Closet Space

Brian and I moved into our house in September 2002. We purchased it at a great price because it was a rental property and hadn't been updated since about 1984. Throughout the years we have done projects to update the house - installed wooden floors, put in new windows, gutted the kitchen, and lots of painting.

If there is one things Brian and I equally hate, it's painting. I walk into Sherwin Williams and I immediately tense up. I HATE being responsible for a paint color. There are too many to chose from and while paint is cheaper than other wall covering options it is not financially prudent to purchase 20 gallons of different paint colors because none of them look perfect.

We have both analyzed our aversion to paint color choices and we think it stems from the fact that we are both decision makers - me even more than Brian. When I'm presented with some options I can easily make a decision and stick with it. But you put me in front of a wall of paint colors and I am completely overwhelmed.

Recently we did a huge renovation involving our master bedroom and a portion of our downstairs. SIDE NOTE - if you're ever considering renovating your master bedroom, try not to time it with the birth of a child. It is not convenient. While I was glad of our idea to take on the project, the timing was not the best. Take it from a lady with experience on the matter. We put Jamison back into the toddler bed in the nursery and we took over his room since he has a queen sized bed. Patrick slept in the bassinet next to the bed; which he would have no matter what room we were in but he didn't have a changing table until last week. YES - as in the last week of September was the first time the 2 month old boy was not changed on the floor or our bed. Additionally, I could never find any clothes to wear since I packed them all somewhere in the basement. All I had were my maternity clothes. It was annoying; but I did it to myself by telling everyone back in May- "Of course we can do this! What's the problem with not having a bedroom with a newborn to take care of? What are we waiting for?!?"

This is a picture of our closets before the remodel. It's kinda hard to see since I (and by "I" I mean Brian) had already shoved a lot of our belongings to one side of the room to accommodate the contractors. But out closets are those two openings on the far wall. They were small-ish and the lighting was horrible. More than once I ended up wearing something black that I thought was blue.

So our plan was to make them walk-in closets by bringing them forward a bit. Once the contractors started framing I was (pleasantly) stunned by how much room that actually was.

Fast forward three months - this mountain of fabric and garbage bags is our wardrobe. Over a period of two days I dragged all of our clothes out from where we had stored them - in Lily's bedroom, in Jamison's bedroom, and in the basement. There was no order to this. My main goal was to just get the clothes in our bedroom.

This is what our bedroom looks like now with the clothes put away. And no, those chairs were not in the first picture - in case you thought we had that big of a mess. I'm still not sure how to arrange the chairs but that's where they are for now.

This is Brian's closet before the clothes were put back in.

And after....

I hung his shirts up according to style, sleeve length, and then color. Long sleeve button downs, long sleeve polos, short sleeve polos, long sleeve t-shirts, short sleeve t-shirts etc.. If you're like me, all your shirts face the same direction on the hangers and then all the hangers face the same direction. After I spent all afternoon and evening on his closet he decided to "help" and put some of his clothes away. He obviously did not catch my pattern of arranging the clothes. Or, if he did, decided to ignore it. As long as he keeps the door closed and I don't have to see the hanger facing the wrong way I can accept it. I'll just pretend they're all facing the correct way.

My closet before....

My closet after:

And I know I'm not crazy about closet organization since my cousin Erin organizes her clothes the same way - according to sleeve length and shirt style. If it is crazy, it's genetic, and I'm glad to share that gene with Erin.

The left side of my closet accommodates my long dresses and pants (which are never folded over a hanger, but are hung up with those clip hangers).

Two empty closets:

Two full closets:

If you like to organize (and who doesn't?!?!) this was a dream come true. I was so happy while I was doing this. Everything has a place and there is even some extra room for all those little odd things that I never had a proper home for. Some nights, after the kids go to sleep and Brian is watching tv, I go into my closet and shut the door. And I just look at the organization of it all. It's incredibly peaceful.