Closets, clutter, and happiness.

I opened up the New York Times this morning to see the story Into the Closet, about “America’s obsession with putting its house in order.”

The piece explored people’s new interest in fixing up closets, and the very high-end features some people incorporate: fridge, love seat, super-fancy cabinetry, even meditation areas.

Featured in the story were Visual Therapy closet consultants, Joe Lupo and Jesse Garza. I got that thrilling brush-with-fame feeling; I met those guys! (May 2) They do have fantastic ideas about how to improve your closets.

I confess to being a zealot on the topic of closet clutter. In the context of the sublime subject of happiness, it may seem a superficial concern, but it’s not. Every time I’ve brought order to my rooms, I’ve brought calm to my mind. (I’ve been trying to devise some catchy apothegm for this observation, but no luck so far.)

However, no one needs fancy features or a closet “system” to reap the benefits of order. You don’t have to spend a dime—except on garbage bags.

Every time I’ve pared down my stuff, I’ve felt great, even when I was using bent wire hangers and collecting dust bunnies on my closet floor. I’ve upgraded slightly since then, but still no fridge, no window with a view, no lingerie island, no consultants—nevertheless I have the ecstasy of the orderly closet.

Comments

[Monica Ricci]

Gretchen, closet therapy is a wonderful thing, isn't it? The liberation we feel when cleaning out our closet is like shedding a skin. Cathartic, exciting, and making room for the future! ~Monica

[Into the Closet]

The link in this post doesn't seem to connect to the article so I thought I'd post the URL

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/garden/01closets.html

[Into the Closet]

The link in this post doesn't seem to connect to the article so I thought I'd post the URL

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/garden/01closets.html

[Kara]

When I was a kid, we used to have what my family called "Big Clean Day" twice a year. My mom made us do it the first Monday of every summer vacation and the first Monday of every Christmas vacation. My brother and I had to completely empty our rooms, dust and vacuum the whole room, wash the sheets, rotate the mattress and make the bed, and then put all our stuff back into our room an orderly manner. We had to get rid of old clothes that didn't fit, old markers that didn't color, old toys we didn't play with anymore, and all that sort of stuff. It always took the entire day, and boy was it a really stinky way to spend the first real day of a long vacation from school; but it did feel nice later to have a completely clean room. There's really no "clean" quite as satisfyingly pleasant as a room thoroughly organized from scratch, top to bottom. And in December, my mom often pointed out the benefit of making room for new Christmas presents:) I'm trying to get into the same sort of habit now that I'm an adult and I can appreciate it more, but I must admit it's harder without Mom around to crack the whip:)