This past weekend was beautiful, and I didn’t get to enjoy any of it. I woke up Saturday morning feeling out of sorts, I think B.O.B. Bob and I had been fighting off some sort of sickness for the better part of last week. It was never too bad, but we both felt like things just weren’t right. So instead of going outside and enjoying the weather, I put B.O.B. Bob to work on a project I’ve wanted to do for some time now. Our guest room, also known as “Grandma’s Room,” has been in need of some serious help when it comes to the closet. This is the door behind which everything without a home somehow ends up for at least a brief stay.
First let me tell you a bit about “Grandma’s Room,” and why I love it so much. This room is the one room in the house that you can look at and think to yourself, “What the hell was she thinking? Who is this girl? This room looks nothing like the rest of the entire house.” I won’t be offended if you say the words out loud…don’t feel like you have to keep your opinion to yourself. I made this room to be the way it is on purpose. This room is modeled after a bedroom that I spent much of my childhood in, and would have spent even more time in if I had been allowed. Funny enough, it wasn’t my actual Grandma’s room, but it belonged to a woman who I would have been more than happy to call my Grandma. To this day, I still refer to her to some people as my “Kinda Sorta Grandma.” Anyway, back to the actual room itself. I loved that room growing up because it was filled with so much stuff. There were antiques; there were piles of sewing supplies, homemade quilts, old clothes, and tons and tons of knick knacks. Basically it was a girly girl’s room, full of colorful and prissy items. Nothing like me at all. But I can’t even describe the feeling I felt each morning when I woke up in that room, with the sun shining in the windows, inviting me to come play outside in the countryside. I still dream about the room, and sadly I still have some nightmares about it as well. The closet doors always seemed to open on their own in the middle of the night, scaring the living daylights out of me.
Luckily “Grandma’s Room” doesn’t have the same problem when it comes to closet doors. Up until the other day the only problem you would have with the door, would be opening it without being buried under an avalanche. My OCD makes me hide everything from the world, so closets and cabinets are often a huge danger zone in my house. A few months ago, I finally had the idea to have B.O.B. Bob build a shelf over the clothing rod in the guest bedroom closet, so that I wouldn’t have to balance large items on top of the bar anymore. I’m sure you can guess that this balancing never ended well for me. Inevitably all the items would fall behind the hanging clothes, and be lost in the abyss. To retrieve them, I would have to completely empty the entire closet. Usually if something fell, I just considered it gone until the next time I emptied out the closet for a good cleaning.
Lucky for me B.O.B. Bob was more than happy to put a shelf in for me, and just happened to have all the supplies he needed to get the job done. Do you have any idea how rare this is? No trip to Home Depot or Lowe’s required? MIRACLE!
After he finished putting in the shelf, I decided to make life even harder for him. I wanted him to somehow find a way to hang a fabric shoe organizer in the little alcove space on the right-hand side of the closet. There was just enough room to tuck the organizer out-of-the-way, allowing easier access to my fancy and seldom worn dress shoes.
It was nice to look at an empty closet, and determine the best way to shove everything back inside, while still trying to maintain some sort of organization. Here’s what you’ll find in my closet.
A huge plastic bin full of future Christmas gifts, because I can’t seem to pass up a good deal when I see it, as well as 248 foldable brown cardboard bakery boxes. (The Bakery Boxes were a Christmas gift to me from B.O.B. Bob, and I love having them around. They really are one of the best and useful gifts that I’ve ever received!)
Two bins of old photographs, which I will never be able to get rid of, because I am way too sentimental when it comes to old pictures, and a bin of ribbons and bows to use for wrapping presents. I used to keep a lot of miscellaneous wrapping supplies in this closet, but found that shoving them under the bed in large bins was a much better use of space. (Please don’t look under the bed if and when you come stay with me, you can’t imagine how much crap it’s possible to shove under a full size bed!)
Several dresses, some of which I haven’t even had the opportunity to wear yet, and others that I probably will never fit into again.
This version of Monet’s Chrysanthemums that I painted in 7th grade, which my mother laminated for some reason, has been living in the back of this closet for a long time now. My Gammy had it hanging in her house for several years. This is the one piece of artwork I have not been able to dispose of; one day I hope to attempt painting it again. I decided I mine as well hang it on the inside of the door as something fun to look at when I’m digging through the closet next time.
This Baby Squirrel Lavender Sachet from Inkmeup at Etsy hangs on the closet inside doorknob, and makes me smile each time I open the door to look for something.
Several large paper store carrying bags, as well as fabric grocery bags, which always come in handy when packing up items to take to other people’s houses, or for when we go on vacation.
It’s nice to have this suitcase close to hand for when we go out-of-town. Bob has an infatuation with luggage and backpacks. The garage is full of them. I forbid him from keeping all of them in the house, but this one is just the right size for both of us to use on an overnight trip, or for me to use when I’m feeling like packing everything I own for a weekend vacation.
This large bin of bows and bubble wrap comes in handy for when I’m wrapping gifts. I’ve found that keeping bows in a plastic storage bin tends to keep them from getting smashed. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s better than anything else I’ve tried so far.
The new shelf now holds a couple of small overnight bags and several miscellaneous toss pillows, which I put out for various holidays. It may seem like a lot of work to build a shelf to keep such few items on, but I look forward to never fearing to open the closet door again. No more avalanches will be allowed in “Grandma’s Room.”
These are the items that I removed from the closet, and found a new home for. It seems I have a fascination with table runners, and own over twenty of them. I wasn’t aware that my collection had grown so large. I decided to move these to the closet in the office, which was the only place I could find enough room for them. One day I dream of having a large closet for linens, but until that day arrives, I’m stuck shoving them wherever I can find room. I also found a bunch of Halloween costumes, and decided we needed a bin in the attic for them. Halloween costumes tend to get shoved in the weirdest spaces in our home. Every cabinet or bin I open usually has one inside of it. This is the beginning of my attempt to find them one “home.”
While I was cleaning out the closet, I discovered Brenna’s Fling-Ama-String, so I decided to let her play with it a bit. It’s a special treat for her. I don’t leave it out all of the time, because it’s loud, and she scratches the hell out of the door while playing with it.
After I finished putting all of my stuff in the closet, B.O.B. Bob still had to go through all of his dress clothes, and sort out what he wanted to keep. I admit that 95% of the contents of this closet are mine. Poor B.O.B. Bob is underprivileged when it comes to closet real estate.
After a day of measuring, building, cleaning, sorting, and organizing, it’s nice to be able to close the door on a well-organized, for the time being anyway, guest room closet.
ORIGINALLY POSTED 02/28/2014
