Master Bedroom Closet- Part 2

Welcome back to our Master Bedroom Closet Before & After!

In Part 1 we cleaned out the mess, 

evaluated what stayed and what didn't, 

re-purposed hardware, and got ready to go shopping.

 Shopping

Cheat Sheet-   Before I left the house, I made a handy little cheat sheet.  

It had a small sketch of the floor space, the dimensions, what items I was shopping for, and the numbers of items that each piece of hardware had to hold. 

• Tie Rack:            20-30 ties
• Hat Rack:           10-15 hats 
• Shoe Solution: 10-15 pairs of shoes

 I've learned that if I'm not truly sold on a product in the store, I shouldn't buy it.  Sometimes, that means going to several different stores.  That's what happened today.

Master Bedroom Closet- Part 1

What a mess! 

Time for a major Before & After  overhaul.

Today we highlight Part 1 of this transformation.  

Friday we'll highlight the final fixes in Part 2.

 

Let's breakdown the problems:

• Bags and bags of crafty, kid, and miscellaneous things taking up residence where they don't belong
• Blankets on the floor/shoe rack
• Broken tie rack; ties don't fit
• Bedding runneth over
• Shoe overload
• Hats falling down
• Crowded closet door hanger
• No room to walk in the walk-in!

 Our Budget: $50  

Meager for some, but no problem for us!  

(We're used to $0 Budget Solutions.)

 Let's Get Started

Untangling Technology

We all love technology.  It's so helpful and it's everywhere in today's world.

Often times cords- lots of cords- accompany that technology.  It's great that you can go wireless on so many devices.  But, if you have a desktop computer, you're bound to have a tangled mess of cords hanging from the back of your computer desk.


As embarrassing as it is, this was hiding under my computer desk.  I'd had a vision of what I wanted it to look like and what I thought it should look like.  But, I couldn't face it then and opted to ignore it in favor of higher priorities like family and school.  So, today's Before & After is long overdue and happily accomplished!

What a jumbled mess!

Supply List

• Velcro strips for bundling wires --They have both sides of Velcro on one piece, so all you have to do is wrap it around the cords.  They're about $5 online.
• If you don't gave Velcro strips, you could use a zip cord (but this isn't easily removed), cord covers, long bread ties, or string.
• Clear Command Hooks

Here's How I Untangled My Technology:

I started by turning off the computer.  (Well, I checked out the wires first, then decided that I'd better turn it off to be safe!)   :)

 

Next, I traced each wire to it's device and it its outlet.  Once I knew which cord belonged where, it was easy to see that there was an extra cord down there!  I quickly unplugged it and tossed it aside for my IT hubby to take care of.  Whew!  One less cord to deal with!

Then, I grabbed the Velcro strips.  They had been hanging around the house, waiting for me to use them.  Finally, they had their moment to shine!  My IT helper graciously helped bundle the mess.  He used about 3 strips at the top, middle, and bottom to create one large cord.  Once you've got one cord, it's a lot easier to handle.

Then, I attached one Clear Command Hook to the back of my computer desk.  This would hold the bundled cord in place, hiding it behind the desk.

 

 

 

Once it was firmly attached, I just hooked the bundled cord on it, tidied up the rest behind the computer tower, and ta-da!  It was finished!

After is so much better!  Now it's neater, safer, and it's helped me move one step closer to Getting It All Together.  What works for you?  I'd love to hear your comments.

Garage Before & After: Part 1

Have you ever noticed that when you start re-organizing, 

it looks so much worse right in the middle of it?  

It's the same with small and large projects, like today's 

Garage Before & After: Part 1.

 Because the garage is getting a major upgrade, it's best to take a project like this in small steps.  

Step 1:

Yesterday, I cleaned it out and acquired new storage facilities.  They were badly needed! We said goodbye to lots of old, dusty things that weren't needed anymore and hello to better, more (yay! a place for things!), sturdier storage centers.

Step 2: 

My husband and I designed a new layout for the shelves, cabinet, and work tables.  (This is still somewhat in progress.)

Step 3:

Sorting things into where they go.  We're still here and moving things around.

In the next few days (and weeks) we'll be doing more sorting and organizing as 

we keep trying to Get it All Together.   

Keep posted for another update to come soon.  :)

Sneak Peek: Before & After

Today I've been working on a BIG and exciting

 Before & After.  

Today's challenge:

• Clean out the 3 car garage (read: big with lots of stuff and inadequate storage facilities)  
• Make room for new shelving units, a cabinet, work benches, and tool holders

Tomorrow's Challenge:

• Create a better design for the new storage facilities
• Organize tools, toys, and sporting gear  (Oh, my!)

Here's the first look at one area of the garage

Before:

My parents gave us this old TV stand/bookcase years ago & we've been using it as a storage unit. 
Here it is partially cleaned out.

 I'm tired from all that moving and cleaning!  But, it's still not done.  

So, stay close for a great update tomorrow as we keep Getting it All Together.

Small Bookcase- Before & After

Today's Before & After is a classic case of

 "I'm too busy to deal with this.  I'll deal with it later."  

Have you ever said that?  Well, if you have, here's some inspiration!

This small, 3 shelf bookcase was given to me and I thankfully accepted it as a home for my school books, papers, notebooks, and other office stuff that badly needed a home off of the floor.

Before:

Yes, this is my bookcase.  Yes, it looks awful.  Yes, I'm embarrassed.  Thanks for being embarrassed for me :) 

I decided to put the larger items on the bottom shelf to weight it down and keep the shelves from bowing under the enormous pressure from all the educational knowledge.  (haha!)

Once I raised up the shelf to fit in the over-sized binders, not much else fit quite right on the other two very small shelves.  But, because I was busy and couldn't bear to think about it any longer, it just sat there.  Then, the clutter bug came back and it looked even worse than it did before.  

Finally, an idea came to me!  Why don't I just take out one shelf and make it a 2 shelf bookcase? 

 (I admit, this simple thought took years . . .)

After:

After

So, today the 3 shelf bookcase became a 2 shelf bookcase and now there is enough room to fit all the notebooks and other miscellaneous school office stuff.  

Is it perfect?  No, I'm sure there's more room for improvement.  But, under today's requirements of "remove the clutter bug and keep things from falling off the shelves for free," it works pretty well.  

Sometimes organization is just a small step at a time.  Sometimes you don't have a large TV land budget (ahhh, dreams) to work with and you must get creative with your solutions and that's okay.  In fact, that's what it's all about- do your best with what you have and keep Getting it All Together one Before & After at a time.