Getting the Busy Mom Organized- The Closet and Cosmetics

Okay ladies, I'm serious about getting organized. I'm sure it's my upcoming big 3-0 birthday, but adulting is suddenly high on my priority list. I can't handle the chaos and the mess and the clutter much longer. You can ask Soren, but I've always been a 'good enough' personality. I'm happy to get things done 80% and then move on to the next thing. I hate finishing almost anything. I love doing something different everyday and repetition bores me. I think that I get a lot of things done (80% of the way) because of my less than perfectionist attitude, but enough it enough. 

This fourth baby and our growing business have really stretched me. I can't remember things or even usually what day it is. I feel like I scrape everything together the day of and I'm always late. I'm constantly putting out fires and trying to figure out a new game plan everyday. And I'm finding I'm wasting a lot of energy. I don't get as much done as I could because I'm not being smart about how I do things. So even though work is where things are really feeling crazy, I am starting with my home and our family when it comes to being organized. I'm sure that small changes at home will carry over into the rest of our lives. So here we go. 

First installment of Organization for Crazy Busy Moms. My closet. And my makeup.

This might seem like a superficial place to start, but if I have a hard to getting ready for the day, it can really ruin a morning. I'm sure you can't relate. ;)

I don't have a before photo, but I'll give you an idea of where I started. Soren and I share a small walk-in closet. He has the top rack and I have the bottom rack for all of our shirts and jackets. My skirts and dresses hang in the back and my shoes are on shelves. It's really not that pretty which is why I'm not showing many photos. (Our workout clothes and underclothing are in our dresser drawers and I have not tackled those yet.)

Until now I have organized all of my tops in rainbow order. No matter what style of shirt they were. And skirts were randomly hung together. Pants are folded and stacked. I do a good job of cleaning out my closet often, but I was still struggling getting dressed every day so I knew there was still room for change. I'm sharing what worked for me below. 

1. Get rid of stuff. I tossed, donated or sold anything that I hesitate to wear. If I hesitate because it doesn't fit great or its hard to style or I have bad memories from when I wore it last- it's gone. 75% of my tops are in the photo you see above. I was brutal.

2. Use nice hangers. We use these hangers for all of our sweaters, tees and tops. And these hangers for our shirts and jackets. I resisted spending money on these upfront, but they really are nice and make me want to hang my clothes up. You can find plenty of other nice hanger options at great prices here. 

3. Organize clothing by style in rainbow order. I started with my skirts and hung them together by style on this style of hanger. They are now hung in these groups- pencil skirts, knit pencil skirts, pleated/full skirts, seasonal. I then organized my tops. They are now hung in this order- solid tees, graphic tees, sweatshirts, stripes, sweaters, blouses, button up shirts, cardigans, jackets. I tried to show the separetion in the photo by grouping the hangers together. They generally all sit close to one another, but at least I know where to find a certain style when I go in there. 

4. Put seasonal items out of sight. I have shoe shelves and then shoe cabinets that Soren and I share. When the seasons change I put all of my past season shoes into the cabinets and pull the upcoming season's shoes out where I can see them. I do the same for clothes. I have a big bin in the garage for out of season clothes and I rotate my clothing through that. Clothes that are too small or too large also belong in there. Maternity clothes have their own separate bin.

My makeup drawers have been quite a mess for years as well. I have all of my makeup together in one drawer, besides my makeup brushes, and every morning I have to dig for what I need. The bins are full of shavings from eye pencils, empty eye liner tubes and a lot of products that I rarely use. See my organization tips below. 
1. Toss the old and the weird. The first step was to get rid of stuff I wasn't using. Some I gave away and some I just threw away. I love to try new things and often that means my drawer fills up with a lot of mediocre product. And then I can't find my old standbys, which means wasted time digging and extra mess pulling out things I don't need.
2. Separate. I separated all of my everyday makeup from all of the other stuff. The white grid makeup case has the things I use everyday and nothing else. The leopard case has all of my extras- the liquid liner, the colors liners, eyelashes, glue, setting spray, etc. And the gold case is full of lip colors. Which is funny because I rarely use them, but I sure have a lot of them. Every morning I now just pull the white case out and I have everything I need. And cleanup is easy after I'm done applying.
3. Wash your brushes. (If you don't have any, get some.) The last thing I needed to do to clean up and clean out was to wash my makeup brushes. I use this cleanser, but dish soap works great as well. These are my favorite brushes and they have lasted me for years. But don't buy their beauty blender- get this one. I store my brushes in a canister on my counter next to my sink. 
So far this new system is really working. It's easier to get ready in the morning and it's definitely easier to get dressed. I need to figure out how often to clean out my closet and how often to wash my brushes, but I'm sure I'll add those things into my system as I go. Do you have any other closet and cosmetic organization tips? I'd love to hear them!