Creative Home Organization

[zech13_9_goforgold]

Does anyone have any creative ideas for home organization?

I want to start a thread just for ideas- not necessarily, how do I store this?

If this thread could get launched off the ground I would be grateful.

Extra bonus points if you found a way to organize something with what you already had in the house or recycled a throw-away into something useful.

Here's mine:

Use small plastic (assuming you have plastic in the house) that margarine or yogurt comes in to store "emergency" things in the glove box of the car. Right now, my container holds bandages, pain reliever, sinus meds, car sickness meds, lotion.... I also like to put a pack of baby wipes in the car for quick clean up while driving or traveling.

So, what have you come up with?

[smeisnotapirate]

We're using an old over-the-toilet organiser in DS's room for all the "baby linens" (diapers, cloths, etc). It fit right over his nightstand, so we have more storage with no extra space taken up. We're big fans of looking vertically for space.

[lakeruby]

I'm a huge fan of using vintage tins to store stuff. I have a pretty vintage bread box where I keep all my seeds (individual kinds stored in old babyfood and jam jars-- I just write or tape labels on the glass), and I have a bunch of pretty tea tins to store hair ties, jewelry, cotton balls, etc.

Here are a few links I have bookmarked in my computer folder under "organizing"

http://aresohappy.squarespace.com/ho...-february.html info on storing kids stuff (and also un-toys! I love this particular blog!!)

http://lovelydesign.blogspot.com/200...our-house.html info on shelving

http://marvelouskiddo.blogspot.com/2...nita-tree.html a pretty way to store necklaces... I'd like to figure out how to make something like this.

http://label-free.blogspot.com/2008/...-patterns.html organizing sewing patterns

http://www.designspongeonline.com/20...lper-tins.html Another cute way to use tins for organizing

http://www.designspongeonline.com/20...welry-box.html A really cool super-secret way to store jewelry!

[carseatqueen]

I needed more dry food storage inside since it's too himid in my laundry/garage here. We have three tiny closets that are full with 5 people's clothes and no basement. I got two big wicker baskets and put them in top of my china cabinet that is in the living room. they look pretty, take up wasted space, and the food is readily accessible with just a chair to reach.

[columbusmomma]

cool thread
My grandfather sends my DC treats from the popcorn factory. They always come in cute tins, all different sizes. I keep them and use them as storage containers. I am currently using a large one for playdough and playdough accessories. I also recently moved a coffee table into DS' room. We now put toys and books on the top and use the shelf underneath for storage space. I also use a magazine/book rack in the kitchen and fill it with current recipes/cookbooks i'll be using that week, and also fill it with bread,english muffins, buns, etc. Kinda like bread storage space. I don't have a lot of cupboard space. I put the dogfood in a big plastic storage bin and keep it on the stairs landing to the basement. That way it's out of sight and doesn't take up room in the kitchen. I also use cute wicker rectangular baskets to store toys. They fit easily into the shelves on my entertainment center, look nice, keep the toys hidden, and create less clutter.

[Pepper44]

You know those zippered plastic bags that sheets and comforters sometimes come in?

We use those to organize things. All of the gloves and scarves are in one. All of the hats in another. You can sit them in the top of a coat closet, then just pull down the bags one at a time to pick out what everyone needs to wear to play in the snow. It works so well! It's better than baskets because my messy family doesn't spill them or anything, since they zip closed.

We also use one that came with a solid bottom to store all of our folded pillow cases...

[rhiOrion]

Ahh, I've been needing a thread like this.

Here are two of mine:

Store sheet sets inside one of their pillow cases. It'll help keep them nicely organized inside the linen closet.

I have ruined a silpat before because it got creased and cracked. So now I roll it up and slip it inside a paper towel tube. It keeps it rolled instead of folded, and protects it.

[LaughingHyena]

When we bought the kids new shoes we covered the boxes in wrapping paper and they are now on DDs bookshelves, 1 holds the story CDs, the other all the Mr Men books.

Plastic tubs from margarine/ice cream are nice as draw organisers, assuming you can mesh them to fit the draw. We usually find a way.

[MamaFern]

i love vintage canning jars for storage of dried goods.. rice, beans, flour, ect. i have quite a few large ones, and some medium sized ones. i scored on a ton of the old looking (antique) widemouth lids with glass tops at the thrift shop one day and that is what i use with them. they look pretty and you can see what's in them...and they look organized even when they are just thrown in the cupboard or are out on the counter. i also use small jam jars for spices, BS & BP ect.

i also love baskets and tins. they do so much to make a space look nice and uncluttered!

i found this post on apartment therapy and im going to do something similar to this with my sons bed. he has the same one (from ikea) and we are planning a move where hopefully he will have his own room, but it will likely be very small. i love how simple it will be to make so much extra storage and organizational space, not to mention the second bed! i also have fabric that i am already planning for the curtain underneath and matching window covers. very exciting!


ETA: i love the idea of storing sheets inside of the pillowcases! pure genius!!

[MamaFern]

Originally Posted by carseatqueen

I needed more dry food storage inside since it's too himid in my laundry/garage here. We have three tiny closets that are full with 5 people's clothes and no basement. I got two big wicker baskets and put them in top of my china cabinet that is in the living room. they look pretty, take up wasted space, and the food is readily accessible with just a chair to reach.

love this idea! what a super way of using space that otherwise would be empty and making it look nice too!

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

I have ruined a silpat before because it got creased and cracked. So now I roll it up and slip it inside a paper towel tube. It keeps it rolled instead of folded, and protects it.

Oh, that's great! (Had to Google silpat (which is a baking mat for anyone else who didn't know ) I bet that also gives you more options for standing it upright or tucking it in between other things and still finding it.

[Juvysen]

[FillingMyQuiver]

I posted this on another thread, too.

We keep our art supplies in our dining room on a long dresser we use as a credenza. To help organize the supplies, I used clementine crates. They stack rather nicely and I knit felted wool baskets that nestle inside of them to hold individual supplies. So 1 crate holds a felted basket of glue sticks next to the squeeze bottles of glue. Another crate holds a basket of beeswax crayons, a basket of modeling beeswax, and extra boxes of Crayola crayons. I have 4 crates stacked on top of each other.

When we bought our house, the master bath had a very ugly, worn, metal over-the-toilet organizer. We didn't want to use it, so we moved it to the utility room next to the washer and dryer and it now holds all the miscellaneous laundry "stuff".

We use canvas bins for most of our out in the open storage. They have label holders in the front, so I cut up cardboard inserts that came in a bulk cracker box, made labels, and slipped them in so we know what's "hiding".

Right now, I have 2 dressers for my 4 children. A long time ago, I had picked up plastic shoe boxes at the dollar store (like 10yrs ago, before marriage or children). Each child now has 1 of those boxes holding their socks in their underthings drawer.

We also use those vinyl bags from sheet sets, etc for storage.

When we moved in, we also found an old cd storage tower. It has 2 columns, but was missing the shelves. We cut up scrap wood to size and put it next to our children's wooden play kitchen to act as their "pantry" and store their kitchen "stuff".

[FillingMyQuiver]

Oh, also wanted to add, I use bulk food boxes (from our Costco purchases) to organize my chest freezer. Since we get our beef by the side, and we get custom cuts, I separate them into the boxes. All of my small steaks are in a large box from crackers, all of my roasts are in another box, all my larger steaks in another, etc.

[rere]

Originally Posted by MamaFern

i found this post on apartment therapy and im going to do something similar to this with my sons bed. he has the same one (from ikea) and we are planning a move where hopefully he will have his own room, but it will likely be very small. i love how simple it will be to make so much extra storage and organizational space, not to mention the second bed! i also have fabric that i am already planning for the curtain underneath and matching window covers. very exciting!

Love this!Thanks for sharing!

[happyhats]

wow, I'm really loving all of these! I've been especially wondering how to organize my new chest freezer, so that box idea will be great! I'm going to be getting a costco membership soon myself and throwing out those boxes feels so wasteful!

Speaking of freezers, I put mine in my dd's room. We have a small galley kitchen with only a small eating nook. There just wasn't any room there.

I use my second shower as storage. The way it's situated in my bathroom it's pretty darn useless, and with a cheap shower curtain you can't see the clutter. I keep the diaper pail and bulk toilet paper in there.

My husband and I bought a random wine bar thing on clearance a couple years ago. We used it to store our various barware glasses. But in this recent move we took now use a pantry closet as a bar instead, so the wine bar wasn't being used really. We turned it into dh's nightstand. It's great because it has doors, and lots of little cubbies for all his various crap, and then I don't have to look at it!

I really like the idea of the toilet caddy but think I may adapt it differently for my dd's room in the near future. I'm thinking of hanging the caddy over her toybox (safely secured to the wall of course) and using that as her bookshelf. She's not big enough to really handle her books herself yet (she's a little over a year and wants to rip and tear them!) but she can reach it as she gets older.

Then I can put her puppet theater in her closet. Which leads me to a different suggestion, but not really about organizing per say. If you have small children in your life, hold onto any big boxes you get/find. When we bought an electric fireplace we made a "carwash" for my niece and nephews. Now our chest freezer box is going to become a puppet/stuffed animal theater for dd. These can be made into so many things!! Plus you can always untape and retape them if you're short on space/make a lot of different things. It's a bit more work to do that, but it's worth it. I just have to figure out some tape that will not destroy the box long term. Any ideas?

Boy, I'm long winded today!!

[MamaDona]

Originally Posted by rhiOrion

I have ruined a silpat before because it got creased and cracked. So now I roll it up and slip it inside a paper towel tube. It keeps it rolled instead of folded, and protects it.

Nice! I always cram mine into the cabinet. This is a great idea!

[peaceful_mama]

i have dollar store plastic baskets in my freezer, labeled for "veggies" "bread" "chicken"...you're getting the idea. You want this food item, pull out this bucket. (thank you good housekeeping) I have a few in my cabinets too like one full of spices, pull out entire basket to cook.

I've recycled several plastic coffee cans into small toy storage for the kids--bonus, they are the *perfect* size for a 1 year old to carry around! (I don't remember honestly if I came up with this for DS1 but DD and DS2 both *loved and currently love* to put the little wooden alphabet blocks and these plastic links we have in these, carry them around, dump and refill. Easy to throw them in and put on top of the dresser too. Not fancy but functional and they love it!

When we went to where we don't have to separate our recyclables anymore, I cleaned out our large lidded trash can really well, put it in the bathroom, and labeled it with Sharpie--LAUNDRY NOT TRASH! I needed a bigger laundry hamper in that main bathroom since most of the laundry ends up there. The kids got a big kick at first out of "throwing clothes in the garbage" (now it's just normal lol)
Oh--we still recycle, I just now use only 2 trash cans instead of 3 because we don't have to separate any of the recyclables! (proud of not going out to buy another laundry hamper!)

I've 'repurposed' a rubbermaid tote that lost its lid to a laundry basket. A small lid-less bathroom trash into a holder for the toilet brush and plunger. A small bookshelf I found on a rummage into a shoe shelf in my old place. A pocketed shoe-storage thing that goes over the closet door into a place to put everybody's winter stuff. An old-fashioned cracker tin that belonged to my grandmother holds our crackers and other similar opened snacks.

I'll be watching for ideas that don't require me to buy stuff!

[aratiaw]

Originally Posted by happyhats

I just have to figure out some tape that will not destroy the box long term. Any ideas?

How about gluing some velcro dots on the flaps where they overlap?

[rere]

I use tins to hold my tea bags and sewing stuff.

Lots of reused glass jars in the pantry.

A closet cube type shelf is in my pantry(I've used these shelves in so many different ways in the last 20 yrs).On the shelves are inexpensive bins from Ikea that I had bought when we lived in a different place.

A picnic basket holds extra hats and stuff.

I use baskets for everything but mainly toys.

I have glass pebbles that my daughter uses for math in a decrorative wood leaf shaped bowl from the thrift store.It's funny because it looks like some little display but really it's her math tools.

I use a cigar box that holds little extras like gift cards... stamps...the check book...

I use a small vase that sits close to the door for holding sunglasses.

A wall mounted cutlery basket holds chalk for our chalk board wall.

Shoe shelves are great as kid shelves because they are so low to the ground.

An armoire holds kid art supplies.

I have little plate (or maybe for picture frames)shelves mounted over the stove to hold spices.I also have one mounted over this very oddly placed outlet(we don't have many in this old house so I can't let one go to waste)to hold a cordless phone and our "rechargers".And of coarse the best use for those little shelves(and I'm sure what they were designed for)is holding Pez.

There is a towel bar inside my shower. I put hooks on it and hung a plastic bucket,that I drilled holes in the bottom of,for bath toys.

Cute little old suitcases get used and reused around here.

There is a hanging produce basket thingy in my daughter's room.

Can't wait to read more great ideas!