Warning: The "before" pictures of my disorganized house contain graphic images of messiness and chaos. Please resist the urge to un-friend me after seeing the condition I let my closets get in this past year. I promise I have reformed my ways!!
Okay, a couple months ago I posted this plea for intervention after my epic disorganization led to an embarrassing forgetful mommy moment that affected Teya at preschool. Thankfully I got some great ideas in the comments of that post and I have been putting them to use over the last few months. Here are some results of my rehabilitation.
You may remember this picture, the table of doom where important papers, bills and mail would get sucked into a black hole and be lost, forgotten or destroyed by the kids.
Goodbye table of doom, hello table of order!
Several people suggested I buy filing trays to sort my mail right when it comes in. Now I grab the mail, immediately throw away the junk, then sort the mail into magazines, correspondence, invites/announcements/events and bills to be paid. I also bought a little mail holder to put my outgoing mail in so I can just grab it when I'm going out and stick it in the mail. Last of all I bought the little organizer drawers to put coupons, gift cards and important receipts in.
And now I'll address my closets. This is embarrassing, but here we go.
Despite the pictures you are about to see I actually keep a relatively tidy house. (Yeah, sure, Becca, we believe you.) Seriously! But my closets are my weakness. Out of sight out of mind, and since I was pregnant most of last year and then dealing with a new baby for most of this year my closets got seriously neglected. Anyway one day I read this post and I got inspired to just pull out the trash bags and take back my closets! I attacked them with two mantras:
1) A place for everything and everything in it's place
2) If you don't need and and don't use it, Throw it away!
So here's how it went:
Laundry closet before: There is a radio on my dryer. There is also a box of decorations from Teya's 4th b-day party a year and a half ago on the shelf. The pampers box had papers in I haven't' touched since we moved here. There is also a basket of socks that don't have mates but I kept holding on thinking one day they'd magically reappear. Also there is no where to put folded clothes in here.
Laundry closet after: I threw away the papers, threw away the socks without mates then started making a place for everything else. I stored a few things in the basement and put other things where they should go. Now I can actually fold my laundry in here. So much better!
This closet is also in my laundry room/bathroom. I'm sure it's for linens but I use a closet upstairs for that so it's become my paper goods, party dishes, tools, batteries, lightbulbs and random junk storage. problem is, could never find things in here.
Did some more throwing away and place designating and now I can actually see the floor and find stuff I need.
It really helped to put this shoe organizer in here for little things like batteries, lighters, matches, light bulbs etc... A place for everything and everything in it's place!
Coat Closet: Sadly I did not stage this picture.
This is honestly the horrendous state it was in when I came to work on it. This closet has been my nemesis all summer. I never got around to fully de-wintering it so it still had lots of winter gear it it and all our random bags would just get thrown in here on the floor and it was a huge mess. We also keep all our running gear in here but it didn't really fit in those drawers and everything was overflowing.
Brought in some bigger storage drawers for the running gear and all those bags. Also put some baby gear like the snugli and Cam's beach tent in one of the drawers. Filled up a box for goodwill of old shoes that nobody wears that were taking up tons of space. Also put old jackets and winter gear in the good will box. Made a place to hang my purse and put our church bag so it's ready to grab on Sunday mornings. Threw lots of stuff away.
Me and this closet are finally friends again.
(Brinley in the Good Will Box. She was not included in our donation ; )
So embarrassing as it is to post those before pictures, I'm really happy to have my closets back. My main strategy was to put things in one of three categories: trash, donate, or find a it a proper home.
Next up: The kid's closets, my closet and the linen closet. Should go pretty quickly now that I'm on a roll : )
8 comments:
YOU ARE AMAZING!!! Great job Bec! One thing we can always count on with you is that when you put your mind to something, you GET IT DONE! Everything looks wonderful and I bet you feel wonderful too. Organization truly makes a happy home!
Why are "before" and "after" pics so much fun to look at? Way to go with the organizing. We are truly birds of a feather--I think I might have you beat in the "lack of organization" category. although we have been working on organizing this house the past few days, and are starting to make some progress. It feels good to have things in order, doesn't it? nice hustle.
Great job, Becca!
Wanna come do mine? (I hate cleaning closets)
That is awesome! I am totalyl gonna have to copy you. Sadly enough, we have been in our new house for less than TWO months, and we already have some areas that look like this. Ha ha. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and buy some of these same things to get us organized! Thanks for motivating me! :)
Becca, I seriously think you will be famous someday as a self-help guru. You're awesome!
This is so inspiring. Paul's gone to Colorado this week to hunt some elk. I'll think I'll take advantage of my alone time to get organized! Thanks!
Great job! I am so jealous of all of your storage space. What I wouldn't give for a coat closet in this tiny house! Keep up the good work, organization is so satisfying!
It feels weird to be commenting on this post now, after I just read the Cam scary post, but I did want to tell you how much I love your organization. I love before and after pictures! They are so much fun. And I want to come live in your house now with your organized closets. Few things make me happier, and yet I'm not good at doing it in my own house. I always stress out about unorganized closets/drawers, because even when they're shut, every time I walk by I think about how I hate that closet/drawer. Very motivating post! Also, I did something in my laundry room that I love - I'll emaail you pics, in case you want to do it (it's just a shelf above the washer/dryer that I put buckets on for each of the kids, so then I can pull clothes right out of the dryer and put them straight into their bucket.)
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