That is what I said to my 8 year old this morning. Truth be told, it was 8:15, which in this house, isn't THAT early, but still, too early for a meltdown over shoes.
She couldn't find her "black shake it up shoes" and the world was apparently going to end. I tried to help her find them, but then the baby started tripping over the mound of shoes and we just found a different pair instead.
Enough is enough.
The foyer and hall closet have been on my to-do list for a while, so I tackled it this morning when the girls went to school.
I posted it on my Facebook page, but again, here is the before. A side by side view of both the closet and the bench/shelf in the front.
Ugh. Ridiculous.
Okay, I need to confess. I had a secret weapon in my mission.
Batman.
I get that you probably don't have a superhero in your home, but I promise, you can still get the project done.
Okay, so CLEARLY, there was some major purging that needed to be done in today's area of the house.
Let's just take a look at the things I found while sorting:
19 pairs of sandals and flip-flops.
It's January.
In Pennsylvania.
To say those shoes were taking up prime property would be an understatement.
I know for a FACT that I used to go through the shoes when I switched clothing seasons over. I'm not sure why I didn't do that this time.
Oh wait-I DO remember! Because I have a baby now. Because my girls are older and are involved in more things. Because life happened. That's why the shoes weren't top on the priority list.
Anyway-all of the summer shoes are now living with the bins of summer clothing.
I made sure that won't happen again this year. I set a reminder in my phone for April.
Moving on-
These were all the empty hangers in the closet. WHY I had 20 coats hanging on 5 hooks in the entryway is beyond me.
Oh wait...again--another "a-ha" moment.
I had all those coats NOT in the closet, because about 15 little spring jackets were taking up space.
Duh!
THESE shoes right here.....these bad boys were in a bag all to themselves. Because they are too small for any girl in my house. So that tells me at some point, I took the time to sort them out. And then I put the bag BACK IN THE CLOSET!
What? Where is the logic in that?
If you look closely, there are 2 boots that have no match. Interesting, right?
So, I started sorting everything out. All 5 us got our own pile where I threw our shoes. I started a trash pile and a yard sale pile as well. About half-way through cleaning the shoes off the bench area, I found them
The "black shake it up" shoes that started the whole thing. I could have stopped there, right? Wrong. I was on a mission, and the caped crusader wasn't going to let me quit
You might see the shoe organizer in the closet and be thinking "isn't she part of a company that sells organizing things? That doesn't look like a Clever Container product"
And you'd be right on both accounts. I do sell Clever Container and that is not a Clever Container product. Clever Container does sell many cool shoe organizers, but I don't need them in THIS area. I have a system that works--well, a system that worked and will work again.
That is the thing about organizing. If you have something that works for you, USE it! Don't buy something you don't need! That defeats the process.
Anyway-I got off topic.
So I got all the shoes loaded into the shoes shelf, with a few pair on top and few on the bottom of the shelf in the hallway.
Where I DID use a Clever Container product was on the door. I love our curved over the door double hooks. I added one on the inside of the door for hats.
So are you ready for the finished product? Okay! Here you go!
First up: the hooks being utilized
But Janell? You live up north! Where are all your winter hats? Your gloves?
Here is a tip-when we are inside, our gloves go in pocket of our coats and our hats go in the sleeve. It works great for us. That way everything is together and we can just hang up our coat.
I keep all of our hardcore snow gear together in the basement (snow suits, snow boots, waterproof gloves, etc).
If you have a ton of winter gear that you need stored in a closet area, let me know-I have some cool solutions for you!
Here is the inside of the closet now. I took out about 4 big coats and a bunch of little spring jackets. I also took out a music stand.
Yes-a music stand was in my hall closet.
Makes sense, right?
Ugh.
And the front entryway? Well, it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.
There are 7 pairs of shoes on the bottom of the shelf. Boots of the girls that were too big for the shoe holder in the closet, a pair of shoes for each of them that they wear on a regular basis, and a pair of shoes each for Ben and I. The top of the bench can now be home to my diaper bag and the girls' back packs when they aren't in use.
The shelf above the coats had become Ben's catch all. I was able to clear it off and he has a little dish for change and random things and the dog leash is up there. I feel like the wall above needs something now!
Suggestions?
I know it might still look a little cluttered, but trust me it's not. It's functional and organized. Just what this busy family of 5 needs.
And no more morning breakdowns.
At least over shoes!
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