Organized Luggage Closet (*affiliate links used)

{Mumbai stripe woven rug/woven texture pillow /lumbar dye stripe pillow}

Happy Saturday!  How are you feeling today?  This quarantine situation is so strange isn’t it?  Some days I wake up feeling motivated and energized and other days feel a little more heavy and sad because of everything going on.  On harder days I’ve found a few things that always help me feel better.  Exercise (I especially feel better being outside!), talking to friends on house party and of course.. completing something.  My best days are always days that I feel productive!  I’ve always been that way.  Even if it’s something small, I feel better when I check an item off of my list that I’ve been wanting to accomplish.  Laundry and every day cleaning doesn’t count for me because that stuff is never ending.  Organizing a spot that has been driving me crazy?  Now THAT makes me feel good. :)  Lately I’m organizing things so fast and furious around here that I’m getting behind sharing my progress on the blog!  I’m sharing a lot of organizing on IG stories which is so fun, but if I haven’t shared it on my blog.. did it ever really happen?

I think not. ;)

So for those of you who missed this fun closet makeover on IG, let’s catch up!

{stripe doormat/hanging baskets}

When we were building our house I realized that the closet under our staircase was going to be very large and deep and kind of a pain to walk into so I had my builder make two smaller closets instead.  They both fit under my stairs, but one closet door is next to my stairs and the other closet entry is through this little door in my mudroom.  Most of you already know that I lovingly call this my hobbit door. :)

Here’s a fun “before” of what has been lurking behind my hobbit closet door.  I was using this space to store lots of things – rugs I’m not using at the moment, outdoor pool towels and pillows when we aren’t using them, luggage, my kids school work bins and other miscellaneous bags.

I have cleaned and organized this closet COUNTLESS times and it it always just ends up looking like a hot mess.  You can see that at one point I tried corralling all of our extra bags in a laundry hamper thinking that would help.

It didn’t help.

Every time I needed a bag it was a pain to find and then I’d end up with bags all over the floor because I had to dig for the one I wanted.  No matter what I tried, this closet has never stayed organized.  Until now!

I finally realized two things:  1) I was trying to store too much in this small space.  2) I needed a better solution for all of the extra bags.

When my carpenter was here putting up our hall molding I had him install some hooks in this closet.  (Our hall molding has been done for awhile but isn’t painted.. and ahh!  I still need to share that on the blog too!)  I bought these hooks a long time ago at a local hardware store when I bought some for my girls’ closets and just hadn’t got around to hanging them.  I had him install 4 hooks on the right side of the wall when you walk in the door.

Here’s a look at them head on.

Then I also had him install 6 hooks on the other wall to the left of the door as high as possible.  I’m going to have my painters quickly paint the wood the hooks are on when they come to paint my molding (once this stay at home order is behind us!).

“After!”  I pulled everything out of this closet and cleaned the floor and then re-evaluated what to put back inside.  I donated things we weren’t using anymore, moved the extra rugs to my attic and put our camping bags in the garage with all of our camping gear.  I put back our pool towels and pillows, all of our luggage and my kids school work bins (updating their school work bins is another project on my list!).  It felt so good to move some of the items OUT of this closet so that I have room to walk in this space!

In our previous home and apartments when I’ve been short on space I’ve always stored small luggage inside of large luggage.  But at the stage we are in now, someone in our family seems to be traveling somewhere every month (when things are “normal” that is!) and it’s a pain to pull everything apart to get our carry on bags.  We have this space for luggage so I really wanted to find a way to make room for ALL of our luggage individually.  Moving some things to other better spots freed up so much space!

But guess what made an even bigger difference!?

The hooks up on the wall!  Oh my word!  Do you hear the angels?  How could you not!?  They are LOUD.  ;)

Getting our beach bags and smaller travel bags up off the floor was a HUGE game changer!  Now they are out of the way and so easy to access.  No more digging through bags to find the one I need!

The other side holds our backpacks!  My kids keep their backpacks for school in their mudroom lockers but Kenny and I have always just kept our backpacks (that we use for travel and hiking) in a messy pile in this closet.  Not anymore!  They now have their own home!  There’s even a nice spot for Kole’s saxophone along the wall.  Oh the joy I feel when everything has its own place. :)

In a few weeks when it’s warming up and time to pull out our outdoor pillows and towels it will be a breeze!  No more clutter.  This was such a simple makeover that felt like a HUGE win for me.  This closet has always been a struggle for me to keep organized.  Not anymore!  If you have a spot like this that you just CAN’T keep clean, try the 2 things I did to turn this space around.  Clear out more of the clutter AND re-think how you are storing things.

{Ambeur 2-piece spinner luggage set}

When I shared this makeover on IG I got lots of questions about my rose gold luggage!  I LOVE this luggage set and it’s what I use the most when I travel.

It’s lightweight, easy to spot at the airport and has lots of room inside.  I love the way it’s organized with a place for shoes and extra zipper compartments!

You can find it sold as a set here.

Also when I shared our pool pillows and towels I store in my organized luggage closet I got some questions about those.  My exact pillows have sold out, but I found some really similar, fun options that I’ll link below!  You can find my stripe reversible beach towels here (on sale!).  Our favorite outdoor Cantilever umbrellas are also on sale for a great price right now!  I can’t even begin to tell you how much I love these umbrellas.  You can easily adjust them up, down, side to side.. anywhere you want!  They are perfect for outdoor lounging and have been well worth the price.

{pink flamingo floatie}

We also use them over tables for shade every time we entertain.

These pictures make me miss having people over so much!  I’m really missing extended family and friends right now.  Anyone else?  So excited for when we can all be together again.

My favorite Reflected Diamonds indoor/outdoor rug is also on sale this weekend.. 40% off!  I have this rug in 2 spots in our backyard and have thought about putting one inside too I love it so much.

{reflected diamonds rug/white tray}

Here is a closer look at my rug!  So cute.  I wish our outdoor area looked like this right now.  We’ve had so much rain lately.  I need to go outside and move things back in place and clean everything off!

I still love these navy stripe pool towels as much as I did 5 years ago when I bought them!  They have held up so well.  I keep them in our little outdoor pool bathroom during the summer.

Since we’re talking all things outdoor and pool here is a quick makeover I did on our little pool storage closet last year around this time.  This “before” was taken after I’d already pulled half of the stuff out.  It was such a hot mess!

It sill looks like this today!  EASY to keep clean now.  I eventually want to add shelves up high on the wall for the boogie boards and other pool floaties.  Vertical storage is such a great solution!  Hopefully that will happen this summer, but I have a lot of other priorities I want to tackle first.

I need to slow my roll and not get TOO ahead of myself over here. ;)

If you are ready to organize your outdoor toys for the kids this summer these stackable baskets are an easy solution!  They come in other colors and work so well for kids’ toys – inside or outside!

I’ll link other outdoor favorites below.  Everything is on sale this weekend!  I have a feeling our yards are going to be more important than ever during the next month or so.  I know I’ve been so grateful for ours this month with Kole.  Most afternoons when it isn’t raining I take him outside and have him just run laps!  I don’t think little boys were meant to be on zoom and inside all day.  Too much energy that needs to be burned off.  We all have anxious energy we need to burn off with everything going on lately!

Laps for him.. organizing for me. ;)

Enjoy your Saturday friends!  Stay healthy and safe and if you’re also organizing this weekend let me know what you’re working on!  :)

{POST SOURCES & OUTDOOR FAVORITES}