Project 1: My Closet - The Process

I started cleaning my closet at 4:00 PM yesterday and didn't finish until 10:30 PM. This was definitely the best cleaning out I've done in a long time.

Since I took a million pictures, I'll show the process of cleaning out my closet today and reveal the after photos tomorrow.

First, I totally gutted the closet. I vacuumed and wiped down all of the shelves. I also took a microfiber cloth and some dusting spray and cleaned the tiny baseboards inside the closet. They were gross!

Now check this out...all of this "stuff" was in my closet. It filled my living room and my bedroom.

Now, did you catch that pile of junk on my coffee table (a.k.a. trunk)? Here, let me give you a closer look.

I have a bit of a problem I suppose. The basket on the right is full of food containers. They're all cleaned out, of course, but I thought I'd save them so I could create something with them. Like these...

I used an instant coffee tin to make a tab (from soda cans) holder. Icing tubs hold loose change and laundry money.

I used a bread crumb container to hold all of the buttons I collect. Most of my buttons I inherited from my Great Grandmother. I know it's something odd to collect, but when I was a kid, I loved going to her house and "playing" with the buttons. It was so much fun to see how many different ways I could sort the buttons -- by color, size, type, etc. My cousins and I made a game out of it.

Anyways...back to your regularly scheduled program...

I'm not going to throw them out yet. I want to see what I can create first. I really was keeping them for my classroom, but it's so much crap to keep around. I don't have room for it. We'll see what happens.

But other than the "recycled containers", I just have way too many containers/baskets/bins/etc. I need to stop buying them.

And speaking of having way too many things...check out these things that I found I have too much of. Probably enough to last me 5 years or more.

Check out the ample amount of writing instruments I have. Pencils, pens, markers, crayons, markers, colored pencils, and did I mention markers? Wow! I can't believe how many Sharpies I have. I do have to say, I love the way they look in these cute tin pots I bought from IKEA.

I have an explanation for these clipboards. I turn them into decorative clipboards. I've given them as gifts, and I love using them, of course. So they are on my "to-do" list this summer. I will have a tutorial eventually.

Umm... okay, so... do I really need this many binders? And, I have to tell you, I'm already using 9 binders around the house. These are all empty. At some point I was using 4-5 of the binders for my college classes. I don't need them for my classes anymore because I'm only taking one class. What am I going to do with all of these? I know I can use some in my classroom, but if I'm using them for students, they all have to be the same color.

Look at all of this colored paper! I got it all free from Staples from Easy Rebates. I've used it in quite a few ways around the house and have used it during my student teaching in the classroom. I'm sure I'll use it all in the next few years, but seriously...I can't say no to a good (or free) deal. It's a bad habit that just creates clutter.

And now we're to the paper. I don't think I need more paper for a few years now. I've had some of these notebooks for 5 years now. I don't use notebooks anymore now that I'm done with school. I hope I can put them to good use somehow.

Before I wrap up this post, I have a few more photos to share.

This is my awesome Carolina Pad Expanding File. I keep all of my product manuals in it. It has 26 pockets, so I labeled them A-Z and sort them by brand name. Twice a year I go through the file and get rid of manuals for items I no longer have.

Look at the pile of paper I have here. This is 3 binders worth of paper. My elementary math courses (all 3) required me to create a "math binder" for each class. It was crazy. It's mostly notes from class, that I'll never use. I've been waiting 2 years to get rid of this mess of papers. Good bye math binders! =]

I store staples, rubber bands, thumb tacks, and paper clips in plastic food storage containers. It works perfectly because they're easy to access  and I keep them on the shelf in my closet. I don't have to go digging through drawers looking for them since I use them all often.

Be sure to come back tomorrow to see the after results of my closet cleaning event. I plan on working on it a little bit more today. I'll show you everything I got rid of and what it looks like now!

View all of the photos from Project 1: My Closet on my Flickr site.

Thanks for reading my super long post! =] Now, a walk with my dog.

I'm showing off my project at a bowl full of lemons!