Oct 2, 2013

Closet Organization: Out in the Open

My closet isn't your typical closet. It's a room. A room that opens to two other rooms and a room that when new guests come over want to see it. It's sort of the highlight of the home tour for the females. I can't blame them, it's the reason I bought the house. (Okay, not really, but it didn't hurt.)

So when you have an open space that has to function... and function at a high level on a daily basis it's gotta look good.

Another thing about our house: it's old. Built in 1920 when walk-in closets and storage was not what we think of today. We have three actual closets. Three. And they are small. So we are limited on our storage, which means this room gets the over flow. Vacuums, beer growlers, stuff we haven't put in the attic yet, artwork that I haven't found a home for, lawnchairs, sewing supplies, etc.

So while I'd love to commandeer an entire room in our small house, that'd be pretty selfish. I have to learn to live with a few extras in this room for the time being.

A few weeks ago I spent an hour or two straightening and clearing out unworn/unused items. So the shoes were pretty straight and I don't have too much extra items that need to go to Goodwill right now. I wasn't sure how much more I could possibly do in this room. But I had about 20 minutes and I decided to just start doing.

Here's what I started with:


Messy shelf


Clutter

In 20 minutes I did the following:
- Picked up random things off the floor (shoe inserts that have been there for 4.5 years, I'm talking to you)
- Moved the pet carrier and extra Ikea shelf to the guest room to be put in the attic
- Straightened the items on the top shelf and behind/under the clothes
- Put the overnight bag away
- Put the unsused art behind the door
- Moved items from the coat rack to other areas and put it in the guest room for Bryan to decide what he wants to do with it. (It's his and I love it, but not for my grownup closet)
- Put away the growl towel
- Start a Goodwill pile in the dining room with a few other items ready to go to Goodwill (belts and bags I don't use, a towel rack we decided against for our bathroom but lost the receipt for)

After just 15 minutes I was impressed with what I was able to accomplish. Looks better no? 









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