Filling the closet

I am an extremely organized person. Lots of A's in my profile: accountant, analyst, anal-retentive, Type A; I'm sure you get the drift. The good news is that the house build allowed me to give full reign to that aspect of my personality. I could actually design shelves and closets and storage space that would specifically fit my needs. So - here's how I organized the hall closet (apparently that's what we're calling it).

Start with it empty and write down your storage vision. Yes, write it down. What do you need to store? What makes sense to store in that location? How easily does it need to be accessed? How often? Many of these questions were asked during the design phase as well, but I got more specific this time around. (Chris is still building the drawers and doors but they'll be up soon).

A clean slate

Start putting stuff away. Only put in the things that you are sure need to go there. You can put visual place holders if necessary (beer, paper towels, etc). Move things around to see how they fit.

Starting to get organized

The right side was for cleaning supplies. I fussed around with vacuum and hose placement, where the broom and dustpan should hang, how low the metal bins should hang for ease of use. A few things got changed but it was a good start.

Ahhh, so neat and tidy

Then I started filling in the left side. And the great thing is that I actually have an empty shelf - I need to unpack a few more pantry boxes before officially deciding what goes there.

Yes, I need a ladder for the top shelf

After using it for a few days I decided I wanted a couple of shallow shelves at the back for cleaning solutions that don't get pulled out as often as the ones in the bins.

Adding shelves

I realize that what is stored here will change over time. After all, I don't actually have my kitchen cabinets installed yet and the big pantry is also still in the design stage. But this gives me such an excellent start! Everything in here came from somewhere else - somewhere that now has empty space that needs to be utilized. I'm already identifying more boxes to unpack!