Lots of Closet Progress, But Not Finished Yet!

I've worked on the sunroom closet a bit every day this week, some days more than others because of other activities, and I'm still not finished!  But I have made LOTS of progress!  I probably could have finished today, but guess what!  Another vertigo attack this morning put me back in bed all day!  This blog post, if I get it finished, is all I will have accomplished today!  (But there's always tomorrow, or next week, right?)

Katie had asked if I took pictures before I began, but I did not!  I just could NOT let you see that mess!  It was bad enough to allow my friend and her husband come to get the Christmas tree I gave him.  My neighbor next door has also been cleaning closets, and I told her I'd let her see mine if she would let me see hers; she didn't agree, but I did invite her and her twin sister that lives down the street, to come and see my new cabinets that my son got together and in the closet on Thursday.  He worked hard all day, with my help, and I am so proud of those little cubby cabinets!  Why didn't I get those years ago?!

I did take one picture of the 'before' in one corner so you could see the difference.

I literally stripped the bottom two original shelves of the sheer junk (mostly) that I had crammed in there!  A lot of it went into the trash immediately, and some will be donated; the rest is, or soon will be, on a different shelf.

You see those cookbooks stacked up there?  Well, I added more from a box on another shelf, and put them all together here.

This, of course, will not be the final arrangement!  I just wanted to see how far they would go down the shelf; I have some more I want to add to them from another closet (yes, really!), but first I'll have to remove all of them in order to put some new shelf liner under them.  I also will sort them, probably by subjects as much as possible, or some other way, who knows?  Anyway, you can imagine what an improvement that shelf will have, and just look at that empty space, (so far).

The clutter on the shelf above now can  better show and store the big soup bowls with handles and the two big bowls that match my everyday rose dishes in the kitchen, where I don't have room for those pieces!

I gained so much space in just those to shelves, it's hard for me to believe!

The first thing I had to do to even begin working on the closet was to drag out off the Tupperware and other plastic things from the center of the closet --- just piled on whatever would hold it.  Now it is neatly organized in the new shelves below the original built-in shelves.  I should be able to see and get just the piece I want!

In one corner of the closet (past the Tupperware) now is a cabinet you can't see well.  It is full of  the few Christmas related things (bowls or other decorations left over from Christmas packing).  If it was leftover Christmas stuff, it is in that cabinet, and the card tables I want to keep are in front of it.  I can easily slide the tables out should I need in there!

Then on the other side original shelves, you couldn't begin to imagine that mess!  There was a wire rack, make that a wire box!) full of metal muffin pans, cake pans (with those old sliders that could  be slid around under the cake layers; remember those?), etc.  I never could get the piece I wanted out of that wire 'cage', so I just used my pyrex or other pans.  Now I can find the exact thing I want to use!

I even organized all the foil pans with plastic lids for funeral dinners, etc.  I shouldn't have to buy any more of those, because now I can find and get to them!!

In the opposite corner cabinet is what I'm designating as my "Family Memories" cabinet.  It holds a variety of things (that aren't stuffed somewhere else!), from my brother's WWII Soldier's basic training handbook and binoculars, and a box of my daddy's songbooks with only songs written by him and published in Stamps Baxter song books, also a big box with a book I put together with Daddy's original handwriting and music manuscripts of almost every one of his 63 songs; I also wrote a little about each composition and how it  came to be as far as I  could determine.  I'll tell you more about that box sometime maybe; it is very special!   There are several other little tidbits of family keepsakes in that corner also.  (Sorry; I didn't get a picture of this corner.)

Here's a look at the back of the closet, with the new cubby cabinet under the original shelves.  Just look at that empty space on the original bottom shelf above the cubby.  I'm sure there's some things still sitting around in the sunroom that will fill that space!

Yes, that's 2 old rotary dial phones; they still work with electricity when the power goes off!

I will be forever grateful to my son for putting those four cabinets together, plus one more last Thursday!

Of course, before I'm totally finished with this closet, some changes may occur in the arrangement, and certainly more things will be addedl  Also when I'm finished with the shelves, into the floor space  will have to be the vacuum cleaner, a few boxes that I still have to go through and declutter, and my traveling sewing machine and its case; probably some other things too.  After all, the space was crammed full when I began this process!

I sent about 50 or more old quilt magazines home with my DIL, and will send more later; didn't want to overburden her right now.  I still have to go through the lower part of that side of the closet, but I'm pleased with my progress so far.

This vertigo mess is really hampering my progress because I can't turn my head around or bend down without turning to jelly!  So I'll just have to wait a day or two, and then I should be able to finish up next week for sure!   I'll be so glad!  Then maybe I can sew a little bit before starting on cleaning my quilting closet, which is a big mess too!   (but more fun!).

It was 70 degrees yesterday, and freezing cold here today, and Sunday morning will be dreadful with stronger winds predicted than we had today.   I've already notified my SS teacher I won't be able to be there tomorrow to play the piano.

I'm getting jealous of all of you who have been quilting!  Guess I better get back in bed for tonight!

---"Love"