Last week, I showed you the first steps to organizing any space in your home: #1 – Start small. #2 – Make a plan. #3 – Brainstorm.
I’m currently working on my coat closet. I’m happy to say that we’re almost finished, so today I want to show you the next steps to getting organized.
#4: Purge & Sort
Now that you have emptied your space, you need to go through every single item in the pile. Be as hard on yourself as you need to be. The rule in our house is, if we haven’t worn it/used it/ looked at it in the past six months, get rid of it. The only exceptions are for sentimental items and seasonal items.
When purging items, it’s best to make three piles:
- Keep: You don’t necessarily need to keep these items in the same space you took them from, but you don’t want to get rid of them. Find them a home, or set them aside to put in your newly organized space once it’s complete.
- Trash: Pretty self-explanatory
- Donate/Sell: Coats and clothing that no longer fits or is out of style, old board games or video games, etc. Anything still in working order that you no longer have use for.
Here are my piles:
Most of the crap that came out of my closet will be relocated to another area of the house, or trashed or donated.
I’m also moving all of these coats upstairs into the guest bedroom closet:
I’m only keeping three coats in the coat closet – one per person, which we wear most often. Our dress coats and rain coats are moving upstairs. Also in this pile were sports jerseys and other clothing items that have been kept for sentimental reasons, like my Christening gown and formal gowns. (Why they were in the coat closet is beyond me!)
#5: Draw a plan.
Even if you are not building shelving, you still need to draw out a rough sketch of how you want your space to look. Visual aids worked in Kindergarten, and they work now, too!
Make a list of everything you want to store in your newly organized space – it doesn’t have to be exact, but you need an idea of what you need to allow room for. Then, draw it. Start by measuring your space and drawing it roughly to scale. Be sure to account for the dimensions of any bins, boxes, or crates you will use for storage, as well as any larger items.
This was my original sketch and notes for our coat closet:
For example, in our new coat closet, we will be using our shelving for board games, pet supplies, and seasonal items – coats in the fall and winter, pool supplies in the spring and summer. I have two utility totes from Thirty-One that will be used as to hold these various items.
#6: Get to work!
Once you have your road map, it’s time to do some hard labor. Well, in my case, it was time for my hottie hubby to do some hard labor.He patched holes in the wall after removing the wire shelving, painted the inside of the closet, and got to work cutting and nailing and all kinds of noisy stuff.
Once you have your road map, it’s time to do some hard labor. Well, in my case, it was time for my hottie hubby to do some hard labor.He patched holes in the wall after removing the wire shelving, painted the inside of the closet, and got to work cutting and nailing and all kinds of noisy stuff.
He’s so stinkin’ cute!
I digress. *Ahem* Anyway, build your space the way you want it built – hang shelves, paint,, organize…whatever! Make your space spectacular!
When you are doing any kind of home remodeling or organizing, sometimes things don’t always go the way you planned. You have to be willing to work around any issues that may arise.
Our original plan was to fork out a few extra bucks for pre-drilled boards in order to install adjustable shelving. It didn’t work out that way, though. The boards were too deep to fit in our closet, and cutting them lengthwise wasn’t an option because of how they were made.
It’s all good, though! We installed regular shelves and made it work.
Stop by on Tuesday, January 29th to see the big reveal of my newly organized coat closet! You will also be able to link up your own before and after home projects!
What space are you organizing?
I Linky Here:
Monday: Sew Can Do, The Girl Creative, Boogieboard Cottage, Keeping It Simple, Skip to My Lou, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, The Dedicated House, Kathe With An E
Tuesday: Cedar Hill Ranch, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Today’s Creative Blog, Carolyn’s Homework, The Kurtz Corner, The Winthrop Chronicles, Mercy Ink, Funky Polkadot Giraffe
Wednesday: Trendy Treehouse, Night Owl Crafting, My Girlish Whims, Ginger Snap Crafts, Southern Lovely, Sugar and Dots, The DIY Dreamer
Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, A Glimpse Inside, House of Hepworths, The ArtsyGirl Connection
Friday: Fingerprints on the Fridge, Simply Designing, Happy Hour Projects, Craftionary, Too Much Time on My Hands, One Artsy Mama, Six Sisters’ Stuff, Just Us Four, Mom on Timeout, Tatertots and Jello
Weekends: Family Ever After, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Under the Table and Dreaming, Be Different Act Normal, Lovely Crafty Home, Nifty Thrifty Things, Life on Lakeshore Drive
Tuesday: Cedar Hill Ranch, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Today’s Creative Blog, Carolyn’s Homework, The Kurtz Corner, The Winthrop Chronicles, Mercy Ink, Funky Polkadot Giraffe
Wednesday: Trendy Treehouse, Night Owl Crafting, My Girlish Whims, Ginger Snap Crafts, Southern Lovely, Sugar and Dots, The DIY Dreamer
Thursday: The Shabby Creek Cottage, Somewhat Simple, The 36th Avenue, A Glimpse Inside, House of Hepworths, The ArtsyGirl Connection
Friday: Fingerprints on the Fridge, Simply Designing, Happy Hour Projects, Craftionary, Too Much Time on My Hands, One Artsy Mama, Six Sisters’ Stuff, Just Us Four, Mom on Timeout, Tatertots and Jello
Weekends: Family Ever After, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Under the Table and Dreaming, Be Different Act Normal, Lovely Crafty Home, Nifty Thrifty Things, Life on Lakeshore Drive
6 Responses
That looks great! Wanna come do my whole house?!? 😉
LOL! It’s tempting! 🙂 I can’t wait to show off the finished closet. It’s so fabulous. This morning, on my way out the door for work, I just walked by, opened the closet door, and smiled. It just makes me happy to have an idea in my head and then see the real thing! So organized!
You got some serious organizing there. Love it!
Hopping by and following your lovely blog’s twitter, FB, IG, G+ and Pinterest. I blog @ Getting Healthy with Essential Oils
I am also inviting you to join Tiddle Diddle Handmade Shoppe’s first giveaway event.
I would stop by on the day you are talking about the hard stuff…purging and sorting. I think I need someone to do this step for me!
That is really the hardest part. You just have to be completely tough on yourself, and set realistic goals. If you are having a hard time letting something go, put it in a box and tape it up. Write a date on the outside of the box for 6 months from now. If you haven’t opened the box in 6 months, get rid of it! Good luck!
Nice!!! I can’t wait to see the before and after photos Kirsten! xoxox
Thanks so much for sharing this at The DIY Dreamer… From Dream To Reality! I can’t wait to see what you link up tomorrow evening!