Organizing tips/finds?

[dr.girlfriend]

Anyone want to share any organizing tips or finds for the new year?  I stayed at an Air BnB over Thanksgiving that had a big metal breadbox.  I realized that my very limited kitchen counter space tends to get really cluttered with bread stuff that we use too often to really put away (like the current loaf of white bread, bagels) so I got a big bread box to put that stuff in. It holds the in-progress loaf of white bread, wheat bread, bagels, and hot dog buns in not much counter space at all and looks a ton neater!



Thinking about managing my counter space also motivated me to actually find canisters that fit under my windowsill, so now there's a lot more space there too!


There's also a space next to the kitchen counter.  I can't have anything major there because it's where the basement door opens up, but we so rarely go in the basement these days.  I realized this little rolling cart I already had fits there, and I can just roll it out of the way if I ever need to go down to the basement (like for Christmas decorations). So I was able to move a bunch of stuff from the counter to there, especially my big stand mixer which was taking up a ton of room.



I was kind of debating replacing that cart where it originally was, and in looking for a replacement I also just bought this for the very narrow space in my laundry room.  It's only 7" wide so I'm not sure how much it will actually hold, but that's wasted space right now and we do have a ton of cleaning products piled onto the dryer top, so hopefully it'll hold some of those. I didn't realize they made things narrow enough to fit there.


My goal is to have cabinets put into the laundry room but I'm trying to do a bunch of smaller good-enough-for-now projects instead of holding out for contractor-reliant projects.  I also hung a small wooden coathook thing that I hadn't done because I was holding out for someone to build cubbies in that space.  :-)

[mrsukyankee]

Great tips!

[Susie]

Yesterday I ordered Elfa closet systems for DS's room, the guest room, and most excitingly, the front hall closet.  I got mesh drawers for part of the hall closet, for corralling all the mittens, hats, and other accessories.  It's going to be a bunch of work to uninstall the current ClosetMaid system, fill all the holes from the wall anchors, paint the closets, and then install the Elfa systems, but I can't even say how excited I am for the drawers in the hall closet.

[laterz]

I love the Madesmart line at Container Store for drawer organization. My bathroom drawer with my toothbrush stuff brings me joy every day.

[definitelyO]

this is small in the scheme of things - but I used to keep all gift bags in another big bag that spilled out all over everything. Found a cool bag "box" post holiday that works great and looks way better. I just "feel" better about it now

[dr.girlfriend]

On that note, one of my best purchases ever was a vertical gift wrap storage box. Mine is from Rubbermaid and it doesn't look like they make it anymore, but it looks kind of like this.  I used to store them in an underbed container but this is much easier and especially good to carry from room to room so I can wrap somewhere the kid or husband won't bust in to.

[ellipses84]

Ours is not photo worthy right now, as I plan to upgrade to a nicer credenza / sideboard / buffet furniture piece eventually. The door to our garage is flanked by the kitchen on one side and the dining area on the other. On the wall next to the door, behind the head of the table, I have an old IKEA Kallax entertainment center horizontally. It has 2 cupboards doors, 4 drawers and 4 basket cubes. We store a lot of random things in there, like garbage bags, grocery bags, games/ crafts we do at the table, small appliances or kitchen gadgets we don’t use frequently, junk drawer, etc. On top I have a tiered fruit basket, breadbox and fruit bowl. On the wall above is a key hook / mail shelf, artwork and a clock. It provides some extra storage and “counter” space. It’s functional but will look nice enough when I’m done with the area. The Kallax is so low you don’t really see it behind the table. We don’t have a formal dining area.

I like how tall that bread box is. Ours is too small for all our breads but I keep other snacks in ours that I want out of sight.

I’ve posted this before but I love the 30
Quart clear storage bins with latching lids. They fit in the tops of closet shelves and are big enough to fit a decent amount of stuff and view it all, but small enough to easily pull down.

[BlondeSpiders]

Jan 10, 2022 16:30:24 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

On that note, one of my best purchases ever was a vertical gift wrap storage box. Mine is from Rubbermaid and it doesn't look like they make it anymore, but it looks kind of like this.  I used to store them in an underbed container but this is much easier and especially good to carry from room to room so I can wrap somewhere the kid or husband won't bust in to.

I have one of these too and I love it. It normally lives in the garage and is so much easier to stand in a corner for the month of December!

[dutchgirl678]

Great ideas! We don't have a pantry closet but two big floor-to-ceiling kitchen cabinets. We finally decided to hire a local guy to install pull-out shelves in them and in the bottom kitchen drawers. He came and measured and will install sometime next month. I will be so happy when that is in place, because it will be so much easier to organize and access!

[libbygrl109]

dr.girlfriend, My mother has the cart for inbetween the washer and dryer. It actually holds a lot of things, and is pretty sturdy.

Our closets are very tiny, and I needed extra storage for my shoes, so I built shelves into our hall closet using the Closetmaid Shelftrack system (similar to Elfa, I think). It created so much extra room for not only my shoes, but for board games, winter and dog accessories and our vacuum and all its extra parts. I just have to go back in now and clear out the clutter that has developed in the last few years.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jan 14, 2022 11:29:46 GMT -5 libbygrl109 said:

dr.girlfriend , My mother has the cart for inbetween the washer and dryer. It actually holds a lot of things, and is pretty sturdy.

Good to hear!  I've been stalking the delivery, it comes Monday.  Will update with pics once it arrives and I've filled it!