This post is a follow-up to the last one entitled “Hoarding”. Before we had our “revelation” about stepping back from Bryan’s ‘room, mess, and business’, we asked him if he’d be interested in a renovation of his tiny clothes closet. He was all about it! Together we trekked to the ‘closet store’ and sat with the designer, choosing the layout, color of drawer pulls, clothing rods and facade finish. He picked a soft textured gray laminate, brushed nickel pulls and rods and the design featuring four separate rods, along with many shelves, a built-in hamper and filing cabinet. There are also three wall hooks designed to hold his ties and belts.

Wednesday the closet was installed, taking most of the day for completion. When it was done, we went up to his apartment to help him sort his clothing, put everything on hangers and cull anything that no longer fit or that he no longer wore. That took several hours. Luckily, we hit upon the fact that sizes small and medium no longer fit him. It was easy for Bryan to separate and let go of those shirts once that was established. We came home with two garbage bags full of unworn, torn or ill-fitting clothing. This made more room for the stuff he really wears.

Bryan organized the clothing rods into quadrants – having an area for work clothes, dress clothes, t-shirts (which he categorized as to genre) and pants. It sure looked great when finished and he had ownership in determining where everything went.

We gave him a tutorial on how to take the hamper out to the laundry and stocked his file drawer with folders for him to organize on another day.

And, now, we’ll wait to see just how long it takes for him to fill up the closet with other stuff. Hopefully, he will have enough pride and ownership in the new closet that it won’t look like the “BEFORE” picture and more like the end result, below.

Whatever happens, it’s now his. He paid for it with his own money, designed it and organized it all himself. We can always hope for the best!