Week 4: Organizing the Hall Closets

I am a bit late posting, I know. I have been sick. This has been the worst winter I have had in a long time. I have been sick for probably over half of it. My kids and I have been to the doctor numerous times needing antibiotics and it still seems we can't seem to shake this bug. I am hoping as I am now starting to feel better, that I will get over this and be done with it for a very very long time.
Either way, that is why I am behind on organizing but I have been working hard to catch up and should be back on track next week. I am just having to work a little faster than I was planning this week.

Ok, Organizing the closets. Here are 10 things you should know
  1. You will need lots of medium containers. Clear or transparent containers will be helpful for most of them.
  2. Labeling is super important too. A closet contains a lot of different things, you want to label and make it clear where things should go when they are being put back
  3. You need to decide what their is a need for. Think about your house and what is cluttered in the corner or in that closet all the time. What causes you stress because it never has a place? What is already being stored in the closet? After you have thought through those questions, make a list of all of the things you will need to store.
  4. Don't cram boxes in until the tight is too fit. You will get frustrated unstacking and trying to fit them back in all the time and you will likely stop putting things away all the time. Make sure it's a comfortable fit and not stacked more than once.

5. Think outside of the box. You do not just need to store linens in a hall or "linen closet". I store flash lights, extra notebooks, organized and labeled binders for certain tasks in the home, pictures and albums, extra electronics, travel souvenirs, my first aid and medicines, a basic 72 hour kit, finance information, our small safe for important documents, our swim suits, and even the pets treats are in the hall closet. Their are lots of options so be sure to think through your house well on if you have a place to store everything and what you are maybe missing, and than perhaps see if the hall closet can solve some of those problem
6. Most of this organization process for me has started with purging and getting rid of stuff and the hall closet is no different. Be sure to get rid of old junk you don't need. We had a bunch of old electronics we thought a while back we should keep but realized now that they are just taking up space. Make sure the stuff you are keeping has a purpose in your life, and is worth cleaning, storing, and keeping track of.
7. Don't keep tons of extra linens! You don't need them no matter how cute they are. Keep a few sets for each bed in the house and for a guest bed. You want to keep towels that are assigned specifically for the master bedroom and for the kids or guest bath too and keep them in separate piles. If they are frayed, put them in the rags. Towels and linens are for another week in our 52 weeks to an organized life so stay tuned for more help with linens but don't keep too many extra. Make sure they are in good condition, and again...purge
8. I figured out that looking through all of the storage closets and bookcases in the house helped me to know what I still needed help storing. While this week was strictly to hall and linen closets, looking at the cluttered bookcases, kids closets, and downstairs storage nooks helped give me ideas of what should be in the hall closets instead or what should be moved from the hall closet
9. Prettiness isn't necessary but it definitely does help and it makes the final product make you feel happier. When things look better and are nice, you have more of an incentive to keep them that way. Yes, you can throw your stuff in extra cardboard boxes and shoe boxes and get a long just fine but it may not be enough of a motivator. Buying some nicer and prettier boxes or at least some clear ones with cute labels can make the final product worth keeping up forever. If you are low on budget, try wrapping those shoeboxes in someone cute polka dot wrapping paper or something. That can do there trick. If your plastic boxes are too plain, tape a piece of scrapbook paper on the inside and it will look more fun and playful.
10. Struggling for ideas on how to store some weirdly shaped things? Take a look at containerstore.com. I found a lot of great ideas there. I didn't end up buying anything but it helped give me ideas for how to store the stuff I have. They do have some good sales and well designed products though so it is tempting to buy their stuff.


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