Meghan Carter: The closet is one of the hardest places in the home to keep clean. Trust me. I know. But today, we’re in for a treat because we’re seeing a Master Simplifier’s closet. Cynthia Ivie, the owner of White Space has invited us to a perfectly clean closet. And during our trip she’s going to teach us the right way to keep our closets clean.

I’m hitting the road searching for answers and finding great design. It’s a quest for beauty, function and of course inspiration.

When designing a closet or organizing a closet, what’s the most important thing you need to know like what are the steps of organizing a closet?

Cynthia Ivie: The first thing you have to do, making a stop to think about what’s easy for you. The biggest mistake that people do make is to try and create a closet like they might see in the magazine or in a store. And it needs to be easy for you. For example, do you prefer to hang or fold your blue jeans? Do you prefer to hang or fold your t-shirts? Those are two items that could go either way. Most people prefer to fold their nets but people need to know in advance if they like to have things hang, folded, in close containers or out on open shelve.

Meghan Carter: I would have never thought of that, but that’s something important. Now, after you figured that out all of the ways you preferred to store your clothes, what comes next?

Cynthia Ivie: Next is purging. And this is the fun part—

Meghan Carter: This is the painful part.

Cynthia Ivie: No, it doesn’t have to be painful. This is where you really get to make decisions about what continues to serene your sense style. What demonstrates your level of success in life? What demonstrates your creative flare and your fashion sense? Your clothing makes a statement and especially being on video like you are it makes an impression very quickly. And so you need to think about your wardrobe as a tool in life. And what does it say about you and then you go through your clothes and you eliminate the things that no longer substantiate that message. The shoes that are no longer comfortable that are worn out, clothing that is in disrepair and you end up with what’s left to be organizing to a space.

Meghan Carter: So, basically you just get rid of everything you don’t like anymore?

Cynthia Ivie: That’s right. You get rid of everything you don’t like.

Meghan Carter: Painful.

Cynthia Ivie: Clothes that are too small, clothes that are too big, clothes that are out of fashion. The fist time that I ever purge a closet with a friend, she went to get rid of my favorite outfit and I said wait a second, that’s my favorite. She said, “Would you me to tell you what Mr. Russell, who is my boss things you look like in this when you wear it?” And it went. So, it always helps to have an objective opinion because we’re all hanging on the things that we really have no business wearing.

Meghan Carter: That’s probably true. I’m probably very guilty of that myself. So then after you purge it off—

Cynthia Ivie: Right.

Meghan Carter: What comes next?

Cynthia Ivie: Then you want to think about what kind of materials you want to use. There are lots of different materials for closet today. You can go with our prefabricated closet like something from my key. You can use arm wires depending upon the kind of space you live in. You can use wire shelving which is what most contractors put in the homes today. You can use a melamine product which is what’s behind us or you can have custom cabinetry design. And it al depends upon your price point. The lowest cost option obviously is a wire shelving factor. The difference between the wire shelving and melamine might be in cost increase let’s say of 30% but if you go to cost and costume you’re looking at a cost increase over melamine of probably a factor of three or four.

Meghan Carter: So, then when you to the inside which I know behind these door is a very organize closet.

Cynthia Ivie: Yes, of course.

Meghan Carter: How do you go about organizing it like that?

Cynthia Ivie: It’s very easy, you just zone according to the types and my close