Friday’s Game Plan: Hallway Closets

Hallway closets are meant for coats, but somehow my closet contained nearly everything but coats.

I like to keep my work bag in the hallway closet, so it is out of the way while I am at home. The other night as I placed my bag in the hallway closet, which sits precariously on a plastic storage container, I thought about finally doing something about the mess. I have to admit hallway closets are great, because once that door shuts, no one can tell what is going on inside. But that mentality is exactly what got me into this mess in the first place. My hallway closet has become Mecca for gift wrap, sports equipment, unused gifts, random decorations, and old printers. My Friday Game Plan is to once and for all get the hallway closet under control; otherwise I’m worried one day when I open it my things will come billowing out!

I recommend the following approach that I used to help get things under control:

• Clean the closet: My first step was to remove everything from the closet and put it on a table or the floor where you can see exactly what you have. Once everything is cleared out, I took to vacuuming and cleaning the floor and shelves.

• Sort: The next step is the most important, decide which items you want to keep and which ones can be thrown away or donated. I found things I didn’t even know I owned. Most of the items were trash or things that could be recycled and donated. Since I hadn’t seen most of the items in quite awhile I realized that they definitely aren’t of much use to me.

• Restoring: Once my items were sorted, I began to reload the closet. I decided to go out and purchase special gift wrap containers that would manage the mess of wrapping paper tubes as well as ribbon. I also, bought a bucket for all my sports equipment; tennis rackets, swimming gear, and winter gear. Lastly, I made sure that everything had a place and that I could actually see it. I think the last part is the most important, the second you start shoving items in the back of your closet, you should take a good hard look and see if you actually need them!

Hopefully these steps will help you tackle your hallway closet like I was able to do with mine. Now every time I open the closet I know that I won’t have a mountain of stuff just waiting to billow out!