After years of watching Lynn Weisberg purchase garment after garment, boutique manager Karen Ciurca-Weiner finally told her loyal customer a hard truth—she needed to stop buying and start looking at what she had.
Ciurca-Weiner suggested that what Weisberg really needed was to organize her closet.
“She kept buying all these clothes,” Ciurca-Weiner said as she stood inside her client’s closet, a 9-by-12-foot converted office space that now has shelving and drawers to accommodate Weisberg’s clothes.
“I told her to stop buying items and make outfits out of clothes” she already had.
Since their initial session five years ago, the two have come together twice a year to organize Weisberg’s clothes—once at the beginning of spring and once at the beginning of fall.
The nearly four-hour sessions allow Weisberg to maximize her closet space while planning her outfits for the upcoming season.
“She cleans out and refreshes my closet every season,” Weisberg said about Ciurca-Weiner. “It’s a time-saver and a huge money-saver.”
More and more people are seeking the help of closet organizers to create order and save money, according to experts.
In addition to purging closets of space-eating out-of-date garments, the experts are using their knowledge to identify hidden gems to create fresh looks for their clients.
Although more attention is being paid to the closet, it still remains one of the least-used rooms in the home, according to Ciurca-Weiner, who works at women’s clothing boutique in Baltimore, Maryland.
“The biggest problem is that people don’t know how to utilize their space,” she said.
“They don’t have enough cube space. And they don’t stack things such as sweaters.”
You don’t have to have a lavish “Sex And The City”-type closet to use the services and suggestions of a closet organizer, according to experts.
With the addition of several hooks for clothes and jewelry, a few shelves for shoes and even a curtain rod to hang scarves, anyone can maximize their closet space, said Ciurca-Weiner. “It’s very important to create closet and drawer space,” she said. “You must utilize every space. You have to have a need for each space.”
An organized closet
Every women’s closet should contain these items, according to Karen Ciurca-Weiner.
• White shirt: A fitted clean, crisp white shirt is a must.
• Boyfriend blazer: Everyone should own a black or white “go-to” jacket.
• Belt: A belt that is the right length—preferably black patent leather—completes any wardrobe.
• Nude-coloured shoes (taupe or beige): They go with everything.
• Little black dress: It’s a no-brainer.
• Ruffled blouse: It’s timeless.
Things to throw out:
Our experts have no problem getting rid of items—especially when the threads have seen better days.
Things that don’t fit and stained clothes: “No matter what you paid, it had its day. It’s over,” Ciurca-Wiener said.
Outdated clothes: “I don’t care what you paid for it, you really think it will come back, but it’s like an old boyfriend: Even when it comes back, it’s never the same.”
