making the most of your closet space

I have a #firstworldproblems confession.  My closet is too small!  It's a walk-in, but there is barely four feet of hanger space, total.  I have to share this with my husband, which means I get about two-and-a-half feet to myself (he is surprisingly protective of his hanger space!).  I have purged three times in the last year.  I still have more shirts than I wear, but the number one thing that eats up my closet space is my massive maxi dress collection!

During the summer, I wear max dresses at least twice a week.  Last summer, when I was pregnant with little bear, I wore them almost every day.  Combine my  love of the freedom of skirts and dresses with my tall figure and voila!  I give you my incredible selection of maxi dresses.  This photo was taking two years ago when we moved, and only includes 3/4 of what the collection was THEN (minus maxi skirts!).  So, ya, lots of dresses.

If they each hung on their own hanger, it would take up ALL my closet space, easy.  But I learned a trick back when I was in college, sharing an even smaller closet with another girl.  

Pants hangers!  Duh!  How easy is that?  I use bar hangers for my maxi dresses.   I found these particular hangers at Target, but they only have them in stock once in a while.  They are on amazon here.  You can get smaller versions (with only three bars) at Walmart.  I love these because the bars unhook and swing out, so I can hang one skirt at a time without having to lay the whole hanger flat.

I use the clippy pants hangers for my skirts!  I also got these at Target and have occasionally seen them at Walmart.

I love how I can pull out a hanger and see all my skirts and dresses easily.

I have four dress hangers, and five skirt hangers.  It takes up less than a foot of my precious hanging space!  The bulk of the skirts makes these take up more space in the bottom half of my closet, which balances out nicely with all my shirts that take up the of the top half.  Plus, it makes me feel super organized every time I look at them. 

I still need to get my shirts under control... how to you keep your shirts organized?  

Vinegar and Lemon

Sometimes I just get so sick of strong chemical smells.  Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of bleach.  But especially now that my little guys like to help me clean, I need something that works but isn't dangerous for them to use!  Enter lemon and vinegar.

White distilled vinegar works great, but smells terrible (hence the lemon).  I recommend filling a spray bottle with 2 parts water and 1 part vinegar, the squeeze in a little fresh lemon.

Here's where I've seen this dynamic duo have alot of success in cleaning:

Grease on the Stove
 The acid from the lemon works up the grease, especially with the vinegar.  If you spray a little on, let is soak for a bit then it should wipe off.  If you have big amounts of grease cooked onto your stove top, it will take a little repetition.  This does NOT work on cooked on food.  Vinegar and lemon also works on (allegedly) hard-water deposits.  I'm a little iffy on that one, but I'll try it and let you know.

Toilet rings
Pour a little vinegar (under half a cup) in your toilet bowl, even if you don't have time for scrubbing.  I used to clean house for a woman who did this.  The rest of her toilette was grody, but there was never a ring in the toilet.  Go ahead and let it sit overnight. 

Microwave blowout 
Ew.  The word blowout just sounds gross!  I hate it when stores advertise "blowout sales!" ... I just think of a really bad messy diaper.   
Anywho, you can either use your spray bottle and let it sit for a bit, or microwave the mixture until it boils.  Either method loosens up the grime and makes most of it wipe away!  

Toothpaste 
Ya know how the kids get a little excited and squirt the mushy stuff all over?  Once it gets hard it usually takes tons of elbow grease to get it off.  Letting it soak in a little vinegar/lemon mixture makes it wipe up way easier.

Mopping
Floors will sparkle (and smell great!) if you fill your sink with warm water, pour in a little vinegar, and squeeze some lemons.  I like to do lots of lemon, otherwise the kitchen smells like vinegar for a few minutes.


This site claims several other uses for vinegar, but I haven't tried them out so no guarantees.
As far as I'm concerned, there are plenty good reasons to grab a bottle, mix up some spray and add to your cleaning supplies.