It's an Organizing Field Trip!

I like Christmas.  And puppies.  And babies.  But nothing brings me unbridled joy like turning an unorganized mess in my house into an ordered and functioning space.  The only think I enjoy more is tackling organizing projects around other peoples’ houses.  I get excited when friends approach me and ask for my help with an organizing problem they have in their home.  When friends and family request my assistance, they are much more receptive to my advice than when I voluntarily tell them how to fix their messy homes.  Shocking, I know! 

So, when I was in a bit of an organizing dry spell in my own home, I sent an email to family and friends asking if they had any projects I could help them with.  Within two seconds, I got a response from my best friend; we’ll call her Jackie (because that’s her name).  She proceeded to send me various pictures from areas around her house that were in need of organizing solutions.  All the usual suspects:  closets, drawers, cabinets, under sinks.  After a little discussion, we decided to tackle the master bedroom closet.  Here are pictures of what her master closet looked like. 

It probably looks pretty familiar.  Basic builder grade shelving that gives you just enough hanging space to survive but not much else.  You have 2 options – hang it up or throw it on the floor.  Jackie and her husband made great use of these two options.  I decided she needed more options.

 

So I did a little planning, shopping, and then headed to Georgia.  The plan was to keep the hanging space but also make use of the unused wall space between the clothes and the floor and make use of the wasted space above the rod.  The best option for closets is using adjustable shelving.  Unlike the fixed shelving contractors love to install in new homes, adjustable shelving allows you to modify its arrangement as you need.  For Jackie’s closet, I chose to use ClosetMaid Shelf Track.  Rubbermaid makes a similar product called Fast Track and FreedomRail products are based on the exact same design.  The Rubbermaid and ClosetMaid products can be found at your local Lowes or Home Depot.  FreedomRail can be ordered on their website. 

My first goal was to get the shoes off the floor.  I did this with shelves along the bottom of the wall.  I used both a deep, flat shelf and an angled, shoe shelf.  I also put a small shelf above the shoes to hold bags and purses.  I shifted the hanging rod and shelf up just a bit and stored the luggage up out of the way.  

For accessories, I added a few hooks for belts and an over the door hat organizer for ball caps. 

For her husband’s side we mimicked Jackie’s side with shelving along the bottom for shoes and jeans and shelving along the top for hats and items not accessed very often, such as coveralls.  Her husband is approximately 8 ½ feet tall, so although the added length of his clothes caused a bit of an issue when we first started laying out the shelving arrangement, we were able to make use of all the wall space on his side.  We re-used a rack for his belts and ties with easy access on the end. 

This was not a massive closet remodel.  We didn't put in marble floors and crystal chandeliers (although I proposed the idea).  We actually re-used a number of elements that were already in place.  She simply needed a few minor adjustments to make better use of the space.  In one day and for a few hundred bucks in materials, we were able to take her closet from a cluttered source of stress for the couple to a functional space for the two of them.

Please let me know of ways in which you have organized your master bedroom closet. And if you live in the Birmingham, Alabama area and could use my help in taming any organizational issue in your home, email me at TheNeatFreakOrganizer@gmail.com.