image via Design Sponge No, this is not my closet or my bathroom. Bummer.
As I mentioned, I planned to follow Simple Mom’s Project Simplify challenge this week, although I procrastinated until Thursday. I have to confess — and you might already know this if you follow me on Facebook — that I panicked a little when I read the challenge: work on our closet. MY CLOSET? NO! That was my dreaded project. I knew I was too busy for a full “closet makeover.”
In fact, I’d even been putting off hanging hooks since we moved in. Why? Because I tend to over-plan. I convince myself I need to paint the closet first, map out where everything will go, add custom shelves, hang beautiful hooks and display lovely baskets — basically make it both charming and perfectly organized. I have so many other projects ahead of this one that my closet risked staying nonfunctional and unattractive for another year.
But I promised Simple Mom I’d follow the challenge. She said to work on my closet. She didn’t say to make it magazine-perfect. She said SIMPLIFY.
So after dreading the closet project all week, I finally opened Simple Mom’s book for inspiration. She advocates simplifying, and clearly I was making this harder than it needed to be. On page 121 I found a useful prompt:
Today’s Items NOT To Worry About
Bingo. That was exactly what I needed: a What Not To Do List. I needed to lower my expectations — not to do nothing, but to stop obsessing over everything I could or should do, and instead pick ONE small project that would improve the closet’s function. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
So I decided to tackle just one thing in my closet: a simple change that would simplify my life.
This wasn’t about making the space beautiful or producing an amazing after photo. It was about making it better than it was.
So what if I can’t paint the closet yet? So what if I can’t install custom shelves and a ladder in the bathroom? I could at least get my scarves and belts off the dresser top and the floor. Of course I could do that.
Closet Wall. BEFORE. Yes, those are random cedar planks.
Closet wall. AFTER.
I looked around for a quick way to hang scarves and found a curved iron towel rod I’d been saving for years. It had been waiting for the perfect spot for about seven years, doing nothing. Why not finally put it to use as a scarf hanger?
The only available section of wall had an odd electrical panel I couldn’t hide, so I simply mounted the rod above it. It took about five minutes to hang the rod and tie on the scarves. I set a mirror on the floor of that space to solve the problem of not having a full-length mirror.
I know the rod looks crooked (it isn’t), and it’s not staged like a magazine spread, but you get the idea.
Two problems solved in five minutes. What was I waiting for again? For everything to be beautiful and charming? That can wait. For now, I made progress.
What holds you back from making progress on projects?
Are you an all-or-nothing person?
PS. My friend Krista Colvin has a great resource for organizing your closet. Thanks, Krista!