Organization October: Master bedroom closet

Welcome to my first Organization October project! What is Organization October? I've decided to dedicate the remainder of the month to organizing three problem areas in our home: the master bedroom closet, the linen closet and under the kitchen sink. 

I'm tackling these projects one at a time and spending as little money as possible. After all, organizing your home shouldn't be expensive, right? Hopefully, these three posts will give you some ideas and a little inspiration to tackle the problem areas in your home! If you'd decide to tackle a problem area in your home, I want to hear about it and see the before and after pictures! I might just feature my favorite in the future. 

The master bedroom closet in our apartment has been quite neglected. It was neglected when only my clothes were in it prior to our wedding. It was neglected even more when R.J. moved in with his own clothes. At the present, R.J. doesn't have a dresser for his shirts, socks and underoos. Thus, our closet has to double as a dresser for him as well. His shorts and white undershirts were even beginning to overtake the chair our fan sits on. 

My goal was to condense the clothing hanging up, find somewhere inside the closet for R.J.'s socks, undershirts, shorts, etc., organize a gazillion pairs of shoes so we didn't have to dig for a pair from the closet floor and have a home for our laundry basket. In an apartment, you are always hurting for space. For that reason, I was hoping to create a little bit more storage for other items as well. 

My organizational weapons of choice?

Thanks for modeling Bentley!

1. 5-Tier Swinging Arm Pants Hanger
2. Tie/Belt Hanger
3. Fabric Storage Bins
4. ClosetMaid, 3-Shelf Laminate Stacker Organizer, White, 898700
5. Clear Box Under Bed Storage IRIS CB-70

I already had the fabric storage bins and the storage shelf. R.J. and I purchase the pants hanger, tie rack and under-the-bed storage bin with some gift cards.

The first step in my closet organization mission was to go through all the clothes hanging up. I don't think R.J. had been through his closet since before we met. We donated almost an ENTIRE garbage bag of clothes he had outgrown or had worn holes all in. I also went through mine and found some items to donate - effectively thinning out the horde. 

Next, I separated the clothing that passed the donation round into piles: Sunday dress clothes, causal shirts, pants, and work uniforms. Look at the craziness! That's what I like to call organized chaos. 

After finishing R.J.'s side, I did the same on my side. Since I have more shoes than R.J., my shoes claimed both of the shoe racks I had. A sweater organizer I also already owned became our hoodie organizer. Because my shoes were not consuming the closet floor, I was able to put the laundry basket on my side, under my clothes. 

Now then, the closet shelf above R.J.'s hanging-up clothes became his makeshift dresser. His socks are in one pink bin and his underoos in the other. His basketball shorts, pajama pants and swim trunks are in the khaki bins. On top of the storage shelf are his undershirts and his shorts! They're no longer on the chair! Yay! 

I really wasn't intending to put the under-the-bed storage bin on the closet shelf. I had purchased the bin to store the china my granny gave me as a wedding gift. However, our current bed is so low to the floor, the bin wouldn't fit underneath the bed! Therefore, it found a new home on our closet on the shelf.

As for the pink bag on top of the china, it now houses my summer clothes. The second pink bag in the "before" picture is now under our bed and full of my summer shoes!

Our closet has been like this for about a week now and is still organized. I hope this tidbit inspires you to organize your closet! You'll discover clothes you forgot you had. I did!

See ya next time!
Miranda