Part of the closet has always been my craft space since we moved in. I like to scrapbook and do paper crafts, so I need space to store all of the items I have (and I have MANY!) Since I'm not afforded a room like some people I know, I have claimed a closet for my shelves and things. I'm hoping in our next space I'll be able to have a desk and a corner of a room if not a room itself.
The other half of the closet was used as a guest closet when my father in law stayed with us for 6 months to help with childcare and my mother in law was here for two months for the same reason. I didn't want them living out of a suitcase for that amount of time so we shuffled some things around to give them space. We also used a portion of this side though as coat storage and miscellaneous storage for things like my wedding dresses and one of our undegraduate caps and gowns (why, oh why do we have this?) and a few other random things. And the shelf on the top holds the 4 bins of Christmas decorations we have (yes, we have 4 bins - and I could probably add a 5th now but I have nowhere to store it so I cram everything into the 4 still.)
So here is the closet before:
Please note the random things in this closet, including, bag of gift bags, computer case with no computer, speakers to a computer that don't work (I have no idea why we are holding onto these but I'm under strict instructions not to get rid of them), fans (below) and a roll of wrapping paper.
On my craft side, things just basically began to be shoved into here, since someone was living in the room for 8 months, I wasn't able to get in and craft. So anytime I had something I'd want to add to a scrapbook page, I'd just shove it into this closet. Also note, crammed in between the bins above are the overflow of Christmas - a tree skirt and three new Christmas stockings for next year (embroidered with our names on them and ordered for 50% off from Pottery Barn after Christmas 2010.)So I did the same thing and took everything out of the closet to see what could go where. I then went through it all and got rid of things that either didn't belong in this closet or I wouldn't use anymore (although I wasn't able to get rid of those dang speakers!)
My goal was to make what was the guest half of the closet into our linen storage, since our sheets had been stored in my son's room (logical place, right?) and our towels were stored partially in the guest bathroom and the other half along with cleaning rags, were stored on the top shelf of our pantry which is a tiny broom closet in our hallway. (Did I mention we have little to no storage in this house so I really have to be creative with finding places for things!)
So I got all of the linens and towels from around the house and arranged them all on the white shelves. I also added a two-shelf shelf to the far right of the closet, pushing it all the way in even to where it can't be seen. On the bottom shelf I put the odds and ends that couldn't go anywhere else (eh-hem, the speakers) and also the bag of gift bags and wrapping paper supplies. On the top shelf I put the extra guest pillows and two rolled up egg crate mattress pads that we use for our guests.
The end result was this:
It's not perfect but it's oh so much better. I've come to the realization that we have a lot of towels (and I got rid of some!) and a lot of sheets. But we use them all so we're keeping them until we don't. I put towels on the top shelf and the next two shelves are sheets (in sets) and the bottom are rags for cleaning as well as extra duvets and an extra bath mat.
And for the craft side, I didn't do much, since there wasn't a lot of option as to rearrange things, but I was able to do some organizing.
On the very top I have the ribbon spools, then there are some boxes I've had forever that hold markers, colored pencils and a few other miscellaneous things. Then on the left shelf I've got the first two containers are paper storage, some extra albums, and a tray of tools (scissors, brad stuff, etc.) On the bottom shelf I have some more tool storage, then the plastic bin has stamps arranged by type, and the other bin has ink and my paper cutters are here too.
On the right shelf are craft magazines on the top (along with some overflow of napkins and linen storage), then the second shelf is buttons, ribbon scraps and such (all in glass containers together.) The next shelf down has plastic containers with stickers and brads and embellishments, and punches, and the bottom shelf has an organizer that holds all of my alpha stickers and chip board and the other plastic bin holds photos for upcoming pages.
So once again, not perfect, but it works SO much better. And this re-organization cost me $0 which is even better!
1 comment:
I need to get my craft stuff organized. I have been trying to make a beaded necklace but I can't even find my box with beads in it. It's still in the boxed up from the move I think...
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