Out of the closet...

When we were house shopping, and toured this house, the closets scared me.  This is my closet.  Carey's is exactly like it, and right across from it.  Each of the other two bedrooms have a single closet which is slightly smaller, but with the same tall shelf and hanging rod arrangement.

What's so scary you say?  If you were to combine Carey's closet and my closet, together they would be about one-third the size of the closet we shared in our previous house.  I figured I could adjust, so it wasn't a deal breaker.  But it is rather...close.  The width is 5 foot 8 inches (173 centimeters), the depth is 4 feet (122 centimeters).  

The small shelves were ones I used in my craft room at the old house, but couldn't use them in the same way here, so I tried them in the closet, and they fit to within a fraction of an inch.

Today I found myself with no appointments, no obligations, and no excuses not to get busy around the house!  So I decided to work on what has been bothering me every time I open the closet door.

You must have guessed by now that I had some kind of nightmare to show you, so here it is.  It's not really, REALLY horrible, but there is quite a bit of stuff that doesn't belong that had found its way in there.  And my shoe storage definitely was not working for me.  Plus there was just too many clothes crammed in there.

Just for fun, here's a peek at Carey's closet.  Sometimes I hate him.  But to be fair (to me) his work clothes stay at work.  And to be really fair (to him), I have to admit that if he brought them home, he would still have room to spare.

Meanwhile, across the way I set about emptying my whole closet out.  I took out every stitch of clothing and every pair of shoes.  I moved the linens to the linen closet which, truth be told, needs a makeover of its own.  

I moved a decorative hanging shelf that had been taking up space in there for FAR too long.  And there were some other decorative items that had been stored there 'temporarily' that needed to find new homes.  There were some curtain panels (still in their packages) on the shelves, and some curtain rods standing in one corner.  

I took out this hanging sweater stack.  This is the second and last one of these that I'll invest in.  They just don't work for me.  They always just seem to collect messy piles of junk.

Everything was placed either on my bed, or hung on a portable laundry rack.  Finally it was as empty as the very first time I saw it, and I vacuumed and dusted.

I sorted out, and filled two big boxes for Goodwill.  I threw away anything with a hole in it.  I tossed packaging and cheap plastic hangers that things had come home from the store on.  Then I put everything worth keeping back in.  

For comparison, here's the 'BEFORE' again.

And now the 'AFTER.'

Ahhhh...  SO much better.  All work clothing on the right, and everything else on the left.

And look at all the empty hangers!

I'm seriously considering getting rid of all my work outfits and buying five white tanks, five blank tanks, and five pair of black slacks.  Then only keeping/purchasing jackets that can be worn over them.  It would surely simplify storage, laundry, and outfit selection.