Utility Closet....Check!

I realize that cleaning up the utility closet may not seem like a home improvement, but I think it makes a difference to the people looking at our place. 

"Is it clean and orderly?  Why, it must be easy to care for in a place like this."  It’s not, because it is small and we are outgrowing it by leaps and bounds, but I’m hoping we can fool the next set of people into thinking this place is a breeze to maintain.

So Here’s what I did:

Step 1.  Took two armfuls of stuff out.  Sat down and checked e-mail.  Remembered I was supposed to stay on task while L naps and continued to clear things out of the closet.

Step 2. Took note of what needed fixing.  The rule of the game is if it is in the house, it better do what it is suppose to do.  If it is a door, then it needs to open and close, if it is a light, it needs to turn on and off, etc. My mom/ realtor told us this.  So nothing major.

- There is some funky paint colors in here, perhaps the original yellow (it matches our harvest gold countertop.)



not sure if we need to paint it or not.  Going to have to defer to realtor on this one.

 -One tile is loose.  It is the original light aqua blue.  Kinda retro looking.  In someone else’s home I would probably think it is cool.




  Not here though.  We aren’t trying to be hip or ironic.

- I want to hang the grocery bag holder up on the door.  It is not pretty but it is utilitarian, and I want easy access to it while we are still here.

- Install hooks to hang the step ladder out of the way of L.  I know it sounds crazy, but it drives me crazy when she gets a hold of the step ladder and pushes it around the room, and occasionally climbs it.  Call me crazy but I like my babies on the floor or in my arms, where they belong.

Step 3.  Go through items I pulled out and see what I actually use.  Attachments to vaccums long since retired? Cleaning products not used in the last 6 years? Collection of paper bags? Yup.  We got them.  One bag of note, I thought was interesting- a cowboy hat bag…


Thanks Breck Lorman, who ever you are, for your gourmet western food cowboy hat bag.

I put the cleaning supplies I do use back on the shelves.  But this time, waaaay up on a shelf out of L’s reach.  Eventually I want to switch over to greener products, but for now, I have these, and they work, provided we take the precaution of not letting L drink them down.  The products I won't keep will either be given to people who can/will use them or properly recycled with the city of Tempe.  The cloth grocery bags in the back of my car, where I might actually remember to use them.  And put the cleaning rags and old t-shirts in the cleaning caddy.  Got the steamer, vacuum cleaner back into the closet.  Rearranged the placement a bit to accommodate our recycling bin.

Step 4.  Text the husband to tell him the list of things we need to do to the utility closet this weekend, omitting possible paint project- he hates to paint, which is why L’s room is the only one decorated in the whole house.  Text Mom/realtor to see what she thinks about the paint.  Wait….

Step 5.  The husband pretty much ignores the texts (he is at work, after all), but realtor/Mom gets back to me fast.  As long as the paint is clean and in good condition (ie not chipped, peeling, etc) then to leave well enough alone.  It’s a closet.

Step 6.  Husband gives me the go ahead to fix anything I want (clearly he is not interested in doing the fixes).  So I glued the tile back into place.  I was about to use Super Glue, but then it occurred to me someone may want to actually peel up this stuff, and who am I to make their lives harder?  It had to be something that would hold though…. I fancy myself a crafter, so I did what most crafters would do that have no clue about home repairs.  I hot glued it in place.  There.  I fixed it.  I don’t care if that’s wrong.  It worked, and I'm standing by it.

Step 7.  I have decided rather than hang the step stool in the utility closet, I'm going to hang it in the garage.  Mostly because of my fear of electricity- where I would have hung it is where the breaker box is.  It was giving me the stink eye, so I'm walking away.  I'll come back to hanging up the step stool when I do the garage.

Step 8. I hung up the bag holder.  Originally, I had sticky foam tape holding it up, so I was going to get more of that, but then I thought better of it.  After all, it hadn't worked well before, and I want the versatilty of removing the holder to take with me (grocery bags make good packing material, plus I'm guessing there will be a garage sale or two in the future).  So I used sticky sided velcro. 


I think it was rather genius of me.  I doubt I'm the first to do it, but I'm not a home repair type of person.  Except now I need to be. 


My friend Kelly told me to start small, aim low.  Well, velcro, hot glue, and I'm guessing there is a roll of duct tape out there with my name on it... It doesn't get much more low tech.  And if Velcro is good enough for NASA, then it's good enough for me.

So, it took me longer to post this than it did to take care of the utility closet.  One room to check off my list.  Quite a few more to go.