11 March 2009

Monica's Closet

The old house was small: two bedrooms with a laundry room that had these awesome big shelves. Storage was not a problem but nevertheless, we did have to keep an eye on what we kept. As there are only two of us, this usually isn't a problem. Not to say that we didn't each say, at least three times, as we were packing "Why in the hell do we have this?"

In this house, slightly larger but no laundry room storage, storage is still not a problem. I have two closets in the office. I am not sure why. There is no logic. I don't remember ordering them when we designed the house. And they're large closets too.

So, I have one closet that I keep extra bedding and stuff that I regularly use. Oh, and Kevin keeps tires in there during the off-season. (I've gotten used to it by now. In the old house, I threw a blanket over them & they became a table. I have pictures somewhere...)

And then we have Monica's closet. It's the larger of the two. It's has the stuff I rarely use and keepsakes. I've found about yearly I have to organize the closet for fear of loss of life and/or limb. You know: open the door gingerly, toss whatever you have in and swiftly shut the door lest it try to escape.

One would think that items wouldn't get added to it regularly but they do. Especially after Christmas when a certain mother-in-law buys new wrapping paper & bows, forgetting that we already have enough paper & bows for a small city. But whatever.

Finally on Sunday, I had avoided it long enough. I started by dragging out everything that wasn't already boxed up and then pulled out some random boxes to see exactly what in the hell was in them.

When we moved in the Malibu Barbie Dream House, I had everything nicely labeled. However, in four years, I've repurposed boxes and the labels no longer apply. One would think that I would fix this but I find it adds mystery to my life.

Did I find anything fun? Not really. A spider. A big thing of chocolate that we won at Kevin's work Christmas party. (it's not good chocolate, clearly, or it would be WAY gone by now)
A bag of Beanie Babies I was supposed to deal with two years ago. (my mother-in-laws. Does anyone want them? Seriously. There's like ten of them, I think) Empty boxes for Christmas presents. A KODAK digital picture frame that I just can't seem to figure out...for lack of want to more than lack of technical prowess...

I pitched everything that was garbage or Goodwill in the hallway. When I clean closets, I operate on the "You have to make a mess to clean a mess" principle. Much to Kevin's dismay when he came in and found the hallway impassable. Also to my dismay when I realized I needed garbage bags that were conveniently located in the kitchen. D'oh!

I found one last binder of paperwork from the school that I need to give away becasue I'm so over that job now. (early childhood administration random paperwork, anyone? anyone? Bueller, Bueller, Bueller.)

Christmas cards that I keep and then wonder why Every. Single. Year.

Oh, and I was in anti-filing mode last year so that created a fun side project: filing. UGH. I'd rather have dental surgery.

And yes, I did have the "Why Do You Have This?" conversation with myself periodically. But all in all, it wasn't too bad.

I unearthed St Patricks Day decorations to take to work so that's nice. When is Easter this year, anyway? I've got even more decorations for that holiday!!

I found the wall hangings my m-i-l gave me when we closed the Moody House. (*whew*!) I need to see about getting those framed.

And the 1968 tapestry calendar that my mother handed to me and said "I don't know what to do with this, it's no good."
Um, Mom? THAT'S THE YEAR I WAS BORN, but thanks. Yeah. Memories.

Anyway, I'm off-topic. Again. Go figure.

Monicas closet is now neat & organized. I have projects that were created from said project set aside for this weekend so that's fun. I found a "random thing from my house" to post that is so cool. So all well that ends well.

What? You thought I didn't take pictures? Have you met me? Srsly.

Monicas Closet Before:See the wrapping paper box? It's tied shut with twine because there's too much of it. The weird clear plastic bag on the top left? BOWS. BOWS FROM HELL. Sigh....

Monica's Closet After:


ahh...satisfied sigh...

Empty space!!! Organization! What? no, I didn't relabel the boxes, why?

Oh, and yes, that's the digital picture frame taunting me, yes.



((Monica's Closet is a Friend's episode, btw, for those of you keeping track))

1 comment:

Swistle said...

Okay, you know what's funny, is that I thought the Before picture was the After picture. And now please don't look in my closets.