Under the stairs closet

{So, as far as how I am right now...I'm ok considering. Just sad and that makes me un-fixably tired. So I'm trying to give myself grace to go slow and do less this month.}

Anyway...I redid this closet right after I did the last one and wanted to blog about it.

This closet has been the place where I stash all our renovating supplies.

Which basically means it's been doomed to be messy. 

     Because, for instance, when I spent the wee hours of the night painting, the last thing I wanted to do was put things back in order...I would just set stuff inside the closet door planning to get to it later. Of course I never did. So...

 

Once in a great while, the closet got rearranged but would return to a huge mess over time.

And recently --- since I also keep our vacuum cleaner and cleaning supplies in there --- it's disaster-prone-ness got to the point where I was having to set the vacuum on top of precarious towers and shove the door shut. I couldn't even take the picture with it that way because the door was what kept it from falling over.

It started getting on my nerves. And I had just experienced the joys of the coat closet redo. So I cleaned it out with the steam of minimalism fueling me, as well as a brain storm I had for our new life addition of Legos. 

The girls each got some Lego sets this Christmas and love them. And I think they are great. But with a toddler (still very much in the all-things-go-in-mouth stage) these tiny things have to be carefully maintained. 

My girls don't do well with taking apart their creations, so I was trying to figure out a way to keep their builds together, and be able to put them away when they aren't playing. And this closet just kept on saying "Pick me! Pick me!"

So one afternoon while Bronny slept I took everything out and set to work.

I had hung the brooms and such, and labeled their spots, a while ago and loved it. It definitely alleviated the way we were misplacing those things all the time. (How you can lose a broom, or dusting wand...?..it seems impossible...but we are good at it.) But having junk in front of it wasn't helping the closet's cause.

Once I pulled everything out I started hanging my often used home repair and painting supplies up echoing the brooms and how much I liked that.

Doing that helped me get a lot of random boxes off the floor.

Everything on this wall is just hung up on nails. 

And I was so pleased to find I could rest my paint sticks across the two nails holding up the basket...so accidentally perfect.

On the broom wall I've used random hooks I found around the house. A lot of them I had to bend with two plyers so they could accommodate things. Then I wrote what goes there on masking tape. Helps when other people are using them or looking for them.

I hung two gig bags up on hooks. They were laying in the junk. Blake had forgotten about one of them and found a cool gadget in it ... His e-bow. Cleaning has good perks!

I put all the paint roller in that basket there on a step (made sure it's hooks that hold it up wouldn't stick out through the stair side.) And that cleared up another box on the floor.

I went through the paint and tossed a couple empty or ruined gallons out. And rearranged them in an easy way at the back.

And everything else that had been in there either found a better home (like the garage) or got donated (like a bunch of lightbulbs that fit nothing we own... How does that happen? Maybe they came with the house?)

Then Blake built me the Lego shelf. (It's just a shelf, not like made in some Lego way)

But we made these two little wood trays that we glued a Lego plate onto for each girl. (And when playing things can come off of these. But when playing is over they can put the buildings on there for safe keeping.)

Then they slide up on the shelf.

I took an old plastic zippered pouch (something sheets and the like often come in) to contain any lose parts and hooked it under the shelf. The nice thing is the bag is big enough to hold another built piece if it needs to.

It's been working great for us. The girls just ask to play and I take it down. They keep it on kitchen surfaces (table or counter) so Bronny can't access them. And I can put them back up.

The stuff on the door is mostly spray paint, wood glue, caulk, that kinda thing.

But I also have light bulbs,some electrical supplies, placemats and cleaning supplies on there.

(I used to have food on those shelves like a pantry. But having the new counter area we built made enough room for that in the kitchen.)

So that's the closest now. It feels fantastic.

Look how easy it is to get the vacuum out now! (I vacuum more because of it!)

I 'm not saying it can't fall prey to my messy ways. But when everything has it's official place, I'm so much more prone to put things there. So I'm feeling optimistic about it staying more under control.

Someday I'd like to give this space some fresh white paint. And address the floor. Maybe even some pretty touches just for fun. (This closet (http://littlegreennotebook.com/2014/01/my-cleaning-closet-overhau.html/)

inspires me.) I have a deep love of details. Especially in goofy detail places. So I'd love to cap off this closet some more one day. But even without that, these kinds of projects bring me some of my favorite house fulfillment.

Before:

 

After: