TODAY'S HINT

Use the Delay Feature on your washing machine to have a load of clothes washed when you get up. All you need to do then is put in the dryer!

































































Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Let's Get Going!

The sun is shining in the window, the tunes are blaring, and we're ready to rock. The first area of the house you see upon getting in the door is your entry. Other people see it first too, and impressions take just 2 to 8 seconds to form. Be it large or small, there never seems to be enough space in the entry as it gets used by every family member as a dumping ground for absolutely everything - backpacks, laptop cases, shoes, lunch bags, mitts, jackets.....the list goes on and on and on. So let's get going! Most houses have a closet and if it is like mine, the front closet is jammed full and the door doesn't close all the way. That is, mine was like that till yesterday and then it all changed.

I emptied the closet from top to bottom - took my flip flops out (I guess winter really is here) and moved them to the shoe rack in the basement storage room. Hanna had shoes in the closet that were 2 sizes too small and Chris has more shoes than the rest of us put together. Taking precious space in the entry was a shoe rack, and instead of having one shoe rack in the closet and another in the entry; I made space for both inside the closet. The space in the closet where the 2nd shoe rack fit into wasn't being used anyhow, only an umbrella and a pair or two of shoes just thrown in. I went past each hanger and tossed out jackets from the 80's along with the ones that didn't fit right anymore..they must have shrunk in the wash or else we are changing our figures as we age.

The top shelf in the closet had ball caps, cowboy hats, and a motorcycle helmet plus all the odds and ends of "stuff" that just ended up there. It all came out. Now all that rests on the shelf are a couple of frisbees for our dog and a racquetball racquet and balls. Where did all the stuff go you wonder.....well some just went into the garage for another day of organzing but most got put away in the storage room on the shelves. And the rest, well it's garbage day on Thursday!

Now there is space, oh space in the front entry. More than one person can stand there at a time and put on their shoes. And the best part is that when I walked through the door today it felt neat and clean, and ohhh that makes my heart sing. Some flowers on the ledge and its 200% improved. Total length of project 2 hours. Go for it!

3 comments:

  1. I once heard of another front closet tip...

    Those things like the racqetball bats and balls, keep them in a mesh drawstring bag. That way you know exactly what's in the bag and you can just grab the whole thing at once.

    I guess it would work wonders for dog toys, or any other outside things you want to run off and play with!

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  2. You would think that not having a closet in your front entry would make it less susceptible to clutter, but that is not the case for my house! Do you have any tips on how to keep it more organized and make the small space open up more?

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  3. Have you considered putting up coat hooks for kids coats, bags and misc. items? Is there space for a table that has storage space hidden in it? Or have you thought about putting up a shelf that can hold baskets for storage?

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