It’s been three weeks since Spring Break and there still hasn’t been a dramatic weather change in Boston. What is this 40 degrees nonsense? It’s April! I’m anxious to take a stroll down Commonwealth Avenue wearing a Lily Pulitzer dress and singing “I’m walking on sunshine!” The day when I can happily dance around my dorm room like Olive Penderghast shouting, “I’ve got a pocket, got a pocketful of sunshine” will be glorious. For now, we all must fight through this awkward New England weather phase.
The weather has a tendency to fluctuate, which makes picking out the right outfit challenging. When I get ready in the morning, I always have to pull up the Weather Channel page on my phone. It’s just sad. What’s even sadder is constantly having to de-hang and re-hang my winter coats and having to see my colorful cardigans and adorable sandals hang and sit in the dust. Is this winter episode ever going to end? While packing for Spring Break, I was hoping to pack a chunk of sweaters, scarves, and coats to bring back home. Instead, I only packed a carry-on and brought back a large suitcase, which included scarves, long-sleeved shirts, coats, and new button-downs. My dresser and closet are stuffed up with wool and cotton materials. I’m sick of it too.
Organizing my closet is quite an event. At this point in the school year, you may have flats and snow boots covering the closet floor, scarves and hats clogging the top shelf, and tanks and pullovers taking over the middle. It’s frustrating that I can’t store away winter clothing. I have new spring skirts and blouses that I bought over Spring Break, but there’s barely any closet space to stick them in! You may have a similar dilemma. As the strenuous weather continues, “closet keeping” cruises into action.
My thinking that warmer weather would come in Boston by the end of March was completely delusional. Since the weather goes from cool to cold, we have to keep all the light and heavy garments together.
Here are three tips on how to manage your closet when in the midst of two seasons:
1. Shoe stuffing
I have sandals, flats, and boots scattered all over the closet floor. You may have a shoe rack to store shoes, but one can only hold so much. We need to prepare for spring and deal with winter at the same time. How do you clear the space at the bottom? One idea is to place your thin sandals and/or flats in your snow boots. In one boot alone, you could fit two pairs of shoes. Originally I was staking pairs of shoes on top of each other, but this new plan will reduce shoe damage and provide better accessibility as well.
2. Load Hangers
Applying a hanger to every piece of clothing you own will fill up so much space in your closet. For me, it’s annoying having to push between multiple wires or plastic hangers in order to pull out my favorite blouse. There is a way to avoid this struggle. Start hanging two or even three items on one hanger! Simple garments that can hang out together are cardigans, jeans, collared shirts, and light jackets. By doing this, it will be easier to locate your favorite items without having to put up a fight with the hangers. It might be frustrating having to peel off a few shirts in order to get the last one, but just hang in there and test it out for a week or two. It’s worth a try!
3. Drawer Coupling
If you have an ordinary dresser, you will know that it has five pullout drawers. I usually stock each drawer by category: underwear, pajamas, athletic gear, t-shirts, and sweaters. As springtime rolls around, you will need extra space when your closet eventually fills up. To increase space, couple two categories together in one drawer. For instance, pair the t-shirts and athletic gear into on drawer. You can form odd pairings by joining together the pajamas and sweaters or t-shirts and socks. Whatever suits your fancy, go for it!