The great closet battle rages on
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- April 17, 2023
- 517
Closets are to houses what pockets are to people. Pockets are handy for putting things in, like loose change, keys, grocery lists and popped buttons. Closets are handy for putting things in too, such as clothes and stuff.
Some houses have nice, big closets like little rooms with lots of space to store stuff; other places are stingy with their closets with barely enough space to hang just a few pieces of clothing.
Our house has both: one nice, big walk-in closet and two shallow, not-very-wide closets that have barely enough space to hang just a few pieces of clothing. What happened to our poor house?
Taller Half is a bit on the packrat side. An empty space for him is an anathema. As a result of that, our nice, big walk-in closet is full to its door. So are the other closets, but they are filled up with other stuff.
Actually, one closet must serve as a place for linen. Our poor house was denied a designated real linen closet, so a bedroom closet must take in linen and a few hanging garments. To be really honest, that poor closet is a mess. The third bedroom closet is piled high with boxes. I think out-of-season clothing is packed in some of those boxes, but I suspect there are a few boxes of who knows what in there too.
We are beginning to approach that most dreaded of days called the closet cleanup day. Trying to clean out and organize an overstuffed small space like a closet is anything but easy. It takes time, patience and determination to get rid of unneeded stuff, find a home
for things we forgot we had, and make decisions about things that stay and things that go.
Taller Half finds this one of his most difficult chores. He is a keeper by nature, and getting rid of anything is not one of his strong suites. It will be arduous and at times rather
painful, but it has to be done.
I will be strong and not give in to Taller Half’s pleas to keep more “stuff” than our closets can comfortably hold. Our house deserves to be free of her over-burdened closets. She and I must win this battle.