• Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact
  • Let’s Organize These Posts:

    • Art Attack
    • Backyard
    • Barn
    • Basement
    • Bathroom
    • Beach
    • Bedrooms
    • Being Thrifty
    • Business-y
    • Buying and Renting and Selling
    • Casual Celebrations
    • Closets
    • Curb Appeal
    • Dainty Details
    • Deck
    • Decor
    • Dining Room
    • DIY
    • Dog-Related
    • Entryway
    • Flooring
    • For the Kids
    • Garage
    • Gardening
    • Helping The Economy
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects
    • Holiday-Related Projects
    • Home Safety
    • Kitchen
    • Lighting
    • Living Room
    • Merry Travels
    • Office Space
    • Organized
    • Other Pads
    • Outdoor Living
    • Scooter Fun
    • Stairwell
    • Sunroom
    • Supporting Sponsors
    • The Art Room
    • Tools
    • Uncategorizable
    • Wedding
    • Windows
    • Work-pads
  • Search

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)
  • Search

  • Pages

    • blog
    • Merrypad Features
    • Privacy Policy
    • about emily
    • before + after
      • before + after, our current home
      • before + after, our first house
    • contact me
    • choose a badge and share the merrypad.com love
  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
  • HGTV + DIY Network
  • good press
  • contact

Clutter-rama Clear-out

January 30, 2012

If this house is missing one thing, it’s closet space. Three small bedroom closets, one linen closet in the stairwell, and an odd space built into the wall behind the fireplace does not sufficient storage space make. I’m constantly walking the tightrope that is buying more stuff and discarding/donating items just to keep myself from tipping too far into a black hole of useless stuff, but lately I’m feeling like I did during the years that I lived in small apartments: I can’t buy another thing.

The odd small cabinet that I keep my decor crammed into might be pushing me over the edge. That, combined with a chest cold and case of spring fever, meant something had to break. (Side note to Northeastern dwellers: if all goes as planned, yellow crocuses are due to pop in 47 days).

The cabinet, which has two doors, looks like this and vomits on me every time I open it.

One ugly cabinet.

Second access point, more mess.

This weekend was a big void of Disney on Ice and quinoa chili, but I did get a hankerin’ on Saturday to work on correcting this sloppy decor situation while I had a little spare time to kill. Girl can’t sit still and enjoy last week’s DVR’ed episodes of Live with Kelly, after all.

It was clearly time for some home decor to find another place. New rule: if I haven’t used it in the last year, it gets tossed, given away, or put into a basement-allocated storage bin. And based on the look of things, a lot was due to go.

For real. I had 12 sq. ft. of home decor jammed into that cabinet.

I have acquired a lot of stuff.

What’s there?

  • Lots of glass jars (left behind from Mom’s homemade jelly and sauces, vintage bottles salvaged over the years, even newer glass containers left over from when we polished off a container of olives, pimentos, or hot sauce). I’m rolling my eyes.
  • 18 candles and a bottomless bucket of tealights (I collect candles when I find them for pennies at garage sales. At the moment I pushed this post live, I was burning 9 of them simultaneously on the table and I don’t think I’ll need to turn up the thermostat today.)
  • 2 roosters (original lamps that I acquired a decade ago, disassembled and painted 3 years ago, and eventually will be inspired to reassemble)
Rooster lamps. Ex-and-future rooster lamps.
  • 4 owls (paired up on two vintage brass bookends)
  • Fancy vases
  • Not-fancy vases
  • Things that I think are vases but never use as vases
  • Things that aren’t vases but I use as vases
  • Rocks, like, big rocks (Why?)
  • Decor plates that I use only when I remember I have them.
  • A glass house.
  • Picture frames.
  • Shells, sea glass, sands from vacations that were meaningful at the time, now not.
  • Dried crap (Why did I think I’d ever display dried grains and berries again sometime in the future? Gross, trash.)
Dried arrangements. Insta-trash.

With quick decision-making prowess and an empty box, 1/3 of it went straight to storage in the basement, and the other 2/3 received a pretty re-org in the same cabinet, on the same shelves. No sense reinventing the shelf quite yet, I need to learn to hoard less.

Tall bottles at the top. Medium containers in the middle (the rocks and such, which will likely find a home back at the beach in the spring). And extra jars and bud vases tucked at the bottom. So neat and tidy. And I can actually see everything I care about. The wooden table centerpiece that’s resting along the right fits better when not cluttered by paperwork and scrap pieces of plexiglass (who knows). Sure, wedged vertically isn’t ideal when it’s not in use, but balanced as it is now, it’s not fighting for air or struggling to stay upright.

Orderly happiness.

Still, the rule applied and if we don’t use this stuff within the year, more will be going to storage. I better grow a lot of flowers this summer.

From the other entry point, I stacked the candles neatly to avoid having to dig for them in the future. Color array, on display, hip-hip-hurray.

Candle organization.

Side note: That big chunker at the top shelf is part of a branch from my parents house. The had a rope on the branch when I was little, and over the years, the tree grew around it. When the branch came down, my Dad saved me the part with the rope embedded and I’ve had it for 10 years waiting for the perfect project. Anything in mind (besides drilling holes into it and using it to hold pencils) let me know.

What junk have you cleaned out, spring-feverites?

Share

Closets  / Decor  / Organized

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

12 Comments


Tonya
January 30, 2012 at 9:28 am
Reply

What about using your branch as a door stopper or paper weight? Then it will catch guests eye and they will ask about it and you get to share the special memory.



    Emily
    January 30, 2012 at 9:40 am

    Good ideas – I’m not sure it’s heavy enough to hold any door, but maybe would serve as a good bookend.

Katie@BurbTales
January 30, 2012 at 10:54 am
Reply

Ahh yes – the decor stash. I just tackled the sorting out of my own pile of decor clutter! It’s just the right time of year for getting rid of stuff. Btw, your baseboard project really inspired me to 1) consider learning how to use a router (!?) and 2) start redoing the baseboards on our main level. I’m still pondering, but you definitely provided some inspiration that it’s not that difficult after all :)

Katie



    Emily
    January 30, 2012 at 10:56 am

    Hey Katie! Total spring fever over here. The baseboard was a great wintertime project since I had room to route and cut in the basement. It’s 100% possible, start in a closet or something to get a feel for it. Glad to have put the inspiration in your head!

Ariane @ Bitchetarian
January 30, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Reply

It must have been that kind of day yesterday! I did the same thing – sadly, just with my refrigerator. Now it’s making me itch to do everything else though…



    Emily
    January 30, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    I noticed you write about your escapades – four containers of applesauce? That is the kind of thing I always find hidden on the back shelf, usually half-empty and covered in mold. (We just finished a 2-week-no-grocery-shopping adventure ourselves, although it wasn’t intentional, we just got busy; all that resulted is me being tired of mac and cheese and cous cous.)

Colleen Forrester
January 30, 2012 at 9:06 pm
Reply

Awesome! Motivating post!

Why not use the wood as a base for a hurricane lamp? You could rout (sp?) out space for candle and chimeny – you can buy the glass hurricane chimneys cheap in a number of places and voila!



    Emily
    January 31, 2012 at 9:05 am

    Great idea, Colleen!

Doneen Stafford
January 31, 2012 at 11:17 pm
Reply

So, I first of all have to say I am super jealous that you’re already getting ‘spring fever’ and getting ready for flowers. At home in Edmonton Canada we are in the middle of an alarmingly mild winter, but it is definitely still winter (I know it’s still winter because my dogs’ water bowl is frozen every morning).
Back to the point of your story – organizing/ re-organizing… I was inspired and managed to assemble my new spice rack (an Ikea one) for our newly renovated kitchen. I also mounted the rail from which it now hangs, too. Baby steps, right?!

Doneen



    Emily
    February 1, 2012 at 8:51 am

    The crocuses in Edmonton couldn’t be too far behind! Spice rack org is definitely a rewarding step; I need to tackle that myself someday. Our spices are dumped in a basket in our cabinet right now… not especially efficient.

Sarah
February 2, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Reply

Do the rope holes go all the way through? If so you could string rope through there again and hang in from the ceiling for a hanging shelf, though I’m not sure how much it would hold.



    Emily
    February 2, 2012 at 1:31 pm

    I’m not sure how much it would hold either. It’s only about the size of my calf around, and solid wood (the rope is just embedded in the outer few rings of wood. Good idea though, thanks Sarah!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • HI, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. Follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    The 2020 pumpkin will not quit. #garden2020 #homeg The 2020 pumpkin will not quit. #garden2020 #homegrown #realtime
    Curbside finds and dinner outside ☀️ Curbside finds and dinner outside ☀️
    Should I just, like, plunk this whole cabbage in t Should I just, like, plunk this whole cabbage in the ground and see what happens? 
.
.
Would I really get a small cabbage from each shoot? There are seven shoots, and they seem healthy after growing all winter in my garage 🤦🏻‍♀️ 
.
.
Might it grow well in a container?
.
.
#garden2021 #cabbage #gardenquestions
    Getting a late start on the garden wishlist: Tomat Getting a late start on the garden wishlist: Tomatoes, thyme, and tomatillos, banana peppers, basil, and blueberries, parsley, peas, and maybe potatoes, and garlic-garlic-garlic? 🧄🧄🧄 ~8” of snow still holding steady on a 65-degree day. #garden2021 #merrypadathome #gardening #rochesterny
    Can’t believe I ever bought dumpling wrappers. 🥟 Pulse a few cups of flour in the food processor drizzling in cold water until it forms dough. Roll smooth. Use a conveniently large cookie cutter, or just trim out squares. The end ❤️ #hny #dumplings
    Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but her Didn’t think I’d be making more masks, but here we are (now feat. recycled t-shirt layer for added softness and bonus-layer protection). #diy #amateurseamstress #diymask
    Get out there ☀️ Get out there ☀️
    The gang finally showed up. 👻 The gang finally showed up. 👻
    A record 233 cloves + 10 shallots 🧛🏻‍♀️ 
#merrypadathome #garden2021 #garlic #gardennotes #whatisnormal
    Load More... follow emily: @merrypad



  • Like Us On Facebook

    Facebook Pagelike Widget



  • Popular Posts

    • How to fix an IKEA drawer. Cheap IKEA Drawers (And The Quick Fix) 42.2k views
    • DIY sideboard rehab. Our Refinished Midcentury Buffet 41.7k views
    • How to design and make a barn quilt. How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt 34.6k views
    • DIY driveway removal. The Driveway Rocks 26.3k views
    • How to hang art on brick surfaces using specialty clips. The Easy Way to Hang Art on Brick or Stone 25.6k views
    • Goodbye, gold fireplace covering. Less Is More: How to Remove a Fireplace Surround 23.1k views
    • Our DIY flagstone patio. Building a Patio in One Day 20.4k views
    • Bedroom paint, freshened up with Snowbound paint. Painting Everything White: We Chose Snowbound, By Sherwin Williams 17.1k views
    • Tips for dying pasta different colors, and a Halloween Recipe for the kids. Tips for Dying Pasta Different Colors (+ A Special Halloween Recipe) 15.6k views
    • Fix an ikea dresser drawer. Life Support For An IKEA Dresser 15.5k views



  • BROWSE POSTS BY CATEGORY:

    • Art Attack (7)
    • Backyard (92)
    • Barn (8)
    • Basement (27)
    • Bathroom (43)
    • Beach (13)
    • Bedrooms (73)
    • Being Thrifty (53)
    • Business-y (12)
    • Buying and Renting and Selling (23)
    • Casual Celebrations (36)
    • Closets (17)
    • Curb Appeal (44)
    • Dainty Details (8)
    • Deck (23)
    • Decor (286)
    • Dining Room (37)
    • DIY (577)
    • Dog-Related (24)
    • Entryway (59)
    • Flooring (58)
    • For the Kids (32)
    • Garage (17)
    • Gardening (70)
    • Helping The Economy (30)
    • HGTV + DIY Network Projects (283)
    • Holiday-Related Projects (80)
    • Home Safety (12)
    • Kitchen (83)
    • Lighting (31)
    • Living Room (77)
    • Merry Travels (21)
    • Office Space (21)
    • Organized (41)
    • Other Pads (14)
    • Outdoor Living (12)
    • Scooter Fun (8)
    • Stairwell (20)
    • Sunroom (22)
    • Supporting Sponsors (43)
    • The Art Room (3)
    • Tools (43)
    • Uncategorizable (1)
    • Wedding (28)
    • Windows (14)
    • Work-pads (10)





  • a little bit of everything, friends, DIY, and inspiration

    • Dadand.com < My husband and his BFF
    • DIY Network
    • HGTV
  • Get Posts Via Email

  • Some Legal

    Merrypad incorporates the occasional affiliate link to Amazon.com and Minted; we link to many other websites and products, but if it is in context of a paid sponsorship, it is always noted as such. Please review the privacy policy and contact me if you have any additional questions.

    Theme customized by Pete Fazio Creative, the guy from dadand.com.


© Copyright Merrypad