Those Dreaded Closets
June 22, 2007
Okay, I’ll admit to finding closet cleaning a ton of fun. When I get the urge to do deep cleaning, I think I always start with a closet.
I think partly that’s because purging a closet is pretty emotionless. That beach towel that you found leaves black lint all over you? It’s so in the trash. And those decorative pink towels someone gave you that don’t match your ocean- themed bathroom? They’re just perfect for the next time you wash your car.
See what I mean? Easy.
Four people sent me their closet tips.
Marilyn says, “I divide my closet into four sections for winter, spring, summer, and fall clothes.”
That’s a great idea. I know some people pack seasonal clothes away, but then you’ve got all that ironing to do. I like this idea, Marilyn!
Sheryl suggests this to weed out items you don’t use — put everything on one half of the closet and after a couple of months, it’ll be clear what you don’t use.
And then you toss it! Or give it away. I think I’d use this with my clothes. I’d like to think I wear them all, but I know better.
James says, “Use a warehouse-styled location system to locate seasonal and seldom-used items in storage by using your computer.
When an item is stored using a computer spreadsheet, make a row record including the following: item type, description, date of storage, room, aisle or area, level (for shelves and cupboards), position on level, storage type (shelving, hanger, drawer).
Additional fields like purchase date and cost can make the storage function as a personal property inventory record in the event of fire, flood, or other calamity. And because the information is on a spreadsheet, records can be sorted by item type, location, age, etc. so that decisions can be made quickly about what to do with them.
It also works great to store items to be sold on E-Bay or other online auctions so that these can be quickly located, packed, and shipped when sold. “
Wow! James, I think you’d like to come organize my house, right? This might be a bit of work to set up, but you’d sure know where things were when you needed them, and I like that.
Our last tip is from Jennifer who says she and her family store all their clothes on shelving systems, those assemble-yourself four-shelf units that are open on all four sides. She says things were always getting buried and lost in the back or bottom of bureau drawers, but now they can see everything so they can use everything.
This is like Monday’s post from Julie, about putting all her dressers & clothes in the laundry room. This may not work for everybody due to closet size, but for some this could really be a help. Thanks, Jennifer.
And thanks to you all for the ideas. But I know there’s got to be more buzzing in your heads. Share away, please!
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Comments
One Response to “Those Dreaded Closets”
I don’t know if this would be considered a laundry tip or a closet tip or what, but I heard this at work this week and thought of your blog!
A lady I work with was talking about how hard it is to convince her husband/sons to replace their old ratty undershirts and underwear. Last time they took a family vacation, her husband packed all of his old undershirts and each night when he undressed, he threw the undershirt away. That way, not only were the undershirts gone, but there was that much less laundry to do when they got home.