Quick Tips for an Organized Closet

Here are some quick tips to jump start your closet organization in the new year!

• Hang clothes in complete outfits. Put jewelry in plastic bags and hang them from the hanger.
• Organize your wardrobe around one key color – it’s easier to shop for and match complete outfits.
• Put an over-the-door or adhesive hanger on your closet door so that you have a place to plan your daily outfits.

• Keep a large bag in your closet – anything you come across that can be given away, either because it is outdated or no longer fits, can be donated to a local women’s shelter when the bag is full.
• Attach a snapshot of your shoes to the front of the boxes to easily identify them.
• Invest in matching hangers. You can get wooden ones super cheap this time of year! Try places like Walmart, Target, and IKEA.

• Fold t-shirts in half and store them vertically where you can see all of them at once. You can fit more in the drawer and actually see what's there!

Need more tips? Here's a great book to help get you through the clutter: Shop Your Closet: The Ultimate Guide to Organizing Your Closet with Style by Melanie Charlton Fascitelli

Don't forget! Set small, attainable goals that can be completed in a relatively short period of time. Don’t try to finish a large project in one swoop. Divide up organizing projects into small pieces that can be completed, from start to finish, in one dash. That way, you’re less likely to be interrupted, tire of the project, or to become distracted. Sprinting is stimulating, and keeps your interest high. No matter how large the organizing project, it can be broken down into short sprints.

And now for some closet eye candy... :)

Happy Hump Day! Hope everyone is having a great week!

Bring in the New Year with a Newly Reclaimed Space

How many people have "organization" on their list of resolutions this year? I do! To help ease the pain I'll be doing a series of posts on how to jump start your organization projects. Your other resolutions will more easily fall into place once you have simplified and streamlined your daily routines. Organized people have more free time and are less stressed than those who have to spend valuable time looking for keys or misplaced bills. So who's with me?!

Here's a little inspiration....

This week, I helped complete a guest room makeover for Betty. She had been using her guest room as a storage space for months and had to finally dive into the project when she offered up the room to out of town relatives. For two days we sorted, we purged, we filed.... and just in time for her house guests! Here are the before and after photos.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Christmas Ornament Storage

Last year (at Target's 5AM after Christmas sale), I bought an ornament storage box. Problem is - I can't get to the ones on the bottom with out taking out half of the ornaments on top... one by one! Not exactly as easy as I anticipated. So when I take down the tree this year, I'm trying something new. I love this idea from Martha Stewart.

Cut a few pieces of corrugated cardboard to fit inside a plastic storage bin. Then use a hot-glue gun to attach plastic cups to the cardboard. You can wrap ornaments in tissue paper (I opted not to) and place them in the cups. Then stack cardboard-and-cup flats inside the container. Martha used standard 16oz cups but I'm going to use the shorter, clear 9oz cups for my simple glass ball ornaments to conserve space. I was able to fit 20 cups on each layer and made 4 layers for each plastic bin.

Here's the breakdown:

Finished product!

Really simple - just hot glue, cardboard, and plastic cups.

Just a few lines of glue around the bottom rim. It really doesn't take much!

I placed the cups before I glued them one by one.

Then layer your flats in your plastic bin. Done!!

Happy Holidays!

Filing Cabinet Revamp

We have desperately needed a filing cabinet in our office and were lucky enough to find a used one for free! It was 70's beige, which didn't exactly flow with our new office design... so we used a grinder to sand down the paint to the bare metal. Then we painted the front of the drawers with chalkboard paint to make labeling what's inside a bit easier. It's also a lot more fun :)

It's a man's world

I am convinced that our house was designed by a man. But not just any man... a bachelor with a housekeeper.

Exhibit A: There is a vanity in the master bath but no outlet anywhere near it. What's a girl to do? Air dry? Not in this humidity.

Exhibit B: A decent sized laundry room with no space to hang clothes to dry. To make matters worse, our doors have strategically placed molding that make it impossible to use any kind of over-the-door storage device.

{The Problem}

I was finally fed up living in a "man's house," so I went to Container Store - credit card drawn and ready. I was able to get 2 drip dry areas for only $12.96. Here's how I did it...

{Under Cabinet Hooks for Lingerie}

To dry smaller things like swimsuits and lingerie, I installed a mug hanging rack underneath my cabinets. ($5.99 at Container Store) You can also use fish-eye or utility hooks that are made to screw under cabinets or into the ceiling , but I wanted to make as few holes as possible so I chose a rack instead of individual hooks. This rack actually slides forward for easier access.

{Sliding Cup Rack - Container Store}

I also needed a spot to hang clothes but didn't have enough room to install any kind of rod. I found this wall mount "hanger holder" that was narrow enough to fit between my doors. (And only $5.99) It folds up and out of the way when not in use.

{Wall-Mount Hanger Holder - Container Store}

Another problem we had- and I've heard we're not the only ones - was confusing our just-out-of-the-dryer clean clothes with the basket of dirty. So I bought these collapsible mesh bins that hold about one load of laundry each. I don't fall down the stairs trying to carry a too large, too heavy basket and after the clean laundry is put away, they fold up and out of the way. I also made these (husband-friendly) reversible tags to easily distinguish the clean from the dirty.

{Folding Mesh Cubes - Container Store, $9.99}

{Reversible Clean/Dirty Tags - email me for the template}

I also attached one of the Clean/Dirty tags to a suction cup and stuck it to the dishwasher. Now no one has to ask. :)

The Girl With More Than a Pearl Earring

If you have more than a wedding ring and a pair of pearls, you may need more jewelry storage. Many detailed architectural pieces can be used to hang jewelry. You can also re-purpose an old frame with a little bit of mesh. Here are a few ideas.

{Etsy}


{Eclectic Architecturals}

{Morgan Design}

{Morgan Design}

{Etsy}

Taming an Out of Control Bookshelf

My fiancee and I recently merged our belongings into one household. Needless to say, we have a lot of duplicates... dishes, kitchen utensils, furniture, the list goes on. So to preserve my sanity, as I'm a bit of a neat freak, we're having a garage sale. But even with a lack of shelf space, we both had a difficult time parting with our books. I finally got them all to fit in our one living room bookshelf, but it took some effort. Even with a lot of books, you can still add design to your shelves. Here are some ideas.

Stand some books upright and stack others. The stacked books give you a flat surface to display a pretty vase or picture frame, and they hold the upright books in place.
Organize books by color for a artistic feel.

Cover your books in paper, like brown kraft paper or matte red wrapping paper, and write the titles in marker for a clean, organized look. (Just like book covers in Junior High)

You can also turn your books into a piece of art.
(No books were harmed in this arrangement)[conceal shelf by Umbra]

And I know it's not a bookshelf, but look how designer Nick Olsen used books
to create a pedestal for the lamp. Great idea.

New Year - New Organization

A new year means a fresh start! Kick it off with small organization projects that can be done in an hour or two so that you don't get overwhelmed. Go through your closet and get rid of things that you haven't worn in the past 2 years. That means T-shirts too! If you're holding on to sentimental shirts that are taking up valuable drawer space, have a quilt made out of them. They then become a comfy conversation starter. If you're still struggling for drawer space, here's a trick to make more fit and t-shirts easier to find. If you fold t-shirts in half and place them in the drawer vertically, you can then see everything at once and at the same time, squeeze more in.

Uncommon uses for common items

Thanks to the cold weather moving in and the anticipation of holiday parties, I'm finding it hard to stay focused in the icy concrete building I call work. The smell of fresh coffee always wakes me up, so I poured some whole coffee beans into a pretty bowl and set it on my desk. I don't go too crazy with the flavors though... it might encourage ruining the diet. The smell of the coffee beans tend to have an energizing effect. Which got me thinking... (hmm the coffee must be working) there are a lot of everyday household items that I use for other random things. Here's an abbreviated list:

1. Votive holders - Corral hair ties and bobby pins and leave them just where you need them. Otherwise mine get lost in a drawer with other larger items.

2. Large cylinder vases - Store toilet paper in large vases (next to the toilet obviously) to hide it where guest can find it. Because nobody likes to have to ask.
3. Rubber bands - This is one of my favorites. If you have wooden hangers (because they're pretty, not because they're practical) strappy garments seem to always be falling off. Wrap a rubber band around each end of the hanger and your clothes will stay put.
4. Shoe boxes - Cover them in your recently purchased 2,000 foot roll of brown kraft paper and use them to hide smaller items that seem to accumulate on open shelves. It looks like the expensive boxes you buy at Container Store (which I'm totally obsessed with, by-the-way) but costs nothing. Label it with a decorative tag (leftover Christmas maybe) or just with sharpie for a simple look.
5. Napkin holder - Use to organize bills and keep tabs on what hasn't been paid. As you open mail, put unpaid bills in this spot. It looks much better than a pile of half opened mail. (Lovely mockup, huh?)

6. Dryer Sheets - Car air freshener! Shoe deodorizer! Static Remover! The list goes on. Put one under your car seat to make your car smell less like McDonald's and wet dog. Stick a few in your tennies to make them smell like clean laundry instead of your Aunt Thelma.

7. Mismatched vases - If you have several mismatched vases or bowls, spray paint them all the same color and group them together. If it's a glass vase, paint the inside so that the outside will still be smooth. This also works for random knick-knacks and even chandeliers! Even the ugliest hand-me-downs can look good with a quick coat of glossy black paint. Instant modern art.
8. Empty wine bottles - Since you just used all your vases to make modern art, drink some wine, strip off the label from the empty bottle and use as a vase for long stemmed flowers. Glue a pretty broach (mine came from Forever 21) to the front for a more elaborate look. Do three or four in a row on a long table as a centerpiece.

And because I'm in the holiday spirit...

9. Leftover Ornaments - Fill a hurricane vase with the glass ball ornaments that didn't go on the tree for instant holiday decor. I love the look of bright red.10. Pine cones - If you don't have a pine tree, then try your neighbor or a nearby park. Go natural or spray paint them silver or gold and put in a simple bowl. Add some holly or a few pieces of evergreen. You can also paint them a bright red for a more modern look.