Decluttering storage closets

One of the items on my summer bucket list was decluttering and reorganization of my storage closets.

The house we’re living in now has an insane amount of storage, more than any house I’ve ever lived in. I’m pretty proud of the fact that most of these storage closets are at least half empty, but still. There’s always room for improvement. Here’s a before shot.

 Blech, right?

In the winter time this is our coat closet. The only thing we really use it for in the warmer months is to store the pool gear… and clearly, other random junk that we’re too lazy to put away (like the reusable grocery bags which should go right back into the car the moment we unload them).

Since we’re at the pool every single day, it’s the most convenient place, right near the front door, to store toddler floats, kickboards, swim goggles and the like, so these items aren’t dripped all over the house.

A few thoughts as I contemplate this picture: #1, the Target $1 section is what my grandfather called “sucker bait“. Most of the stuff that I buy there, I end up regretting.

One example is the $3 bag you see pictured on the floor. I got one of those for each of my daughters who swore that they needed yet another bag. Each of them has a dozen bags and I desperately need a new wallet … but you know how that goes.

The three dollar bags lasted maybe one week before breaking. I considered keeping one around into perpetuity just provide an object lesson when my daughters ask me for yet another bag.

I pictured myself shaking it in their faces and saying “No!  Remember this bag you claimed you couldn’t live without? It lasted one week, $3 down the drain“. But the wiser part of me decided to simply toss it and have more self control next time.

Number two: the lawn darts actually belong … I don’t know, in the lawn?! Relocated. The straggler coats left over from cold weather were put away with other off-season/hand-me-down clothing. Note: I keep precious little off-season/hand-me-down clothing. Even with a lot of kids, I find that it doesn’t work for me. Here’s why.

After reading this book I now keep the few off-season/hand-me-down clothing items in a place where I will see them regularly. I also adopted the KonMari trick of reusing cardboard boxes (that I get in abundance thanks to my Amazon prime membership.

And the Honest company boxes are downright pretty!) and folding clothing so that I can see each item at a glance.

And here’s the after shot. Ah… vacuumed closet floors make me feel pretty.

I grabbed a table which was languishing on the back deck getting ruined because nobody wanted it anymore and put it in the closet to lift the Rubbermaid container off the floor. Now I can easily sweep in there.

The only thing left on that shelf is a lightbulb waiting to be used in my living room. The ErgoBaby backpack and Ikea bag (which is used for our annual trip there) I stuck in a box and labeled the side so that I would know exactly what was in it.

There’s now enough room in there to store the vacuum which previously had no permanent home.

The other closet I tackled was the linen closet, which is a bit of a misnomer because there are almost no linens in there. This closet is for storing games, the girls’ extra craft and doll supplies and other misc.

Before:

 The door on this closet wouldn’t even close due to the very large stuffed panda on the floor. That immediately went into the trash, because if the owner didn’t love it enough to keep it in their room, I’m certainly not storing it. (Side note: I hate stuffed animals. Hate them. My kids never play with their stuffed animals, and all they are is dust collectors that make kids sneeze.)

And after:

Ahhh.

I love empty shelves. They make me so happy. And the door now closes! And I have a huge bag of good stuff to donate to the local battered women’s shelter.

Done any sexy decluttering of your own lately?