Thursday, January 1, 2009

Let's End 2008 Right...

With cleaning and organization!
Come on people, get excited!
Wait, why don't I hear cheering?

Katie Anne's room has been totally driving me nuts for weeks. Specifically, her closet and dressers. Her room looked okay from the outside, but open the closet doors, and this is what you find...

















Madness and mayhem, folks, madness and mayhem. This pile 'o shoes (90% too small) makes me sick to my stomach...













And this? I just call this corner of her closet the black hole... what goes back there, no man can find. A woman? Maybe. But definitely no man is strong enough for that fruitless search. ("What little pink baseball cap? Are you sure? Back here? I can't find anything back here, Katie... I see a bulb syringe, a pair of tiny overalls, a box of bandaids...")













The sad thing about the black hole is that the little wooden bins were so sweetly organized back in the summer!

The problem has been that I never cleared out her summer clothes before I started sticking winter clothes in there, and I actually should've cleared about half those summer clothes out in July when she had a big growth spurt, but I didn't. This causes several issues:
1. "Oh, that shirt would look good with these pants... wait, it's actually a sleeveless dress, size 12 months. Oops."
2. "Katie, please do not tell me Katie Anne needs new clothes. Have you looked at her closet? It is packed. Have you opened her drawers? Stuffed. No new clothes."
3. "Yeah, she has shoes to wear with that dress. I remember seeing some pink dress shoes in her closet... what? Oh, seriously they're size 2? Yikes. White sandals in November it is!"

Seriously, she has size 18 months shorts mixed in with her 2T and 3T pants, 12 months rompers hanging next to 24 months sweatshirts. It is impossible to find anything. Everything is so wrinkled from being shoved and jammed. So... this chore had to be done.

It took me about 4 hours to clean out her entire room because I had to do it when she was awake (duh). So, two hours in the morning, pause for lunch and nap, and two hours yesterday afternoon. In the depths of the job, I thought that maybe this was a terrible idea.













Yep, this is the point when you think, "This might have been a job too big for one human."

















But, finally, I just busted in there and finished the drill. I've got a big bag of summer clothes 12-18 months to save for the next kid as well as a little bag for Goodwill donation. All her drawers are organized, too - and guess what? Two of the six are COMPLETELY empty- awesome! It looks SO much better and I feel a lot better starting 2009 with that job behind me!

The finished closet...

















Reorganized shoe shelf...













The black hole conquered!













The room view... notice the almost-naked runner who stripped down during the cleaning process.

4 comments:

Dr J said...

well done!!!!!

Kelly Miller said...

Looks great - I especially love those wellies. I can't wait to get Bella a fun pair. Great way to kick off the new year!

Magnolia Designs said...

Oh my...a task I need to take on as well...Nalley has sooooo many clothes and shoes that I can't keep up with what she has or doesn't have. That pile of outgrown stuff just keeps getting bigger and bigger and I don't know what to do with it. I am hoping that our new little one is a girl so that we can get some more use out of all of these gorgeous things that she has only worn a couple of times. You have inspired me to get it done this week!!!

Carrie Beth said...

It looks so much more organized. I get into Handley's closet and do the same thing at least once a month because I can't stand it to get messy and unorganized. Here's a little tip that might help you...I leave a big plastic storage bin in her closet and when she outgrows something or when we're past the holiday (Halloween shirts, for example) I go ahead and throw them into the bin. When the bin is full at the end of the season, I mark what contents are in it and move it to the basement.

Loved the shots of KA running around in her diaper. Handley loves to do the same thing!