Attack on the Coat Closet

I think I might be nesting again or perhaps this is just my compulsion to get things done but today I attacked, REALLY attacked, the coat closet that sits just inside our front door. We don't have a front foyer or hallway or anything that separates the entrance from our living room so it is vital that that space functions or we don't use it.

Here is a before picture of that corner of the room (not horrible but certainly not what I want to look at when I'm trying to relax):

Of course, that closet door closes but I wanted to capture the full problem in one picture. Also, our video components are on a shelf in the closet so the door has to be open for the remote to work so we do see into that closet quite a bit.

Here's a shot of the problem closet:

I started by pulling everything out of the closet including the lower of the 2 top shelves and the hanging bar. Then I moved the DVD and Roku receiver up to the very top shelf and wrangled all the cords out of the way.

As I did all this, I met a few unwanted residents of the closet (8 legged variety) which I sucked into the vacuum. Then I figured out where they were coming in and I plugged the hole with some foam.

        

While the closet was empty, I hung some adjustable shelving supports in the back. Right now I just have and need the one shelf but since needs change, I figured this was a good time to add these just in case we wanted them later. I had them on hand from my old sewing room.

    

Then I rehung the coat bar higher and put back in only the necessary items. Unfortunately, this had become a catch-all for lots of stuff including a grocery sack full of shoes Snickerdoodle had outgrown. Here's the end result:

I'm so excited to have everything cleaned out of there. I added some hooks nice and low for Snickerdoodle to hang his favorite jackets, his hats are in a basket, our bags and some shoes are on the shelves and my yoga mat isn't being smashed by my gym bag. The hand vac is also now at kid level which I might regret but then again, it sure would be nice if the little crumb-maker could clean up after himself.

            

Added bonus items - I cleaned out the fireplace (we've already had enough fires to have a lot of ash build up):

And the baskets and wet shoe area are cleaned up, weeded out and better organized:

It feels great to get to check that off my to do list and to know that we'll have the space needed in our coat closet for the cold weather (and gear that goes with it) ahead.

Thank you for reading,
Julie