There’s an old joke that says: “What’s mine is hers and what’s hers is hers…”, the implication being that, after the ceremony, women gain ownership of everything, including the closet space. But that’s so 1970s… These days, men’s fashion is a billion dollar industry and men are paying more attention to what they wear, and how they wear it.
So in the interest of sharing ‘half and half’, and starting a marriage on the right foot with the right shoe on, equality in marriage means equal everything, including closet space.
Merging two closets into one means it’s time to toss a few items
In order to get two closets worth of clothes and shoes to fit into one, perhaps bigger but nonetheless single closet, the key is to triage. It’s time to go through each closet and decide what stays, what goes and what might need to go into storage for a little while. The dress you wore to your high school prom? You might want to toss or store that. The suit that you wore to a wedding last month? Keep. The jeans you were hoping would fit again one day? Toss. Your lucky espadrilles? Keep.
It’s a long process that you have to be willing to endure without too much in the way of emotion: if you think with your heart, instead of your head, you’ll end up keeping everything. Once you’ve done the triage, it’s time to design a closet that works.
Take inventory of what needs to go into the closet
Look over everything from shirts and shoes, to handbags and ties. While a Closetmaid Survey has said that women typically have 132 items in their closet, versus the 43 that men have, those numbers are changing. Do you need several drawers for socks, underwear and lingerie or will two do the trick (one each)? Do you need high rods for suits and dresses or is the bulk of what both of you both wear more in the jeans and khakis department? Take stock to decide what you need.
It’s a good time to look at other storage in the house to see where less frequently worn items could go. For example, a basement storage area could be modified into a closet, using modular closet pieces, to create a space for seasonal clothes. No need to have your lined jeans and parkas in your everyday closet, in July!
Measure, measure, measure
Modular closets are perfect for enhancing any closet space, whether with a pre-designed system or something custom to suit an oddly shaped space. You can mix and match, depending on your inventory results, to get the closet that works for both of you, and that gives you more evenly distributed space. Does he have more shirts than shoes? Do you have more shoes than slacks? Allocate space fairly so each of you has access to all of your favorite pieces.
Then take the time to measure it accurately so that you are buying a system that will fit and can be put together, easily and quickly. Choosing the design that suits you both! An easy to assemble system that is designed to measure is the most cost effective solution to avoid arguing over space!
More than one closet?
If you’re really lucky, you might even have more than one closet. At that point, it often comes down to deciding who gets the bigger one, or the walk in versus the standard closet. Basically, it will come down to who has the most shoes! (No, not really.)
Even with separate spaces, the important factor is efficiency. A well designed closet system will allow even a smaller space to be highly efficient for storing, finding and keeping track of all your clothes and accessories. No more searching for your favorite sunglasses because they’re right where you left them, in your accessories drawer.
And once you’re done with the bedroom closet or walk-in, start looking at your other storage needs: from the laundry room, entry hall closet, kid’s bedroom or your home office, there are probably a lot of other places where finding a way to organize and store all your items will keep arguments at bay. After all, a newly married couple can find a lot of things to argue about: closets shouldn’t be one of them.
Bio:
Home organization expert for ModularClosets.com, Marty Basher, offers these tips to get organized after the big “I do’s”. Modular Closets are high quality and easy to design closet systems that you can order, assemble and install yourself, in no time at all. Visit them on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.
