Capsulized Closet Anyone?

JewelryGirl

I'm thinking about capsulizing my closet a bit & maybe organizing gray's from brown's stuff like that. Has anyone done that? If so, do you like it? Does it make putting outfits together & getting dressed easier? I have plenty of room right now but tired of the standard organizations (order by sleeve lengths, then color, etc.).

Also, do you guys prefer to have off-season clothes at your fingertips with everything else or does it confuse things & easier just to have the most current season?

What would be your ideal & why?

Thinking about changing my closet organization up a bit.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

15 years ago

General

10 replies

Latest reply was from

Lisa

Veteran

I recently selected one base color and removed all the earth tones and browns from my wardrobe. It was too much work for me to keep up two mini wardrobes. I currently have off-season clothes squished in a corner of the closet. Previously they were boxed away for 6 months, I would only keep two seasons in the closet at a time. My goal is to have all 4 seasons in one closet and creative and efficient combination's to use all items regardless of the seasons. (or at least most items used year round) My tops are separated from bottoms but are organized in color groups for faster access.

15 years ago

JewelryGirl

Active Member

Oh Lisa, how ironic - I am more brown & earth toned based although I do mix with black but thinking of removing my gray's/blue's for the same reason. Interesting!

I would LOVE to get down to such a small capsulized closet concept that I think of when packing on a trip - I think that really helps you to focus on your workhorses. I'm doing some closet purging right now so was curious. Thanks for sharing!

15 years ago

Kate

Veteran

I also found sticking to a general color scheme (earth tones for me) to be SUPER helpful.

I keep my everyday wear, special occasion only items, lounge only items, and gear all in separate places (either their own dresser drawers, or the sides of the closet). Keeping it all together really didn't work for me because I would see something I hadn't worn recently (like a fancy black dress) and get caught up thinking of how I could dress it down to make it work. But I can never make my fancy black dress school/work appropriate, so I don't keep it with my everyday clothes.

I also have focused on only buying pieces that I love AND that are versatile. I need to be able to wear something several different ways for it to gain entry to my closet. I haven't been quite so ruthless with the things I already have, but the wardrobe I'm building is becoming smaller and more cohesive every day. The best part is that it doesn't feel like I have less clothes, because I'm actually wearing a wider variety of outfits, because I can mix and match more than I could before!

Do you know about the 30 for 30 challenge? http://kendieveryday.blogspot.com/ started a 30 day challenge in which she only wears 30 items (including shoes, not including accessories). She's doing it for the third time now, and 337 fashion bloggers, a couple of the YLF ladies, and myself are all doing it too! Hopefully it can provide some ideas and inspiration.

Finally, if you have some time, search for the word capsule in the forum section - there are a TON of great threads on this!

15 years ago

Late Bloomer

(website)

Active Member

I'm doing the 30 for 30 and I just realized that I have a mixture of brown tones with black and grays in my 30 items. Now I'm wondering how limiting that will be.

I've tried organizing my closet both by outfit and by type (tops, pants, etc) I should try by color and see if that helps me.

15 years ago

Megan

Active Member

I don't have a lot of clothes (which often surprises people who know me in real life because everyone knows how much I love to shop!) so all of my things are in the one closet.

Everything in my closet (except skirts) hangs light on the left to dark on the right. I have a section with dresses and coats (I might move my coats to the spare closet now that it's summery weather in Sydney) and 2 other rails (one above the other, if that makes sense). Skirts don't hang light to dark because I only have 6 and I use one of those coat hangers that lets you hang multiple skirts on one hanger so they are on the left of the bottom rail and pants then hang light to dark.

Knit tops, leggings and woolen sweaters are folded on shelves that are built into the closet. Underwear, shorts, pj's and socks and hosiery are in the built in drawers.

My closet is currently full of neutrals with only splashes of colour (which I am working on!) and I don't wear many earth tones so don't categorise in colour capsules.

15 years ago

Anonymous

I've tried many types of closet organizations over the years and what works best for me is to separate first into types (tops: tanks, vests, sleeveless, shortsleeved, long and 3/4 sleeved; sub divided into pullovers and buttondowns; cardigans, and jackets.
Bottoms: pants; skirts; then dresses. Each of these sections is arranged by color from light to dark, making sure to have separation of navy and dark browns from blacks. I find that it's not hard to keep organized since I know to hang something in the right section and then color area. I hope that makes sense. It makes it easy to find the piece I'm looking for.
I'm still removing very summery things in the colder months and replacing them with woolen items, but hope to get my closet down to all seasons in one place. It will be a challenge as my closet is small by most standards and not a walk-in.

15 years ago

rae

(website)

Veteran

I do separate by capsule (just two: weekends vs. work days) as well as color AND clothing type. It does help me get dressed faster, as I don't have to hunt around for anything -- I just go to where I know it'd be "filed."

I also box away my "off season" clothes (kind of a misnomer, since we don't have dramatic seasons), but I like doing it because it forces me to mix things up and gives me a bigger feeling of change when Fall rolls around. I also enjoy not having to thumb through anything wispy/linen/overtly summery in the winter. I ALSO enjoy the extra closet space, lol.

15 years ago

Sally

Veteran

I've just taken a lot of stuff out of the wardrobe and it feels wonderful. I will add more stuff when the season changes as I find it confusing to have two seasons in one wardrobe. Fortunately the weather where I live is not too extreme. But I am finding it blissful to have less clothes...have had no clothes issues this week.

15 years ago

Theresa

(website)

Veteran

I have everyday wear in one side of my wardrobe, and all out of season & special event clothing on the other side, and it works perfectly.

It used to depress me everyday seeing all my beautiful things going unworn, so by putting them aside, I enjoy seeing the useful things without the *clutter* of the things that aren't so useful.

Of course, it has made me realise that I have FAR too much special event wear and no where enough everyday wear!

15 years ago

Anonymous

JewelryGirl, have you changed your closet? If so, how is it working? I just reread your post and realized you were tired of what I was suggesting. Are you organizing by color first? then garment style?

15 years ago

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