#86 - Clean out my bedroom closet

I'm not going to lie people. I am freaking out (*FREAKING OUT*) right now! What I just accomplished is nothing short of a miracle.

The before pictures I am about to show you were taken in March 2013. I planned to tackle #86 on my 101 Goals in 1001 Days months ago. I even took the before pictures to motivate myself! But the task was too overwhelming. Then I broke my wrist. Then life got in the way. Then we started school. Then I just didn't feel like doing it. Excuses, excuses.

Over the past nine months, I've worked on bits and pieces of this huge feat. 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, but it was like the never-ending story. It was just. never. done.

I kept thinking, "If only someone would take my kids for a week…I could get so much accomplished!" Then, it happened: Christmas break. My doorbell has been ringing constantly and my kids have been outside playing football, riding bikes, playing with friends, starting a detective business...this beautiful Arizona weather (along with all of the kids being out of school) has been the perfect babysitter.

Before: the floor was a dumping ground for everything from unused bags to outgrown shoes.

Before: the left side of the closet

After: the shelves on the left side of the closet

I keep most of my throw-on-quick shoes in the coat closet downstairs, but all of my shoes don't fit down there, so I keep boots and clunkier shoes upstairs.

Have I shared the pool-noodle-in-the-boots-to-keep-them-upright trick? It's the perfect solution to floppy, tall boots overtaking the closet floor…all for $.89! One noodle can be cut to fit in a pair of tall boots and a pair of short boots.

This top shelf used to be wasted space. There was a pillow thrown up here and a box of crystal glasses that are unopened from my wedding. (?!?!?) But when I revamped the schoolroom closet, I decided to relocate my old photo albums out of there and this was the only available space. Do they belong in a  bedroom closet? Not necessarily, but sometimes you gotta work with what you have.

This is my little section of Tastefully Simple totes and t-shirts. Clearly, I still need to go through and pass some of these off to others on my team. We get a tote at every free trip and conference, and I've already accumulated a ton in just a few short years.

I combined my excessive cami collection with my tank tops and workout shirts. Underneath is my basket of gym socks. It just seems to make sense there and the camis are short enough that they fit on the shelf.

This is the shelf above the tank top section. The bins hold extra photo stuff, empty frames, and a small gift stash for last minute birthday party invitations.

Moving on to the other side of my enormous closet...

These are keepsake boxes that I've had every intention of sorting through…for the past five years. Instead, it's up so high that all I can do is jump and throw my children's finest treasures and Hallmark moments up in the general direction of these boxes.

Before: the right side of the closet

After: right side of the closet.

Here's another great trick: buy shower curtain hangers and dangle your purses so they're out and accessible. My suitcase also fits perfectly back there with the smaller suitcases nested inside.

The last thing I need to do is weed through my shirts. When I was nearly done, I just wanted to be DONE, and pulling shirts to donate is not an overwhelming idea for me. So I'll do it later and I'm officially calling this project complete. FINALLY!!! Happy New Year's Day to ME!!!