Getting Organized: Dining Room Closet

Of all of my organizing endeavors so far this year, my dining room closet is my favorite so far. 

My house is a small Cape with four bedrooms. That sounds more lofty than it is. The upstairs is split in half into two bedrooms each with a small closet. My downstairs is split in half also- one half is the open kitchen and living room and the other half is the other two bedrooms. BUT. Those bedrooms are not used as bedrooms. One is used as our dining room and the other is the office/craft room. 

There is very little storage in my house. We utilize our unfinished basement to the best of our ability and we stuff the closets in the rest of our house. Alas, after two years, stuffing isn't really cutting it. We just got married and have an acute influx of stuff from our wedding. It's time to purge, tidy and re-think our storage options.

My dining room closet has not been utilized to it's potential. I apologize for not taking before pictures, but I'll try to describe it. Boxes of stuff piled on the floor :: one small shelf with a few dishes on them :: random stuff we never use on the top closet shelf :: extra and off-season coats hung up :: lots of new boxes of things and decor strewn around the dining room and cluttering the table rendering it useless. Get the idea? Dining room turned dumping ground. Sad.

So we did what most cheap 20-somethings do when they need furniture but don't want to commit to anything crazy. We went to Ikea. We got a couple of OMAR shelving units for about $50 and went to town. Mind you, we did not have a plan in mind at all, we were just winging it. But it came out great.

 

We unloaded the boxes in the living room and got rid of some stuff we hadn't touched in years. We moved the jackets out (they don't belong in the dining room anyways) and we hung tablecloths and runners up instead. Since we don't have a sideboard yet, we placed placemats, serveware and dinnerware together so we can set the table in a snap. Basically, we added surface area to hold the stuff we needed to put away. When I put it that way it seems so logical and obvious, but it still took me two years to do it. It's not always rainbows and butterflies to tackle a closet (or in this case room) full of junk. Amiright? But I'm so glad I did it. 

Do one closet at a time. Or one corner. Or one room. It feels so good when it's done. Then reward yourself - maybe with a party in you new clean room. Or do what I did: I sat in my reclaimed room and drank a bottle of wine.  Whatever makes you happy!

Cheers!

Thanks for stopping by!

Xoxo, Bridget

A New Year

I've been in a bit of a blogging funk lately. I'd blame it on the holidays taking all of my energy, but that excuse is getting stale... it's January 27, after all. I'm feeling a little uninspired. I don't know the exact reason why, but I'm determined to shake it by writing SOMETHING. So here I am. Snap out of it.

I think I'm going to do what I do at work. I clean like crazy so there is no visual clutter. For me, visual clutter = mental clutter. I find it hard to think when I'm surrounded by mess. And ever since the holidays my house is a disaster, like usual after the holidays. And every January I get the itch to organize - I know I'm not alone here. I think when you're trapped inside because of the cold and there are no parties/events planned in the near future, you can't ignore the slop anymore.

So I'm dedicating the next two weeks to organizing some areas of my house that have made my eye twitch for a while. I'm gonna tackle them. And I'm gonna share it with you. And you can judge, that's totally OK. 'Cause that's what I would do if I were you.

The BIG BAD List:
The linen closet.

The dining room closet.

The craft room. ugh.

I am legitimately intimidated. But writing this blog post means I'm going to hold myself to this task. It's not going to be a ton of fun, but I'm going to love the results later. And isn't that how it goes? Nothing worth while comes easily.

How are you feeling this January? Are you cooped up too? Ready to purge your closets and revitalize a little? We can do it together. Let me start:

Hello, my name is Bridget and I have a house filled with crap I can't let go of.
                                                                    ....Hello, Bridget.