The "Coat" Closet

BEFORE...

Our coat closet doesn't hold many coats...mostly craft supplies, a few costumes and my little girls dresses.

THE TOOLS

And MORE TOOLS

I don't know what my problem was today but I had the munchies big time and I just kept getting side tracked...I'd work a little in the closet, then go do some laundry, back to the closet, to the kitchen for a snack, back to the closet, vacuum the office and bedroom, back to the closet. No wonder I was so hungry...I was getting quite the work out.

THE PROCEDURE

(See the last 2 posts)

I ALWAYS find treasures when cleaning and organizing.

Today I found a long lost treasure for the husband hidden on the top shelf...

He saw this and said, "Man, I could've really used that all winter". Mom, I think you and Dad gave this to him, he thanks you, again.
The husband is a rebel and made sure not to wear a stitch of green today...the 5 year old was so worried her dad would get pinched she gave him that cute little sticker.

AFTER...

D tells us I hope you realize the neater you are the more space you save. Don't let things get in a mess just to take time out periodically to straighten them. "Drawer and closet cleaning time" should be just a few moments for special sorting and dusting.

Clearly I need to get my act together since this closet took me 3 hours with all my distractions.

Check out the space on that bottom shelf...next week I've got a project that will fill it...any guesses as to what that might be?

The Pantry Project cont...

I had a dentist appointment this morning (FYI I was dressed and ready for the day by 9:15am)...a simple cleaning turned terrible when I was told I needed a crown. How does one possibly keep a good attitude when one has to shell out a thousand dollars for a little piece of porcelain??? By the time I got home from the dentist and running errands my time was limited so I decided to just clean the floor of the pantry...which was it's own project in and of itself, as you'll soon see.

BEFORE...

I don't know if the pictures do it justice. The door to the pantry would barely open and just this last Saturday I got my foot stuck trying to go behind it.

A little black hole to explore...



THE TOOLS



THE PROCEDURE

Clearing the floor went pretty quickly...there was a lot of stuffed crammed into that little space. I'll be honest, I was pretty relieved not to see any mice droppings.

Seeing this made me gag a little bit...it's hair that had fallen from the broom hanging right above this area. Little treasures from many many haircuts. I shop vac'd then Shark vac'd, wiped everything down, then I moved on to sorting and chucking.

So here's some "in case there's a power outage" supplies. I tried out all the flashlights and only one worked (note to self, add emergency preparedness project to my list).

I condensed all of this...

to this :)

AFTER...

From left to right... the only things that returned to the floor were items I use often and everything can be seen and is easily accessible.

How many of you have a 5 gallon bucket for popcorn? We so love popcorn! It's a staple around this house!

The baby likes to haul the pop bottles all over the house so I strategically placed them behind the pantry door...pretty genius huh?

So the plan for tomorrow is to tackle the rest of the pantry...
I looked to D for some direction because I'll be honest, the pantry overwhelms me but I guess they didn't have pantry's in those days because she says nothing about them. But she does give some advice for closets, that's in the same family right? Basically the only advice applicable is to devote an entire day to them, remove contents, vacuum or wash the interior, and replace the contents in a systematic way...Good news! I just found more info in the cupboard section...be sure and sort food products--throw away any item that looks the least bit suspicious of being spoiled. Great advice D! I'll keep that in mind and hope for the best.

The "Coat Hallway"

Before...

Funny story...A couple of weeks ago my husband tells me, "We should really do something about those coats down the hallway, there's way too much stuff on those hooks". So, I wait, hoping by WE he meant HE...but apparently he meant ME so here we go.

The Tools
(Had to bring out the MAN tools for this project)



The Procedure

I started by clearing the hooks and everything below them (finally put away that emergency porta-potty the parents gave us for Christmas).



That went so quickly that I figured I might as well clean the magnet board too.



I needed 2 couches to hold everything...



Interesting...the husband needed his very own couch for all his coats and jackets :)

Some stuff I had forgotten was even there...Kim, I've been meaning to give you back these clothes for months!

A couple of craft projects waiting to be finished (see what you all have to look forward too?!)
I put the things that didn't belong on the hooks away and then found new homes for all the coats that don't get much use.

I threw away a few things on the magnet board but I couldn't part with this picture. My 8 year old drew this a couple of years ago, back when she and her little sister loved each other...those were the days. On the upside, the girls both put "being nicer to my sister" as one of their goals for 2010.

AFTER...

The husband helped me out and hung these hooks--thanks Kev! In the past my little ones would just drop their coats on the floor because they couldn't reach...problem solved!

D 's advice for today is "Attitude begins with Gratitude"...learn and practice good homemaking skills (skills bring thrills!)...keep busy so you'll have only enough time to think positively. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS!

I'll have to remember that, "skills bring thrills"...If that's true, I should probably learn a few new skills.