Closet Rehab

At the beginning of the new year, I started going through every cabinet, closet, storage-ish area I could find in my house. Mostly because I am about to put my house on the market and wanted to appear uncluttered however, after starting I could not stop. Then I ran across this post on Pinterest that someone repinned this year.

What a great idea! How many of you have items in your closet that you rarely wear? I hate to say it but I have tons of items. My closet is so full sometimes I cannot even find the one item that I am looking for. When I ran across this idea I thought that this would be more fun that the usual sort and toss. The idea is to turn all of your hangers around backwards and as you wear an item place it back in your closet (preferably clean!) the right direction. Then on June 1st pull out those times that have not been worn and donate them.

This is what my closet looks like as of January 15th.

Wow, I cannot believe I just posted pics of my closet! Welcome to my clutter :-)

Now, I am the first to admit that the separation from those items on June 1st gives me a little anxiety. Also, we have four seasons here in TN where I live. I cannot imagine having gone through a reasonable amount of my clothes by June 1st. With that said, I plan on assessing how many items I have actually worn every three months and doing a final sort and toss at the end of the year. I can already see a pattern in what I wear and I have to admit by doing this it is causing me to be a little more creative in picking out my clothes each day.

I few things I learned while recreating this pinned item:

• It's not easy to hang your items backwards. Seriously, you feel like you are doing something extremely wrong especially if you are OCD. And with my closet racks it causes the items not to glide as easily so you have to space your items accordingly.
• It's even harder when your vertically challenged! I forgot exactly how short I was then I started on the top row of clothes. Hopefully you are as lucky as me and have a wonderful husband willing to help you like mine did or perhaps a tall friend. 
• You will find items you didn't even know you had. Seriously, I found items that still had the tags on them. How sad is that? 

I hope by doing this it not only raises my awareness of my compulsive shopping problem but also how many items I actually 'need' verses want. How many of you have a system in periodically cleaning out your closet?

Measuring Up

After seeing this pinned by several on Pinterest, I couldn't resist looking into this measuring cup organizing idea. After all, my husband has no idea what to do with those clean measuring cups and spoons once they are clean. Do you find yours just any where in your kitchen? Every time I go to find one it is never where it needs to be and of course I end up settling for whichever one is available. Maybe this is why my recipes always turn out weird?

Moving on...I thought this was genius so I visited Infarrantly Creative's site to see exactly what I needed. I made my list based on Infarrantly Creative's site and headed out for supplies. I have never been known to follow directions so I missed the part where she mentioned the size of hook as well as getting spray paint. Once I got all of the supplies I headed home ecstatic to get started.






First, I picked the perfect cabinet door. I noticed that on the original blog she mentioned that she converted from metal to plastic cups because of the noise. I personally prefer to measure with metal cups (I'm weird and spoiled I know!) so I picked a cabinet door that is near the stove but not opened a whole lot.














After I measured the width of the paint stirrers, I had my husband cut them. He used a hand saw and it did just fine. He also went ahead and predrilled the holes and sanded the edges for me.

I started painting the stirrers. Remember when I stated above that I don't follow directions very well? I missed the spray paint part and bought just regular craft paint and painted them. Four coats later I reminded myself of the importance of following directions!

Since I didn't read that direction I thought that it would be smart to go back to the original and read up one more time. I found that you could purchase the labels pretty cheap from an online supplier - Say it on the Wall.  I went ahead and ordered the labels for the measuring cups that was pictured. It arrived within 3 days and this was on a holiday week. Very cool!

Now I was ready to install so I started looking for all of my measuring cups and guess what? I couldn't find even half of them. So I couldn't very well not have a complete project so I just went and bought a complete set and I have to say it was the best decision I made yet on this project. I laid out the cups and marked my holes for the cup hooks. I also affixed my vinyl labels.

Then I summoned my husband to grab his drill one more time and get to work. He drilled the holes for all of the hooks as well as the ones to affix the two paint stirrers turned cup holder to the cabinet door. Once we got all of the hooks screwed in we hung the largest cup and spoon and marked the location for their final resting place. Once it was installed it was like a tiny miracle in my kitchen! I am so excited to have a location for all of my measuring cups and spoons. I even took a little time to walk my husband through how to hang them on the hooks just in case ;-)

Isn't it just marvelous?

My Review: I have to say that an amateur can do this. We did it without a power saw but did need a drill. The metal cups are noisy but I also don't open that cabinet door a whole lot. I spent around $35 with my largest expense being the new measuring cup set. Overall this was a great find on Pinterest!

Thank you to Infarrantly Creative and Say It on the Wall!