Organizing the Linen Closet - After

Remember my post about how horrible my linen closet was? Go back here for all the before pictures.

Ack! However did I put up with it for the almost 3 years I've lived here? Then while I was slaving away working my magic on the closet I gave you some organizing tips and tricks for your own linen closet here.

Now prepare yourself for the wonders of the newly painted and organized linen closet!

Empty! You should see my bedroom - it's as if the linen closet vomited in there. How will I ever sleep? My bed is just covered with ... stuff.

Look at the difference white paint makes! The walls were a dirty peachy flesh color before. I wonder how I even saw anything in the dark closet. I had to paint the shelves in place in the closet because I have no room. You should have seen me when I decided that the bottom of the shelves were reflecting their icky color onto the white shelf below it and needed to be white also. I was twisted in half trying to paint the bottom of the shelf while not sticking my hair or hands in the wet paint. Needless to say, I came out looking like a skunk!

Top left side. Only bedding and pillows on the top shelf now. I still haven't found a home for all the other crap that was there, but I will! I even have room for rags now on the towel shelf. I had to give my son a towel folding lessen so that it stays this pretty. To fit my closet shelf, fold the towel in 3rds lengthwise then in 3rds widthwise. Works like a charm.

Top right side. Notice that the shelves are labeled so items go back into their proper place! I still want all white towels (except for the rag pile with the green and blue towels here). It will have to wait for a sale and after new tires are purchased for my car.

 

Middle left side. See all the pretty baskets nicely labeled?! No excuse for not being able to find anything now.

 Middle right side. Did I mention that I used that new Behr paint that is the primer and paint mixed in one? It went on smoothly and covered fairly well. I only did a single coat - I was impatient and lazy. With stuff in the closet, you can't even see that the coverage is spotty in places. I did have a nifty roller cover that was made to paint corners also. It worked well and I had to do hardly any cutting in with a brush.

Bottom left side. I was able to move some cleaners out from being stuffed under the kitchen sink to the closet now. I did take a basket of spray paint, wood stain, lemon oil, WD-40, etc. down to my basement storage locker. It doesn't belong in my linen closet and it freed up so much room! Yes, the litter box had to stay in the closet.

Bottom right side. Look! I have room for toilet paper and rolls of paper towels now. See the empty piece of carpeting? Room for a box of cat litter! How lovely.

I didn't get my cleaning tools moved from my front hall closet to the linen closet yet. Truth be told, I was having so much fun organizing and labeling that I forgot all about them until I sat down to write this post! I'll probably wait until I paint the doors and trim in the condo now before I move them.

Total cost: 

$10 for 10 baskets at the Dollar Store

$34 for a gallon of paint. I only used a fraction and will use the rest to paint my trim and doors in the condo.

Time spent: An hour getting the shelves prepped for painting (remember? They had stuck on bits of shelf liner and glue). And it took longer than I thought to empty the closet. All told about 5 hours from start to finish with prep work and painting including cleaning up. Add another hour to dig out my bed and make room so I could sleep. The next day, sorting by like item, putting the stuff into baskets, labeling and organizing the closet took about 4 hours. I went through and checked all expiration dates, wiped everything down and made a list of needed items as I went. I consolidated a lot of boxes that had just one or two items left. I didn't realize but I had duplicates of several items because I couldn't find anything in the closet. And I spent a little extra time getting the baskets in the "right" place and order. A little OCD perhaps? I also had to recycle the empty old baskets and put away the misc. stuff that hadn't found a home yet.

Is it weird that I am totally in love with my new labeled and organized closet? I open the door to look at it even if I don't need something. I could hardly wait to share it with you. Such a feeling of satisfaction and job well done. All is right with the world.

What have you organized recently? And how did it make you feel?

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