Posted by
Marissa Ponikowski
Thursday, March 15, 2012 3:55 PM EDT
Remember Carrie from Sex and the City? (Of course you do.) Well, while Ms. Bradshaw might have had a propensity for social smoking, her famous quip about it equally applies to the way I feel about shoes: “I have an addiction, sir!”
A closet overflowing with shoes had led my husband to inform me that I did not need any more footwear, ever. Was he kidding? Of course I needed more shoes! One can never have enough shoes.
But what if one needs closet space for *gasp* other things? The time has come to revisit my use of closet space...
STAGE THREE: THE CLOSETS
The Solution
I’ve been de-cluttering and organizing my messy, messy house with the help of Toronto-based professional organizer Tina Blazer of Spot On Organizing. During our initial ‘cull and sort’ day, Blazer suggested I consider storing my shoes in a more efficient manner: a shoe rack.
Why didn't I think of that? Not only did it accommodate my existing shoe collection, but it created more space for more shoes! At least two empty spots resulted from adding the shoe rack, and you can imagine they won't stay vacant for long.
Methodology
Pretty straightforward. We moved from closet to closet, pulling and sorting items into our daily, weekly, monthly and never piles (just like we did the day before, in my home office).
Therapy side note: Blazer kindly implied that I was not directly to blame for the state of our closets. A household’s biggest challenge is working with less than ideal closet space (which is most homes, unless you can afford that dream reno). Couples often find themselves struggling to share a small closet in the master bedroom and for this reason, she recommended we consider an additional wardrobe unit where a mirror currently hangs.“You’ve got a small space,” she pointed out, “so that’s prime real estate!”
But I wasn’t willing to part with the mirror, a pine piece from my childhood with sentimental value, and a wardrobe wasn’t in the budget quite yet. So I decided to work with the space as is, which, in a home built in the 1920s, meant closets that are deep, dark and not especially efficient.
What we used:
• Umbra Nickel Five-Hook Racks, for the backs of doors ( $24.99; Solutions Stores)
• 20-pair shoe rack ($18.99, Canadian Tire)
• Lynk Chrome Double Hangers ($18.99, Solutions Stores)
Since my husband wasn’t home to protest, we made the executive decision to move his stuff out of our closet (obviously too small for two adults!) and into our son’s closet. He wouldn’t mind, right? And just look at the results!
Tomorrow on “Clutter Gut Job”, Blazer and the gang from Eureka! Furniture Assembly and Installations begin the Big Organizational Set Up (plus, I’ll tell you how my husband reacted to the closet shift).
