The Proof is in the Pudding

I've been absentee lately, due to the mess that is my house.

Once we made the decision to stay put for at least another year, I became a woman possessed.  Refinancing is in progress (thank you, Mr. President!).  We will be saving almost $300 a month on our mortgage payment.  Refinance- CHECK!

Now to declutter.  I am telling you, folks, we are bursting at the seams and spilling crap out all over the place.  The storage situation up in here is positively abysmal.

I decided that the closets were the first spot to tackle.  I mentioned earlier that when I bought this house, all of my clothing and shoes fit into the closet space just fine- as long as I used the closets in all three bedrooms.  I used the closet in my bedroom for the bulk of my clothes, I used the closet in guest bedroom #1 (now Gabe's room) for my dresses, and I used the closet in guest bedroom #2 for my shoes.  That's right, I had an entire closet just for my shoes.

Then J moved in, and I had to share my space!  That was the first closet hurdle that I managed.  I got rid of some clothing that I no longer wore, and added his (very small) collection of clothing into the closet in the master bedroom.  (After, of course, I tried talking him into taking space in one of the guest bedroom closets.  He refused.  Hmph.)

The second, and much bigger, hurdle came when I had to give up an entire closet for that son of mine.  I wasn't sure how I was going to manage this one.  I simply did not have room for all of the clothes in one closet.  SO, I moved all of my dresses into the shoe closet.  Seems simple enough, except for that in order to get to the shoes, it was now like parting the red sea.  The dresses completely cloaked the shoes, and you had to shove clothing aside this way and that to shimmy your way in between them to get to the footwear.  Ideal?  Absolutely not.  But workable?  I suppose.

The right half of the shoes were completely accessible, but the left...

There they are!

So here we are, present day.  Two very stuffed closets, one mama on a mission.  I want all of our things in our closet.  Guest bedroom closet needs to be free to store other things (for now) and then free for another baby (someday).

This also brings me to the identity crisis that I am now experiencing.

I am more than extremely grateful and excited and positively over the moon about the chance to be a stay-at-home mom.  Please do not question that.  But as I'm looking through my closets at all of my stuff, I am realizing that some big changes are happening, and the things that were once so precious to me are finding themselves in the yard sale pile.  If you know me in real life, you know that I am a bit obsessed with shoes.  I have well over one hundred pairs (probably closer to two hundred if I'm being honest and counting all of the flip flops).  So many pairs of gorgeous heels that I realize haven't been worn since I had the nugget.  And really, where would I wear them?  Maybe to work, but now even that opportunity is disappearing.  SO, since I am on a mad mission, they've gotta go.

Goodbye, old friends.

Goodbye, Michael Kors.

Goodbye, Coach.

The keepers, waiting to be re-shelved in their new closet.

On a related note, I DO NOT wear shorts.  Don't like 'em.  But I just had to break down and by some, since I will no longer be spending my days wearing summer dresses in an air conditioned building.  I will be spending my days outside at the park, chasing a toddler.  And friends, it's HOT here.  Shorts suddenly became a necessity.  WHO AM I?

Okay, identity crisis established.  Back to the mission.

Clothes, shoes, bags, jewelry, all forming some giant piles in my currently trashed bedroom.  They're outta here.  My mission has been accomplished.  The only thing that still hangs in the guest closet is my wedding dress.  I think that one's okay.

No more clothes!  Only a ridiculous number of pillows, which for the life of me I have no idea why I own.

The yard sale pile, ever-growing.

My closet, before:

My closet, after:

Even the shoes fit now!

Also, organized jewelry, to take the place of the massive three-drawer plastic monstrosity that took up the floor of my closet previously.  Thanks, Pinterest, for this idea:

Seriously, my necklaces were tossed in a drawer, tangled into one gargantuan knot.  It made getting ready each morning a super fun adventure.

Closet consolidation = success.

Flooring the attic space is next on the list.  Maybe once we accomplish that, I'll be able to open Gabe's closet without its contents literally spilling out all over me.  Wish me luck.