THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!!!!! 
Editing the items from Marie's closet was the next step as we get ready for the new closet to be installed. 
~First was the very exciting, (for Princess, the Kitty) throw-everything-on-the-bed stage. 
The items pictured here are only dresser drawer items which included her workout clothes, sweaters, t-shirts, tank tops, pajamas, bathing suits, and scarves. (We repeated the process for shoes, handbags, and hanging things.)


~Second, we sorted her clothes into categories: items to keep, donate, dry-clean or have tailored.

**When deciding to keep clothing or not, always ask the question, "Do I choose it?"   This question seems to ease the decision-making process and the editing can go a little more smoothly. Who wants a closet full of stuff that you never choose?**  Try using this technique and let me know how it goes for you...

~Third, we put everything back so that when the closet installation happens, it will be easy to take it out and return it to the new, beautiful space.

Back to THE CLOSET today at Marie's! Today we worked with Julee Barnett, owner of Tailored Living (jtbarnett@tailored living.com) to address the details of how the new closet will be configured. Julee had previously measured the walk-in closet space, the hanging items, the sweaters and counted the shoes...she's thorough! She brought her laptop with the CAD closet program and we got to work. It took us a couple of hours of putting our heads together, playing with the program (really, really fun) and many trips back and forth to the closet for measuring and VOILA...we all agreed that this rendition was very close to perfect for Marie's needs. She will have cabinets around the top for seasonal items and all the rest of what she needs will be at her fingertips. The third wall will have a HUGE (almost wall sized) mirror and there will be space for art prominently displayed as she enters her closet. Marie decided to use a soft gray for the closet pieces and moulding. We will pick out paint, hardware and a fabulous chandelier next. Keep you posted!

Ok, teensy confession...this was my closet top shelf and it stayed this way for a couple of weeks. I was pulling down what I wanted for an event and they all came tumbling down on my head. So, I threw them all back up there, and went about my life for awhile. Here's what happened...every time I went into the closet, my energy went down, and usually I let out an audible "ughhhh". After a couple of weeks, I got inspired...I had 2 bamboo pot lid organizers (ordered from Kitchen & Company)left over from a previous re-work of a client's kitchen. They worked beautifully to hold the smaller clutches and bags upright and made them soooo accessible. Bonus...there is space (ahhhhhh) AND, in the process, I got rid of two clutches I no longer wanted. :)

Let's just call this project: THE CLOSET. I will be updating you as we work together. Let's just call this client, Anne (cuz her name is Anne and she is happy to share her story). I have been working with Anne for many years. We started working together in her old house and the first thing she did was bring me to her clothes! At that time, the clothes that didn't fit in the closet were hanging on rolling clothes racks (two or three of them) in her bedroom. Since that day, we not only have edited her clothes many times (she lost A LOT of weight!) we also kept going, working on her kitchen, office and basement. Not long ago, she and her husband moved to Fitchburg and we have started the process all over again. Next week, we meet with the closet designer to look at options for building out this fabulous walk-in closet space! I can just see it! GORGEOUS! ***As we change, so do our needs for hanging on and letting go of our stuff.***

I had a great time putting together this collection of art for a client last week. This is a great example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts. Previously, these pieces were isolated and hung separately around the house. They represent his travel to Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, the Wisconsin Dells(!), memories and mementos. Hanging art in this way can greatly increase the impact for your space.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes!