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My closet remodel is “done”. It’s done but it doesn’t feel “finished” if you know what I mean. There is a place for everything. It is neat and organized. But it doesn’t look “pretty”. Like “Mission Organization” pretty. And I wonder if I’m expecting too much. Especially since I tried to use containers I already had to save money. And I think I still have too much stuff. But it’s definitely better than it was before. What you won’t see in the pictures below is that the mess of toys that is now in the closet was spread all over the room and in a little cubby hole in my desk. So just that change makes a huge difference in the rest of the room. Anywhoo…on to the pics.

This is the Big Ugly File Cabinet that was on the sewing/scrapbooking side of the closet before I remodeled. I forgot to take “before” pics of that side so use your imaginations!

This is the new, ultra-organized sewing and scrapbooking part of the closet! In case you have clicked on the pic to enlarge it, the photo that is partially obscured on the left side is of The Daddy’s water polo picture from high school. I don’t really know why it was hanging there, I just know that I was too lazy to take it down when I put the shelves up. Now that’s lazy.

Here’s the “before” from the other side of the closet:

“During”:

And “after”:

Here’s the project breakdown:
1) It’s good to sketch out what you’ve got in your Mommy Brain about how you want the work/storage space to look. Think about the things you want to store, how much you need/want to store, and the weight that the shelving will need to bear. What you want it to look like. Take notes on your ideas.

2) Measure, measure, measure. The width of your closets. The height of the area that needs shelf tracking. The depth of your closet. The circumference of your head so you can track it’s growth as your brain swells with all of the measuring. Naw, really, this was the easy part. But remember to write it down in case your memory is as bad as mine is. There’s no use going to the hardware store if you can’t remember the size of the closet you are outfitting…

3) Check out the different materials and prices at your favorite Do-It-Yourself or hardware store. I just happen to live quite close to a Home Depot so that’s where I went. Ask questions about the different materials and how appropriate they are for your particular project. I told them exactly what I wanted to do and they helped me figure out what to get. They can even cut the shelving for you! This is a bonus if you are sans power tools like I am.

4) Buy your materials. I went with California Closets adjustable shelving tracks with 12 inch brackets for the shelves. I went with adjustable shelving because I wanted to be able to move things around and adjust the shelving up or down to accomodate over/under-sized things. And I went with California Closets because they are double-tracked, look more sturdy and are designed for standard closet sizes. For the shelving I went with natural, unfinished wood. I didn’t sand, stain, or polyurethane it because I like the light wood and I’m lazy. Mostly because I’m lazy. If I had done any of that, the project still wouldn’t be finished. Home Depot sells varying lengths and widths of natural, unfinished wood shelving as well as laminate, MDF, and other particle-board-type shelving. Make sure that you know where the studs are in your closet and, if they are not where you will be attaching the shelving tracks, buy drywall anchors. The studs in my closet were not where I was attaching the shelving tracks so I used drywall anchors. The ones that held the most weight that I could find.

5) Now the fun part! One side of the closet was going to be a desk so I positioned the 2 drawer file cabinet that I already had so that the outside edge was at the halfway point of the closet. I measured from that outside edge to the end of the closet as well as how far out I wanted the desk to extend. Luckily, I found a pretty standard-sized piece of wood that would fit. I just had to have it trimmed two inches on one end. One end rests on the file cabinet and the other end is stabilized by 1 x 4’s that I screwed into the wall on the other side and along the back of the closet at the specified height. I put the anchors into the wall, attached the shelving tracks above the “desk”, stuck the brackets in, and threw the shelving on top. There’s a little hole to screw the board into place on the bracket and I did that so that the board won’t slide. Super-easy!

The right side that is all shelves was even easier. California Closets sells a bracket that goes along the top on which the shelving track hangs and it helps absorb some of the weight of the stuff on your shelves. I marked the circles in the bracket where the screws would go, put the anchors in the wall and attached the bracket. I hung the shelving track off of the bracket, positioned it, and tacked it in place by screwing it to the wall in the pre-determined holes. Stuck the brackets on and threw up the shelving, screwed the boards in place and, viola! Shelves!

Honestly, if I can do this, you can do this. It was very easy. I just needed The Daddy to watch Tater Tot so I could work on it. Once I got a (relatively) uninterrupted block of time, it went really, really fast. The only tools I used were a manual screwdriver and a drill (I pre-drilled the holes in the 1×4’s that stabilize the desk before I screwed them into the wall).

So there you have it! My re-”done” closet! I am very pleased with it but I’m continuing to try and figure out what it needs to feel “finished”…

Okay, I’m feelin’ kinda lonely here with my two commenters and my lack of ability to delurk anyone on Mofo Delurk 2007. Not that I don’t appreciate you meadowmufn and B. I do, I really do! But I’m jus’ sayin’…

Wondering what pongabonga dooce is after my post the other day? The guesses I got were pineapple juice and pomegranate juice. And the winner is….pomegranate juice! Yes, I have started drinking pomegranate juice in the mornings because it is jam-packed with anti-oxidants and Tater Tot calls it pongabonga dooce. It’s so cute that I just fall over every time she says it! I asked her yesterday if she wanted apple juice or pomegranate juice with her lunch and she said “pongabonga dooce!”. She looked like she felt so important drinking “Mommy’s juice” and several times she stopped sipping to say “pongabonga dooce” and grin real big. I have to say that I LOVE this job!

Mommy Tip: pomegranate juice and green tea are both packed with anti-oxidants which neutralize the damage done by all those fun bad habits! Not that I’m condoning the bad habits, of course. But most of us have ‘em, don’t we? These two beverages can be a start to healthier living, though! I’ve started drinking a cup of pomegranate juice a day and I try to fit in at least three cups of green tea a day. Five cups a day is recommended. I just can’t seem to find the time to fit in that many! A bonus of the tea-drinking is that it kinda forces me to slow down and put my feet up a little. Imagine that.

On an unrelated note, Tater Tot is doing great at pre-school (Mommy and Me)! We’ve started singing the clean up song and putting away her toys during the day at home which greatly reduced the melt-down factor in class. In fact, last Monday she had a total of one melt-down. One. Down from one at every transition 4 weeks ago. Now that’s progress! She still drags “Gossageesie” everywhere we go but she is able to give him to me to go off and play, which is good. She actually even forgot to bring him to Gym Time and didn’t notice for a few minutes! To add to my surprise, yesterday we were at a park playdate and she wandered off to explore the playground without me. Whaaaat? Did I just type that? Yup. Just walked her little Toddler Bottom off to the sand area and looked around. Looked up to find me and couldn’t for a second but didn’t lose it. Just kept looking until she saw Crazy Mommy waving and grinning like a lunatic. At the same time she is now very into holding my hand. I’ll say “Do you want to walk with Mommy and hold my hand?” and she’ll say “Handa, handa.” and grab my hand. It’s the funniest thing because she walks with such purpose. She’ll grab my hand and launch herself forward like she has somewhere very important to be and gosh-darn-it I’m going to get us there as fast as my little legs can take us! And heaven forbid that you should stop walking. Oh no. That’s not allowed. There will be no static hand-holding. The hand-holding is for traveling only, thank you very much. Not only is it cute but it has come in handy (no pun intended). When we’re “running, running” at Target for our afternoon exercise and The Mommy is ready to go home, I can ask that question and most of the time she’ll stop doing whatever it is that she’s doing and walk with me out of the store. Notice that I did say “most of the time”. She is still Princess Tater Tot, after all. She has a mind of her own. And I am just The Mommy.

I got an email today from our friend S about her son. Her teenaged son had aplastic anemia and was hospitalized for a long time last year. She sent us updates via email and showed enormous strength and faith through the whole thing. He is doing well and is healthy enough to have a job and get on with his life, for the most part. Her son has a friend, however, who is not doing as well and S passed along a letter from her mother. The descriptions that I have gotten from S and this other mother have made me bawl every time. The things that they have been through with their children are mind-blowing. I cannot even begin to imagine having to sit at my child’s bedside day after day after day while medical complication after medical complication takes my child farther from good health. To have the faith that it will all work out and that my child would leave the hospital even in the face of evidence that they won’t. To have, at best, guesses about what will happen with new medications and treatments. To have to try to answer your child’s question “Why is this happening to me?”

I’ve typed a kazillion things to start this next paragraph so far and have erased them all. Anything that I type seems completely inadequate to express how I feel. Let me just say that I am incredibly grateful for The Tater Tot and leave it at that. I can’t imagine my life without her and hopefully, I will never have to find out what that’s like. I cry when I read these mother’s emails because I know the strength of the love they have for their child. It is enormous and all-encompassing. A love that will allow you to do whatever it is that you have to do to be there for your child. No matter what.

Makes all the day-to-day gripes seem really, really stupid.

So I was over at Jenandtonic and came across the great idea that they Jenandtonic , Sweetney , and Schmutzie had to get lurkers “de-lurked”. I have to admit that I am a lurker that needs de-lurking myself and I plan to participate in the Great Mofo Delurk 2007 on Wed, October 3.

The concept is simple: come out of hiding and leave us a comment! I’m sure I’ll remind you again between now and then but you could start early and leave one today!

In TaterSpeak there are many, many interesting words for things. My current favorite is “pongabonga dooce”. Any guesses as to what that might be? Leave your guesses in the comments* and I’ll let ya’ know later…
*Yes, I know that this is blatant begging for comments and I’m okay with that.