Closet organization: Shelves and drawers

Closet organization doesn’t have to begin and end at how and where you hang your clothes. For some people having space for folded clothes is more is more usable, a.k.a more useful. However, not everyone has the to shove a dresser into their closet, a dresser definitely isn’t the best solution for what some people are looking for. So, for all the people who can’t and probably wouldn’t want to anyways, let me suggest a shelf and draw system.

A shelf and draw system is exactly what it sounds like, a series of shelves and drawers that would
give your closet all the pros of having a dresser without the cons all the cons of stuffing a big piece
of furniture into your closet. There are tons of options for closet customization available to buy and
DIY yourself. That’s before you consider having shelves custom built for you.

There are several ways you can go about setting up a shelf and drawer system in your closet. You
could use a basket system which would use layers of shelves using baskets as an alternative for
drawers. This approach has the possibility of being exponentially more decorative as well as being
able to pick and choose the size and relative shape of said baskets. Baskets can be used to sort
any number of things clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.

A cubby system would be a sort of hybrid between shelves and cubbies. Depending on the size
cubbies would be more useful for organizing shoes and one-off items, such as a sweater or other
clothing item to delicate to hang. Larger cubbies can either be arranged decoratively to stare
jewelry or store a pile of folded or rolled clothes. Just about anything stored in a cubby would be
on display, which is great when you’re deciding what to wear.

Adding a dresser or custom drawer system would not be out of the question for an addition to a
closet. The top of a dresser can be used as a table or surface space where jewelry or accessories
such as hats could be stored. The space below hanging clothes or shelves could also be used for
shoe storage by adding a simple shoe rack. However, these kinds of additions would have to be
chosen carefully with regards to the aesthetic of the rest of the closet.

Turning Up Your Curb Appeal

Your home has served you well in the times you have occupied its walls and dwelled under its roof… or maybe it hasn’t and your happy to leave dust trails on your way out. Either way you’re moving out but before you can leave, at least if you don’t want to be paying two mortgages, you need to sell your house. Which means you need to prepare your house to be sold. No matter how fabulous the inside of your home maybe it won’t get sold unless you can get prospective buyers through the front door, and you definitely won’t get the best deal possible unless you get as many people as possible through the front door. Which means it’s time to work on your curb appeal.

Let’s start with the obvious. Get rid of the trash! I’m not saying you have actual trash in your yard. I mean no shade if you do (a little shade if you do) but there’s going to be some stuff that you don’t want visually cluttering up the lawn and thus the presentation of your home. This could mean fallen leaves and branches of trees to larger things like old yard equipment, old broken things you never got around to getting rid of.  At least get it out of the front yard so that the inside has time to speak for itself before people see the disaster area in the back.

Make some fixes! People like things to feel new, especially when they are buying it. There’s a certain charm about old or antique things however that charm dissipates when it looks like it may fall apart. So, the next step is to fix up anything that looks broken or raggedy overly worn on the front of the house. Loose gutters, beat up shutters, noticeably messed up blinds in the windows, anything noticeably broken and obviously not cute. Go across the street and really look at the house, try not to creep out your neighbors.

Spruce it up! A new coat of paint makes a world of difference. Things can be in perfectly good shape but still look old and dilapidated. Time and wear can make things look gross and dirty. All of that can be easily fixed with fresh paint, helping buyers see past the worn color and bring out the quality.

Pay attention to details. You want the property to look cared for. When something looks properly cared for it’s a signal that it’s in good shape and worth spending money on. That well maintained look we’re going for is achieved by looking at the details. Trim your hedges, maintain your garden, if you don’t have those maybe you should put in some hedges and throw in a plot of flowers. Tamed foliage in your yard says to people looking at it that you care. Fix cracks in your driveway and walkway, clean the windows, power wash the façade and front porch. Make people want to approach the house.

Deep Cleaning Your New House

So, you’ve bought a new home! First, congratulations on your new home. You’ve gotten past the hard part and now you’re on the final leg of the process, moving in. However, just because the house is new doesn’t mean it’s clean. Before you move in your furniture, you’re going to need to thoroughly clean your new house. Until then anything you move into the space is just going to an obstacle for your cleaning. So now you have the herculean task of deep cleaning the entirety of your new home, but where should you start?

1. Make a List

Everything is more manageable when you have things you can check off of a list You know everything that needs to be done, which reduces the stress of a task. Also, the instant gratification of being able to check things off of a list is amazing motivation. Go from room to room and write down everything that needs to be done in each space. Sweep the floor, dust the ceiling fan, wipe down the baseboards, mopping, dust the mantle, wipe down the windows, etc.

2. Start from one corner to the opposite corner.

It’s best to start from the ceiling, knocking all the dust and the dirt to the floor, so that you won’t end up having to clean the floors several times. I also suggest cleaning from the furthest corner from the door outwards until you make it out of the room. That way if you’re mopping or sweeping you don’t end up putting your dirty shoes or feet on your freshly cleaned floors.

3. Hit the Appliances

If you’ve inherited some of the appliances from the previous owners of the house, first congratulations they’ve saved you a good amount of money. However, even if they cleaned they’ve probably missed something, and you don’t want to cook in the remains of someone else’s crumbs, baked in grease, and dirt. Break everything down so you can clean your appliances thoroughly. Be much more careful with stainless steel, it’s not all that forgiving when it comes to chemical reactions — that blue dish soap and hot water will usually do the trick.

4. DON’T SKIP THE WINDOWS AND LIGHT FIXTURES

Look, I know you're tired of this by now and I’m sorry, but I promise that it’s totally worth it. If your house isn’t new you don’t know when they were last cleaned. You think your light fixtures are frosted glass… they might actually be clear. Accumulation of dirt in clear light fixtures looks strangely like they were meant to be opaque. You would be surprised at how much light you might be missing out on when your light fixtures aren’t clean.

Same with your windows. Unlock the window, lift it about a quarter of the way, then pinch the two tabs on the top toward the center while pulling the window toward you. On higher end windows, the top panel will also tilt in. With the bottom pane tilted into the room, lower the upper pane about a quarter of the way, or until you can see the same tabs that are on the lower pane and repeat the process. When you’re done cleaning, just push the panes back into their tracks one at a time until you hear a click. The increase of natural light will be rewarding.