I've started tackling the first hallway closet. Now, on to organizing the 2nd closet. Get prepared, this is not pretty! Here are the before pictures...
Definitely not pretty! This closet houses all of our cleaners, soaps, mops, etc. Usually, I label every container with masking tape and a sharpie. Not pleasing to the eye, but it was getting the job done.
After evaluating this closet, I have discovered I'm a collector of cleaners! No one needs this many different cleaners! I have cleaners for the vehicle, shoes, floor polish, glass, bathrooms, and the list goes on. My goal for the next 6 months is to use up what I have and stop purchasing more products and adding to the madness! Most of the cleaners are categorized by type and housed in cardboard boxes.
I live on an acreage and usually keep on hand items my family will use in the next few months. I don't have a store right down the street to pick up items readily. I shop sales and stock up on items if they are a good price and purchase what we will use up before the expiry dates on the product. In the end, these products have a home in my closets for a few months till they are used.
In the closet, one of the wicker baskets held batteries and the other held miscellaneous items like picture hanging supplies, small screw driver set, super glue (all the weird random stuff that a junk drawer collects and I use about 1 time a year).
The Rubbermaid tubs held personal care products like extra toothbrushes, toothpaste, contact solution, body wash and soap for the boys. One of the tubs holds sheets for covering vegetables up in the garden in case of frost. The diaper boxes hold air freshners, candles and miscellaneous items.
Here is the after...
Using more of the Real Canadian Superstore (RCSS) baskets, I was able to corral many of the items and reduce the clutter. On the very top shelf, I used 3 baskets to hold extra cleaners, hand soap, and Lysol wipes.
The cardboard boxes holding the cleaners got a facelift with pretty paper on the front. I'm hoping to get rid of some of these boxes once the cleaners are downsized in a few months. But I had to do something to spruce them up a bit in the mean time.
The battery basket got a new label attached with a simple green ribbon...much better!
Here are the before and after pics again for a comparison...
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| After |
Much easier to find things. I'm so happy to get rid of the old diaper boxes! In a few months, this closet will look even better once I use up cleaners and make simpler cleaning solutions. But so far this change is so much better!
Does anyone else "collect" cleaners?? (I know it is hard to admit!)
As Always,
Sandra
I've decided to undertake organization of the hallway closets next! The two closets are semi-organized. They definitely need some attention. I can usually find what I'm looking for but my husband gets frustrated. I can't blame him.
Here are some before pics for the 1st closet...
Not very pretty, I know! This closet is nearest to the bathroom. We don't have a closet in the bathroom so all the bathroom linens and supplies go in this closet. I also keep our extra pillows, bed linens, and blankets in this closet. I keep manuals and warranty information for our electronics, tools, and such in white banker's boxes. Currently, I have 4 of these boxes full!
I had been storing our medicine in our medicine cabinet in our bathroom until I saw Jen's post at IHeart Organizing on storing medication. I had no idea that the bathroom is probably the worst place to store medication. So since reading her great post, I have moved our medication to this hallway closet. I put the medicine in clear plastic shoe boxes until I can pretty it up a bit.
At the bottom, I keep extra diapers, baby wipes, toilet paper, and facial tissue. I also have reused some empty diaper boxes to hold our extra shampoo, lotion and other personal care products.
I made labels for all the containers I wanted to use on excel and printed them out on white letter paper. Then I cut out each label and laminated them.
Then I cut the labels out one last time.
I attached labels for the towels and linens by hole punching the label and tying the label onto the shelf with green ribbon. Now we can easily tell the difference between the double and queen size linen.
I moved our more readily used medicine into a clear plastic shoe box. I placed pretty paper in the inside of the box so it would hide the contents and clutter.
Behind the shoe box, I put all of our extra medicine and vitamins in a basket. I used these storage baskets I purchased from Real Canadian Superstore (RCSS) a few weeks ago to store most items. I attached most of the labels to the containers and baskets with velcro. I made sure to always stick the same side of the velcro to the container and the same one to the label. This way I can easily make changes to the contents of the containers later by switching the label.
I put all the first aid supplies in a green IKEA box. It was high enough to hold things like the bottle of rubbing alcohol. I stuck the label on the box with a couple of glue dots to the metal label holder on the box.
Here is the after picture of the 1st closet. I was able to get rid of one of the manual boxes so far, hoping to get rid of another in the near future. The diapers and pullups are now in light brown Rubbermaid containers at the bottom of the closet. Baby wipes and toilet paper are now in RCSS baskets at the bottom.
The closet definitely looks better than it did, but I know I can still do better. I haven't given up, I'm just taking a little break to brainstorm some new solutions.
Here are the before and after pics again...
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| After |
My next post will feature our 2nd hallway closet. Click here to view Hallway Closets Part 2!
Do you have any closet transformations or storage ideas?
As Always,
Sandra
