Today I procrastinated my picture organization by doing a little tweaking in my son’s (age 9) closet. It actually all started with the games cupboard in the basement which some of you will remember looks like this.
Nothing fancy but it does the job. Well see those puzzles on the bottom shelf? My middle son no longer uses those and I needed that prime real estate space for a few more games we received at Christmas. However I didn’t just want to get rid of the puzzles because I have a younger son that will eventually want to use them.
So I wandered my home for a little bit trying to figure out where I could store the puzzles in the mean time. My middle son’s closet is terribly underutilized so I figured that I’d make something work in there.
Here’s the stack of puzzles I was looking for a home for.
And here is the closet before. As you can it has a great shelf in the middle that was just a mish mash of stuff. The pile of out of season summer clothes in the middle is a great example of what happens when there are no boundaries established by containers.
So putting my plan together I knew I wanted to containerize the clothes and make room for the puzzles as well. I also could see that I had a bit of vertical space to play with. Armed with that information I once again started circling my house. Like an eagle looking for its next prey, I kept my eyes open for something that I could re-purpose here. I had an extra three drawer rolling storage unitthat I had a feeling would fit perfectly in this space. I simply popped the wheels off and slid it right in.
I moved my son’s asthma meds up to the top shelf as he doesn’t need them as often anymore and added those out of season clothes to one of the drawers. Miscellaneous odds and sods went into the other drawers. Most importantly I found space for all those puzzles and now I’m one happy momma 🙂
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Melonie K. says
Looks great! I need to hit my kids’ closets soon. My son’s is in pretty good order, but it’s a double closet and I plan to seize the empty half for storing other stuff. 🙂 My daughter’s – oyyyyy – it’s horrendous. Definitely Extreme Closet Makeover time for that child.
se7en says
Lovely – another clutter zone under control – fantastic! Don’t you just love to sort a mess out and everything comes together… I am always amazed at how quickly it happens when I just put my head down and do it… instead of putting it off… off… off!
The Happy Housewife says
That looks great. I was just thinking I needed to use containers to organize the baby stuff, since she will be living in our room for a while.
Toni
Organising Queen says
hey, I can’t wait to hear more about your picture reorganisation.
Did you see on my blog (in the comments) one lady got 2 computers cleared off of pics (burned them all to CD) and another did years worth and now only has March 2009 left.
Warms the cockles of my heart 🙂
Taylor at Household Management 101 says
I love before and after pictures! They are so inspiring.
Kim says
I take the puzzle pcs out of the box and cut the front picture off the box so they know what it’s supposed to look like and then place the pcs and the front of the box into a ziploc. I then store all the puzzles together in a BASKET(!) on a shelf.
Susanne says
I need to hit up my closet most definitely! I almost hate to look in it anymore.
Candace says
I like the idea of putting your sons asthma stuff in his closet. We have a nebulizer we rarely (thank God) use and it’s taking up valuable real estate in my kitchen cabinets!
Lyn says
That closet looks beautiful! I, like you, LOVE containers, and so, this picture is something that inspires me!
Tamie says
Well done!
susieshomemade says
It looks great:-)
Heidi @ Blue Eyed Blessings says
I will 100% agree with you that if there isn’t a container to contain, the “stuff” can get out of hand. Great little makeover!
Beverly Coggins says
Great blog, Laura. I always love seeing pictures of each step during your projects! You are amazing!
Blissful Babe says
My son’s closet makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit.
Looks great!
Lisa says
Our game closet looks good but just like yours its full of puzzles and games that no-one uses anymore but we don’t want to get rid of! Ugh!
Kim’s idea of cutting the front picture off the box and putting it with the pieces into a ziploc bag and then ALL the puzzles together in ONE BASKET is a super great idea! That will definitely free up a little space for me anyway. It’s a great start!
Lisa says
Nice job–as always! Gives me some ideas for the shelf in my laundry closet I’m tackling soon.
Alison says
Here’s a hint for keeping puzzle pieces organized: turn a completed puzzle and, using permanent marker, write a number or letter of the alphabet on every piece. Put the same number on the zipper bag where you dump the deconstructed puzzle.
That way, if a piece here and there ends up under the couch (trust me, they always do), then when you find it 3 months later, you know to which puzzle (and bag) that piece belongs.
Tip for moms of asthma sufferers: check out sites on celiac disease (www.glutenfree.com,www.celiac.com). I know several moms whose kids had only ONE symptom of celiac disease: asthma. When the celiac was treated (by diet, not by meds!), the asthma disappeared.
Jenna says
I also cut the picture off of the front of the puzzle box, then put the picture and the pieces in a ziploc bag in a basket.
We call the type of organizing you did today “If you give a mouse a cookie…” because of the children’s book.
kerri says
My husband has been so great about making extra shelves in closets so they can be more efficiently used. Thanks for the inspiration to post about it. I’ll be checking back for lots more of your tips!
Judi says
Gotta love it when it works.