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Closet Redo: Shopping


I'm at the verge of having the closet come together in a big way so I'm going to save some pictures for next week.  Oh the suspense! But here's a teaser.




The work I'm doing now seems small but is very time consuming.  That, and I'm just a slow person.  I framed out the paper shelf this week, which meant cutting all kinds of tiny little pieces of wood for the bazillion cubbies, gluing and nailing them into place.  I was also able to clean up a few of the boards that I tore out of the closet to use for my shelves on the opposite side.  They were in rough shape. Stained, not very even, and a little too thick for my taste. 




So the hubs ran them through the planer for me.  I'm kind of glad he did this for me because one of them got stuck in a major way.  Sawdust was shooting everywhere.  I thought it was about to explode.





Planers are pretty awesome. They're like little factory conveyor belt sawmill things.  Which I guess is legitimately what they are.  But an ineloquent and dumbed down way of saying it, nonetheless.  Anywho.  I'll attach bracing to the wall for the shelves, similar to how the table was mounted. 

Oh, right, I went shopping!  I probably shouldn't be that excited. But I am.  I went to Target. That massive black hole that sucks you in and convinces you to spend way more than you should.  Golden tape dispenser? Don't mind if I do.  Thanks, Nate!  I went with the purpose of finding some containers that I can hang from the pegboard hooks to keep some of the smaller items more organized. Maybe a shelf or two.  Sadly the only thing I found for that purpose was a couple of cute little white tin buckets in the $1 section. 

Remember I mentioned organizing my patterns?  If anyone sews, they know that storing patterns can get out of hand in a hurry.  It's nearly impossible to fit that tissue neatly back into the envelope.  When you do, the envelope is twice the size as before. And then to find one you have to pull out a dozen, random pattern pieces falling out all the while.  I toyed with the idea of buying magazine holders and attaching handles to them.  Keep everything somewhat together.  That idea was still riddled with problems. I settled on 3-ring binders and using sheet protectors to house and separate the patterns.  It keeps everything nice and tidy.  I'll be able to organize the patterns by type and still have the flexibility I need for an ever expanding pattern catalog. 


I headed over to the office/school supply section of Target and found these absolutely adorable MINI 3-ring binders & mini sheet protectors!  How stinkin' cute are they??  Unfortunately common sense prevailed and I realized that, while they are totes adorbs, they're not practical.  The sheet protectors are the size of the pattern envelopes.  I'd have the same problem trying to stuff the pieces and instructions back into a small envelope.  Plus the binders were only 1".  I'd be able to fit five patterns in one binder. Not very effective. 




So I sadly moved on. And then I saw these beautiful binders!  They're fabric covered and would look great in my closet.  My personal favorite is the blue & cream.  It pops against the wall color.  Two problems with these. 1. They're like $9!!  That's crazy!  2. Most were only 1-1.5".  I'd end up spending $80 on binders.  That's not gonna happen. 




I kept looking.  None of the colors looked right with the paint so I settled on white.  Meh.  Feeling defeated, I kept looking around the store, stopping at the endcaps with the clearance shelves.  More of the same.  White binders or 1" binders.  That's when I happened upon this gem.


Garth Brooks: The Ultimate Collection. For $9!!!!  That's crazy talk.  A legend like that doesn't belong in the clearance section.  His face is photoshopped to the point that it doesn't look like him.  Maybe people got confused.  Maybe the thunder rolls and lightning strikes scared them away. It turned out that Garth truly was my friend in low places because there were several coral colored 2" binders right behind him.  For $2.14 each.  I could probably find them cheaper in July/August when they have back to school sales, but I'm not waiting that long.  I picked up several to go along with my sheet protectors and oh-so-cute file folders!




My closet is going to be such a happy place.  I'm still undecided on the coral with my wall color.  I'm tossing around the idea of covering them with fabric.  And adding handles so I can pull them off the shelf more easily.  And adding a closure so they don't flop open.  We'll see.  That'll be at the bottom of my to-do list.  Oh! Bonus buy.  If you haven't been to Harbor Freight, you should go.  Yes, it reeks of rubber and plastic. Yes, it's incredibly cheap.  Yes, sometimes you get what you pay for.  BUT they're great for stuff like this: 

StorehouseĀ® 67581 50 Piece Pegboard Hook Kit

A 50-piece peg board hook set.  I paid $7 for this but saw it on sale for $4 recently. There's always a 20% off coupon you can use, too.  This will serve me well for getting my notions organized.  They have some other great items like an 18" magnetic strip. Perfect for scissors and attaching metal clips and such.  A 2" magnetic disc - glue it to the bottom of a cute saucer or bowl to keep pins in one spot.  Lots of ideas.  If you haven't been, go check it out. 

'Till next week!

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