Reorganizing....

I spent yesterday cleaning out my closet and packing up all those clothes I know 'someday' I'll be able to wear again.  How many sizes of clothing do you have in your closet?  Mine go from size 8 to size 18 and cover the last three decades.  (Can you say bell bottoms?)  Some of the clothes hanging in the closet have dust a half an inch thick on them.  Haven't worn them....Won't wear them.... I reduced my closet by 30% and since these clothes are in great shape (except for the dust) I donated them to Goodwill.  That's been on my 'to do' list since we moved in nine years ago.

Then I moved to my 'studio' (sounds better than craproom, right?) and cleaned out one whole shelf on a baker's rack.  Garbage day today so most of it is already rolling around in a garbage truck - don't worry, it isn't good stuff.  It's old "might use" stuff and not worth donating.  My husband volunteered to go to the dollar store in Peoria and pick up some short shelves like he has in his office.  We measured and they will fit below the opening on the top level that overlooks the living room.  There is a waist high wall which keeps you from falling into the living room.  No one uses that hall but me, it leads to my bathroom and my studio.  So, we're going to line that wall with four sets of book shelves, three shelves on each and since they are shorter than the wall, I have the top also.  I can get 15 of the Michael's photo boxes on each book shelf, so sixty boxes.

Here is the hallway, warts and all.  The video tapes are slowly being recorded onto DVDs, the boxes on the floor are garage sale items or supplies that won't fit.  The stain on the floor is an accident my hubs had with coffee and will be cleaned after the bathroom remodel (silly to do it before, right?).  I'll post new pictures in the next few days.

I now have most of my stamps in plastic shoe boxes but as most of you know, they are rounded on the inside while the photo boxes are square.  I plan to transfer all the stamps to the Michael's boxes and place them on the shelves.  Each box will be labeled and a tag on the top of each shelf will show which boxes are on the bookshelf.  Then I don't have to lay on the floor to read the boxes on the bottom shelf.  That will greatly reduce the plastic shoe boxes in my studio.  Those emptied shoe boxes will be refilled with items I hope to use someday and placed on the very top shelves of the three baker's racks I have in my studio freeing up space that I can reach.  I will then devote those emptied shelves to my extensive paper collection.  Like many of you, I have way too much paper.  So much, in fact, I can never find it when I need it.  Years ago, I even went so far as to buy (at a garage sale), 16 boxes of 8.5 x 11 Southworth paper.  This is expensive stationery paper; some with texture, some parchment.  I have moved it to two different houses and I use one piece every year.  My daughter works for Michaels so for birthdays and Christmas, my husband heads there where she has a list of all the DCWV paper I've seen and want.  I must have 50 pads of paper and even more packages of single colored cardstock both 12x12 and 8.5x11.  Hello, my name is Cindy, and I am addicted to paper.  I recently found on sale, a double base on wheels for 12x12 clear trays to hold paper.  I can stack 30 trays on it and move it around.  It was originally almost $100 and I got it for $20.  I call that a good deal.  Well, I've got organizing to do..... catch you later.