Articles by Mary

With Closet Factory and Ashley Campbell working hard on the closet design, our Messy to Marvelous closet makeover winners Janet and Peter Brophy embarked on perhaps the most difficult (and most important) aspect of this remodel: sorting through everything in the master closet and deciding what should stay and what must go.

Sheryl Hadley and Kim Link of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), Colorado Chapter arrived bright and early to help with this overwhelming project. Their mission: to remove everything from the master bedroom closet that was not clothing or shoes. The Brophys had items such as rolled-up area rugs, unused lamps and lots and lots of luggage in the closet. “Items like these that are seldom used,” says Sheryl, “should be stored elsewhere, such as a basement or garage.”

The foursome started with the luggage. The Brophys had no less than nine large suitcases, four carry-on bags and a myriad of dufflebags and totes in their closet. Frequent travelers, they wanted to keep a few within easy reach. After lots of discussion, it was decided that they would each keep one large and one carry-on case and get rid of the rest. Two large cases were given to a college-bound daughter; several older bags were donated. A few, past their prime, were simply tossed. Once this first big project was done, a visibly excited Janet said, “Wow! Let’s keep going!”

And they certainly kept going. Next up was Janet’s impressive collection of wrapping paper, gift bags, tissue paper and ribbon. It seemed that Janet had kept the paper or bag from every gift she’d every received. With Sheryl and Kim’s help, she whittled the collection down to what would fit into one medium-sized box. They sorted out (and recycled) all the paper and bags that were crumpled or torn, then separated the Christmas-themed items from the general holiday-themed ones. It didn’t take long to fill up a garbage bag.

And when they were done, they had nice, neat stacks of bags, paper and labels that would fit into one manageable box.

As the team sorted through other items, deciding what to keep, sell, donate, recycle or trash, Sheryl was on her smart phone, looking at eBay to get an idea of what items (like a stack of Peter’s old comic books) had enough value to sell. “It’s easy to do some quick online research,” says Sheryl. It’s also important to be realistic about if you’re really going to have that garage sale or take the time to list things on an online auction site. And check with the IRS; sometimes the deduction allowance for donated items is better than what you can make selling them.

It didn’t take long before Janet and Peter were in the groove of cleaning out and letting go. Janet actually said, “This is so much fun!” Peter seemed happy, too, wondering aloud if we could move to the basement next.

Stay tuned for more updates—and photos—from the field. Up next: Janet and Peter work with Liz Finkelstein of Mile High Style to sort through all those clothes and shoes. You won’t want to miss it!