Fall Zen in the Closet

Thrifting WonderlandHoliday decor, Photography, Room makeover22 Comments on Fall Zen in the Closet

Welcome to the Blog, today. I’m sitting here on the screen porch with a glass of wine in very pleasant weather for the first time in what seems like months. It’s been a very busy week as we sort through things, clearing out and generally making more space in the house. It’s time for a big clean out. I’m often asked where I store all the things I thrift and it is definitely a valid question. The answer…anywhere I can find a nook or cranny that will hold something. I’ve decided to change tactics. So, to that end, I did some closet refresh this week. In the picture above you can see the closet in question. Now this was filled before with everything you will see but not in such an organized fashion, I had boxes where chargers were stored on the floor, tablecloths hanging down and pillows piled on the top shelf. We took out the top shelf, all the hanging tablecloths, the boxes and pillows and started over.

You can see that this is not a huge closet but you can also see nothing on the floor which is a big improvement. We purchased a 72″ high, 48″ wide and 18″ deep shelving unit from Lowe’s that fit perfectly in the coset. After a thorough cleaning I began to separate the chargers, pictured here, into piles by color or texture and began loading them into the closet. The shelves hold a lot of weight so I am not worried about them bending or collapsing. Now I can see exactly what I have and easily get to it for a tablescape. I cut the chargers down by about half. I had not realized how many I actually had. I guess you never do when it’s a bit messy.

The next task was to go through the tablecloths and cut them down by half. Then I put the folded cloths into piles according to season with one pile for whites and creams. They were then loaded onto the shelves and you can see from the picture that it is easy to tell exactly what I have. I can also co-ordiante the tablecloths, placemats and chargers just by looking in the closet. What a wonderful situation. No more digging.

The last part still needs a little work. These crates are filled with napkins that go with the chargers, placemats and tablecloths. I have them organized by season but need to go back in and straighten them out. A project for this next week. Again, I’ll be cutting back by half on the napkins. The final piece will be the cloth placemats which are stored in a chest of drawers in the same room. When you are only paying 25 or 50 cents a napkin it’s really easy to acquire way more than you need.

This next week, I plan to thoroughly clean a room at a time going through the closets, packing up and getting rid of things I no longer use. Fall decorations and Christmas decorations are definitely on the list of things to cull. I’m already beginning to feel a lightness that I haven’t felt for awhile. Cleaning is good for the soul and a feeling of Zen.

Such a good feeling to organize a closet. Have a great week Everyone.

I want to also welcome everyone to Tuesday’s Halloween Tablescape Blog Hop. I’ll be joining some wonderfully creative bloggers as we share ideas for decorating Halloween tables. Hope you’ll join me.