Organizing Tip Du Jour!

As I was putting away laundry today, I thought that I really like the way that I've organized things in my closet and maybe it would be helpful to others. For those of you that have seen the rest of my room, you are probably thinking that I'm not qualified to be giving organization advice (keep it to yourself, Mom!) ... but these tips have really helped me to know what clothes and shoes I have now and so when I'm looking for something I can easily find it.

When I moved into my apartment 3 years ago, I had a walk-in closet for the first time. Before then my closets were teeny, tiny (in Lawrence) or medium sized (my childhood home) or shared with a sibling (before Molly got married). Molly took on the duty of organizing my closet for me the day I moved in (in lieu of moving heavy furniture) and I've had my closet like that ever since that day!
Molly separated shirts, pants, skirts and dresses. Everything is in color order. As you can tell, I don't really stray from a solid-colored shirt. Eventually, I'll have all the same type of hangar so everything moves easily. Below this is all of my hung-up jeans and skirts. To the right of this are the longer pants and dresses that need to have a full rack to be hung up.

I get made fun of for this quite often, but this way of organizing shoes has changed the way I get ready. In the past I've just thrown shoes on the floor of my closet. When I did that, they got dusty, lost, smooshed, or forgotten! Now I take pictures of all of my pairs of shoes and then tape the pictures to the outside of the box. Yes, I have too many pair of shoes. I just took a bunch to Good Will over spring break, but I have more to get rid of. Many of them are barely worn or in really good shape. If you wear an 8 or 8.5 and you're in town and would like to have first dibs on my give aways, be sure and let me know. I have a hard time just "throwing them away" when they could go to a friend of mine! :)

Now ... if I could just get tips from all of you to get my magazines organized (that I don't have time to read), my paperwork organized (mail, bills, invites, etc) and the rest of my life organized ... I'd be in great shape!