Kroppin Karen's Korner

 I am very lucky to have two large closets all to myself.  However, I have been neglecting them for over a year and they have become crammed full of clothes, purses and shoes.  So much so that I wear the same outfits over and over again because I can't stand to open my closets and deal with the mess.  I forgot to take real before photos so you will have to use your imagination . . . but trust me, it was so bad I couldn't even put another hanger on the rod.

Here is the first photo I remembered to take.  One closet completely empty and 25 year old carpeting removed from the floor.  I removed the shelves and patched all the holes from the various closet remodels I have done over the years.  I gave it three coats of fresh glossy white paint.  I feel better already.
The next step was dealing with the hardwood floor.  I thought about stripping and sanding, but decided that fresh glossy white paint made me happy on the walls, so why not?

BEFORE

AFTER I hung a pair of pants on the road to make sure my pants would have enough room to clear the floor.  I installed 3 new 16" wide laminate shelves.  Now the hard part, sorting, trying on, donating and trashing the contents.  This took me several days to do while the paint dried in the closet.  I am very happy with the results, although I honestly think more weeding out of clothing is necessary for the near future. Upper Half of the Closet

Lower Half of the Closet I am Happy, Happy, Happy!!!  I can see everything and appreciate what I have.  I have been wearing more of my clothing now in the weeks since I finished this closet and realize I have absolutely no reason to shop for any more clothes for some time to come.  I have a whole closet to shop from now!!! The only thing I love more than new clothes are new shoes!!!  I want to share my new system for storing and keeping track of my many pairs of shoes.  I did give away many pairs that I was no longer wearing or no longer have the outfit I bought the shoes to go with.  I kept the ones I love and needed a way to remember my shoes and therefore, get more use and wear out of them.  Here is what I came up with and so far, it is working very well for me.  The initial investment in the clear shoe boxes and the time it took to organized them will pay off in the future.  I can now decide what shoes I would like to wear and find them easily and REMEMBER that I have them and not buy duplicate styles and colors. I keep my everyday casual and "go to" shoes on this revolving shoe rack I bought many years ago from QVC.  It has served me well for a long time and I will continue to use this method.  The rack sits in a corner next to my armoire, so is not too much of an eyesore and it really is easy peasy to choose a pair and, more importantly, put them back instead of leaving them all over the house or in the middle of the bedroom floor. All of my beaded, sequined, evening, glamour shoes are kept on the very upper shelf.  I need a step stool to reach them, but since we aren't going out dancing or to a wedding or fancy party every night, that is just fine with me.  The problem was remembering what was up there and when it was time to plan an outfit to go to a special affair, I would take down all the boxes and create a big mess to clean up.  Many years ago, I used to always take a photo of my shoes and tape it to the outside of the shoe box.  This worked pretty well, but the different size and colors of shoe boxes wasn't very visually neat looking and I would have to take a photo, get it printed and then tape it to the box.  I still had to climb up and look at the photos to see what I had.    Here is a photo of the "old" method.  I did keep these boxes with the photo on them and simply numbered them as they are my wedding and honeymoon shoes and I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to them. Here is my new method.  I purchased these clear stackable shoe boxes:  I still take the photo, but I don't print it out nor do I tape it to the box.  I only put a number on the box now and that number corresponds to the digital photo of the actual shoes.  I numbered the upper shelf starting with 200 and the lower shelf with 100.  I can now flip through the photos on my i-pad, decided which shoes I want to wear, and immediately pull out that pair of shoes.  I know, seems like a lot of trouble doesn't it?  However, I really wanted to start wearing all of the fabulous shoes I have purchased instead of just "collecting" shoes and wearing the same half dozen pair over and over again.  I hope those of you with similar shoe collecting issues will give this a try.   I made the label, stuck it temporarily to the shoe and took a digital photo.  I then put the shoes in the clear box and put the label on the box and up on the shelf they went.  I can now just scroll through the photos on my I-Pad or computer and remember what I have.  It will be just like shopping online only it won't cost me a thing!!!  The hubster will be happy about that. When I decide to donate or trash a pair of shoes, I can then just reuse the number, take another photo reusing that number for a new pair and delete the photo of the pair I got rid of.

I hope this will help motivate you to organize and clean out your closet.  Leave me a comment below if you have any questions.

It has been about a year since my bathroom remodel was finished and as part of my spring cleaning this year, I wanted to give the new tile a good scrub and seal all the grout.  I gathered my supplies and off I went wearing my reading glasses.













Well, the good thing about getting older and needing glasses is that when I don't wear them, I can't see all the secret dirt that hides in corners and lurks in nooks and crannies.  So, I had a choice to make, take the glasses off and do a fair job of scrubbing the tile . . . or, leave them on and really get this shower clean.  I choose the latter and am very pleased with the results.
I mixed a paste of baking soda and peroxide to use on the corner shelves that got quite yucky from the shampoo and shower gel bottles.



BEFORE:


This was the only spot that was really bad, so I took a photo to see how clean I could get it.










AFTER:

It really only took a few minutes of leaving the solution on and giving it a light scrub with a toothbrush.  I then sprayed the rest of the walls with my favorite homemade bathtub cleaner recipe I found HERE on Pinterest and gave it a good cleaning with a scrub brush.





I bought a spray bottle of peroxide at the dollar store and squirted it on any of the grout lines that seemed not as white as a year ago.  Again, this worked very quickly and the grout is really white now and ready for the sealer.


I recorded the journey here about the bathroom reno we did last year and was very happy with the white tile choice.  However, with my glasses on and looking very closely at it, I see that the installer didn't get all the grout off of the tile in certain areas and it stuck in the little crannies.  It would be so noticeable, except  I can see that the grout is attracting soap scum and getting discolored; especially around the faucets and in the corners.

It didn't scrub off easily using the baking soda paste.    I then tried the Dawn/vinegar bathtub cleaner.  It came off somewhat, but not perfect.  I didn't want to scratch the tile, so I thought about my plastic scraper from Pampered Chef.  Worked like a charm.
It did take some time, but I was able to chip away and clear out most of the stray grout.  I dipped the corner of the scraper in the peroxide/baking soda paste and cleared out each little nook.  I now know what it must feel like to be a Dental Hygienist and scrap away at the tartar on teeth. I have a greater respect and admiration for my hygienist now!