It sure took me a bit longer than I expected, but my crafts closet in the family room is finally nicely organized. And it was done on a very strict budget (although unlike the bookcases, I did spend a few dollars on this project). Some history first... Originally this was supposed to be my "office" (when I still had my telecommuting 9-to-5 job). Unfortunately, the door into the family room, when open, blocks half of the closet. Then I thought it'd be my scrapbooking station. Unfortunately, I was getting less and less free time, especially after Mr. M turned 1.
Next, I thought this closet could become a bill-paying station plus overflow toy storage plus "one day I will get back to scrapbooking" storage. Oh, and it was also supposed to store the few DVDs and CDs (mostly Mr. M's) that we had.
That's when things started getting really ugly and stuff was piling up everywhere. I even called in a favor and had a professional organizer work her miracles on this closet. This worked for a little bit, until I corralled extra toys into Mr. M's room, gave up on scrapbooking (for now), and the hubby got into the habit of paying bills in the living room. Left unused, the closet somehow managed to accumulate lots and lots of clutter and I could no longer find anything in it.
Then I had this big "AHA" moment and realized that what I really needed was a crafts and homeschool supplies closet for the stuff we use almost daily.
And this was exactly what I did. I kept the shelving and the desktop and the pegboard (love it). Took out the trash and moved everything that was not crafts-related into the secret-squirrel stashing location (don't worry, it will be reveled at a later date). I then walked around the house collecting all the crayons, stickers, glue sticks, scissors, activities and crafts books, etc and arranging them nicely.
Ta-da! This is the moment of the big reveal...
I think I spent a total of about $15 on this organizing project:
$5 - 5 cute white buckets to store markers, scissors, paint brushes and unexpected little things
$1.50 - 3 white Chinese take-out containers that now store stickers (2 of them) and some mystery items
$5 - 2 clip boards that I spray-painted and decorated - to hold our curriculum notes, etc.
The rest I had on hand already, including various plastic containers, scrap paper, spray paint for the old file cabinet, pictures and frames and even Deka wire and 2 curtains (it's amazing what can be found in dusty boxes in the deep dark closets).
