The Closet

The closet is a great place to store all the odds and ends that a teacher will need....sticky notes, staples, extra pens, tape, etc. In my old classroom I had a closet, but I also had some amazing upper and lower cabinets. In my new room there were lower cabinets, but no upper cabinets. Oh, NO! I thought about having my dad make some for me, but then opted to just make the best of it.

This is what my closet looked like before. Not much too it. We'll fix that!

This is what my closet looks like now.

  

The first thing I did was to add a black hanging shoe organizer in the open section where coats will go. I stored small items in there (staples, erasers, etc.). I bought several of the school boxes at Wal-Mart that cots $.50 and this is where these items are stored. Three school boxes fit into each opening. Very compact and organized. I can look quickly to see what is there.

 Then I added three plastic drawers and stored my extra computer parts and labels there. These go for under $10 a piece and are great because I choose how many I will need and build as I go.

Then I added a 4 drawer plastic unit on the bottom shelf to hold magnets and glue sticks.

The final addition was to add an over the door organizer. I used upholstery nails to secure it to the inside of the door. Because of the weight of the items, it needed the extra support. In these pockets are quick reference items (an extra stapler, single hole punch, sticky notes, markers, etc.).

I use shoe boxes to organize my office supplies. I didn't need to label them because I can see into each box to see what items I will need.

As you can see I got a lot of goodies into this very tight space. I had to be creative and use my space smart, but I think the finished closet came out quite nice.