Organizing Week: Coming out of the closet

Not THAT closet- the front hall closet! The ONLY closet in the whole gosh darn condo. It was getting a little out of hand and I wanted to get some room to maybe store my sewing machine (I don't have the machine at my place yet, so I haven't measured it for storage). In any case, this disaster of a front hall needed to be addressed.


Here is what I started with:

It is actually a fairly sizable closet. The coats hang in the front on the new bar my dad installed, and the vacuum sits in the back. There are two high shelves for storage and my shoe racks all in there comfortably. However I needed to put my winter boots in storage (helllllloooo Mr. Sun!) and there was a lot in here that just needed to be trashed.


First thing I did was remove the coats:

Hello Vacuum!

Then I took the time to reorganize my shoes, moving the more popular summer ones front and center and tossing any that I hadn't worn in ages.

I actually really hate this shoe shelf. I originally wanted shoes to go all along the back and these shoe racks (it is two, stacked) had the perfect measurements to fit. But when I installed it it ended up being THREE inches too long to go along the back. The measurements on the box LIED!! And I bought them way up at Yorkdale and I couldn't be bothered to go back and return them (they were cheap). They also were IMPOSSIBLE to get together. They would just fall apart. It was a nightmare. It started falling apart today as I moved the shoes around. 

The only good thing about this darn rack is I decided that having them along the side was actually better than the back as it is much easier to access. I just need to get something better than this particular rack. Perhaps I need to invest more than $10??

Next I took down all my scarves and organized them into "winter weight" and "summer weight". I can't hang all my scarves easily at once, so it makes sense to only leave out the ones that are seasonally appropriate.

Scarves Before:

Sorted into Winters and Summers on the floor:

Then I got down and dirty and cleaned out the shelves. The blue box thing hold a lot of random stuff, but mostly my spare linens. I decided the laptop bag and cupcake holder were going to move into storage as I rarely used them. A lot of purses got tossed.


Toss pile once the purge was done:

One pair of shoes, a pair of boots, two purses, a clutch, a cushion, and a hat shaped like a pint of Guiness!! 


The next step was to box up my boots. Unfortunately, my boot boxes were being used as a makeshift nightstand!!

So, I replaced them with a box. I so actually have plans for a new nightstand, but I need to pick up some materials first and I have been super busy so it has been on hold.

Classy

 Then I put my boots in the boxes, along with my winter scarves and put them up on the shelf! My boots used to live in the grey dresser, but now that they are away in storage, my rainboots took over their old spot in the dresser. There is really no where else to store tall boots like them! They used to just sit out.I was finally done!


Closet before:

Closet After:

Ah, so much better. No more scarves falling all over the place, the shoe rack is ready to show off my toes, and there is more storage!! My shelves now look like this!

I am hoping my sewing machine will fit up on the lower shelf (obviously will need to shift the detergent and bleach a bit). We shall see!!


PS, I thought I would mention how I store gloves and clutches. I use one of those hanging shoe storage contraptions that you can buy at Walmart or Ikea. I cut off most of the pockets and I hung it back on the shelving so it fits father back, but still leaves room underneath for the shoes.

It is really handy because I can easily grab a pair of gloves or a clutch without digging around in a basket or box or something!


Anywho, I am super happy to have cleaned this bad boy out. It feels so good to banish the winter boots and scarves and start wearing my sandals and blazers again :)