Closet Clean-out

This client is anticipating downsizing in the next few years so I suggested that she do a little work now to avoid a ton of work later. I began by asking where she stashed things that she hadn't retrieved in the last year.
The hiding place was her guest room closet.

For the time being she felt confident that she did not have excess clothing but that middle shelf above proved she did have excess books and magazines. She didn't even remember what was stored here so we surveyed the shelves and found that her biggest space hog was out-of-date travel guides.

We began by removing and evaluating everything.

We eliminated the majority by packing boxes of books for a library sale, tearing and filing pages from magazines with articles she wanted to keep and filling over half a 96 gallon recycling bin (!) with the rest.

We integrated what was left by shelving the remaining books she wanted to read where she could see them - on an open bookcase in her office. We now had room to get her sewing machine off the floor where it might get kicked. What remained were cleaning supplies specific to that area of the house and some books for overnight guests so we put them back on the shelves. My next step would be to store the linens for the guest bed on the freed-up shelving.

Total time: one hour.