Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Turning Angst into a Clean Closet

Dear friends,

Yesterday, feeling cranky / tired / anti-social / generally ruthless, I decided I needed a feeling of accomplishment to perk up my day.  I turned my angst into a clean closet.  
I got rid of a lot of stuff: threw it away, shuffled it to other places in the the house, offered it to my kids.  I pulled all of the big storage bins out so I could vacuum the carpet and wipe down the dusty baseboards.  I hung up some of my "winter" clothes even though it is still pretty warm here in Orlando.

There is no way I am showing you "before" pictures.  It was just that bad, trust me. But now, here, the "after" pics:

Almost my entire daytime autumn wardrobe,
dressy and casual, warm and cool.
The clothes are sorted by type:
dresses, pants, skirts, long sleeve shirts,
short sleeve shirts, capris.
The short sleeve shirts are sorted by and color.
On the foor, one bin holds extra clothes,
while the others store old journals and notebooks.
I removed a large bin of old Christian and classical LP records,
but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them.

A large tote bag, holding my favorite smaller totes,
hangs from the closet rod.


The two pairs of shoes I wear most often are on the floor.
The others are in the space left from
a missing bottom dresser drawer.


I have two dressers to hold undergarments,
accessories, pajamas, vintage linens, and more.
I like to keep my nicnacs on top of one of them.
The closet shelf above holds framed pictures
not currently on display.

I bought this tile in Israel over 30 years ago for my mom.
She gave it back to me recently.
I display it on a small plate holder.

A small blue stained glass box with wise words:
"Wisdom that comes from heaven is pure,
considerate, full of mercy, and sincere."
James 3:17 - One of my favorite verses!

Bins and boxes of this and that -- like sewing supplies and
master copies of book manuscripts.
The large gift bag holds smaller gift bags and tissue paper,
which we always reuse.

Bins of extra toiletries on the shelf.

Cleaning supplies up out of the reach of our grandchildren.
Sturdy hooks for towels and 
my current pair of pajamas
(I use each several times in a row.)



I found the massaging foot baths --
one in the back of the closet
and the other in our storage room.
Last night, my husband filled them with hot water and
lavendar epsom salt for "his and hers" foot spa 
and we listened to James Taylor's 
"Shower the People You Love with Love"
 on my iPod while we relaxed.

Another find: an old cassette / CD player
and some kids story tapes --
enough to keep a little girl 
busy and out of the way while Mommy worked.
It's so good to have a clean closet, especially since I'll be out of town for four days and my husband can enjoy the tidiness in my absence.  And when I come home again, I won't have to face it!   I'm flying up to Maryland on Friday morning with my oldest daughter and her two little boys (baby and two year old) so they can meet their great-great-grandma for the first time.  I'm sure the flights will be a little easier with an extra pair of hands, right?  A good reason to tag along on the trip, yes?  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (I'm thankful for my husband holding the fort while I'm gone!)  We're also celebrating my mom's birthday with a gourmet meal lovingly prepared by my extraordinary sister-in-law Dana. I'm hoping for some beautiful autumn leaves, even though it's supposed to be pretty warm this weekend.  At any rate, I think apple picking and a pumpkin patch are on the agenda!  Note on 10/11/12/: We had such a lovely time.  You can see my photo posts here: 


  • To Grandmother's House (And a Petting Zoo) We Go

  • Five Generations

  • Apple Picking, Fritters, and Goofy Gourds at Larriland Farm

  • Gourmet Main Dishes: Shrimp Bisque {and} Salt Crusted Roast Beef with Mushrooms

  • Beauty and Diversity on an Autumn Sunday in Maryland

  • "Love Lifted Me" and a Few More Memories of Maryland


    • Grace,
    Virginia Knowles
    www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com
    P.S. More posts and other web sites on home organization:

     My posts:

  • A Place for Everything
  • Organizing and Laundering Your Linens

  • A Desk for Mom (Featuring Habitat for Humanity)

  • Household Organization: Clutter, Clothes Storage and Chores
  • Organizing with Plastic Zip-Style Bags at Home and On the Go
  • "Bin There, Done That" (Or How to Keep School Clutter from Turning You Into a Basketcase)

    • Other sites:
    Organizing Made Fun
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    3 comments:

    1. DiannaOctober 4, 2012 at 3:24 PM

      Your closet looks fabulous! I think doing something productive is the perfect way to turn a bad day around.

      ReplyDelete
    2. JudithOctober 9, 2012 at 4:24 PM

      I loved this post!! I have been working on mine for four years since we moved. It had EVERYTHING in it that didn't belong because of our move and less closets. It is really nice now...but who stops working on a closet?!

      I was in Kissimmee last week and flew up north Friday, lol!! I was trying to figure out how come you need to switch clothes when you live in Florida :-)

      Thanks so much for linking up with WholeHearted Home this past week. I hope to get time to stop by your blog again as it has such a nice 'feel' to it...a lovely place to relax and unwind.

      ReplyDelete
    3. UnknownJanuary 17, 2013 at 5:14 PM

      Nice job! How is the space working for you now? hope you've been able to keep it all up nicely

      ReplyDelete

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