Closets and Cocktails

on Monday, August 24, 2009

As you may recall, I completed a closet organization project back in January. In this organization effort, I put each pair of shoes I own into a plastic container and affixed a photo of the shoes on the outside of the container for easy identification. The closet looked fantastic afterward! To refresh your memory...








I was so happy with the result...until I had to live with it. Through this project, I learned a very valuable organization lesson -- stacking doesn't work. It seemed like such a great idea in theory, but in reality it did not function well. Having to pull out the 5th or 6th container down in a stack was becoming such a pain that the shoes stopped being put back into their containers and started collecting in a pile at the bottom of my closet, totally defeating the purpose of the containers.


So, back to the drawing board I went. I had to figure out something that was organized AND functional. After much consideration and scouring of the Internet, I figured out the perfect (and most obvious) solution! Shelves! Originally I was going to put shelves in on my side of the closet only but then I had my second brilliant revelation. Kick my husband out (of the closet that is)! He gladly obliged, as that closet was just not big enough for the two of us. So, with all my new found closet space, I had my handy hubby install shelving in each side of the closet. One side has shelving for shoes...
My beautiful shoe containers in all of their glory! And, I added a shallow basket on the bottom to hold flip flops and flats...


Look at all the floor space I gained by getting the shoes off the floor!




This photo is a tad dark, but the shelves on this side are for tank tops, t-shirts, hats, boots, my work bag and the purse I am currently using. This give me easy access to my most commonly used items. And, I even have a shelf with nothing on it! I figured it was probably a good idea to give myself a little extra space to grow into.


Sweaters are still up top and still organized by color. But, they've been shifted to the middle for easy access. My other favorite purses and bags are stored on each side of the top shelf so I can rotate whenever I feel like it.




And, just because I love it so much and am so proud -- my shoes again!



So, that's it! My beautifully organized, and fully functional, closet! Organization really does make life so much more simple!


Best part of the project: It cost us zero dollars and zero cents! We found the wood for the shelving at John's grandmother's house and cut each shelf to size with John's father's various man-saws. We also pre-drilled the holes for the shelf supports with John's father's man-drill. And, labor was free :-)


Worst part of the project: See, installing shelves in a closet isn't exactly the most exciting of projects, so we decided it would be a lot more fun with cocktails. And, it was :-) But, sadly, I am feeling the effects of my indulgence today :-( Oh well, small price to pay for such an awesome closet!!!