Try a MAJOR closet purge

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Does this scenario sound familiar? Your alarm startles you out of bed. You drag yourself into the shower with hopes of becoming more alert. When finished, you stand in front of your clothes hoping a stylish, fashionable outfit will jump out of the closet and onto your body. When you realize this is an impossible feat, you rifle through the enormous pile of clothing on the floor in search of something...anything...that's clean and unwrinkled that you can throw together in a hurry so you're not THAT late for work.

But this time is different: Your closet is a wreck and you're not gonna take it anymore. You resolve to take drastic measures to make it a usable, organized space.

You can try a Closet Cleanse like I suggest in this article in the January 2018 issue of Atlanta Magazine. Or you can take it a bit further....

(Warning: This suggestion is not for the faint of heart.)

Start by making sure all of your clothes are clean and/or picked up from the cleaners, so everything you own is all in one place. Now I want you to choose five outfits for work, including shoes.

BUT, here's the catch. Each of the individual pieces must work with the other outfits, so technically it's not five outfits, but closer to 15 outfits (or more!).

Get creative! Mix and match. Choose neutrals that work well with one another. (Hint: A scarf can change the whole look of an outfit!)

Take those five outfits and put them in a designated Safe Zone.

Then choose three casual outfits (plus shoes) for wearing around the house, meeting a friend for coffee or running errands.

Again, each of those individual pieces must work with the other outfits, so technically, you'll have closer to 8 outfits (or more!). These also land in the Safe Zone.

If you exercise on a regular basis, choose the makings of three workout outfits (you guessed it, +shoes). Again, mix and match is key. These will join the other clothes in the Safe Zone.

Choose ten pairs of underwear, eight (or less) pairs of socks, six (or less) bras, and add them to the Safe Zone.

Gather up everything else that's 1) hanging in your closet, 2) in a drawer or 3) on the floor, box it all up and put those boxes out of sight for a month. (Probably about 80% of your clothes and shoes will be removed.)

Give yourself a HUGE hug for a job well-done and bask in the space you've created for those clothes you picked to land in the Safe Zone. Enjoy having fewer items to deal with and more opportunities to be creative with what you've chosen.

I think you'll be amazed by what you DON'T miss!

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