The CLOSET...embarrassing but true!

OK.  I'm embarrassed to show you how bad my room was. I admit that I have a very serious clutter habit and that's the first step right?  It's all those days when the mail comes in, I drop it in a pile and it accumulates.  Oh, also, the piles of things I didn't have a place for and didn't have time to find one!  It was ugly... just have a look and DON'T JUDGE OK?  This was actually on a very bad day. Really.

I took the doors off a long time ago, mainly because they were a huge pain.  They were the louvered, squeaky panel doors (like the ones on our laundry closet...)

To fix this scary closet issue (along with the rest of the room) we emptied everything (and I mean everything!) into the living room of our 900 or so sq ft home.  It's still partly out there but I should be able to make a huge dent this weekend.   What was left was a scary carpet (pulled up and thrown out the window!) and some pretty nasty looking walls...

More than a bit of silicon patching and many coats of paint later we have a room that glows white!

I personally LOVED the room completely white.  We even painted the floor to seal out the moisture (mold is a SERIOUS problem here in the Santa Cruz area.)

A few hours were then spent online deciding how much I could afford to spend at IKEA (link takes you to the storage system I bought.)  I made a quick trip up and purchased all the goodies I could fit on my gift card from Christmas.  It was amusing to see me tie up the large/long table (more on that in another post) and drive it 50 mph on Hwy 85 during mid-day.  Just in case you aren't from this area, people drive upwards of 85 mph on that road regularly!  Let's just say I was not popular and tried not to make eye contact.  Perhaps me singing loudly and exuberantly with the windows open gave them a little sympathy?

I spent a four day weekend installing the closet stuff.  It was a bear but well worth the measure fifty times and cut a few.  I got to use power tools!  Yeah, such a rare and exciting thing for me as I love to be independent and power tools are the way baby!

Did I mention that I threw out probably 1/3 to 1/2, maybe more, of my clothes?  A big step forward for me.  I figure if I lose weight I can buy myself new pants (instead of keeping the old ones around to make me feel motivated???!!!)  I'll be taking the two massive boxes to Goodwill today.  And that my friends is a load of weight off my shoulders. Yeah!

OK, so are you ready for the big reveal?  I know, get to it already!!!


Here it is:

Wow!  Nice huh? 


Yep, that's pretty much all my clothes in the world (except coats.)  The fancy pink dress is actually a repair job for Gwendolyn's drama department.  The shoe boxes on top replace old nasty boxes and hold my wedding shoes, fancy shoes, etc.  The bins on the right under the dresses hold purses and bags and the long bin will hold all of my PaperBackSwap.com books, cds, etc.  There's a laundry bin and my shoes take up the bottom three drawers on the shorter drawer stack.  

You're probably wondering where Tony's stuff is?  Ha!  His things are in the garage of course.  I may be a little more Spartan but I'm still a woman in need of  MY space!

Well, that's it for this edition of how to change your life by redecorating your room.  This is only the beginning and I am so excited.  I've cried at least half-a-dozen times over how big of an impact this has already had on my mood.  Thank you (to myself and) Tony for all of your hard work!

Here's the closet basic details:
$4.00       -   1 short rail
$6.00/ea   -   2 long rails
$5.00/ea   -   2 bracket sets
$8.99/ea   -   3 wire shelves
$6.00/ea   -   2 clothing rails
$9.99/ea   -   4 basket frames
$2.50/ea   -   16 wire baskets
$2.00/ea    -  3 sets of castors
$7.00/ea.   -  2 frame tops (that's the white flat top)
$12.99    -    1 laundry bag with frame

Total Cost (not including chocolate of course) = $175.92
Feeling of Accomplishment = Priceless!

The First Post! The Remodel Begins....

I've been wanting to start my own business sewing clothes and gifts for ages.  I have probably talked about this possibility with family and friends so often that they are sick of me and are just saying... "get on with it already!"  Well, a big first step is in the works and that is to remodel my bedroom!  I know, what does remodeling a bedroom have to do with sewing?  Well, for many years now I have stored all of my craft items, fabric and sewing equipment in my room and have placed a board on my bed for cutting, ironing and assembling (I'll post a picture later as it is rather amusing!) It wasn't the best way to work and it meant that the room was a constant mess.  Working this way was extremely difficult and I had to clean up every night when I wanted to go to bed.  A business really couldn't be run this way!

Well.... the miracle has happened!  

IN A NUTSHELL: We emptied the room, ripped up the moldy carpet, repainted the walls a beautiful white, laid amazing "wood" flooring,  (I - alone) installed a new closet system, purchased and installed new furniture, painted one wall a FABULOUS aqua-marine color and I'm in the process of washing all fabric and loading the room back up with only necessary items.  I've gotten rid of two huge boxes of clothes and shoes and have listed probably 20+ books on paperbackswap.com.  

WOW!  Amazing accomplishments by Tony and I.  I am very proud of what's happened so far and once the (slightly) messy organizing part is done I'll take more photos and post. In the meantime I'll do some entries on the process as it was a blast! 

A huge thank you to my mom for cheering me on, to Tony for all his amazing hard work and to Gwendolyn (our 13 year old) for being a  remodeling orphan for a couple of months.  Oh, and thank you so much to all of the amazing bloggers and craftspeople out there that posted pictures of beautiful craft rooms to inspire me.  I'll do a little homage to you soon I promise! After all, I actually used one of these online photos at the paint store to generate my wall color!

Once I figure out this whole blog thing I'm going to post tons of pictures!  You will be amazed.  I'm serious!  For now a little teaser with my incredible aqua-marine wall!  I hope it looks as good online as it does in person.