Autumn Closet Swap-Over: Now With Videos!

Hello, and welcome to my closet swap-over! I do these every six months, putting away the warm season's clothes and swapping them for the chillier month's wardrobe. A few things stay out all year round, but this is a good way for me to get the most out of my collection (which has grown massive) and to make my closet as functional as possible for me. 

I did the last change-over here in early April. I got up early, skipped brunch in favour of a quick egg and English muffin and coffee, then got started. This time, I added VIDEOS!

Before: I've hauled out the vacuum and haven't touched anything in the closet yet. 

My steamer on the left is always ready to steam out the wrinkles from my clothes being packed away. I use it almost every day.

L headed out to meet up with Nick for brunch and to shop for my birthday presents (wee! exciting!). 

I've started pulling out my spring/summer stuff from the closet and folding it into piles. There's a small pile of things near the doorway that is bound for the giveaway pile. 

Must find Vizzini's hiding place - he always skedaddles at the first clatter of the vacuum cleaner. 

"Curses, the Woman found me!"

He was hiding near L's messy tie box. 

Back to the closet - I pulled everything off these shelves and cleaned them. 

I love how fresh and clean my closet smells after doing this. 

Here's what's left below those shelves - these are the things I planned to keep out for winter. 

I removed a few as I went, like my black printed suit which is a little chilly. The plaid pants on the end went into the giveaway pile. Didn't love them. 

Vizzini meowed at me until I made him a hidey-hole on the couch with some cushions and blankets. 

"This is more like it."

He stayed there until I was nearly done. I started around 11am and finished at around 4pm. It's a lot of work! 

This section of my closet has some costume-y things on the top shelf, with my dresses, dusters and jumpsuits below them. 

You can see that I've turned the hangers backwards in preparation for the season. As I wear things, I hang them up again "right way" 'round so that I can see what I haven't worn yet. It's a good method for me to ensure I'm wearing 90% of my wardrobe (the other 10% are archived things, and my party dresses and gowns, no longer stored in my closet).

I pulled out all the storage bags from behind the dress section and from below the blouses and long skirts. 

I have way more fall/winter stuff in storage, as it's far bulkier (and more boot-full) than my spring/summer clothes. 

Next, clear off the Tower of Power and dust all the shelves. 

The strip down the middle is a grossgrain ribbon I thumbtacked to the wood years ago, when I first had the closet built out. I store my floral brooches, shoe clips, various pins/safety-pins and belt buckles on it. 

Shoes lined up down the hallway. 

It's hard to believe I had all those in my closet, but I did! The one pair of brocade booties on the bottom left was hiding in a box on a top shelf, so I put them out ready to go into rotation again. 

And now a special treat! I made a couple of little videos on my camera and have uploaded them for your viewing pleasure. But be warned: I'm speaking! It'll be weird for some of you to hear my laconic west-coast Canadian accent, hee hee. 

Video: Enjoy a (sideways) look at all of the shoes that were in my closet here. 

Now the skirts and blazers/jackets. 

I've removed all the unlined, thin fabrics, summery colours and they'll rest until the end of March 2023. The future! 

And here we all - this is all the clothes that I'll be storing away for 6 months. 

As I unpack my storage bags and bins (we're getting to those), I put these clothes into them and stash them back underneath my clothes in the closet, or return them to their homes under the bed. 

The pile of hangers grows! I actually had quite a few leftover as I pulled all my party dresses out to be stored in the library. 

There's a Before shot of my purses and outside/walking shoes - I also have to clean and swap over that shelf! 

Let's add all the bags and the giant bin that were under the jackets and blazers. 

Unpack, hang up/shake out clothes and put away. Load shoes onto the shelves. Fill the bags and bin with off-season stuff, and put them back where they were. 

Repeat with the bags and bins that are stored under the bed. 

I didn't need to put any extra bags under the bed from the spring/summer stuff - I had over a dozen leftover bags. 

I do a swap of my scarves too, putting away the lighter/pastel ones and bringing out the autumn-coloured and velvet ones.

I added another shoe-box as I'm starting to have a bit of a velvet scarf collection (uh-oh). I like my scarves all jumbled - I paw through them or dump them on the floor to pick out the right one. 

I cleaned and rearranged the top of my lingerie chest. The painting is called "Perfect Pink Shoes" and is an original by Hazel Harris. 

Mementos, vintage sunglasses and perfumes. Accessories that have yet to be worn. Odds and ends. 

Video: Vizzini sitting in my closet, and a tour of my tights, purses and walking shoes here. 

As I was doing my purse and bag swap, Vizzini was up to no good. 

"Suspicious activity in this bag, ma'am. I'm going to have to investigate further."

He started playing with the strings on the spare bags.

"I'll stop if you feed me."

This is how he gets my attention. 

And here we are, all finished! I see myself in the mirror (I'm sitting at the computer).

"Finished? But what about dinner?"

I also swapped over my tights and nylons (my sweater tights are stored until really cold weather hits). I store them in stiff bags with the sides rolled down so that I can rummage and see them all. 

And After:

Video: I made a wee tour of my closet (again, some of it's sideways, sorry)! Enjoy it here.

I'm always so invigorated to have my "new" wardrobe available - so much choice! Now...what will I wear first?? 

I hope you enjoyed my closet swap-over and the bonus videos!