“Making a charmed and happy home is a noble endeavor.”
~Deborah Needleman
If you have been following along in my Instagram stories, you already heard the news- we are finished with the toy closet!!
It’s that one area in the house that drove me crazy every since we lived here. Ok, it’s not the only one, but it is the worst of the anxiety producing spaces in the house.
We have this walk-in closet off our living room that we added a french door to. Because the house was built in 1906, there is a beautfiul window in there for lighting.
If you turn to the left, you see my household/ decor/ pantry area. Oh yes.
On the right are the kids’ toys, which I removed before this pic. But, just imagine, that it is about waist high with kid clutter!!!
*This post contains affiliate links to products I know & love.
Usually, after Christmas, I will have the kids go through all their toys and purge them to make room for the new items. But this last Christmas I had them start the week before.
Being a big fan of The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I have taught my children the invaluable life skill of decluttering.
It took alllll day!
But, we did it. And you know what? In the end, they really only loved about 25% of what we were still cramming into that closet.
Once that was done, we wired the closet for electricity (hello, modern world) and ship lapped (that’s a verb, you know) over all the imperfections, you can read about the process in Closet Makeover Using Shiplap.
We used these darling jelly jar lights from Home Depot, which- wait for it . . . cost $5 each!!!
Then, came the really fun part- picking out the containers, because once you purge a space, all things unsightly should be put into gorgeous containers! Am I right?
For toys, that’s anything obviously plastic and, in my case, anything with too much color. In the post Farmhouse Organization I talk more about this concept.
Here is the toy side of the closet . . .
Can you believe how few toys we have left?!
The wire basket with stuffed animals is from the Container Store, the wooden crates are from Joanns,
the linen boxes are from IKEA.
They come in two colors and several sizes!
On the opposite side of the closet is my area . . .
Some home decor on the top shelf . . .
then, pet supplies . . .
light bulbs, flash lights and batteries. . .
FRUGAL TIP- I buy almost all my light bulbs at garage sales, this white bin of bulbs cost $2!
then, comes my kids’ cleaning caddies. I am getting lots of questions about these on Instagram.
and am working on doing a post on speed cleaning in answer to all the questions- stay tuned.
The caddies are from IKEA and cost $10 each. I adore them!
Buy 20 of these, I say!
The hanging tags are from Ballard Designs, but are discontinued. The only reason I have them is because an Instagram follower heard I was looking for them and she sent me hers.
I found some similar ones on Etsy, along with the velvet ribbon.
The large basket on the floor is for items on their way to Goodwill, but I am currently experimenting with putting those items in the car immediately and not letting them take up any more space in the house.
Shop This Look
I stayed up late one night finishing all the styling in this closet. My husband didn’t see it until the next day and commented that it looked like a retail store.
Perfect.
I have found that once a space is well organized and made to be beautiful, the people who use it will treat it with respect.
I can see this closet looking good for a long time now!
Click on the printable below for your next closet clean out. . .
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Both closets look amazing. When my youngest child left for college, I treated my “empty nest depression” with what I jokingly called “bin therapy.” What I meant by this, is that I kept myself busy and not dwelling on the fact that my chicks had flown the coop, by cleaning out all of my closets and putting everything left in bins. I wish I had seen your post when I did this because your containers are so much more attractive than my plastic bins. I am also amazed at your ability to really purge. I know I hung on to too many things. Thanks for sharing!
Author
I love your idea for therapy, so sorry about your kiddos. And you can always change your containers out, too xoxo
This is so inspiring! I love the containers and tags!! That makes all the difference!!
Author
Thank you, Kristin, I’m so glad you were inspired! The containers and tags are my favorite part, too!
Very well done ! Love the way you detailed what you did & used affordable containers
Author
Thank you for stopping by! This is such a relief to get done and I love sharing it with readers like you.
Simply beautiful, and so FUNtional!
Author
haha, thank you so much and it’s actually been staying clean ever since!
Great ideas Sarah :D. Love the different storage choices, tags & ribbon. Redo on my laundry room currently you’ve given me lots of inspiration
Your pantry organization. makes my hearty sing! I love the items used to store everything. Practical and pretty!