This week, I really needed to find some order in my life.
Some major changes are on the horizon for me at work, and I have not been coping well.
Part of the issue is my coworkers’ attitudes about transitions happening at my workplace.
And part of it is my struggle with uncertainty and change in general.
But I really felt the need to find some semblance of order in some area of my life to help me navigate the moment.
And A., because he is awesome and loves me, agreed to humor my craziness!
Enter, new closet shelving!
The kids’ closet was my first area of attack.
This closet has been driving me nutty since we moved in. The closet has just two upper shelves and a hanging rod.
And clothes hanging rods just don’t work for my family.
Maybe when my boys are a little older, they will have the capacity to hang their clothes.
But right now, it is enough of a struggle just to get them to put clothing into designated bins. And we’re not even talking about folded clothing. Just clothing as it comes out of the dryer – inside out, unfolded.
I stuck an old bookshelf in the space to create a zone for books, craft supplies, puzzles, Lego, etc.
Most of the toys go elsewhere in the house, but this closet still needed to house a variety of items.
Step #1: Persuade A. to help me.
This was simple enough. He had been fighting off a cold the previous week and was seeming a little antsy, so he was pretty amenable to a minor DIY project like this one.
Step #2: Get supplies
We had leftover plywood from the subflooring project in our basement, and A. felt that shelves would be a great use for the remnants. So I only needed to purchase some thinner planks that he could install as shelf brackets.
Step #3: Clear the space
I emptied the closet early one morning while A. was still sleeping (since he works second shift). My youngest son was happy to help me transport items out of the closet and pile them up around their bedroom. And in the hallway.
Step #4: Wait for A. to work his magic!
It didn’t take long before A. had magically made shelving appear to my exact specifications!
Step #5: Organize!
It took a few adjustments, but I grabbed some storage bins and got to work putting items back into the closet.
I wasn’t concerned about painting the shelves or anything. I tend to like the natural wood look anyway, but I was striving for functionality more than form anyway.
We opted not to return the doors to the closet which really opened things up. The sliding closet doors we had tend to come off the tracks and get jammed often.
I was super pleased with the end result!
I added some labels and tweaked a few other things, but overall, the functionality has been great. There is even room for the kids’ backpacks (which were previously driving me nuts because they were always on the kitchen floor).
The Ripple Effect
Those who know me well know that my organization projects tend to have a ripple effect.
While A. had all the tools and supplies out anyway, we decided to add a few low shelves in our entryway closet too.
I recently shared a simple fix intended to resolve our winter outerwear storage issues. And while the shoe rack and hooks in our entryway were functioning fine, there was certainly a better way.
A. to the rescue again!
You can check out my previous post for the “before” images, but these simple shelves were perfect for shoe storage.
We really only need to store kids’ shoes in this closet, so these two shelves gave us sufficient space.
I kept the sock bins in the space because having the socks next to the kids’ shoes has been life-changing.
I planned to mount an over-the-door shoe organizer on the wall as well to make the storage of gloves, hats, and slippers simpler too.
Anyway, this totally helped me bring more calm to my chaos too!
But the ripple effect didn’t end with this closet either.
I still had to move the excess shelving from the kids’ closet and this entryway closet to the garage for eventual disposal.
And while I was busy reorganizing, I found almost two bags worth of stuff to purge.
And then, I decided to set up the kids’ new temporary playroom and essentially deep clean the living room (which had become our interim playroom while contractors were working in our basement).
I know the chaos will resume really quickly as the kids pull out toys and puzzles and books and scatter bits of paper, Lego pieces, and other miscellany around the entire house again.
But this organization project was just what I needed to reclaim some order in my chaotic season.
Do you also find comfort in organizing? I’d love to hear your stories of bringing order to the chaos. Leave us a comment!