Operation Spring Cleaning Part 1

As you can see, this is operation Spring Cleaning Part 1 - part 2 will be posted next week (this way I'll be held accountable if nothing comes of this idea). This will take some planning, which I will do tonight and tomorrow I will head out to my local arts store or container store on Saturday to get the goods.

The mission: optimize closet space & give the room a face-lift.

The projects:
-Making the closet manageable

-providing potential extra safe play space for Bella Tuna

-Make shoe holder

-Find a better way to store purses/bags

The reason for why all of this has arisen: si, we have entered the era of spring, which thus means that it is time to clean. And for me, this means maximizing the organization of my living space. Also, last night Bella Tuna discovered her meow, so I'm hoping to make the room interesting to her so that she does not wake me in the pre-dawn hours to convey her feelings of boredom. 

I am strapped by certain constraints - the common area in my apartment is off limits for personal goods, so I may not simply move my things elsewhere and consider the new empty space as "organized." The apartment is not mine - so no holes in the walls. I live in a 15' by 8' space and the closet is disproportionately small. I intend to spend no more than $20 on this project and I do not want to purchase traditional shelves (although they would help) because moving them out from my apartment someday could turn into more of a pain than worth.

As a child, when I wasn't watching the History Channel (back when it had shows about history) or Nickelodeon I was watching home renovating & interior decorating programs. I know off-hand a number of tips to make a small, dull space look livable and welcoming. For example, back in the dorming days, I bought bright sheets (pink and green) to add "happy" colors to what otherwise was a very droll living space. Likewise, I bought a standing lamp with multiple colored shades to also add color. Using vibrant colors in small spaces as accents really helps to bring light into the room. Today, I have cream-yellow colored walls, so I bought a red-wine colored coverlet to make the color of the walls pop. It looks really good  and it helps to highlight the other reds in my room, such as those in my rug and that of my Chat Noir poster. 

Later that night...

When I made it back home after work, Bella greeted me with much more cuddle-status than usual. At first I thought, "Awww, how cute! She's finally become a cuddle-bug!"

Nope, as it turns out, she's in heat. Awesome. So after being stressed out about what that actually means (having no experience with a cat in heat), a cat that will not stop meowing or begging for attention, and being so distracted that I didn't get a chance to go to the grocery store to pick up muffin-baking supplies, I ended up organizing my closet and room with the available supplies. It turns out that while it is not nearly as colorful as I would have liked, I'm really happy with the closet. The purses fit perfectly in a drawer emptied of its winter sweaters, which are now in the top of the closet. And Bella has a soft box and a DSW bag to play in, both of which are under an end table of my room. It's already turning into one of her favorite spots.

Now, to figure out what to write for next week...