Mission to Minimalism - Entry 2

“Identify to essential. Eliminate the rest.”

Leo Babauta

Mission to Minimalism - Storage Closet 1.jpg

Alright! So week one of my journey on minimizing is in the books! I definitely tackled a HUGE project this week. To be honest, it was far more than I bargained for. When my husband and I bought our house a year and a half ago, we set our house up to function well and stuffed “the rest” into a storage closet that we told ourselves we would get to at a later date. I don’t think at that time we had any idea that a year and a half would go by and it would still be untouched!

I set up my office right outside that storage closet and knew that at some point, I was going to have to tackle that space in order to have the closet function as storage for my staging materials and source guides I need for work. At the turn of the year, I really jumped back into work and started to realize that the time was now! I had to tackle that closet. So, I got brave and slowly opened the door…. And realized… it was so much worse than I originally thought it was in there!

BEFORE

Mission to Minimalism - Storage Closet Before.jpg

TERRIFYING! However, organization really does make me happy, so I started to look up images of what I want it to look like in the end. I can say, that while I have made huge strides, it’s still not exactly where I want it. But, it’s a LONG way from where it began.

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This is why I could spend hours and hours at the Container Store! It’s so tidy in there!! I love this space and ideally when I have my space 100% completed, it will have all my bins matching much like you see here.

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This space is done by the lovely Elise from the blog A Beautiful Mess. Her storage space reminds me a lot of mine and I’m hoping to paint out my space white like this in the coming months too. It just helps the space look so fresh and clean! And once again, with the matching containers. Yum!! It’s a gorgeous storage closet.

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So, after a few hours, here’s what the closet looked like once I cleaned it out completely. It’s super basic in there, which is why I’d like to paint it out and switch out the shelving.

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I think I’ll shoot for something like this when I get the time and money to put a little more effort into the space.

AFTER

Mission to Minimalism - Storage Closet After.jpg

So, here we are now! A LOT of items ended up donating so. much. stuff! That felt amazing. It really does make you feel ten times lighter to get rid of items that are just weighing you down. Even though I have big plans on refining this space even further, I can now open this closet door daily while I’m working and know that I will be able to find what I’m looking for in less that 60 seconds. It feels like such a huge accomplishment and I feel so motivated to move on to my next project!

Here’s my checklist of what I’d like to do with this space to get it finished up.

  • add new shelves

  • add new lighting

  • paint wall

  • new flooring

  • hide duct work

Doesn’t seem so bad, right?! In any case, that’s all I’ve got for my second entry in my Mission to Minimalism! Check back next week to see how I’m shaping up and cleaning out my life one week at a time.

Thanks for stopping by,

heather-scherie