Day 7 - 40 Awesome Closet Organizing Hacks - 40 Bags in 40 Days Decluttering Challenge -
In keeping with the theme of 40 Bags in 40 Days, I've come up with 40 Awesome Closet Organizing Hacks. Yesterday, we organized our clothes, today we focus on our accessories and other things that take up space in our closet. Here are some worthwhile hacks to organize everything from clothes to accessories, and to make the best use of space in your closet, big or small. ** Please note** when I found a pretty original idea that didn't keep turning up on other posts, blogs, articles, etc. the source is on the posted picture.
1. Use shower curtain rings to hang up your tank tops.
2. Use shelf dividers. You can buy them or make your own out of cardboard.
3. Use towel rods and make the use of all available space.
4. Keep a step stool handy for reaching items on higher shelves. This is a must for me since I'm only 5'0".
5. Alternate shoes - back to front. This takes up less space, and you can still see your shoes.
6. Store your shoes on shoe peg shelves. There's a tutorial at sawdustgirl.com
7. PVC pipe for shoe storage. This seems to be a big thing in the organization blogs that I found.
8. Use pants' hangers to hang your boots.
9. Don't have the space to hang your boots, put a pool noodle inside to help them retain their shape.
10. If you don't have pool noodles, you can simply roll up a magazine and put that inside your boot.
11. Invest in an over the door shoe shelf.
12. Instead of an over the door shoe shelf, you can do an over the door shoe bag.
13. Hang your flip flops. Find a tutorial at epbot.com
14. Keep your shoe boxes and store all your shoes in their boxes. You can take a snap of your shoe and attach it to the box. Some people also purchase the clear plastic shoe boxes and do the same thing.
15-17. If you have the room, put a bookshelf in your closet. Use the bottom shelves to store your shoes, and the top shelves to store your accessories. Hang a mirror above the bookshelf and your shoe/accessories shelf now becomes a vanity, too.
18. Plastic bins are a big help in organizing your closet. I use mine to hold winter items like gloves, knit caps, wool socks, etc.
19. A great hack for an over the door shoe rack is to double it as a place to store scarves.
20. Another great idea to storing scarves is to once again put shower curtain rings to good use. Instead of tank tops, pull your scarves through the shower curtain rings.
21. A clever hack that I found online for scarf organization is to use the six pack plastic soda holder.
22. Shower curtain rings attached to hangers are great hacks for any closet. I use them to hang my baseball caps.
23. Use "S" hooks to hang your bags and purses.
24. I have quite a few backpacks so I thread them through the curtain rod and hang them that way.
25. Hang bags on your closet door.
25. Don't have shelves in your closet, invest in the canvas hanging shelves. If you use it for organizing your sweaters, they won't stretch and will retain their shape.
26. If you do have shelving in your closet, use the ordinarily "dead space" underneath your shelf to hang baskets. You can keep odds and ends in the baskets.
27. Use wire baskets to keep loose items neat, organized, and corralled.
28. Label, label, label. I am kind of OTC about my labeling. I label everything especially if I can't use clear bins or totes. I am more specific than using "stuff" or other generic labels.
29-34. Pegboard. If you have room, install pegboard in your closet. This has become my new favorite go to for any type of organization. I first installed it in my craft room and I love it! So, it would make sense to put one up in the closet. You can organize belts, jewelry, scarves, bags, hats, and other items.
35. Yesterday's hack of using pipecleaners to keep clothes from slipping.
36. If you use wooden hangers, instead of using pipe cleaners, a bead of hot glue across the top of the hanger will keep your clothes from slipping. I personally like this hack best, and it's what I do. It also works on plastic hangers as long as you don't use a high temperature glue gun.
37. Stack your hangers. You can either do it through eyelets like I showed in yesterday's blog or you can use pop tabs.
38. You can also attach chain and hang items from the chain.
39. Use a silverware drawer organizer to store smaller jewelry pieces on a shelf (see 15-17).
40. Use paint sticks as jewelry organizers. I love this hack. It's cheap and easy.
There you have it, 40 awesome hacks for closet organization. Feel free to share any hacks you have used, and which ones you like. Tomorrow we tackle the linen closet.
40 Bags in 40 Days - Devotion
Psalm 119:66-68New International Version (NIV)
66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.
So many times in life we want the blessings that God promises us without the responsibility of doing what He has called us to do. In today's world it's popular to talk about God wanting to prosper us and reward us without us having to do anything in return.
We like to quote Romans 8:28, "and we know that in all things God works for the good...". We seem to stop right there and forget the rest of the verse, "... of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Life is made up of choices. Some choices are more important than others. Yesterday, we looked at the small things that clutter our lives. Likewise, we can look at the small choices in our lives that prepare us for the bigger ones.
We all know the story of Captain Sullenberger ("Sully"), and the "Miracle on the Hudson". In an interview that he gave I remember him giving an analogy about how all the small choices he made as a pilot were banked away, and when it came time to cash in- he was able to make the right choice and avoid a catastrophe.
It's easy to think that the small choices we make everyday don't matter, but they do. The small choice of perhaps being nice to the store clerk who isn't be so nice to us, or waving someone in front of us in traffic, to even things that deal with our integrity.
When we lived in California, I learned that when you buy anything in plastic, glass, or aluminum you are charged a deposit and that the deposit is returned to you when you return the empty item. At first I was pretty vigilant in returning my empty bottles and cans, but over time it became a headache and just not worth my time. I would end up just putting it in the recycling bin and forget about my deposit. For many homeless people in California, they collect cans and bottles for the deposit money.
There was a local story about one such homeless man who hit the streets everyday going through dumpsters and trash cans looking for bottles, cans, and anything he could wear or sale to make some money. Dumpster diving one day, he came across a suit jacket that he could wear. Inside the pocket he found savings bonds that were worth about $21,000.00.
He figured that whoever threw out the jacket would be missing those bonds. He didn't even think twice about it, and turned them in. It turns out that the lady who threw out the jacket didn't even know the bonds existed. They were put there by her late husband, and she never knew about them. When the police found her and gave her the bonds, she gave the homeless man $100.00. A small pittance for money she didn't even know she had.
When the local news picked up the story, they asked him if he regretted turning in the bonds especially since the reward was so small in comparison to the value of the bonds. After all, the reporter justified, nobody would have ever known since even the owner wasn't aware of their existence.
He said absolutely not. He told the reporter he might be homeless and never knew where his next meal was coming from, but he knew right from wrong. After the news story aired, people got involved. Someone started a gofundme page, local businesses offered him services, and people reached out in big and small ways.
When it all ended, the homeless man was able to purchase a small dependable used car, got a small subsidized apartment, and was able to go through a retraining program. Fast forward to today, and that same homeless man is now the owner of a small business that matches businesses with potential employees that have been retrained to get into the work force.
It's those small choices we make when no one is going to know any different that make the difference. The small choices that when it's time to make the big decisions we can do the right thing because we've been making the right choices all along.
Living with God's purpose in mind, rather than our own or the world's, right and wrong is much more than situational ethics and moral relativity. It's those small choices that add up, and make us who we are.
My favorite quote comes from John Lennon, "life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."
