Bag #3 -- Hall/Coat Closet

If you're coming into this in the middle of my project, here is the link to what I am talking about.

I know it seems like copping out, doing all of these small areas within the house, but I've found I need to start by cleaning out storage areas so that I have room to put things when I am doing the rest of the house for spring cleaning.

This morning, I am tackling the coat closet, which doubles as an area to store just about everything. We keep board games, cleaning products, our carpet steamer, vacuums, and just about everything else you can imagine in here. I'm not finished with the clean-out yet, but I wanted to share the first bag that has been removed.

 Behold the rare "before" picture.  It's not as organized as it looks.  The games tend to fall out when it gets opened, and you can't get to any of the coats because all the mops and cleaners are in front.  We also rarely have room to hang other people's coats in here because there are so many in it.

My first step was to remove an entire 13 gal. garbage bag filled with winter coats, light jackets, children's snowsuits, all of which are perfectly suitable but haven't been worn in 2 or more years.

Destination: Harmony Clothing Closet in Nevada.  They accept used clothing and distribute it for free within our community on Saturdays and Monday evenings. 

Some other options:

• Salvation Army
• Goodwill
• LSI or MICA in your Iowa communities
• Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames.