11 Feb A Well-Merchandised Closet Takes The Stress Away.

The Anyalux closet merchandising service mimics a visual guide similar to the luxury retail environment but in your own personal dressing space. That means that your closet will tell a visual story based on, well,  YOU; your lifestyle, your body type and what you love to wear now. See below to find 5 basic tips and tricks that Anyalux brings into their client’s homes. Remember the goal is for your closet to have a visual story that will allow you to know what you own, easily putting together outfits and getting you dressed, including accessories, all in under a minute.

1. INVENTORY – Know what you own – that means you have to take out what you have and sort it. I suggest tackling it by categories rather than everything at once. Because taking everything out of your closet will cause major anxiety, even for a pro. Start with a category and break it into subcategories, for example instead of all shoes start with your pumps or boots, etc…. this brings us to step 2.
   
   
2. DECLUTTER – while you are taking everything out by categories and sorting start thinking what you actually need, meaning what are you wearing now VS. things that are no longer fitting your style, image or body. From there create 4 piles; – keeping – donating – storing and –purging. You can always come back to a garment if you’re not sure you’re ready to part with it, BUT if you’re debating it, chances are it is no longer serving a purpose and should not be in the main dressing closet. For things you want to store, I suggest putting them in bins or airtight bags. They should all live either at the very top of your closet or somewhere else. 
   
   
3. STYLE IT – create looks with what you already sorted. I tend to combine this throughout steps 1 and 2.  This step allows you to fully understand what you have and what you need to add in, it’s a great learning process. You don’t have to do this with every single garment just things that you are questioning; we all have that one item that we never wear because nothing seems to match it. This is the time to either put a look together for it or create a shopping wish list and add it into your phone, but be specific, for example, purple (beaded) crew neck top for the floral skirt from Club Monaco. I also suggest that if you create a look that you love to take a picture with your phone, more often then not we forget about the genius outfit ideas. 
   
   
4. ORGANIZE IT – This is key to having a stress free dressing area and really goes for all areas in the house. Keep categories together (jeans with jeans, skirts with skirts and so on). Now break it down by style (long sleeve vs. short sleeve) now break it down by color (print belongs with a color, decide what color the print works best with). Keep going and just remember it’s your closet so favorites should be upfront. Everything needs a home and must live in its lifestyle category, that means if space allows, make sure your closet has allocated areas for your lifestyle; casual VS. work VS. evening VS. athleisure VS. loungewear and so on. The same goes for shoes. A Few other things to keep in mind; all clothing facing the same way. Button up (at least the top button). Drawers should be folded vertically vs. horizontally. Shoes should all be forward/ back with the same foot forward, create a pattern. Invest in bag stands and jewelry stands; once again organize by category and lifestyle (purpose). Nothing looks better then a uniform closet, making it easy for you to navigate, simple things like the same (must be thin) hangers can transform your dressing space. 
   
   
5. FINISHING TOUCHES – Once your closet is organized and everything has a home start playing around with your visuals or areas where the eye travels, making it pretty. Here are a few examples of how to create a lux environment in your closet; in the jewelry, the section has your prettiest pieces out center, invest in jewelry stands (always keep in mind the space you are working with). And on the shoe wall turn two pairs to face each other, interlocking. Your bags should be lined up like soldiers but have two or three facing forward. And lastly, if space allows, add in things you love like pictures in pretty frames or a fake plant and perfume, I also love the way Plexi sunglass cases look in a dressing space. Have your scarves hanging on a wall. Really anything that makes you smile should be added to your closet, this way if you are having an off day when you start getting dressed those little details will put a smile on your face and hopefully make a positive impact on how you’re feeling. 
   
   

Please click on below link for some of my favorite Amazon closet organization finds. www.amazon.com/shop/anyalux 

Under categories select “closet organization”.

Last thought I want to leave you with:

Ever walk into a store and walk out with way more than what you initially intended to buy? One of the reasons this happens to all of us is because the visual merchandising teams are trained at knowing consumers’ shopping habits and patterns. There is actual science to it that is taught in schools, I know because I took many courses while attending FIT and have taught it to me, former teams. We are taught to merchandise a store in a way that the consumer gravitates towards certain displays and products, adding on more to their shopping basket or to try on in the fitting room. So the next time you wonder how you wound up with so much or find a beautiful display that makes you want to buy everything from it, just know there is a genius merchandising team behind it.