Skeletons in the Walk-in Closet

I went on a closet-cleaning rampage this week.

I started with the master bedroom walk-in closet. As walk-in closets go, this one is not very big. To make matters worse, there is only one row of hanging space with a shelf above it, and nothing else. I originally started with the idea of redoing this closet this past spring. I went as far as getting quotes from quite a few closet places, but then decided that I really didn’t care enough about it to pay that much money. Plus I’m lazy. Plus Robbie would have had to install it and he’s, truthfully, a little lazy too, although not as lazy as me.

I don’t have any before pictures to show you, but I will tell you that I had suitcases taking up all the shelf space, and shoes taking up all the floor space. I like shoes. I like shoes a lot. Robbie counted them the other day and informed me that I have 40 pairs. I could go out right now and buy 5 more pairs and wear every single pair, plus the pairs I already own. I love shoes. And therefore have a lot of them. When I pointed out to Robbie that I wear every single pair, he looked at them for a few minutes and then said, “Yeah, I guess you do.”

Here’s the closet after I cleaned it up:

Note the boots on top of the drawers. I made 3 purchases for my clean-up: 2 hanging shoe bags for $10 each and a standing set of plastic drawers for $12. I already had 2 sets of plastic drawers, so those were free. I also already had a floor shoe rack. I moved the suitcases out of the top shelf and put my bulky blankets and pillows up there instead. (The suitcases are going in the attic– We don’t travel much.) I’m now thinking I should really get one of those things where you put you stuff in a bag and then vacuum out all the air and make it flat. Then I would have tons of space.

Here are a few more “after” shots of the closet:

Above is my side of the closet, with a lot of my shoes under my short stuff and some boots under the long stuff. I also used part of the top shelf for sweaters. They’re really too bulky to go in the dresser drawers nicely.

Above is Robbie’s side. I gave him the option of either a floor shoe rack or a hanging one and he opted for hanging. I don’t think men’s shoes fit as well in the hanging shoe racks, but he doesn’t mind, and he’s the one who has to get at them anyway. I have a lot of space under his short clothes now which I haven’t decided what to do with. It will probably end up being where the GoodWill bag goes (and gets ignored for months and months until it is way too giant to haul, at which point I will decide that it is actually time to go to GoodWill and give it away, and I will give myself a hernia lifting it into the trunk of my car).

In the next installment of Sonja Goes All Closet Nazi, I will show you the less impressive coat closet reorg. Because I know you care. I know it.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Look! Creative Shoe Storage Using Ladders (apartmenttherapy.com)
• More tips for tiny closets (timesunion.com)
• Stuck with a tiny closet? Here’s a solution (timesunion.com)

No related posts.