Gayle's closet: before

Oprah decided to give Gayle a bit of help in cleaning her unruly closet. At first, Gayle was worried about America seeing just how messy it was, saying, "It's not ready for prime time." But she relented and let Oprah bring in Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo from Visual Therapy to do their thing.

As you can see, when they arrived, Gayle's closet was downright cluttered.
Gayle's closet: three questions

Jesse and Joe applied their tried-and-true tips and tests to help Gayle make the cold-blooded decisions necessary to clean out her closet. The first step is to create three piles: "yes," "no" and "maybe." Jesse says you have to "learn how to let things go back out into the universe. It's the circle of life."

How do you make the hard decisions to fill the piles? Jesse and Joe use three simple questions to thin the herd: Do I love this? Is it flattering? Is this the image that I want to portray? If any answer is "no," then it goes in the "no" pile.

This boxy plaid suit is reminiscent of what Gayle calls the "news anchor look." It is a definite "no."
Gayle's closet: Archive it!

After making your three piles, you should understand that are three possible actions. Obviously, you'll keep the "yes" pile and get rid of the "no" pile. For the "maybe" pile, consider creating what Jesse and Joe call an archive. Jesse says this option is for old clothes that you likely never wear, but which have sentimental value. Jesse and Joe recommend storing archival items in an attic or basement—not in your closet.

This black and yellow dress was a gift from Oprah, and Gayle loves it for sentimental reasons. However, Jesse says it's outdated. It is a quintessential "archive" item.
Organize shoes to see heel height

Jesse, Joe and Gayle worked together to purge and organize the closet into her very own boutique where she can shop her own clothes. They organized all of the items into sections by color.

And check out how they display shoes, one facing forward and one facing backward. "We do the shoes this way because now you can see what the heel height is," Jesse says.
Gayle's closet: after

You've seen the closet before. Here it is after!

Jesse and Joe whipped it into shape, and now Gayle needs to keep the closet lean. Their advice: Don't crowd items, and use the same hangers to give everything a fluid look. When it's done, you won't even let cluttering objects in. You'll be too protective of the space.

Gayle says she's happy Oprah forced her into this, even though she was "very, very reluctant" at first. Now, she says, "I feel cuter. I want to live up to the closet."