Closet Transformation

So, I live in this tiny little house in desperate need of storage. Because, let's face it, in comparison to my grand parents, we're hoarders.

That's to say nothing of the lack of thought in the construction of the house. The closet in talking about is already a galactic undestatement for awkward.

I kid not; this is the floor plan of the closet. The front part is about 36" across. Depth is little more than one foot. So, you can see my dilemma. Figuring out something that would actually work took a while, but I settled on these.

I ended up stacking 2 units, which still leaves some wasted space. It's still better than it was. My goal was to get things off the floor right at the door of the closet which pushed another door (think main walkway) shut. My second goal was to get the elf's things where she could reach them.

Let me just say that right now the kid's room is the most peaceful room in the house.

Here is an awful before picture. I tried using command strips, as evidenced by the pink spot on the wall. As messy as it looks, it's actually clean. Think: jackets, sweaters, 2 backpacks, and a box of night undies piled in the closet doorway.

I wanted to provide a clothes bar for the elf and shelves where she could reach her hair supplies. The cubbies do that and allow him to have some space for his things as well.

To start the project, I took everything out except the support for the bar and shelf... It took over our living room.

Then, I measured and installed where I would mount wood to support a low shelf and anchor the lower unit.

I installed the shelf with one support because it is so short.

Next, I installed a piece of wood as wide as the unit to anchor the top.

I also wanted to make sure the unit was sturdy, so I applied mending brackets to the back. (Note: don't try to move the unit by the front once attached.)

I probably did this the hard way, but I installed the low bar last. I really just wanted to be done with it, though.

So, after about a day of cleaning, a day of work, and a day of shopping for baskets, I can say I am done and pleased with the results.

Also, I decided to get a longer board for the shelf and add a couple shelves for the bookshelves the kids have.

Here's hers,

And his.

Here's the cute storage unit I found at TJ Maxx (HomeGoods) with some baskets from HomeGoods and Ross.

I also used some of the baskets to organize the livingroom bookshelf, too.

Once again the before...

And the after, for comparison...

Madeover Threads

I decided to take back the space claimed by all our linen, and since Blogger has not been working properly on my phone, this post has been sitting unfinished for a while. I even wrote out a post and then my phone died...grrr.

So, after scouring on Pinterest, I found a post where someone used dollar store baskets to re-do her linen closet here. This may not be the exact one I remember, but it fits the bill for this post. I just happened to pick the same color baskets because they contrast nicely with my white bookshelf.

Before organizing all the linens

The difference is noticeable! I haven't made labels yet, but that wont take long because I have a nifty little label maker. By the way, my label maker is thrifted. So, for about $13.00 I reorganized the linens in our house with the exception of our bathroom towels. Talk about low budget!

After dollar store basket makeover

So at least one small space in our house is organized. Don't let it fool you, however. We still haven't recovered from our move into this house about 3 years ago. Since then, we have moved furniture around in the house about 3 or 4 times, had 2 babies, built our raised bed (see The Bed Saga), and generally lost track of things in the clutter (I'm embarrassed to say).

I am slowly trying to take back our space, since we will be here a while more. So, hopefully I can continue the chain of inspiration to reorganize on a budget. 

How do you organize your home? Can you afford Container Store or do you, like me, shop at Dollar Tree?