Project Reveal: Closet Organization in Los Angeles, California
I was contacted by my client to help organize her closet. She had recently downsized and was struggling to contain all of her clothing and shoes in her primary bedroom. She hadn’t gone through her closet in some time, and knew that things needed to be donated or thrown away. She also wanted to have all of her things in her space, and removed from the closets in her college-age kids’ bedrooms. Lastly, she wanted to use the available space more efficiently.
My Process & Project Launch
During the consultation, I took note of what my client had and where things were being stored. I measured her shelving (22.5” is deep for a closet) and discovered that her closet was an Ikea Pax System which can be adjusted or modified. I noticed that her long items were hanging over a lower bar or onto the floor, that she had awkward triangular shelving that needed to be used more efficiently, and there was little space for shoe storage.
Before photos:
To start, we went through all of her clothes and shoes and purged what she no longer wore or loved. We did move some specialty items such as skiwear or costumes to bins in the garage. My client went through her bedside drawers, as well, so they could be used for jewelry, accessories, books/journals, and technology.
Once all of the closet purging was complete, I went to work putting things back by type. Long dresses and skirts were sorted by length. Tops were sorted by sleeve length. The client already had matching hangers which always look streamlined. (Pro tip: if you want to do one upgrade in your closet, get matching hangers.)
Originally, the right hanging space was filled with pants and jeans, many folded over on velvet hangers. This created bulk in the space so I hung the pants on skirt hangers which reduces wrinkles and allowed all of the pants to hang on the high bar. The jeans were folded and moved to the triangular cabinets. The lower bar was removed and I added shoe storage below. More on that later…
Sweaters were sorted by color and season and I used shelf dividers to keep the stacks in place. I also adjusted some of the upper shelving to fit large handbags and added dividers for handbags. With a deep closet, it is easy for things to get lost in the back. Nothing was stored behind sweaters and bags to avoid this very thing.
Most of the client’s closet drawers were already pretty organized but I did make a few changes. All of the undergarments and socks were moved into deep labeled bins on the shelves and the top few drawers were then freed for t-shirts and tops (formerly piled on the shelves). Everything was file folded so the client can see what she has.
The triangular cabinet was a bit of a challenge as it is not very deep and is an awkward shape. In the end, I refolded towels so they fit in the narrow space and moved the denim to the cabinet. At the top, we even had space for travel items. I contemplated getting an additional shelf made, but the bottom shelf was perfect for a few pairs of tall boots.
Speaking of shoes… Over 50 pairs of shoes needed to be stored in the primary bedroom. To make this happen, I added three Ikea Komplement pull-out trays to the closet, each of which held five pairs. (Pro tip: Adjust or modify shelves and modular spaces if you can. It really allows you to be more creative in your use of space.) Lastly, we added two shoe cabinets from Wayfair to hold the rest of the shoes. These narrow cabinets allowed us to achieve the goal of removing all items from the other bedrooms. #win
Home Organizing Revealed
I loved this project because it forced me to come find solutions to some interesting problems. In the end, all items had a home and the client knew where everything went. She was really thrilled with the final product and felt a sense of relief when it was complete. Making the client happy is what I aim to do.
What's Next?
Thank you for joining me in this project transformation and please click here to reach out to me for support with your own closet or any space in your home.
Until next time,
Leslie