Marianne: My Secret Shame UPDATE!

Let's start by revisiting my secret shame, shall we? I'll wait.

What a mess, right? Well, thanks to your suggestions I set out in search of some industrial bookends and a mess of 3M hooks. But then my Enterprising Husband got involved, and I have to admit, his solutions were far cheaper and more attractive. I don't want to keep you waiting any longer, so behold, the after:

What we have here are a series of double hooks screwed in at various heights. The hooks in the back are hardest to reach, so they hold out of season or rarely carried bags. On the sides are bags I carry more often. Then, Enterprising Husband built removable shelf dividers to keep my clutches upright and organized.

Remember the sad, sad pile of cardigans? EH strikes again with another removable shelf liner. And yes, years of working retail means I can still fold a mean sweater.

Belts were an issue in the past so I just moved them to the closet proper, on their own belt hanger. A $5 solution that has made my life infinitely easier.

Chris' handy shelf dividers and hooks left me with MORE shelf space. For now they are holding a canvas box filled with silk scarves, and workout clothes/gym bag on the bottom. But I'm toying with the idea of finding a wire basket that can hold flip flops and the like, since those clutter up the bottom of my closet.

But that, my friends, is another story for another day. What do you think about my (okay, my husband's) solution to my storage issue? Pretty neat, eh?

Marianne: My Best/Worst Purchases of the Summer.

With the unofficial end of summer here (noooooooo), and the Shopping Ban in effect (NOOOOO), not to mention My Secret Shame (no), my attention has been on my closet lately. I mentioned that a couple of purchases I made this summer have not really gotten much play from me. While I still like these, for the most part, I don't reach for them and one of them has already hit the blog sale. The dress I actually ended up returning after it shrank in the wash, and I didn't feel compelled to replace it. Never a good sign.

Meeting Place Tank

shifting feathers dress

But for the most part, I bought some stuff I L-O-V-E this summer. My #1 purchase?

Miz Mooz Hazel Sandals

Runners up?

Limited Skirt + Claudine Tee

Rebecca Minkoff MAC

What about you? What did you buy this summer that you've had to force yourself not to wear twice in one week? And is there anything you are regretting, or already getting rid of? Or, are you clinging to summer and not done with your warm weather purchases? Spill!

Marianne: MY secret shame.

A while back, Adrien bravely admitted her secret shame. That her closet was unweildy and her precious bags were lanquishing in a pile. And our readers, dear readers, tut-tutted and offered advice, and Adrien came through with a remarkable solution. And it was good.

And I was noticeably silent. Because...well...
Yeah. Here is MY secret shame, okay? I have these great shelves, but they are kind of tough for keeping my bags organized. Everything ends up in a floppy pile. A pile that also includes my thin, every day cardigans:

Sheesh. Here is one more close-up of the mess of my bags and belts. Lordy.

I am thinking a good place to start is maybe with some hooks screwed into the wall, and some more hooks hanging from the short rod that is up high. The shelves themselves can be reserved for clutches, and the sweaters obviously need folding and organizing. Any ideas, oh organizationally brilliant readers? Don't judge me.

Adrien: Anthro, why can't I quit you?

I had some stuff to return to Anthro so I decided to check out the latest sale room fodder, even though I knew it was a bad idea. Woo.

I was so happy to see the High Seas Dress on the sale rack in a size XS! I'd read that it ran big so I gave it a try. WOE. It technically fit, but it was puffy. Very puffy. No. Sadness:

Ah, the Climbing Cowlneck. I just can't seem to give up on this one. I was eventually able to order the XS (sizing down fixed the sleeve-falling-down issue) but it clung to my gut, which I hate more than anything. I was happy to see a size small the pink (a gorgeous pink) while in the store so I tried that on:

Um, now it falls down AND clings to my gut. I give up. No, really. I love this top but not on me. I'm wearing it with the Joe's Raw Hem Kicker jeans which I liked, but I'm not gonna spent $100 on jeans that someone else cut apart. I can cut my own jeans, thanks very much.

I tried on the Keep It Simple Tunic because it was breezy and pretty and I love the color:

Eh. Not so much me, but I can see it being cute on someone else. Finally, I succumbed to my lust and tried on the Two-Wheeler Shirtdress which I've been eyeing for a while. (It's not on sale, yo.) Disastrous:

Reading the reviews, I see I had the same issue with this that most had - it runs really freaking crazy big... except in the sleeves. I'm wearing a 6 in this photo and could easily have sized down to a 2. But, the sleeves in the 6 fit snugly, so maybe not. Disappointing.

So that's that. Another week with no temptation from the Anthro front. Oh! But I do have a little something to share:

LOOKY. I put hooks in and they're great! Totally solved the bag storage problem. Thanks for the suggestions, folks.

Adrien: Secret Shame Update!

After posting about my closet a few weeks ago, I spent some quality time last weekend organizing and moving stuff around. I haven't bought hooks for the back wall yet (unless you count the giant nails left by the former owner. Thanks, lady.) but I'm hoping to do that this weekend. I saw something like this at Target:

And thought it might do this trick. I did, however, buy a large over-the-door hook thingy for my belts:

It's working out nicely for belts but when I tried to hang a couple of my smaller bags it really didn't work - they swing around too much and get tangled up. Then I organized all my clothes by type:

And reordered my storage box things, using the one on the top shelf for my smaller bags:

Here's what the rest of that side looks like:

And I organized my shoes a bit better:

So, baby steps! I still need to root out some of the shoes I don't wear anymore and deal with the hidden tower of shoe boxes that live in the left hand corner that you can't see. I'd also like to get some under-bed storage for all my boots, since they don't earn their keep in the summer.

Sorry, this isn't the most exciting update, is it.

Adrien: My Secret Shame.

Y'all, I cannot believe I'm going to show you this but we promised to show you the bad along with the good, so if you're ready for it, here's my bad:

That would be my closet, or at least half of it. My closet runs the length of a wall and has two doors, which is just about as awkward as it sounds. There's some weird hard-to-reach space in the middle that I struggle with. Okay, that first side wasn't too terrible, but here's the other side:

Hold me. I KNOW. It's bad, right? You're maybe thinking about me a little differently now, I can tell. You're all, "OMG, what is going on up there? Are those her...it can't be...it IS."

Yes, those are my fancy handbags, all thrown together like a pile of garbage. I KNOW. It's shameful! It's out of control. Further in are all my boots, half tipped over:

And then there's this unspeakable mess:

Ugh. The reason I'm posting this, my secret shame, is to embarrass myself into doing something about it. I used to have everything all tidy and nice and it's just gone to hell. Any suggestions regarding the Handbag Shelf of Shame? I was thinking about tracking down something like this:

So at least they're not all slumped over on each other. I know some folks use hanging shelves for handbag storage,  but my cats would hanging shelves as nothing more than as super-awesome hanging cat beds, so that's not an option. I guess I could also get four or five bins to put my bags in, but that seems like more clutter. I don't know. Suggestions?

I also want to paint the bedroom and my closet, but that's another project for another day. Or year. Or something. I weep.