Warning: This post may produce closet envy.

As Charleston Fashion Week is upon us, I thought I’d share the tale of my new and improved closet and dressing room!

Elizabeth Gumb of The Well Coiffed Closet’s Charleston office.

An old friend (and bride) of mine, Elizabeth Gumb, reached out to me last summer about her new venture as the head of the Charleston office of The Well Coiffed Closet, a national styling firm founded and owned by Megan Milner Evans.  When I did Elizabeth’s wedding 10 years ago, I saw her heading into the fashion world (even back then!).  Standing in front of my mess, the light bulb went off and I thought she would be the perfect person to help me purge, edit and organize my wardrobe!

Elizabeth came in and first started with my shoes, which were everywhere, and put them in order by color, and made sure that any outdated pieces were removed.

With my dresses, she also organized by color, and put any of my beachy/summery pieces at the back of the closet for me to pull out now.  Elizabeth removed all dry-cleaning bags and hangers, and made sure everything was hanging on either a wood or flocked hanger, as to keep consistency in the closet aesthetically. I had no idea how much space this would save!  She put extra hangers in a bin so I have more room.

Elizabeth hung all of my shirts in the top rack of my closet, starting with tanks and camis that were crowding up my dresser drawers, followed by sleeveless shirts in color order, then short sleeve and long sleeve tops in color order. I have a love for white button downs and tunics, so these are in their own area, where I can easily grab them. Then any jackets, wraps, or cardigans are behind this.

On the bottom rack, she hung my skirts and pants in color order.  Hats are on the top shelf.  If I need to grab anything in a hurry (which is always) I now know where everything is and can get dressed in a flash!

Now for the other areas—my dresser. A MESS! I only ever accessed the top row of pjs, and had no idea what was below the surface. She brought in cedar drawer dividers and folded and separated pj bottoms, tops, workout gear, socks, etc!. I actually know where everything is!

And then for my closet where I keep my scarves and jewelry, she organized my scarves and jewelry by color and season, labeled everything, and is switching everything out here and in my other closets, soon.  For my sweater closets, she pulled everything out, separated it all by type (v-neck, crewneck, turtleneck, summer, heavy, etc.) and labeled them all. To prevent them from toppling on to each other, she used acrylic shelf dividers to keep them stacked.

And finally….my purses. These were perfectly divided with the same acrylic shelves, but the clutches posed a challenge. I have a small triangle area of space for them, and she found the perfect solution! Acrylic tiered mail dividers that holds each clutch upright. To keep them from moving, she added sticky pads.

Thank you, Elizabeth – I LOVE getting dressed without the drama!