cheesy photo, but good content to follow...

I was recently reading the January 2009 issue of Better Homes and Gardens and ripped out a great article on organization. If I could access this article online for you, I would link it here. [Ahem, BHG people, I can't link the article.] Any how, it featured a home that almost sent me to tears of joy for the sheer beauty and organization combined. No plastic bins in sight here folks, just pure genius. The name of the article is "Practical Magic" and can be found on page 35 of the January 2009 issue. (It also had a great laundry area that I plan to use as inspiration as well)

One of the ideas was to hang hinged (the key is they have to have a hinge) shadow boxes in your closet and pin jewelry and accessories in to both highlight and store them. So any how, I can't for the life of me find decent links today. But I did find these to give you an idea of what I am thinking (via exposures online).

The good new is that I found them at Michael's craft store for $39.99 for the 12x20 size. The bad news is that Michael's doesn't feature them online (again, no luck with the links here). So if you can look past this cheesy example of how the shadow boxes could be used. And think of a more classy and updated look with delicate pearl push pins gently holding up my precious jewels (or cheap costume jewelry that gets me by) in my closet - well then, there you have it! I'm thinking right above my folded sweaters. Thoughts?

more on closets...

I just loved reading your comments on my recent post about closets. And I have some updates for you on my own!

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Many of you mentioned that your closets are a mess or that you would be embarrassed to have any one look in there... and I suspect there are more of you that feel the same! I have MANY times held this exact sentiment. But let me tell you a little secret, likely if you don't like your closet, you have trouble finding something to wear as well. Am I close? And on top of that, once you find it you may not like it? Closer? I know, because I used to be in the same situation!

Not all of us can have walk-in closets. I know how lucky I am that our Master Bedroom has one. But folks, I have lived on an eighth of what I have now and you can too! [Quick note, I am almost ashamed to admit it, but in between this house and our prior house we rented a rockin' urban loft style condo where my closet was actually double what I have now... sob. I am moving on though... moving on.] Organization is the key and guess what... for the most part, organization is free! I know bins and baskets and shoe holders can do a world of a difference. But I will show you my reorg of the closet - without buying anything (yet!).

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I mentioned earlier that I was purging! And purge I did... I found 26 individual items: shoes, jackets, shirts, jeans, sweaters that I no longer wore. I liked them. But I didn't wear them. I sold them on ebay and actually got a good chunk of change for them. [I wish to buy more clothes... but no... I'm liking the pared down look, plus I just found this buffet that after sleeping on, I am sure I am in love with]. So on to the photos... here are the before and below that the afters. You'll see that it is nothing spectacular, but it is organized and I didn't spend a dime (I actually made money!)





Here are some notes on the afters...
- Long things (jackets/sweaters/dresses) are hanging to the left.
- I moved all the tops/bottoms that were hanging on the top rack to the bottom so I could visually open the space to see my accessories easily (the accessory tree and purses). And so that the sweaters could come from off the floor to the top and are nicely folded. Right above the sweaters I need some art... I'll be on the hunt for that!
- All items (pants, jeans, tops, sweaters, scarves and shoes) are organized from left to right, lightest to darkest.
- I hung the purses with some extra shower curtain hooks I had laying around, you could also easily use "s" hooks from the hardware store. I like this because I can see what I have and they aren't getting wrinkly laying in a pile (as they were previously). Also it shows me that I have way too many dark colored handbags. If I would have known this before, my last handbag purchase would have been different!
- Scarves - I have a "thing" for scarves - can 'ya tell? Ha. I could actually find a couple more around this house to add too! But again, colored from left to right, and spread out so I can see them all. You may not want to devote this much space to scarves, but I wear one pretty much every day, so for me it was important. I just used a "tie rack" that was already there.
- Next to scarves are belts, and similar to the purses I realized I have a lot of belts that are similar to each other. So for shopping purposes for the future - now that I can see them better I will likely make a wiser purchase next time.
- Lastly, the shoes. All of the summer shoes are on the bottom shelf (don't need those now!) and on top the shoes are organized by heel/flat/boot. I had these in the closet already.

So there it is. I know this was wordy. But I hope you enjoyed it. Next is finding a wall color (I'm first going to see what we have downstairs as I know there are some unopened cans) after that... I'm going to ask your opinions! Another goal of mine is to spread out the jewelry and accessories a bit. They are kind of crowded in the corner. And lastly some artwork! (Maybe a new light too...)