Minimalism/Organization Project #28- The Hall Closet

My hall closet holds many items including toilet paper, paper towel, tissues, medications, bandages, towels, bath toys, extra toiletries and extra feminine products.  It gets crazy from time to time and requires an overhaul.  I have new challenges this time due to Miss. E.  We keep a safety lock on the closet door, since we store medications in the closet.  My daughter wiggles into the closet every time it is opened and recently got her little paws on some (unopened) medication.  Hubby and I were right there and took it away immediately, but it showed us how dangerous our closet organization can be.

Here is the before:

I spread everything out on the kitchen table and set to sorting through it.  I ended up with a bag of expired medications.  I encourage everyone to go through their medications every six months and check expiry dates.  It is important to the health and safety of your family.  You have to be careful with how you dispose of expired medications.  I take mine to my local pharmacy and they dispose of them safely.

Here is the after:

I moved the medications to a higher shelf that my daughter won't be able to reach for years.  I managed to get rid of enough stuff (some were trashed and unopened items were donated) that I only need to keep three items on the floor of the closet!  I consider this a huge win!

The three drawer storage containers are great for storing our small toiletries and our medications.  In the basket I keep our overabundance of bandages.  Our first aid kit, rice bags, Neti Pot, and hot water bottle are also on this shelf.

The next shelf has our hand towels, Miss. E's towels/ facecloths, bath toys, my travel toiletry bag, and our extra toiletry products.  The floor is empty except for some feminine products (purchased on sale) and our extra first aid kit.

I am happy with the way things turned out.  I feel that the closet is much safer and also more organized!  I have a photo of the closet's "after" from the last time it was organized.  I am going to put it on the left and the current "after" on the right.

 

Minimalism is a work in progress.  I am happy that the floor is mostly clear and that I was able to get rid of more items.  Every item that leaves seems to make me feel lighter.