Gift Closet
When the going gets tough, I get organizing. It’s what I do to zone out and not think about anything else. It works amazingly well. The payoff at the end is awesome and it helps me to feel more in control when things around me might not necessarily be so. I’ve been wanting to tackle my gift closet for awhile because I knew I was going to run out of room to shove things in pretty soon :)
This armoire use to be used as my bedroom closet in my old house. When we moved into our new home 5 years ago and found ourselves with plenty of closet space in our bedroom, I moved the armoire into my office where there is no closet. It now serves many functions but the biggest one occurs around the holidays when I need somewhere to stash gifts for family and friends.
This is what it looked like last week:
And now it looks like this:
As you can see I finally had a chance to get everything out of the plastic bags and into some kind of order.
The two white drawers on the bottom shelf hold wrap and tissue paper in one drawer and party supplies in the other. The other tote beside it holds our warranties and manuals and above that is the tote I use for my occasion cards. The brown bag on the other side holds all my extra gift bags inside.
The two baskets on the middle shelf hold gifts I’ve found on sale and already purchased.
You’ll notice I’ve added two cardboard boxes to the top shelf. That’s because those are gifts that need to be mailed away. As I complete the list of things I need to purchase to send off I can continue to add them to the correct box. This allows me to keep everything going to one place contained and organized in the meantime. Then once I mail off those parcels, that will free up space for me to store my own family’s gifts.
How do I keep track of gifts purchased?
I use a simple notebook that I use year after year. Each year I write the new year at the top of a blank page and then write the names of all the people I will need to buy gifts for including birthdays and Christmas. As I purchase items I mark what was purchased into my notebook so I have a running list of what was bought and still needs to be bought. This system has worked well for me for years. It’s easy to use, I can bring the notebook with me shopping if I need to and it keeps me from buying duplicates as I can easily look to see what I purchased in previous years. Not only do I not want to rely on this brain of mine to just remember that kind of stuff but by writing it down I am freeing up all kinds of mental clutter. Awesome!
Hopefully this helps someone with their own gift space. Even if you don’t have an armoire you can use, maybe you can free up some closet space somewhere else, space under a bed or even the attic to consolidate and organize all your gifts into one place. If that’s not possible then even getting a big box for a corner of your bedroom will work. Just make sure to put a big KEEP OUT sign on it :)
Where do you store your holiday gifts?
Coming up soon: Gift wrap stations
Organizing your clothes closet
If you live anywhere other than the end of nowhere like I do you might actually be experiencing spring right now. I, however, am not. I envy you because we are so not anywhere near pulling out our spring and summer clothes any time soon. However if you are one of the lucky ones seeing the sun and the grass and the birds (sniff, sniff) then this weekend you might want to spend some time rotating out your seasonal clothes. Come on it’ll be fun! :)
Does that sound daunting? It doesn’t need to be. Check out these posts for a little kick in the behind motivation.
Let’s face it letting go of clothes can be hard. Lara, The Lazy Organizer, shares with you what she learned as she went through her own closet and how she was able to finally part with items that weren’t meeting her established criteria.
Mandi from Organizing Your Way recently discussed a step by step plan to walk you through rotating your seasonal wardrobe and included the pros and cons of each step.
Sometimes we get attached to certain outfits for sentimental reasons. Check out how Tanna from Complete Organizing Solutions solved this common problem. Love it!
I wrote a post of my own last fall showing you the process I take myself as I exchange my clothes out for the season. It is a big job but definitely so worth it.
Finally, and this is so important, remember that organizing rules are meant to be broken. Debbie from Virtually Organized explains why. Do what works for you even if it doesn’t make sense to anyone else. Don’t sweat it!
Let me know how you make out and if you remember to take “before” pictures you’ll be well on your way to participating in this month’s Organizing Round-Up.
Have fun!
Organizing the master bedroom ~ get the clothes off the floor
Why is it that so often that the master bedroom gets neglected? It can quickly become a dumping ground with surfaces becoming piled high with clutter and clothes. Maybe it’s because the master bedroom isn’t generally a room guests see so it’s easy enough to throw things in and quickly shut the door or maybe it’s just last on the list because so many other areas in the house need tending to first.
Whatever the reason I’d like to challenge you a little bit on that today. We spend so much time in our bedrooms, and yes most of that time is sleeping, but it’s also a place we come to unwind and relax and eventually sleep after a long day. Tell me how a cluttered room can be relaxing? It’s a constant reminder of something that still needs to be done, it’s not so easy to turn that off when it’s all around you. You deserve better than that. I know everyone reacts differently but visual clutter could be why you are having trouble falling asleep at night. This is the case with my daughter and I always know when it’s time to organize her room again. I’ve posted about that before here and here.
It’s time to create a sanctuary in our bedrooms, a retreat clear of clutter and chaos, a place to settle in with a good book, a good rest or you know “whatever else” WITHOUT the distractions of crap stuff everywhere.
What better time then now during April’s Monthly Round-up. Challenge yourself to work on it a little bit every day, I can assure you that it will be worth the effort.
This weekend if you are still wondering where to start may I suggest starting with the clothes. Clothes do not belong on the floor so gather up all the stray clothes that are without a home right now and pile them on the bed. Quickly sort through them creating smaller piles as you go…..laundry, donate, toss, put away and relocate. Consider the possibility that if clothes are ending up on the floor it could be we have too many clothes for the amount of space we have.
Is your closet too full? Do you need to make room in there? Start by removing everything. I know, everyone things I’m crazy with this step but I can assure you that the sorting process goes so much more quickly this way. Keep the clothes you wear and love!
Some helpful guidelines to remember:
- If you haven’t worn it in a year, it goes.
- If you don’t like it, it goes.
- If it doesn’t fit properly, it goes.
- If it needs ironing and you never wear it because you hate to iron, it goes.
- If you don’t wear it because it’s stained or ripped, it goes (if you haven’t done anything about it by now chances are pretty good you never will).
- If you hate the color on you, it goes.
- Hang out of season clothes together on one side of your closet or keep them in totes on the shelf of your closet or under your bed.
- Face all your hangers the same direction.
- Throw out those awful wire hangers.
- Weed out any one item you have way too many of.
What you want to do is free up your closet space for the clothes that you wear regularly. If you have clothes that are too small in your closet that you hope to fit into again soon and don’t have the heart to part with yet may I suggest also boxing them up and storing them separately so they aren’t taking up valuable closet space.
Those fortunate people with bigger closets don’t have to be as ruthless but if you only have a small closet you are going to have to be tough with yourself. I’ve noticed that many people keep clothes because of an emotional attachment they may have to them, which is fine if you have the space, however if you don’t then you really need to think about the space you are sacrificing to keep that particular item and whether or not it’s worth it.
Once you set your mind to it and tackle those clothes I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly it actually goes. I’ve also found it’s especially helpful to have a friend working along side you to offer their opinion, where appropriate, to keep things moving along.
Good luck!
Related posts:
Organizing clothes for the seasons
Storage Star ~ Keeping track of puzzle pieces…..
Today I want to introduce you to Jana of Kermette’s Korner, who shared with me how she keeps her puzzles organized. Here is what she has to say:
I have four boys and puzzle boxes never last. They also think they have to do more than one at a time, which gets confusing. I put the puzzles together with my kids and then when we were done I wrote the same letter on the back of each piece. Then I cut out the picture from the box and put all of it in a zipper gallon size bag. That way the kids can zip it up too. I have taken a whole shelf of puzzles and condensed it to two large buckets with room to grow. When pieces get left out it is really easy to find where they go, because they are all marked.
I love this idea and have actually used it myself to organize the puzzles at the church so I know it works well. The boxes always seemed to get stepped on and squished anyway. Also what a terrific space saving idea as well. Be sure to head on over to read Jana’s post to see how the puzzle bins fit into her lovely organized toy closet! Those clear bins are the best, I really do love them!
Thanks for sharing Jana!
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