The Beauty Of Simple Changes

Our walk-in closet is pretty narrow and frequently I've wanted a chair or some sort of flat surface to set things on when I just have a quick second to drop something off in there. I know I should just immediately put them away, I've certainly talked about that enough lately. But sometimes I feel like it's okay to set down a fresh stack of laundry that I'll put away later. I have also struggled to figure out a space for clothes that eventually need to get to the laundry room and a place to put my sleeping clothes.

I often end up stacking this stuff on top of the shoe rack, which is the perfect height, but then I have stuff sitting on top of (aka crushing) my favorite pairs of shoes on the top shelf. This has been bothering me for a while and recently I came up with the easiest, most ridiculous solution. On the top of the shoe rack are three pairs of shoes. There are two that I really like having on that shelf and the third pair could go anywhere on the rack.

I was dropping off some laundry and I thought, "This is a little ridiculous. Why don't I just move one pair of shoes off this shelf level and then move my two favorite pairs closer to the wall and leave a nice space here for me to put things?!" I was a little stunned at how such a simple change could totally rock my existence. I kind of wanted to smack myself for not thinking of this sooner. As I walked back upstairs from our room I was on fire to find more things I could do to make life easier.

When I have these moments where a simple solution makes everything so much better I wonder how many other frustrations I could solve and simplify so easily. Sometimes we get so stuck in how things are set up in our homes that we forget we can change them. I am all about making needed changes in this house because there is no reason to be frustrated at something that isn't working well when it can be changed.

I have done this with drawers and cupboards in the kitchen. Why have things you don't use often in the best drawers and why be annoyed at the unnecessary efforts we often expend to get things that are stored in the most practical places. I've evolved storage in a lot of ways as we go along. I also want to keep evolving our linen closet, pantry and tool storage spaces to make them work best for us. It's a never ending process I think because things continue to evolve with the family.

I feel like this needs to be something that I keep at the forefront of the mind all the time, at least a lot more often. So many of these changes can be made in minutes...seriously how long did it take me to move my shoes over. That took me less than 30 seconds! How many more challenges can I solve in our home with such simple efforts. I think there are a lot. I just need to be paying better attention.