Older Home = Small Closets

Photo Credit: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/

I excited that I am moving out of an apartment to a house!  But the downfall of leaving a newer apartment to an older home...LACK OF CLOSET SPACE!

In my apartment, I used the linen closet in my master bedroom for my shoe closet.  After all, I had an extra bathroom that I could store all my towels and such in.  And the selling point for my apartment was that I had two walk-in closets.

But the new place has small (very small) closets.  So I'm giving up a small place with BIG closets, for a BIGGER place with small closets.

My project this week has been cleaning out my closet and donating most of the items that I no longer wear and do not intend on wearing to Goodwill.  I also have get everything organized since my close space is smaller, as well as my bathroom storage is smaller.
 

Master Bath Organization

I was in FULL packing mode this weekend.  And as usual, got side tracked onto another project...organizing my bathroom.  One of the things I loved the most about my apartment was the closet space and the roomy bathrooms.  My current master bath has a L shaped vanity with lots of counter space and cabinet storage to match.  The new house, being an older house (built in the 70's) has NO counter space and just as much cabinet space.

So I am going to have to get a little creative with my storage space.  I saw these plastic boxes at Target on yesterday and PROBLEM SOLVED!!!




http://www.target.com/


They are actually "shoe boxes" but they are just the right size to hold all my toiletries and what-nots.  The the purple handles match my bathroom decor perfectly.  I made fancy labels on the computer and put on the boxes that coordinates with rest of the decor.  Now everything is sorted out and organized. 

Time to get things MOVING!

My realtor pick up my leases, so now it's time to get packing!  You never really know how much STUFF you have until you have to pack it up!

Last time I moved (about 2 years ago) I color coded all my rooms so it would be easy to identify which boxes go to which room (quickly)

• Living Room - RED
• Kitchen - YELLOW
• Dining Room - YELLOW

I know you're thinking...that is the same color as the kitchen.  My reason for doing this is that I am putting all the kitchen and dining room stuff in the dining room so my kitchen is not cluttered with boxes.  That way I can take a box at a time in to the kitchen and empty it.  Also, the stuff that goes into my china cabinet is labled CHINA CABINET and I will personally move those boxes instead of having the movers move them.  I just don't want to risk my mother's china and my grandmother's crystal to the hands of MOVERS.  Also, that LAST boxes that I pack up in the kitchen, needs to be the FIRST boxes I unpack.  These boxes will be my dishes/glasses/silverware and my spices, flour, sugar coffee, coffee pot etc.

• Master Bedroom - PURPLE

I having all these boxes placed in one of the extra bedrooms so my bedroom will not be cluttered with boxes.  I will also make sure that the bathroom box is labled so I can find my toiletries and stuff.  Last time I moved I did not do this and after the movers were gone and I was dead tired, hot and sweaty I could not find my shower curtain and shower stuff.  So I ended up just making a quick run to Target.

• Office/Craft Room - GREEN

All my holiday decor (which is in totes) and any other boxes that are not labeled will go into the garage until I get a chance to sort them out.

I work part time at a retail store, so I had our stock person save me boxes as the shippment was checked.  Can't beat FREE sturdy boxes.  I purchased packing paper ($10 box/200 sheets) from U-haul and packing tape ($16 pkg 6 rolls) from Office Depot.

So let the PACKING begin!  So what are your tips for an orgainzed and painless move?