I really wish I were an organized person. I try but it doesn’t come naturally to me, it’s WORK. But I realize it’s benefits and I certainly recognize the downfall of not being organized. One of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to try and stay organized. I’m really good at getting organized – it’s the staying organized that’s the hard part. Oh yes and I’m also REALLY good at pinning organization tips, I could do that all day without actually organizing one single thing! But seriously I want my kids to be organized and I want my life to run at least a bit more smoothly than it did last year (that’s not a lot to ask is it?). In order to do this I am trying to adopt new habits and new systems to keep this organization kick I’m on going. The first mess I have tackled is my back hall closet. I actually started this project last August but got so busy with work that it never got finished. But it is finished now and I love it!
If you live in a 1500-2000 sq ft house in suburban Calgary built in the last 6-8 years you may have the same useless area we’re working with. A mudroom/laundry room. Except…it’s NEITHER. It does not function well as a mudroom, with there being about a 2ft x 3ft space to walk in and put your bags down. It does not function as a laundry room as the top of the washer dryer are mainly used for dumping the junk we bring in from the garage and when doing laundry your nice clean clothes often drop on the muddy floor. We needed a space for the kids to hang up their jackets and backpacks, take off their shoes and put away their hats. We had this back hall closet that wasn’t really being used to it’s full potential. It stared at us as we walked in from the garage but let’s be real, I’m not a ‘put my coat on a hanger’ type of girl. I wish I were but I’m not. It’s too much work (boy do I sound lazy!). Plus, my kids can’t reach the hangers so I’d be hanging up three jackets – not going to happen. 🙂 I first saw this pin on Pinterest and knew I had to do something like this for my house.
I wish I had taken a Before photo but you can imagine it was just your basic builder closet with the one white wire shelf. Not a double closet but maybe slightly bigger than a single. I took off the door and we had someone build the basic shelves and divider. I painted the closet and then ordered the custom seat cushion from www.cushionsource.ca. The hooks are from Ikea. The baskets are from Home Sense as well as the rug. Mud mats are from Home Depot. This little space has made such a difference when me and the boys come home from whatever activity we’ve been at. A place for everything, I love it! Oliver is old enough to hang up his jacket and backpack, put his hats and mitts in his basket and put his lunch box in the basket. And he actually loves it. He likes his little ‘locker’.

If you have a closet in your home not being used to its full potential think about what you could do with it. I saw an idea tonight to turn one into a little library, how fun! This entire project cost a little under $400. You could definitely do it for less, the cushion is not necessary but pretty. Completely worth the money though.
Here are a few more photos for inspiration. If you decide to do this too please send me a link to your photo I’d love to see what you do!




How do you stay organized? What are your best tips? Leave a comment below!