The Simokaitis family gets the mother of all storage makeovers
By Stefene Russell
Photography by Anne Matheis
The Problem
Walk-in closets that you could no longer walk into
The Goal
To purge, rearrange and bring functionality to the closets
The consultant
Ron Weldon, manager, The Container Store
When we organized a “Most Disorganized Person in St. Louis” contest with The Container Store (which just opened a 24,000-square-foot space across the street from us on Brentwood), we were not expecting to get an S.O.S. slipped into a bottle, especially one delivered by courier. It read: “... Here we are. A family mired in desperation. We have lost our bedroom. It has succumbed to clothes of all styles and sizes, toys, extra blankets, shoes, laundry baskets ... We need a return back to normalcy. If you are reading this letter, then it is possibly not too late. Please send help!”
The note came from Tony and Christine Simokaitis, winners of our contest and parents of three young children (including 4-year-old Isabella, above). About a year ago, when Mrs. Simokaitis was still pregnant with their third child, the family moved to more spacious digs in South County.
“Our first home was in the city, so the closets were tiny,” Mrs. Simokaitis says. “I had to keep half of my stuff downstairs. When we moved out here, I had a nice closet I could walk into, but the way they had the shelving, it was just a poor use of space.” Which, she admits, was exacerbated by her large amount of, well, stuff.
“We would play hide-and-seek with the kids,” Mr. Simokaitis says. “They would run straight for these closets because we could never find them.”
Ron Weldon of The Container Store and Jim Gauger, an independent installer of elfa modular shelving, were dispatched to help.
“It started with the closets, but when we started talking to them, they said they really wanted to get some of their stuff out of their dressers, too,” Mr. Weldon says. “In order to do that, we really had to incorporate that with the closet plan. There are also a lot of empty spaces in the room, and the kids are in here a lot, playing, putting their stuff everywhere, so we’ll have some additional shelves along the wall.” He added woven storage boxes that coordinate with the color scheme.
As Mr. Gauger primed the walls and installed brackets and Mr. Weldon organized the shelving, bins and boxes that would become part of the two new closets, Mr. and Mrs. Simokaitis were downstairs, deciding what to pitch, what to keep.
“When we sat down on Tuesday, they had us take an inventory,” Mrs. Simokaitis says, neatly hanging another suit on one of her new wooden hangers. “And I realized that I have way more stuff than I need.” Her husband nods in agreement: “The neat thing,” he says, “is this is giving us ideas on how we can organize our three kids’ rooms. And the basement. And that terrible downstairs closet …”
“I think stress is related to clutter in your home,” Mrs. Simokaitis says, finally. “It’s just going to be nice to come home to a stress-free environment.”
Five Tips from Ron Weldon
1. Purge your closets at least twice a year. Mr. Weldon uses that old rule of thumb—if you haven’t worn it in a year, toss it—and recommends having a friend on hand to help you stay ruthless.
2. When it comes to organization, do sweat the small stuff: jewelry, watches, Barbie sandals, spare change, bobby pins, action figures and stray cough drops are what clutter is made of. So use attractive small boxes to sort and store smaller items.
3. Use clear plastic containers to organize footwear to keep it tidily tucked away yet still visible. While the Polaroid-on-the-shoebox is a great trick, most of us don’t have time to do that. Plus, you won’t have to match the shoes to the box when putting them away.
4. On that note, don’t underestimate the power of labeling non-transparent containers that contain items that are not used on a day-to-day basis.
5. Organize things the way you live your life. “Professional people are always going to the dry cleaners,” Mr. Weldon offers as an example. “So you address that in their closet. We have what we call a valet rod, which they can use to hang their dry cleaning on or their clothes for the next day.”
Bottom Line: What Would It Cost?
Regular retail; total does not include installation fees
Christine's closet, including elfa components—$1,618.12
Tony's closet, including elfa components—$1,346.35
Accessories (total $1,531.44; partial listing below)—$1,531.44
Clear sweater bins, 2 @ $14.99—$29.98
Shirt/sweater bins, clear-topped, 2 @ $5.99—$11.98
Clear shoe boxes, one case of 20—$34.00
Necklace organizer—$14.99
3-tier jewelry boxes in espresso, 2 @ $19.99—$39.98
Stacking trays in cocoa, 2 @ $9.99—$19.98
Cotton sweater bags, 2 @ $12.99—$25.98
Cotton blanket bags, 2 @ $14.99—$29.98
Vinyl blanket/comforter bag—$7.99
Drawer organizers, 4 @ $7.99—$31.96
Silk drawer organizers, 3 @ $12.99—$38.97
Coat and shirt hangers in natural, 18 packs of 6 @ $8.16—$48.96
Pandan storage box in java, 3 @ $104.97—$314.91
6-shelf iron folding tower shelf—$159.00
Underbed boxes with wheels, 4 @ $21.99—$87.96
Skirt hangers with clips, 12 @ $3.33—$39.96
Suit hangers in natural, 6 @ $9.83—$58.98
12-belt hardwood hanger, 2 @ $9.99—$19.98
Telescoping garment hook—$14.99
Dry cleaning hamper in kiwi—$24.99
Bronze Metalia can, sky blue—$14.99
Grand Total: $4,495.91
