Emilee’s Closet Makeover
I would show you the before, but I just jump right into things and then remember to take pictures later. I’ll try to remember next time. Just vision the “before” with way too many clothes, that were too small and toys and things that she never even looked at. Here’s what it looks like now.
It was quite a chore deciding on what should be kept or given to someone else. Not on my part, but Emilee’s a pack rat so she was struggling with getting rid of anything. This was a 2 day process for her. First, putting things in piles. Then going through the piles and deciding what items were the most important to her. I still feel there’s more that can go, but this will do for now. The top shelf holds bedding, games, scrapbook supplies and dance videos and equipment. They’re all sorted in the black totes. I just realized that I still need to make tags for the totes.
Her dresses and dance costumes are on the left side of the closet.
And her shirts and sweaters are on the right, with her robe hanging from a hook.
I like to buy these stackable organizers, because they can be moved from room to room, depending on where they’re needed. These were in Adam’s room, but he didin’t need them anymore. They work perfectly for Emilee’s shoes now.
This hook holds her scarves for her tops and dresses.
I used 4 stackable organizers here. I had to buy 2 of them, but they were only $12 each. I did secure these tall ones to the wall for safety reasons (I have young grandkids). I had all 4 of the green tote and 4 of the white ones, so I only had to buy 4 more. I think they were 2 for $10 at Wal-Mart. They fit perfect in the units. Her colors are yellow, green and black. I’m so excited I already had these green and black totes.
I just printed the simple labels on the computer. First I measured how big the opening was by tracing it on the paper that came with it, in the window. Then I decided how big the font could be. I could have gone a little bigger. Oh well!
Here they are finished. She has a place for everything now. Let’s see if she can keep it that way. It’s been this way for a few weeks, so far so good.
Like I told you last post, we’re redoing Emilee’s room, but on a strict budget. The closet total so far is $44. I still have one more thing I need to do before it’s complete. I’ll give you a hint: It has to do with the doors.
Oh, I forgot, the little basket on the floor is for her dirty clothes. It’s small on purpose. She has to bring her clothes down to be washed every 2 days because of it’s size. Since I do laundry everyday, that’s perfect.
Don’t forget We’re Organized Wednesday is next week, May 26th. Have you organized anything yet? You still have one more week, so get busy. Share with everyone what you’re been working on. We can’t wait to see your organized space and any ideas or tips you have to share. And as always, there’s a giveaway!
I’m linking to:
Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family
Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts
Spotlight Yourself at It’s So Very Cheri
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
Frugalicious Friday at Finding Fabulous
Home and Family Friday at Home Is Where My Story Begins
Inspired By at The Inspired Room
Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest
Friday Fun Finds at Kojo Designs
Remodelaholics Anonymous Meeting at Remodelaholic
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
Trash to Treasure at Reinvented
Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie
Filed under Closets, General organizing | Comments (26)
Organized Boys’ Bedroom
I took some of the toys from the boys’ bedroom up to the playroom in this post. First, we established what they mostly played with in each area. In the playroom are the weapons, spy gear, hat and dress-ups and vehicles. That still left a lot of toys in the bedroom, but also opened up more storage in empty totes and drawers. I like to use storage units, totes, baskets and drawers that can be taken down, when they’re no longer needed and moved to other areas. I was able to take these out of the boys closet, which gave them a lot more floor space in there.
The Power Rangers, Small Rescue Heroes, Mega-Man Action Figures, Bakugans and some of the boys’ personal items are stored in the shoe organizer.
The stacking drawers hold Planet Heroes, Rescue Heroes, Action Figures, Lego’s and Transformers. The totes hold other toys in categories like: balls and marbles, animals, electronics, playmobiles. There’s also separate totes for Ammon’s and Zach’s special treasures (these are usually fast food toys that I toss every few months). Toys that come in cases or have smaller pieces, have been put in cases and are just on the shelves. I use stackable shelves too, that can be changed and moved around when needed. They are screwed to the wall at the top so they won’t tip over.
Storing Lego’s has always been a problem in our home. Ammon loves Lego’s and can build anything. Even when he was 4 he was building sets that said 7-12. I’ve tried the baggies, but he likes to mix and match the sets and would get frustrated. I tried them all in one big tote but he would just dump the whole thing out and leave them on the floor. So now I’m trying something new. I put them in buckets and placed the buckets in a drawer unit. Next to the buckets are all the instructions for the different sets. He can still mix and match, but they’re a little more contained. So far, it’s working. Zach also has a smaller tote for some of his specific sets and there’s a big tote for the sets they’re working on so they don’t have to break them apart.
I brought this table in their room so they now have a place to work on puzzles, games and Lego’s.
These hooks were from Ikea and under $2. They hold their jackets, sleeping bags, belts and flashlights.
Luckily my boys don’t have many clothes that need to be hung up. Ammon’s clothes are on red hangers and Zach’s are on blue.
We are still storing the games high in their closet until the basement’s finished. Luckily we have 9′ ceilings, plus they can’t get to the games unless they ask.
Their books are stored in the locker and they each have their own shelves.
They have hooks for their caps.
And a bulletin board for whatever they want to put on it. Ammon wanted the calendar because he’s in Chinese.
Ammon has a shelf for his pictures and trophy.
And Zach has one for his.
Their room isn’t very big and sometimes it’s hard for them to share such a small space, but at least we’ve moved some of the toys to the play room. It gives them more space to play in their room and they also have the toys upstairs to play with there.
Please don’t judge me on the decorating, it’s been this way since we moved in 6 years ago. They were only 10 months and 4 then. It’s definitely on my to-do list.
I’m linking to:
Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Hooking Up With HOH at House of Hepworths
Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge
Home and Family Friday at Home Is Where My Story Begins
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
Making the World Cuter Monday at Making The World Cuter
Market Yourself Monday at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie
Filed under Bedroom, Closets, General organizing | Comments (12)Transforming a Coat Closet Into a DVD Closet
What do you do with a coat closet when you don’t need it for coats anymore? What do you do when you have DVDs taking over your house? How about making a DVD closet. I had this great idea and luckily I have a handy Hubby to carry it out. This is the before:
Here’s the blank slate. Is this the tiniest coat closet you’ve ever seen?
Putting in the supports for the shelves. I wanted the DVDs to fit perfectly. We have a problem with kids trying to put DVDs in sideways and on top of one another. They won’t have that option anymore, because the shelves are just the right height and depth for DVDs:
Time for the shelves now. This took a lot of measuring and cutting. Luckily Hubby doesn’t swear or there could have been some bad words said at one point of this project:
Now it was my turn to take over with the painting. Hubby isn’t allowed to paint anymore. He’s not very patient and really doesn’t enjoy it:
This is where the DVDs used to be stored:
Taking up a lot of room in my small dining area. I am so happy to get this space in my dining area back:
The kids helped me put all the movies in the new closet:
PG-13 movies are on the higher shelves (they have to ask first for these), PG movies are in the middle and G movies are on the bottom shelves:
You’re not going to believe this, but we couldn’t fit all the cartoon and Disney movies in the closet. Luckily we have storage for those in the TV stand. What do you think? I love this new storage area for all of our DVDs and I’m pretty confident it will stay like this because of the custom fit shelves:
Oh, how I do love an organized closet!
I’m linking to:
Organization Party for LUFF’s at Our Suburban Cottage
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch
Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick
Make It For Monday at Cottage Instincts
DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land
Talented Tuesday at My Frugal Family
Trash to Treasure at Reinvented
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design
Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Get YOur Craft On Thursday at Life as Lori
Creative Cats at Poppies at Play
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Victory of the Week at Design-aholic
Toot Your Horn Tuesday at Silly Little Sparrow
Filed under Closets, General organizing | Comments (21)While The Boys Are Away
Hubby and the little boys had a guys night out. So where do 9 and 6 year old boys want to go when they have a chance to go somewhere fun with their Dad. Apparently, the Monster Truck Show. Hubby got tickets so they could go to the Pit Party before the show and get a closer look at the trucks.
They were so excited!
I asked Hubby if it was cold there, because of the beanies and gloves. It wasn’t, but apparently their ear plugs stayed in better with the beanies and Ammon just wanted to keep his gloves on.
This was their favorite part.
Hubby gave the camera to the boys so they could snap a few pictures too.
They had such a fun time with Dad and couldn’t wait to tell us girls all about it.
So, this is what I did while they were away. I organized the boys’ closet. It wasn’t really too bad, but with 2 boys sharing one small room and closet, I really have to stay on top of it. Luckily, they don’t have many clothes that need to be hung up, so not much of the bar gets used. Toys are stored in the pull out drawers in catagories, such as: trains, tranformers, action heros, animals, etc. Bins are placed on the shelves to store other toys, such as weapons, spy gear, pirates, etc. and one bin is for their shoes. The shelves can be moved around later if needed, but are secured to the wall at the top for now. On the wall to the left are their hanging things, like jackets, belts, sports bags, etc.
Family games are stored at the top of the closet on more shelving. The ceilings are 9′ tall and the boys can’t reach up there anyway, so I thought this would be a good place to store the games.
I have an issue with posters all over the room or on the closet door, but putting them on the closet wall works for all of us. The boys are happy with their posters and I don’t have to see them, when the closet door is closed.
The over the door shoe organizer is used for their action figures and small treasures. Everything is labeled so they can put things back where they go. Also, so someone else can help them clean up besides me.
The boys are going to be getting their own rooms in about a month, so that should help a lot with the problem of space. Until then, this works pretty well and they keep it cleaned up as much as 9 and 6 year olds do.
After their room was organized, the girls and I went to dinner at Mimi’s. The girls wanted to go there, because they had never eaten there before. It was yummy and Emilee even had 2 desserts.
It was a great night for everyone and I got the boys’ closet organized. They played in their room this morning and didn’t even notice a few their things were no longer there.
I’m linking to:
Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple
Filed under Closets | Comments (4)Why Not Organize Something Wednesday
So I’m trying something new. Every wednesday I’m going to post about some kind of organizing project. It could take just a few minutes or a few hours, but hopefully it will help you to be motivated to become more organized in different aspects of your life.
According to the National Association of Professional Organizers at least 65% of us admit to having moderately disorganized homes and 71% say their life would improve if they were better organized. How would your life improve if you were better organized? Today, take a box to your bedroom closet and take out 15 items that no longer fit, are too worn to wear, don’t belong there, or you just don’t like anymore. If it no longer fits or you just don’t want it anymore take it to a donation center. If it’s too worn, toss it or recycle it in some way. If it doesn’t belong there, put it where it goes. How long did that take you? Probably not more than 10 minutes. If you have more time, try another closet. I bet your closet looks better already and you have a little more room for the things that really belong there. Working toward being organized can take as little as 10-15 minutes a day with results that you can see to keep you motivated. Don’t you just feel better when you have an organized closet?
Office/Study Closet Makeover
I was so excited to get started on this closet that I just started taking things out and making piles that I forgot to take before pictures. Sorry about that. This closet is in an office/study where the mom does her work from home and the kids come home from school and do their homework. It needs to be able to accommodate everyone’s needs in the family and they need to be able to have their separate spaces. Someday this is probably going to be turned back into a guest room, so they needed to have shelving that could be taken out and even used somewhere else later.
After taking everything out of the closet, I washed the walls, vacuumed the carpet and cleaned off things we were going to still be able to use in the closet. I found a cute pencil drawing on the back wall of the closet that was drawn by one of her boys, right after they had moved in, about eight years ago. Of course, I left it there. We then threw away or gave away things that were not needed or wanted anymore. That got rid of a lot of clutter and left more space for necessary items.
We then put the remaining items in categories: computer, photos, reference books, kids things, work related, church related, etc. Then I could tell how much space they needed in each area. I assembled the shelves, put them in the closet and secured them to the wall. Then it was just a matter of returning items to the shelves and labeling everything. I was able to use some of the drawers she already had to save money and found the shelves on sale for 25% off.
We also found, way back in the closet, an awesome series of pictures that had been taken on a family rafting trip. You could just see how much fun they were having together as a family on that trip. It was hung in the office to remind them of their fun times together and the many more to come.
This side of the closet has photos in boxes, office supplies, manuals, computer paper and a cork board. The cork board is for weekly and daily work and homework projects and assignments.
This side of the closet has drawers for the kids special school assignments and projects, drawers for school, sports and group photos, and shelves for church, work, reading and filing. There are also shelves labeled A Day and B Day for the one that is in High School to keep assignments and class books separated.
The top shelves are for books and other supplies that are not often used. There’s still room available for school and work projects and supplies when needed. The five shelving units, two drawer units and bulletin board can easily be taken out of the closet when they want to change it back to a guest room.
Filed under Closets | Comment (1)Organize Your Children’s Clothes
· Completely empty the whole closet. The only items that should be returned to the closet are those articles of clothing or other items that are going to be used again. Don’t put clothing back that is too small, needs repair, is worn out, etc. This is for the initial organizing only.
· If you are not sure if an item fits your child anymore, have them try it on right now. Do the same with shoes.
· Make a list of items you need to purchase and then replenish them in the next few weeks.
· Go through your child’s clothes twice a year. Spring and Fall are great time to do this.
· Donate gently used clothing and shoes that no longer fit or hand them down to younger children. Store them in totes labeled with the gender and size. Only keep clothes you know will be used again.
· Install a second, lower closet rod in your child’s closet so they can reach their own clothes and hang them up.
· Have a clothes hamper in each child’s room and teach them to put their soiled clothes in it.
· Add risers to bed for under bed storage. Use old dresser drawers and paint to match room, add drawer pulls and corner casters so they pull out easily. If you don’t have space for a dresser in their room this is great for clothes. It would also work for games, puzzles, art supplies, etc. Use two or three drawers depending on how much room you have under the bed.
· Help your children choose their clothes for the next day before they go to bed or better yet for the whole week.
· You could devote a narrow shelf or hanging shelf to each day of the week for their school clothes. Label the shelves with the days of the week and don’t forget to watch the weather forecast.
· I saw another really fun way to organize clothes for school days on a morning show. They took wood pant hangers and adhered scrapbook paper to the wood part. Next they labeled each hanger with a day of the week. You could mod podge it over the scrapbook paper or use a hangtag. Then they embellished the hanger. You can decorate it however you like. Use buttons, ribbons, charms or anything to coordinate with the paper.
· Hang a baseball cap rack on the back of your child’s closet or bedroom door to keep caps off the floor and organized. Make sure your child can reach them and put them away without your help.
· Use hooks so children can hang up their own coats, jackets, robes, bags, backpacks, etc.
· Shoe racks are hard for little children to use so use a medium size tote or bin that can contain all your child’s shoes.
· Hang ties and belts from special hangers or hooks inside the closet.
· Babies have so many clothes, some they might not even get to wear if they aren’t kept organized by size. Keep the sizes all straight by using sizing hangers by Peek-a-Boo Closet Dividers. They can be purchased from A to Z Organizing to the right of your screen.
· If you have special accessories that only go with a specific outfit hang it on the same hanger so they’re always together and can always be found.
· Use different colored hangers for each child, especially if they share a closet.
· As a child gets older separate clothes into categories and store “like with like”: pants, shirts, shorts, pajamas, undershirts, etc. When they’re younger store their clothing in complete outfits for fast and easy retrieval.
· Make it easy for your child to get items and return items to their proper place so they’ll actually do it.
Filed under Bedroom, Children, Closets | Comment (1)Seasonal Clothing Rotation
Now is a good time to rotate the clothes in your closet from Spring/Summer to Fall/Winter. If you have a big walk in closet just move your summer clothes to the back and bring your winter clothes to the front. If you have a closet in a guest room or another room you can move your seasonal clothing to another closet. You can also use storage boxes with lids to store clothing under your bed or high in a closet.
Before you store any clothing away, empty the pockets and either launder or dry clean the items. Stains from perspiration, drinks or perfume could set in if not cleaned before storing. Do not store clothing in dry cleaner bags. The plastic doesn’t allow the clothing to breath and can turn them yellow over time. Use cloth garment bags if possible for long term storage or cover clothing with white sheets. Don’t store clothing in an unfinished basement, garage or attic. The extreme changes in temperature and humidity can cause clothing to be damaged.
If you’re in an area where moths are a problem make sure you take precautions. Purchase moth repellant made of cedar in the form of hangers, boxes, blocks or drawer liners. Sand the cedar seasonally to emit the moth repelling scent. Heavy clothing like sweaters or beaded gowns should be folded with muslin or acid free tissue paper to prevent creases. The longer items are going to be stored, the more care should be taken. Use plastic or wood hangers, never wire hangers, for everyday and for storage.
Now is also a good time to switch your over-the-door shoe organizer in your hall closet from Spring/Summer to Fall/Winter. Take out those sunscreens, bubbles, swimsuits, bug repellant, and rain ponchos. Replace them with gloves, beanies, scarves, mittens and hand warmers. Now your wardrobe is ready for winter.
Filed under Closets | Comment (0)Organizing Your Bedroom Closet
Opening the door to a well organized closet is a peaceful way to start the day. Wouldn’t you love to be able to open your closet and pick out an outfit to wear for any occasion in 20 seconds or less. Well, I can teach you how and it will only sting for a minute. Did you know that most people wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time? That’s a lot of clothes taking up valuable room in our closets that we rarely, if ever, wear.
First things first. Empty the whole closet. That’s right, take everything out of the closet. You’ll be amazed what you’ll find. While the closet’s empty you might as well wash the walls, shelfs, rods and vaccum the floor.
Now it’s time to go through your clothes and decide what to keep, give away or throw away. You will need four boxes for sorting: put away (things you are keeping, but do not belong in your bedroom closet) give away, throw away and store away. Ask yourself these questions about each article of clothing: Would you buy this again today? Is it easy to wear and care for? Do I feel good when I wear this? That should weed out the obvious duds. Next, try on the clothes you’re not sure of. Don’t keep those clothes that are 2 sizes too big or small. What a waste of space and you don’t want to get back into those clothes that are too big anyway. If you have to think about keeping an item for a minute or longer, it is probably not worth keeping. This goes for clothes and anything else. If you still have some indecision, I have one more trick for you. When it’s time to put your clothes back in the closet hang all the hangers on the rod backwards. As you wear an item place the hanger on the rod the right way. If the hanger is still turned backwards after 6 months, donate the item. Your husband might think you’re crazy, but it really works.
You’re almost ready to start putting your clothes back in your closet. First, you need to get rid of all those wire hangers. Run to the store and buy those thick plastic hangers. They are so inexpensive (10 for $1) and make your closet look so much neater. They also force your clothes to hang further apart to help prevent wrinkles and they don’t get tangled in one another. I prefer the white ones for my closet, but each member of my family has a different color.
As you’re returning your clothes to your closet, Keep Like With Like! This means categorize: pants, skirts, dresses, shirts, etc. Next, hang categories grouped by color. This makes selecting and coordinating outfits quicker and easier. Say you need a red shirt to go with those gray pants, you could pick out those items in a manner of seconds. Hang your skirts on skirt hangers to save on space (keep colors together). Add a lower rod to your closet to add to or even double hanging space. It’s so quick and easy. Put your shoes on some kind of shoe rack, not on the floor. Get rid of all your shoes that look 10 years old or hurt your feet. You know you’re never going to wear them again. Remember, waste of valuable space. I prefer cubbies or shelves, but you could also use metal racks, depending on how many shoes you have and how much closet space. Put your belts, scarves, hats, ties, etc. where you can see them for fast and easy retrieval. I love hooks, all kinds of hooks. They work for everything and they’re inexpensive. Remember, like with like in everything.
Do not put anything back in your closet that does not have a home there. Ie: bags from stores, school supplies, kids items, things that have a home in another room, etc. Don’t buy something just because it’s on sale. Take an inventory of your closet and only buy what you need, and what makes you feel good about yourself when you try it on. I organized a clients closet and she ended up having 19 black sweaters and 13 white button down shirts. Eight of them still had the tags on them. She had wasted time, money and space not knowing what was in her closet. Keep a bag or basket in the bottom of your closet where you can toss items to donate. Take to a charity when the bag is full. Don’t forget to use the valuable space on the inside of the closet door. This is a perfect place for your exercise clothes, pj’s, sweat jackets, robes, etc. Put sweaters on shelves and categorize by color for quick retrieval. Wow, now you have an organized closet. Don’t you feel so much better and think of how much time you will save picking out that perfect outfit for a day with the kids or a night out with your husband. Time is money and an organized closet is peace of mind.
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