Before and After Storage

Before
Unfortunately, the closet in our spare room has become my personal dumping ground.  Because I can close the door, I can avoid having others see the mess.  We don't have a lot of storage in our apartment, and I have a lot of stuff from the different aspects of my life. 

• I teach nature classes so I have a tote bag that I carry on fieldtrips.  I also have an assortment of props that I use for different classes.
• I make and sell crafts on Etsy (WeeCatCreations.etsy.com), go to craft shows, and sell items on consignment at a few gift shops.  This means that I have a supply of yarn and finished items, plus display items.
• I keep a file box for managing my father's estate. 
• I have memorabilia from my parents that isn't stuff that I'd keep on display but that I can't get rid of (both of my parents have died in the past five years).  (Dad worked for the Post Office, hence the mail bin, which he received when he retired.)
• As a writer, I have a box filled with ideas written in notebooks.  I hope to get around to working on these projects someday.
• I also keep my personal files in a file bin that sits in my closet.
• And, I have some costuming in here, as well.

Analyzing the Problem
Fortunately, this isn't the same closet where I store my clothing.  I realized that I was literally tossing things in the closet because I had some boxes stacked so high that it was a pain to move everything and put things away properly.

After

I moved the bin of memorabilia to the shelf because it was a bother to move out of the way. 

Although I have several stacks of bins in the closet, all but one stack is three boxes high.  The bottom bins are those filled with items I don't need to access on a regular (weekly) basis.  The larger bins in back of the smaller front bins contain the items I don't need on a daily basis.  I can move a top bin out of the way to get to the second bin down, if necessary.

I put more stuff in the bins that I already had in the closet (some weren't in use and had full bins set within).  Things like the display stuff for craft shows is in the bottom boxes because right now I'm not using those items. 

I grouped my teaching stuff in a bin instead of keeping it in a tote bag.  The problem with the tote bag was that I used it while I was teaching, so it wasn't the best item for storing items I wasn't using. 

I also moved mailing supplies for my Etsy shop into the top bin (sharing space with a new shipment of yarn) instead of letting it sit in a pile under my desk.  If this proves to be the wrong space, I'll have to move it. 

I didn't buy any organizing or storage supplies; I put to use what I already owned.  I realized that I could toss several years of old taxes, which allowed me to condense a couple boxes of paperwork into one. 

As I work through the yarn, I'll empty some of the bins.  This isn't a perfectly organized space, but my goal was to keep it neater by storing things is a way that would encourage me to put stuff away  immediately, instead of tossing it on the floor. 

Take Away
When you organize your files and belongings at home, don't think that it has to look magazine-shoot ready at all times.  Ask yourself why an area got messy and then figure out how you can solve that problem.  If your solution doesn't work, ask yourself what the problem is and keep trying to solve it until you hit on a solution that works for you.