Reveal A New Closet
I L-O-V-E natural light. My husband used to buy those silly sun-blocking curtains when he lived on his own, but mine have always been sheer. I want as much pretty streams of sun coming in as possible, especially in a small apartment with very few windows. The sun just makes rooms more happy! I'm pretty sure it's a proven fact. Unfortunately, some rooms in the home just won't ever see any sun. One of those being our closet.
Although not a lot of time is spent in the closet, it's where your day starts with your work clothes and ends when you pick out your PJs. So, in this new year, I knew it was a place I needed to tackle: organize, purge and refresh. It was in terrible shape with various hangers, unorganized bins and way too many clothes. Here's how I went from red hot mess, to bright and chic boutique.
1. Purge the clothes. If it hasn't fit or been worn in the last month, it's being sold or donated. I'm still probably hanging on to way too many pieces, but I tried to be really hard on myself, promise.
2. Spend the money and buy some beautiful, matching, fuzzy, soft hangers. Makes even the ugliest clothes feel worthy to be worn. Plus, it frees up a lot more space than the many different plastic versions will give you.
3. Give your cheap-o dollar store bins a makeover with a few rounds of gold spray paint. And while you're at it, make sure the things in the bins are absolutely necessary to still own. My three bins have their own unique purposes. The first holds all of my flip flops. The second is where all my folded tank tops live. The third is where the gloves, beanies, mittens and hand warmers hang out. If anyone else used the bins but myself, I'd probably label them, but for now, it's pretty self-explanatory.
4. Sit out a pretty (or hide a not-so-lovely) adjustable room freshener on one of the shelves. Even though the clothes are always smelling nice from being washed, the closet itself isn't ventilated and it just doesn't get a whole lot of circulating air. Plus, smelling great is always better than smelling regular.
5. Last step of this closet makeover was adding some faux-natural light. GE recently sent me these great Reveal bulbs to try out and they were perfect for the job. One of my favorite things about natural sunlight is the whiteness and brightness of it, which is exactly what these lights bring. Most bulbs give you that dull, yellow-y glow and not only is it unattractive, but it also doesn't show off the true colors of your clothes. Problem solved.
The before and after definitely show off the yellow-to-white transformation. Beyond that, in the second images, it looks like I used a bounce-flash or some other form of light when snapping the shutter. Nope, just changed one single bulb for a Reveal one. That's it!
It feels like a whole new world in there. A world with light! The brightness helps me wake up in the early-morning and I love being able to SEE all my clothes. Plus, these bulbs are energy efficient, so I'm not being a planet-killer or raising my energy bill either. Pretty good combination all-around if you ask me!
Do you need some new light in your closet? Or maybe somewhere else in your life? Maybe a little more convincing? GE has put together a short film of artists who use reveal bulbs in their daily life. Take a look:
Right now, Target's Cartwheel App can get you major savings (we're talking 25% off) on in-store purchases of GE reveal bulbs (and probably tons-o other stuff you need!) Simply download Target's Cartwheel app, (available on Apple IOS here and Android here), select GE reveal® and head to your local Target!
Hope you can also reveal a whole new closet soon!