Organized Closet = Very, Very Happy

A few weeks ago, our front hall closet finally made it to the top of the "TO DO" list. Like most busy households, there has always been higher priority decorating projects. So even though it was terrible, it was low on the list. I can't even tell you how happy it made me that we were finally going to fix this completely unorganized (and frustrating) space.

You see, we live in a house from 1950, so our closets are not up to today's standards, especially for five people. We have one hall closet that is 2 ft deep, 4 ft wide and 8 ft tall, all with a standard size door to access it. The size of the door made reaching most things in the closet a bit of a challenge.

Not wanting to invest a whole lot of money, we went with some standard shelving (ClosetMaid) from Home Depot. Because we wanted to maximize the use of the space, we decided to put brackets on the 2 ft walls, with shelving running all the way to the ceiling on one side. Because you can see through the shelves, it makes it easy to spot that pair of missing shoes on the top shelves. With a teenager and a husband, both over 6 feet tall, I wasn't worried about using those top shelves. On the other 2 foot wall, we were able to hang two rods for all the coats. The top rod is accessible by the taller household members, while the lower one can be used by those 5 feet and under.

This is the bracket system from ClosetMaid. It can be cut to whatever size you want (ideally using the cutters they have the store, or you can use a hacksaw).

ClosetMaid Bracket

ClosetMaid Shelf

So here's the finished product, complete with some existing baskets that can now be accessed by the little people in the house. It still needs to be painted at some point, but there are more pressing things on the "TO DO" list, so that will have to wait for another day. Needless to say, hubby was in my good books for several days after installing this. After all, organizing a space does make me HAPPY!

Now when it's time to head out of the house, I can grab my things and everything for the kids quickly and without cursing. The kids are also able to reach the shelves and baskets to put their stuff away. It's the simple things that make day to day life so much better. Happy Organizing!