Design RE:Look » Organizing Specifics

Organization is often the  focus of design magazines and the source of  frustration for many homeowners. With the Holiday Season right around the corner and decorations, food and gifts waiting to ambush our homes it is best to start making a place items you use in your everyday life.  Some of our favorites include:

Hats & Mittens:  These are best placed right near the door that the family uses everyday.  There are some great options that should be easily accessible and not too fussy.  Drawers are a favorite, but not always an option due to space.  So pictured below are some basic options that don’t cost a fortune and can be found at most neighborhood stores.

Shoe storage system that hangs from a rod in the closet.  The scarfs, hats and mittens can easily be tucked into the pockets.  I haven’t labeled the pockets because it is easy to see what is inside, but it would be simple and a decorative accent to add tags with names so that children knew where to put their things.

A four pocket pouch with clear fronts for children’s hats and mittens.  This option is not as available for children to be able to reach and take care of their own things, but sometimes it’s nice to know what I put away stays away.  The clear fronts make it a snap to find the set you are looking for quickly and easily.

A third option is a cloth shoe organizer, Skubb that was found at IKEA and happened to have drawers that fit into the slots making it work for different types of storage.  This made it a perfect spot to store not only hats and mittens, but also small itmes that need a place.  Some of the items we found include; extra chargers and electronic devices, small neighborhood maps, shoe polishing kit,  sewing kit, and any other small items that are easily lost in larger storage bins.

Tablecloths and Extra Throws: When looking for a place to carefully store Tablecloths and Throws look no further than a closet with a little extra space and some sturdy hangers.  This has been the far best way to store large and delicate cloths.  They stay fresh, neat and best of all no wrinkles.

Shoes:  This is an item that is so important to take care of, especially by a back door.  The number of shoes that pile up increases exponentially by the number of member to your household, making it extremely important to get a handle on.  When looking for some ideas we explored benches with bins below, Ikea had a great bench, Hemnes,  with drawers below and a lid that opened.  But, our circumstance included limited floor space and walking space.  We then explored the shoe cabinet at Ikea and had they had it in stock would have probably walked away with that.  But, alas it was $99 and while that wasn’t a terribly expensive option Ikea is always a trip.  In addition, I was a little concerned that the children would shove the shoes in the thin angles slots and jam the doors.  It was then I realized I had a closet in my back hall and perhaps a simple option was the answer.  I ended up at Walmart and purchased a behind the door shoe rack with clear fronts.  Dilemma answered.  This might not be the option I use forever, but it works for now.

Extra Hand Towel and Guest Bath Essentials: This is the perfect opportunity to use a decorative basket, wire or metal container, bucket, small decorative end table (with storage) or decorative shelf.  Any of these options can add  style as well as storage to your bath.

Barbies:  We’ve used  many different drawers, boxes, and systems for organizing the numerous Barbies.  The best so far is a over the door shoe organizer.  This enables every barbie to have their own spot, to stand upright and to keep them in the best shape.

First Aid:  A bamboo tray or a rectangular box is a great place to store the essentials for the multitude of bumps and booboos that litter your day.  In this box or shelf place a box of Band-Aids, bacitracin, wound wash, Q-tips, cotton balls or gauze and anything else you use to clean and cover scrapes.  It makes putting everything away quick and easy.  Everything in its place is the goal.

Cooking essentials:  After redesigning and reorganizing the pantry, see the earlier post Pantry Redesign, it was important to get the ingredients that are used everyday in easy reach.  This is important for making it easy to use and put away.  Using a plastic and rubber tray and placing it inside the cabinet beside the stove allows for easy reach of the ingredients used most for everyday cooking.  Some of out easy reach ingredients  include Grapeseed oil in a squirt bottle, cinnamon, salt, pepper, sugar, and any additional spices that we like to keep close.

Softcover Books:  The softcover square books  are always the books my kids love to pick up and read, but they are so thin it makes it difficult to organize them on a bookshelf.  A basket is the perfect place to slip these little books so they don’t fall over or get lost on a bigger bookshelf.  This is simple, easy and the kids love looking through to find their favorite book.

Adult Craft Supplies:  Having a home for the multitude of ribbons, papers, glues, photographs, tools and any other supplies you have is not only important for organization, but also imperative to using them.  When planning to create a haven to store these items it is more important to get the items in open containers and dividing them by use.  When organizing some scrapbooking supplies use photo boxes, lingerie drawer dividers, tea cabinets, and any other rectangular or square decorative boxes that can hold multitude of items.  Unify the look with matching labels.

These are just a few of the household items that need to be organized and put away multiple times a day.  We’d love to hear from you and add some of your innovative ideas or any problem areas maybe we’d have suggestions for.  Just in time for the Holidays!