Closets and Love

Once upon a time I fell in love with home organization. I don't know exactly when it happened. I have fond memories of the house I grew up in, organizing and reorganizing my bedroom closet - emptying it completely and putting everything back in carefully chosen spots. While other kids were outside playing, I was in my closet. (Well, I did also spend a decent amount of time outside.)

Then when I was 13 we moved and I entered a whole new frontier in the world of organization. The closet in my new bedroom was larger than the old one, but without adequate shelving. I was aghast, as you might imagine. My mom and I made a trip to The Container Store (I thought I had found heaven on earth), measurements in hand, and I designed my first shelving system. My dad and I installed it together and there was a place for everything. Happier times I cannot remember.

But sadly, I have recently realized that I will never, never achieve the closet organization enlightenment I have always dreamed of. Much like everything else in our society, the closets we are accustomed to seeing in magazines, the closets we are led to believe are the ideal - are not even closets. See Exhibit A. I'd like to meet someone who owns clothing in only three coordinating shades. Exhibit B - who actually purchases food based on packaging color or repackages it in coordinating glass canisters? And if these are the closets, then where are people supposed to store the rest of their things?

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Yes, they're easy on the eyes, but I demand realism in the home organization industry. Someone needs to acknowledge that most of us own more than five shirts. I want to see skirts of various lengths and purses that are not freestanding. Show me what a real closet looks like - with halter tops, strapless dresses and bulky sweaters that don't stack well. Show me a closet that lives, breathes, is beautiful and can actually be used.