120" of clothes crammed into 66" of closet...

There is nothing more frustrating than looking in the closet and realizing that you have NOTHING to wear...unless it's looking into the closet and having no idea what you might have in there!

As you know, I downsized from 2300 sq. ft. to 800 sq. ft. I've been getting rid of everything that I don't want, don't love, don't need. It's been incredibly freeing, but I'm still living amongst boxes and clutter. It's driving me crazy. I've got a HUGE pile for a yard sale, which will probably take place on the 19th. Whatever doesn't sell goes to Goodwill that afternoon. That will de-clutter the living room immensely!

Storage in a small space is at a premium, and I'm learning to improvise and reassign the use of spaces. The closets in this duplex are tiny. There are three: one linen closet (about 30" wide with 5 shelves), one 24" closet in one bedroom (with one 24" rod), and one 5' wide closet in the other bedroom, 33" deep, with two 33" rods (one on each side). There is no coat closet in the house.

I was looking for a particular shirt to wear to go out the other night, and couldn't find it. Everything was so crammed together that all of my clothes were wrinkled, and some were being damaged when I tried to pull them out. I don't tend to buy cheap clothing, so it was getting very frustrating.

Eventually, enough was enough, so Tuesday I gutted the 5' wide closet. First, I had to take out all of the clothes--check out that pile!Here's the empty, gutted closet. You can see where the original single shelf was.

I also took out the two bottom shelves in the linen closet. Then, I painted both closets with Behr's Ultra White satin paint, so that they'd be fresh and bright.

I installed a rod in the linen closet to create a space for coats. Wow--now I have a coat closet, and I still have storage room for towels, sheets and extra stuff on the three remaining shelves!

Then, I installed a double rod system in the bigger closet. On the left side, the lower rod is pant- and dress-length. The upper rod is is for short-sleeved shirts. On the right side, I did the same, but the lower shelf is only 18" long, leaving 15" for longer dresses and coats, since I have a few long dresses, and some of my coats are knee-length and too long for the new coat closet.

I had a huge surprise--well, a couple dozen surprises--when I started to put clothing back into the closet and sort it according to type. I have 10 dresses that I didn't know I owned, including two cocktail dresses for formal occasions! I have FIVE Little Black Dresses! I have 8 or 9 shirts that I'd forgotten I'd purchased. There are 8 pairs of pants that I don't recall ever seeing. So, I won't need to buy new clothing for at least 10 years!

Wow, look at all the room! I've always been good about getting rid of clothing that I don't like or don't wear, so everything in my closet is something that I like. That goes for the "new" stuff, too.

The next closet project will be the smaller (24") closet. I'll put a double rod in there as well, but now that I have all of this room, I don't need it any time soon.

On a different topic, tomorrow is the 8th anniversary of 9/11. Please take a moment to remember those who lost their lives, both victims and heroes. And regardless of your thoughts on the war, please remember those who are willing to sacrifice their lives so that you may live freely.

Today is also one month since Erick went missing. Still no word, no sign of him. Erick, if you are out there and reading my blog, PLEASE call someone and let us know that you are OK!