organization! I keep saying I need to pull everything out of my closet and start over. Thanks for the great ideas
    Thanks so much for sharing at Krafty Inspiration Thursday!Have a lovely weekend!
    Maria @ Krafty Cards etc.
    http://kraftycardsetc.blogspot.com/

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  17. I'm jealous of your clothing inventory! Wow!

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  18. Great Tips! Just had to pin this! Thank you
    ~Pali @knitting Rays of Hope
    http://knittingraysofhope.wordpress.com/

    Part of the TitiCrafty Bewitch ME & Titi link party

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  19. You're welcome! I hope you find the laundry folder helpful. :)

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  20. Thanks! Some of those items need to be updated, so hopefully my new sewing skills will come in handy!

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  21. Thanks for linking up to Gingerly Made's Show & Tell party. You've been featured! http://www.gingerlymade.com/2013/08/show-tell-features.html

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  22. Love the tips - and I especially love the scarf holder!! =) Thanks for linking this up at last week's Pinterest Power Party! It'll be featured in tomorrow's party! Hope you'll swing by, grab a featured button, and link up with us again!

    Happy Tuesday!
    Danielle
    SewMuchCrafting.com

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  23. I'll definitely be by tomorrow! Thanks for hosting and the feature. :)

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  24. Wow! Looks great :) I think my closet is in need of an overhaul too!!! Thanks for linking up with us at loving lately!

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  25. Wow!!! Such great ideas! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Thursday's Temptation. Your post got the most views so I will be featuring it at tonights link party!
    Jill

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  26. Awesome! Thanks for hosting. :)

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  27. So organized! And so neatly folded! My main closet problem is that my man owns waaaay too much clothing. Part of it isn't his fault - his Navy uniforms take up lots of space and he has to have them - but he still has far more clothing than I do!


    Visiting from the What to do Weekends!

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  28. Thanks! Well, I'm glad that I don't have to store men's clothing in my closet, because it definitely does take up more space. When I worked in retail, folding those huge garments took forever and were a total pain!

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  29. LOVE me some awesome organization! I'm a sucker for organizational items! Great tips!

    Kristine -The Foley Fam {unedited}

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  30. You are amazing! I'm sure you have inspired us all to get going with our closet organization! Thank you for sharing with Inspired Sunday at Sunday View!

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  31. Is there a like button to all of your images? I was really stunned on how you have organized your stuffs, really great!

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  32. Aw, thanks! I'm glad to know that my organizing is appreciated. My guy doesn't quite understand the happiness I get from an organized drawer of clothing. :)

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  33. You're really organized and... you have so many clothes and shoes!!!
    Thanks for sharing, I love your closet!!!

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  34. I know! I have been the same size since I was a teenager, and I can't throw anything away... Oh well!

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  35. Love the closet! Can you please share the size of your storage bins? I dream of being this organized!

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  36. Okay, I took out my ruler to measure them and they are 10" tall (without the lid on), 10" wide, and 13.5" long. I hope that helps! :)

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  37. Thank you for taking the time to publish this information very useful! I’m still waiting for some interesting thoughts from your side in your next post thanks

    Amazon On Aaron Paul Black jacket

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