A couple of ideas for your front hall closet
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 3:09PM 
I have a confession to make. My hall closet is a disaster. In my old (and when I say old, I mean it - 1882!) home, our front hall closet is somewhat of a collect-and-store all types of items space. Here's just a small list of items we keep in our front hall closet: winter coats, firewood, shopping bags to be reused, umbrellas, mittens, gloves, scarves, extra bedding, etc. Oh yeah, and a little den for my cats - to which we affectionately call the "cat cave," as my cats disappear in the closet for what feels like days at a time.
Obviously, the list is quite long of items I try to shove in there. However the closet is quite small. I came across a few
images from the November issue of Real Simple that displayed an ideal organizational solution. The image on the right is as close to an actual representation of my hall closet as possible. Every few months I sigh in exasperation when opening the closet and attempt to make some order of it. This image is actually a Real Simple readers closet. With her permission (which I'm sure was eagerly given), Real Simple made over her front hall closet. The result is below.
Items that were used in the hall make over were minimal: a can of paint, a slender bookshelf (that can be purchased from Ikea), organizational boxes (Target, Container Store, Crate & Barrel, etc. carry these bins) and a coat hook.
Step by step instructions to complete your own front hall make over:
1) Empty everything out of the closet. Sort all items into 3 piles. Keep, throw away, or belongs somewhere else.
2) Paint the interior back wall of the closet a vibrant color. Here is your chance to put a little spunk into your home without feeling afraid or guilty. A bright color will help the eye see the depth of the space in addition to helping delineate storage spaces within the closet.
3) Insert shelving units on one side of the closet. Fill cubbies or bins with appropriate items, maybe one bin for mittens, another for firewood, etc.
4) Hang coat hook on the door. This will provide "dumping" space that is perfect for when you are in a hurry. Just be careful not to let that hook be your version of clothes hanging. Readers, I'm on to you.
5) Complete the job by putting back all of your "keep" items, while tossing items no longer needed and finding homes for those that never belonged there in the first place.
6) Enjoy your newly revamped space while also taking those extra few seconds each day to keep it up!
Images provided by Real Simple.
Cleaning, Closet, Organizing, Recommendations, Sorting
Reader Comments (4)
Thanks for sharing the cool ideas of yours.
I really appreciate it.
Thank you once again.
Great article, especially for this time of year when everyone feels like good spring clean. There's something very satisfying about organising one's home which should never be underestimated. Thanks for the inspiration!
Getting organized is a skill, if not an obsession to some. They find it difficult to function properly if their clothes or documents are cluttered. We also have to be organized and try as much as possible to avoid paper or cord clutter to make our living or working space cozy and accessible. Copies should be regulated - produce only when it is needed. When the time comes to get organized and remove the things that causes clutter, one way to properly dispose of your paper documents and hard drives is to have them shredded. Why you may ask - because these things can still be used for other purposes and we just do not throw them in the bin.
Great article, it was very informative and interesting.