Trends in Organization that are Always In Style

I am thrilled to be hosting an event at one of my favorite retailers / organizational resources. I'm talking about The Clothes Mentor of West Chester, PA. Why do I want to host an event at The Clothes Mentor? I'll tell you why :) !

First of all, it's a company that I admire greatly. They make it very easy for every woman to afford beautiful designer clothes, handbags and accessories. Second, if you are a fan of great closet organization, they offer a fantastic resource for de-cluttering items from your own closet that you no longer wear.

Next to the fact that I truly admire the company, I also wanted to host an event there as an opportunity to network. Part of my service includes closet, handbag, accessories, and drawer organization. These small mini-organization efforts can make a big impact on your stress level and style.

Let's start with folding. Many of us use nice neat folding techniques where you stack your shirts and pants on top of one another. We've been conditioned to see this as the right way to fold from our parents and also from the local Gap store with beautifully folded stacks of jeans. However, there is a better way. Using a horizontal folding technique, you can better see your clothes. Gone are the days of searching for the lost shirt. You can also better organize the clothes by color and style. You can also fit more clothing into one drawer. This technique will actually give your clothing a longer life by putting less stress on the clothing that sits at the bottom (with the weight of you T-shirt world upon them). Lastly, this will help you with your style by a) making it easier to find and put together outfits and b) helping you rotate more clothing. Did you ever notice that you tend to wear the clothing that is stacked at the top of your clothes.

Horizontal folding techniques that make it easier to find your clothes, fit more into a drawer and expand the life of your favorite threads.

Next let's talk about the handbag. Do you have a collection? If so, how often do you switch out your beautiful handbags. If you are like most women, you probably don't switch them out often which reduces that return on your investment. Why is this? Most commonly, it's because we don't make the time to transfer items from one bag to another and even when we do transfer the items we sometimes miss something (like that favorite lipstick or a couple of quarters for the parking meter). With some simple changes in your organization you can make it easier to switch out the bags. It's actually pretty simple. Every single day, when you come home... take all of the items out of your purse and put them in their "home." What? That's crazy! That will take too much time. Actually, it will save you time. There are so many advantages to this. You get rid of the "junk" that you don't really want to keep in your purse (candy wrapper, q-tip, old receipts). This habit forces you to keep your purse tidy and to make it so that every day you put only what you need into your purse. And there are more benefits! This will actually extend the life of your purse and keep it cleaner.

Next there is closet organization. This may be one of the most widely debated topics among professional organizers, but I'm going to share with you a very short little list of the tips that I recommend:

1- Fill your closet only with the things you love. If you touch it and you don't love it, get rid of it. This is far more important than any other rule. We've all heard of the tip "If you have not worn it in "x" time, get rid of it. I tend to stay away from that rule because there are a number of reasons that you might now wear something you really love. Keep it simple... when you touch it, do you love it? Does it make you happy? If so, keep it. If not, sell it (i.e.- The Clothes Mentor takes newer designer clothes in exchange for cash or store credit) or donate it.

2 - Organize by Color, but with one exception... I do keep all of my primary colors together which makes it very easy to find any article of clothing. The only exception to this are my black and white pieces. I find that keeping the black and white pieces together makes them blend and it is difficult to find the exact piece I'm looking for. Therefore, I recommend using the black and white pieces to divide the primary colors.

3 - Don't buy fancy containers. You can get organized using shoe boxes or baskets that you already have in the house. Use a simple spring rod at the bottom of your closet for shorter items.

4 - Handbags go on the top shelf - If you are looking for a way to store many handbags, the answer is right in front of you. The handbag itself is an excellent storage item. That's right, I'm suggesting that you store your handbag inside of other handbags. When you put one handbag inside of another pull the straps out so you can see how many and what patterns there are.

The trick is to make your accessories, handbags and clothing easily visible and accessible. From the way we "store" these things to the way we showcase them, some simple organization tips can go a long way. I'd love to hear what tips and tricks you consider with clothing and accessory organization.