Operation Deep Clean--Phase 1, the Closet

My big project for the day was rearranging the Master Closet because it was a mess. Below are a few pictures of what I started with:

This is Chris's side of the closet which, as you can see, is a complete mess full of way to many dress shirts he does not wear (and does not want to donate) along with his heavy winter clothes, his little Christmas tree, a box full of ornaments, a box of my things, and a box full of extra stuff for our roomba.

There is a box full of Chris's old t-shirts (the clear one on the bottom) he wants to save as well as all of our shoes. There are also laundry baskets full of clothes we don't wear and knick knacks that I thought had no other place to go.

My side of the closet, which I share with Chris's work pants, jeans, shorts, and undershirts. The top shelf has his ski clothes, my old school books from last semester, plastic bags from random theme parks, and one of four computer bags that Chris owns.

Another shot of our messy floor!

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My first goal was to remove all of our winter clothes from the closet and put them on the bed. I then decided to split them into two groups:

1-Clothes I want to keep, and

2-Clothes I want to donate.

The donated clothes went into a black plastic trash bag while the rest were carried into the spare bedroom and hung up in the closet. I did the same thing with the rest of our clothes, as well as our shoes, old movies, and other electronics. (And yes...I ran all this by Chris before I started giving away some of his things!).

The next thing I tackled was all of the floor junk. I never realized what pack rats we were, but we keep everything! I found so many hotel keys from our road trips, plane tickets, plastic bags from theme parks, etc. All of this was just junk we did not need since we have so many pictures to remember all of that by anyway! I ended up filling another huge black trash bag with junk. Some of it was a little harder to get rid of for sentimental reasons, but I did the right thing and got rid of it anyway.

All of this took about seven hours (I ended up cleaning to spare bedroom as well). The end result looks fantastic and I am so happy that our closet is spacious and clutter free. Here is the end result:

The top shelf is completely void of any objects, there aren't as many clothes hanging up, and the only thing on top of the drawers is my pink umbrella!

I only have a chair (because I'm short and need to reach things above my head sometimes! haha), and our suitcase on the floor....yes!!!

The shoes are organized and there is a storage box (I got it at Target for $4.00) full of files on Chris's side.

The box is full of scarves, hats, and gloves, and only the dress shirts he wears frequently are hanging up now! Also, all of his winter clothes are gone which makes more room for his spring clothes and gives everything a less cluttered feel!

*****

The next thing I need to do is get a few wicker baskets (the small square ones) to put our gloves and scarves in to put in the hall closet by the front door, as well as two or three more drawers to put Chris's shorts, jeans, and undershirts in. I also want to get a hanging shoe rack and more storage boxes from Target (my favorite store!).

It feels really good to be able to walk into our closet without tripping over something, and being able to find what I need quickly. Chris is also happy that this was almost a money free (minus the $4.00 for my storage box) project. :-D I'd say this was a very productive (and long) day!