Ever wondered how to give your closet a boutique feel? If you have a walk-in closet in your apartment, this is possible even without those fancy built-ins which are seen in more glamorous homes!
Now, this process is a bit more difficult if you're sharing closets with someone. In this new apartment, I wanted to spruce up my closet a bit and go all girly, so I let my husband take the closet in the master bedroom and I took the one in the guest bedroom. For some reason the guest room closet is more spacious, but the space in the master bedroom closet was perfect for my husband's stuff. A bit inconvenient to walk to the guest room, but this closet is still my "happy place"!
Let's get started, shall we? Here's what it looks like when you open the door:
Being from the Indian subcontinent, I mainly wear a long, flowy dress called "shalwar qameez", 99% of which are gifts! In our culture it's the norm to gift friends and family with clothes on special occasions.
Here's how I arranged the dresses:
If you read my old closet post, you can see in detail the benefits of color coordinating clothes, and having uniformity of hangers.
In this post, I'd like to elaborate more on the key things that make your closet give the feel of a boutique. First, let's start with clothes.
If you have a large enough walk-in closet, I'd recommend hanging all of the clothes up, rather than some hanging and some in the dresser. I decided that if my long dresses don't fit on this particular rack, I will be donating it. One tip I find that helps me while donating clothes is choosing a number. Usually if I don't choose a number I end up just donating a couple of clothes because I THINK I need more, when I really don't. Find actual people around you who are in need of clothes as this also helps in encouraging you to give away more - personal stories. I found out that there was a lady in my community who was stranded by her husband and left with children to fend for, without a job. I wanted to give her clothes, and these are all in good condition, but if I had not picked a number, I might have given just 3 or 4. Choose whatever suits you best at the time, 10, 15, 20.
Giving away clothes and keeping only as much as my (walk-in) closet can fit helped make me feel less overwhelmed. I try my best to keep a one inch distance between hangers as this gives the clothes breathing space, looks neater and prevents wrinkles. I have decided that if there's ever less than an inch distance between hangers, then it means I will have to donate more clothes!
According to statistics (which I'm not sure how accurate they are, but they sound true to me), we only use 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. If you find that you haven't worn something in over a year and it has no sentimental value, give it away! I'm sure you will not miss it once it's gone, and your closet will look a WHOLE lot better, I promise!!
On to the purses:
I thought it would be cool, innovative idea to use S-hooks to hang up purses, until I went on Pinterest and realized half the world was already doing it. *sigh* But here you have it. They look much neater than being stacked on top of the wire shelves or being put in suitcases. Before I hung up my purses, I didn't have too much of an idea of what I actually had. Now, I can see them clearly.
This method helps to really analyze what you have and what you need or don't need. So using the example above, I realized I have way too many neutral shades, and really will not be needing anymore. So when I go shopping and find another neutral purse attractive, I can remind myself that I have a whole line of them at home so I won't need to buy it.
For storing purses, it's a good idea to stuff them with tissue paper or newspapers so that they maintain their shape.
I kept some of my jewelry out on the rack to give that boutique vibe.
Along with some (el cheapo) fragrances on a tray.
Here's what it looks like to the left of the door:
I added a mirror to make the space feel more open, and of course, a boutique needs a mirror and an ottoman! Let's just ignore the fact that this is a $10 mirror and the "ottoman" is a stool from Target which was on clearance ;)
One thing that I did, which decreases the "sophisticated" look I'm going for, actually, is that I added greeting cards that were given to me by family and friends over the last few years. Although it doesn't look very elegant at all, it gives out a really positive vibe and reminds me to be grateful for my loved ones. Each card emits nostalgic memories, and since this is my personal closet, I thought it would be the perfect place for me to put them up.
I have a step stool against the wall to reach the higher shelves, along with my shoes.
Again, same situation here. All of my shoes have to fit this specific rack, and if they don't, they have to leave.
Finally, let's take a look behind the closet door:
I put up a command hook on one of the bare walls. This allowed me to hang up my favorite dress of the season, giving it a fun look.
Behind the door, I hung up my long scarves on an over the door hanger. This can hold up to 3 scarves on each hook, and has 6 hooks, so it's pretty convenient!
I still have to work on the top shelves of the closet, but that will be a later post...much later :)
That's all I've got for today! Do you have any tips for closets? Share in the comments below!
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*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links
*Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links
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