How Big Is This Closet Again???

As I told everyone is another post, we are moving again. I won't whine about that today (well too much anyway), I will just tell of my time with the downstairs storage/coat/throw-it-all-in-there closet.

Our lovely huge closet has been a thorn in my flesh for the last several months. Oh it's spacious and has places to hang things as well as store things--that became the problem. Storing things, everything, there. It started out well organized and completely useful. Then things went down hill from there. People realized that they could just put something in there instead of taking it upstairs. Makiah would change into her pj's and put her clothes in there. They would put toys in there to keep from having to take them upstairs. Then other things that we didn't know what to do with it would get placed in there and before I realized it, I had a HUGE problem.

So last Tuesday, I got the wonderful idea to pull all of that out and start going through it. I made two mistakes: (1) I assumed I could get it all done in about 6 hours HAHAHAHAHAHA and (2) I did it while all three children were here (where else would they be??).

I started the great dig into the closet. I cannot tell of the things I found in that closet. Toys that had been long thought lost. Clothing items that I was sure the dryer had eaten. Shoes that couldn't be found. More toys. More clothes. More shoes. Yarn. Yes, yarn.

I pulled everything out. Everything. I had a mountain of mess. And a mountain of laundry. See I had been bagging up and storing in there all of Daniel's clothes that he had outgrown. The boy had quite a wardrobe! Needless to say between all of the stored clothes (which were stored clean), all the clothes I found, the normal laundry for the 5 of us and the tote of clothes I went through for discarding--I did 16, say it with me 16 loads of laundry last week (yes I washed the stored clothes again)!!! I have already done 3 this week and I took a laundry break on Monday. I have more laundry amassed and ready to go into the machine. I am beginning to think that someone else brought their laundry over and added it to mine! Where are all these clothes when I can't find matching shorts for Sam?? I know, hiding in the closet!!

No more my friends, my closet is beautiful! Perfectly organized. Shoes all lined up and ready for feet. Any clothes in there are hung up and I will hang the next person that throws something in there up by their thumbs (they have been warned). No toys in there, except the hula hoop and riding toy for outside. It's great. What a lovely closet.

I got it functional just in time to move.