too many shoes? organize!!!

Too Many Shoes? Organizing Shoes in Your Closet
by Regina Leeds, Zen Organizer

Before we tackle your shoe issue, you should first clean out your closets so that they aren't stuffed. Walk over to your master bedroom closet and take a fearless peek inside. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I have items here that don't belong in a closet?
In general, let's say that clothing is the only thing you should find in your master bedroom closet. This isn't the place to store hundreds of family photos in search of albums. It isn't the ideal spot for holiday decorations. Gift-wrap and bows shouldn't take space away from suits and dresses. You catch my drift.

2. Is the closet bursting with clothing I haven't worn in a long time?
Perhaps you harbor full wardrobes from various sizes. It's time to clean everything out and keep only what serves you now. A charity or women's shelter is waiting for your things and wants to give you a tax receipt!

3. Is everything separated into categories and organized by color?
If your closet isn't at least divided into categories (blouses, sweats, skirts, slacks, etc.), every time you think of an item you'd like to wear, a battle to find it will ensue. It does indeed take a few hours to organize a closet. Over the course of a year, however, you'll save twice that time.


Now let's consider those shoes. I once organized a famous actress who had a huge shoe collection. She kept 89 pairs that I organized by color in stacks of clear acrylic boxes. ("If you can't see them, you generally don't wear them" is a good rule of thumb to remember.) And even she parted with 40 pairs! If she can give away 40 pairs of Manolo Blahniks to a women's shelter, I know you can weed through your collection. After you pare down your shoes, divide your collection by type. For example, it's nice to keep day shoes, sport shoes and evening shoes separate. If you live in a climate with four distinct seasons, you may have a winter and summer selection. Here are some common shoe storage solutions:


1.Hang a canvas shoe rack over your closet door and keep your sport shoes there.
2.Like most women you probably don't use your evening shoes too often, so they can go into clear acrylic shoeboxes on a high shelf in your closet. (You may want to have an extra shelf put in if you see a huge space between the standard shelf and the ceiling.)
3.With your closet organized, you can introduce a shoe rack. The metal expanding shelf variety works really well. You can also use a cedar shoe rack if you have the space and protect your woolens at the same time!


MY THOUGHTS

i agree - "if you don;t see them, you don't wear them" those acrylic boxes are great. when you have too many shoes and acrylic boxes will turn out to be really expensive, just cut out the shoe boxes or write down the description of your shoes. better yet, give some of shoes away.