Suzi blogs about home life, work, and play

I’ve decided it’s time I go through and clean out my closet, well closets really if you could my children’s and my husband’s closets, to get rid of anything we don’t wear, is tired and needs to be thrown out, and things I know I would like to give away or donate.

I have a bunch of closes in my closet taking up tons of space that I know could be put to better use  I would like to have one of those fancy looking closets that you see in all of the home and garden magazines. I know it will be possible to have pretty baskets and shelves once I get rid of things to make space.

I’m sure I have sweaters and dresses in there that I haven’t worn in well, honestly I don’t know how long. I think I’ll go with the rule if I haven’t worn it in the past yea it’s gone for sure. I say the past year because of the different seasons. I can’t hold on to things that I think I might use someday just because it’s still in great condition. I think items that are in great condition are the perfect ones to donate.  Who wants to buy a tattered old robe from Good Will? No one! But, you can be certain someone would be willing to buy a plush and cozy robe without any rips or stains. I have a robe, I’m just not using it so it’s going in the donate pile.

I’m pretty sure this project is going to take a while and it won’t all get done in one day. I think I’ll start with one closet at a time and go from there.  I don’t want to overwhelm myself.

 

We have three big flat screen televisions in our home.  One of them is in our family room with a big entertainment center.  I’ve been thinking of taking the entertainment center out to give us some more floor space and getting one of the crimson mounts to mount it to the wall.  The kids have a lots of toys int he family room and I’m thinking it might be nice if there is more room to walk around all of the toys without having to avoid the entertainment center too.

Don’t get me wrong, I love our giant entertainment center, I’m not getting rid of it. I’m just moving it to another room and getting another television. I was thinking of getting one of those really neat mounts that swivel and can come out from the wall to face different directions.  My neighbors have one and they love it.  They have it in their living room and use it to turn the television toward the kitchen and dining room when they want to watch television at the table. Some times I’ll allow this, sometimes I won’t.  It would be nice to have that option though.

Come to think of it it would be nice to use to watch cooking programs while I’m in the kitchen.  Hmm, I might be having my husband pick up more than one of these for our home.

Storage for magazines and remote controls can be made easily with a few pieces of fabric.  Get yourself a table runner and then sew an extra piece of fabric at the end to create a pocket.  If you want to be really lazy you can skip the sewing altogether and just use fabric tape that you iron or even fabric glue.  Then you can add any embellishments you like.

This simple and crafty solution diminishes the clutter you have on your bedside table and add extra storage to a table that might not have had any to begin with. It would be a great way to store the book or kindle you read before going to bed.  I’m going to make a few of these and give them away as gifts.  I know everyone will love them

 

This afternoon after I got off work, I planned to meet someone to pick up a baker’s rack that I found online in the classified ads. I’m going to use it in the garage as an extra storage area for the larger boxed items in our pantry. This will make a lot more room in the kitchen and make it possible for me to shop sales more frequently and stock up when there is a really good deal. I got out my notes that had the address scribbled on it  and read the address signs  on the street as I tried to make my way to the correct location.

It took me about fifteen minutes of driving up and down the street before I finally found the place. I eventually gave in and called the guy that I was purchasing the rack from because I was reading every one of the address plaques and couldn’t seem to find it. He came outside and said he was wearing a red shirt. As soon as I saw a man in a red shirt I turned the car around and headed in his direction. No wonder I couldn’t find the place, the address plaque was obscured by a big tree in front of the building. I paid the man, loaded it into the back of my car and came right home.

I’m really excited to have the extra storage and organization space in our garage.  I bet I won’t have any trouble at all filling it up with everything I have planned to buy this weekend to restock the house.

After spending the weekend organizing my kitchen pantry, the rest of the cabinets seemed jealous and were screaming to be made over too.  I started the same way I did with the pantry by taking everything out.  I found these great wire shelving units that I used to sort out all of our cups, bowls, and plates.  Now when I want a plate I don’t have to dig it out from underneath the bowls.

A handy lid sorter helped to keep all of the lids to my pots and pans in an easily accessible area.  I mounted it to the back of the cabinet door and it didn’t take up any additional space.  Instead of putting all of the baking pans in the cabinet laying flat, I got another sorter from the organizing store that helps me put everything away vertically.  It has a bunch of dividers to put things like cookie sheets and muffin pans in and not have to dig them out from each other.

After organizing my kitchen I’m feeling inspired to tackle other areas of the home.  I don’t want to go overboard but walking into my kitchen now and being able to get anything in a second is a breath of fresh air.  I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner.