Keeping my bags and accessories organized can be a challenge.  I keep them in different places throughout my house, with the hope that it will be easy to find them when I need them.  But, I have fallen into the trap of what I don’t see, I forget about.  Does this ever happen to you?

So I have decided to come up with a new game-plan for all my bags, accessories, and other random items that are scattered around the house that would fall into this category.  That includes gloves, headbands, hats, belts, jewelry, and scarves.

1. Collect

Start by collecting all your purses, bags, scarves, gloves, hats, headbands, jewelry…anything that counts as an accessory.  Find them in every space they might be hiding!

I check my car, the basement, our mud room, everywhere.  I want to make sure that I have every single accessory I own.  This way, I can make a reasonable decision about what to keep and what can go.

By seeing everything right in front of you, you will be more thoughtful in what you keep.  This is the first step to truly decluttering your home for good!  Always grab all your items and put them in one place.  You will be amazed at how much you have accumulated!

2. Categorize

Since we are grabbing all your accessories, I would suggest keeping them in piles based on the category of that item.  Put all your purses together.  All your earrings together.  All your gloves together.  You get the idea!

By categorizing each item, you will gain a better visual for all that you have.  And I am sure you will see, right away, what you can get rid of.  Isn’t that such a nice feeling when you just know what you no longer need?!?!

3. Sort

Start with one category.  I personally find that it is easiest for myself and my organizing clients if we go about the accessories in this order:

• Scarves
• Gloves
• Hats
• Belts
• Headbands/Hair Accessories
• Jewelry
• Bags
• Purses

I suggest doing bags and purses last, because we tend to get really attached to these items.  So, by going through some of the less sentimental items first, you will have a better gauge to judge if you really need to keep a particular bag or purse.

I love scarves, so I have a ton of them.  But none of them have any sentimental value to me.  When I went through my scarves, I was able to be rather objective about what I could discard.  Purses and bags can hold more meaning because they can be considered an extension of yourself.  So really think about what you want to keep and what you are okay with parting with.

As you go through each category, create piles for keep, donate, sell, and trash.  Put items into the bags as you sort.  This will make it easier to clean up once you have finished sorting your accessories!

4. Discard

Once you have finished sorting all your accessories, bags, and purses, you can get rid of your trash, donate, and sell bags.  Put your trash bag in the garbage.  Put the donate and sell bags in your car.  Make it a point to get those out of your car by the end of the week.

By clearing out all the unwanted items, you will allow yourself to have a blank slate to figure out how to store the items you are keeping.  It is just so incredibly helpful for you to be able to see exactly what you have!

5. Store

Everything is sorted and your bags of unwanted accessories are out of the way.  Now the only thing you have in front of you is your beautiful accessories and bags that you love!  So how can we store and organize the items that are left?  Easy!  By keeping all similar accessories together.  What I mean by this is to keep all your bags in one place.  It will be your bag “home”.  All purses together in one place.  All your jewelry together in one place.

You don’t have to keep all you accessories in the same place, but keep all like-accessories together.  This will help reduce the amount of clutter you will have for any of your accessories because you can see everything all in one place!!

I suggest keeping scarves organized using a scarf hook organizer in your closet.  If you have the space, then roll up the scarves, put them in an acrylic bin, and store on a shelf.

Gloves and hats can be stored in a bin located with your jackets and other winter gear.

Hang belts on a belt hanger in your closet near your pants.

Keep all headbands/hair accessories near your brush and comb in your bathroom.  You can store them in a bin or drawer, but make sure to keep them all together.

Jewelry should be kept in a jewelry box.  I suggest keeping the jewelry box in your bedroom or closet.

Bags should be stored in a closet where you can easily access them.  Keep all bags together.  I typically suggest keeping bags together with suitcases in a closet.  Use wall hooks to hang the bags so you can see what you have.  If you are limited on space, try folding your bags and storing them in clear shoe boxes.  You can pile them on top of each other and label so you know what is in each box.

Purses should be stored in an easy-to-access area of your home.  If you like to change out your purses frequently, I suggest storing your purses near your shoes.  If you only switch out your purses seasonally or for special occasions, then I would suggest storing them near your bags.

Find a place that works for you to store your items, but make sure that you store ALL the like-items together so you can find everything you have easily.

6. Tweak

As you live with your new organizational system for your accessories and bags, you might need to make some simple tweaks within the first few weeks.  If you aren’t loving the place your purses are stored, then try to find another location that would work well for your needs.

After a few months, you might need to reassess what you are keeping.  Do you notice that you never wear a particular necklace any more?  It might be time to part ways with it.  As you notice items you no longer wear or use, then you should get rid of that item immediately!  This is the easiest way to reduce clutter.

Since you are able to see everything you own, you are able to assess what you want to keep and what you can part with more efficiently after you have done a large organizational cleaning spree.  So keep up with assessing what you are keeping and what you can part with.

Now it is your turn to get your accessories and bags organized.  Start by gathering all your accessories.  Categorize the accessories so you can easily sort what you have into piles of keep, donate, sell, or trash.  Then, discard unwanted or unused items.  Store like-items all in the same location that makes sense for how you use them within your home.  Then, tweak as needed.

Once all your accessories are organized, you can enjoy everything because you can see and find them easily!