Clearing the Closet Clutter

August is a great time to declutter and clean the school room.  I aim to start the school year in a fresh and organized environment.  Last year I started like this in a brand new school room in our 3 month old house.  Sweet Pea was not yet 6 months old, and she spent most of her days nursing and observing us.  Well, that changed during the year, and as you might suspect, we ended the year with quite a different set-up.  It started out with me returning the things that Sweet Pea was interested in to their proper places.  Then I calmly moved things up higher and higher, and then finally, this frazzled Mom started shoving things in the school room closet.

I'd like to show you the changes I'm making in the school room, but I'll save those for another post.  I'm writing this post for the Loveliness of Clearing the Clutter fair which is being hosted by Lorri of The Mac & Cheese Chronicles.  So I'm going to focus on clutter clearing, specifically in our school room closet, although I've also spent quite a bit of time uncovering most of the room's horizontal surfaces as well.

Here are the "Before" pictures...

Step 1:  I emptied the closet.

Yikes!!!

Step 2:  I purchased bookcases when they were half price at Staples and Worker put them together for me.

Step 3:  I sorted and purged.  I sent a box of curriculum that I might use someday into the basement.  I have two and a half Luvs diaper boxes of stuff to be donated.  Some stuff went straight into a trash bag.

Step 4:  I put everything I'm keeping back into the closet.  The first two bookshelves on the left closet wall hold MY books.  Catalogs are in the magazine holders and the trays are for ????  I'll use them to organize or store something.

The two bookshelves on the back wall of the closet are currently holding chapter books, my color-coding duct tape, bins of CD's, paper, curriculum, CHC lesson plans in binders, baskets and bins, picture books and my sewing machine.  At the bottom of the picture you can see the new file crate (inspired by Dawn) that I set-up last Saturday night.

The right wall of the closet already had Closet Maid shelving in it.  The top two shelves are going to be where I store my atrium materials when I gather them.  I have some of the out of season materials in the basement, but I don't know if I want to keep them there.  There are also some geography globes and a basket of musical instruments here.  The third shelf down is for manipulatives and flashcards.

The bottom shelf is for puzzles, and the white plastic drawers hold the kids' rotated toys.  The blue plastic drawers hold craft supplies.  There's a drawer of ribbon rolls my mother gave me, a drawer of felts and tissue papers and the everything extra drawer.  And there's Sweet Pea on my foot stool.

It feels good to get rid of some of the things that I doubt I'll use and to have the closet neat again.  I love to have an assigned place for everything, so that picking up is simplified. 

And since I have so much clutter clearing experience, let me give you some unsolicited advice.  Keep up with it.  Don't let it go too long without attention.  Don't let your bedroom closet become a donation box for the clothes that don't fit one or more of your children.  Don't just open the door, throw a bag of hand-me-downs that someone gave you into the closet and shut the door.

Clear the clutter BEFORE it becomes overwhelming!!!   

Comments

[Melissa]

Wow! I remember being so impressed with your beautiful schoolroom last summer when it was featured in the Loveliness Fair. I'd love to see how it evolved over the course of the year! Your closet project seems to have worked out wonderfully. I'm so jealous of how much ROOM you have! :) I think you've done a great job organizing, and I smile to see that we have many of the same things in our own schoolroom. My favorite part of this whole post, though? Seeing how big Sweet Pea has grown as compared to the adorable photo included in the post you linked to from last summer. She is an absolute doll!

[Nori Coleman]

You've done a beautiful job! I'm sure it will bring much peace to your life. Order makes the days go smoother but don't over do it let God love you at this time. You are surrounded by Him take notice of the "small" lovely things that surround you! Your beautiful children and the beautiful flowers, etc. I am learning to do this myself. Look at this as a special time for you to be pampered by God your Father.ABBA!

[Amy]

Looks great! Good job on all the hard work.

[Elizabeth Leone]

Although my life does not always reflect this, I am a person who craves simplicity and order. I actually love organizing and purging when I can find the time. I come back to your blog time after time for the great organizational advice and the inspiration that your beautiful, well-ordered home provides for me! :)

[Anne V.]

Wow!! Really wow!! Looks great. I have the same bookshelves,in the same box, from the same store, from the same sale--still on the basement floor. I am now inspired to build them. Or have ds do it as a "school" project. You do have a beautiful school room...

[matilda]

Your organization posts always inspire me! Thank you!

[Ouiz]

Oh wow... I LOVE how much ROOM you have for all your homeschooling books and supplies!!!

You did a fantastic job reorganizing, and I love your "plain and simple" style!

[SuzanneG]

Looks great, Cheryl! Aren't bookshelves the best?! Congratulations.