Organization: Handbags

I have been trying to figure out a good solution for my handbags since before I even did my Master Closet Redo.  It seemed like they were always in the way, never looked neat or organized no matter what I did and it drove me bananas! 

 

They started out being stored in a laundry basket at the top of the closet...classy I know.  As of a few days ago they looked like this....

It's definitely not terrible but it wasn't quite right either.  I wanted them to be more accessible because as it were if I tried to pull one down, they pretty much all came down with it.  Booo.  Last weekend I was at the glorious of all glorious stores - The Container Store and found these bad boys...

Yup - that'll do it.  So I bought a whole bunch and got to getting them set up right away.  Before buying you will have to make sure that the shelf you are going to attach them to is going to work with them but if they do they are great!

And the final product...

So much better! I can see everything and I only need to pull out one at a time!!

 

Other handbag storage I like:

 

Via

 

Via

 

Traditional Closet by San Francisco Closets And Organization San Francisco Organized Interiors

 

Via

 

 

 

A Feature on Sheknows.com

Something so exciting happened!  A few weeks ago I was contacted by Jana Randall, a write for the Home and Living section on Sheknows.com.  She wanted to feature my linen closet makeover in a project she was working on about tidy closets.  So of course I said YES - please do!

A couple days ago I got the word that it was out there and ready for viewing.  So here it is - go check it out!

Linen Closet Feature

Also check out all of the great tips and tricks on sheknows.com.  It's a great website full of awesome ideas and knowledge about anything from health to shopping, beauty, etc. 

I hope you enjoy!!

The Loft: Organization

One of my top priorities these days in anything I am doing to improve my home is organization and storage.  We have plenty of space in this house for the two of us but finding places to store things can sometimes be a challenge.  As far as organization...it just makes me happy.

 

Our new Ikea desk has a top drawer to the right and was pretty much a hot mess after we put everything back in.  So obviously I was on the hunt for some reasonably priced but stylish organizational tools and finally came across the Martha Stewart stack and fit collection at Staples.  They are perfect because you can customize them to fit your needs (by the way, although it may seem like it - I actually am not a spokesperson for Martha.  Her stuff just always works me.  All opinions on this blog are mine and I have not been asked to review every product she has ever came out with...maybe someday.  Ha ha ha). 

The desk itself came with an insert that rests on the top of the drawer where we store our pens, pencils, scissors, etc which is nice because we don't have to have them sitting on the desk.

Now, moving on to the Expedit. We purchased baskets to fit on the bottom row because we knew we wanted to use the top for books.  It took me a while to decide what to put in the baskets but one day it finally hit me!  I needed somewhere to store all of our gift wrapping supplies!  I had been seeing all of these amazing ideas on Pinterest for storing those items in big elaborate over the door hanging devices but we just didn't have that kind of room so this worked out great!

 The first basket holds all of the extra gift bags and tissue paper

 The second basket is for gift boxes

 The third basket is for gift tags, ribbon, and gift card boxes

 The final basket is a little random but this is where we are storing our extra extension cords and timers for our lights.

 Hope you've enjoyed my little organizational tour and come back for more tutorials from The Loft!



The Loft

So, we have a loft in our home.  When we first came in and looked at this house before we decided to move in I thought the loft was soooo cool.  I just liked how it was open and there were lots of windows around so it was bright...however I quickly discovered what a freaking eye sore it could be!  Blahhhhh.  Enter exhibit A.

There it was, in all it's glory right when you walked up the stairs.  NOT CUTE!  So we left it this way for a good 5 years until finally it could be stood for no longer.  I got the itch...you know the one where your like "ok we aren't moving any time soon and I am so sick of looking at this and since we aren't moving any time soon I should probably like what I am looking at every day so I'm finally going to quit complaining about it and do something about it, itch."

 

Here are the steps I went through:

 

#1.  First things first - get rid of the junk!  Whether that means actually getting rid of it or donating or just putting it in storage for now, get the stuff out of the room that is not neccessary, not being used, shouldn't be in there in first place etc.

 

#2. Next, I wanted to decide on a color scheme.  I had been toying around with the idea of going with a black and white/neutral color scheme throughout the house but knew I wanted some accent colors to go along with it.  Since I redid the linen closet with the teal color I definitely wanted to incorporate that and I also just really liked the idea of adding a bright yellow so that part was decided on.

 

#3. I needed more seating in the loft desperately so we set off to Ikea and went with the Expedit shelf and decided we would turn it on it's side to make a big bench but still be able to use it for storage. 

 

We also picked up a white desk, chair and a two tiered Expedit Shelf for more storage. 

 

#4. Accents and Decorations.  I don't like to set out to find specific things at specific stores because that never ever works out so although it makes for a long process over the next few months as I was out and about I would just find things or ideas that would work perfectly in the loft and I would pick them up as I found them.  The room came together so smoothly this way.  Stress free and easy - just the way I like it! 

 

So without further ado...here is the unveiling of the loft.

 

   I love it! I think it will be a constant work in progress but I am so happy with how it is coming along.  The canvas above the desk is a picture we took when we were in Hawaii 2 summers ago and we have decided to make a collage of canvas' from other trips we have taken so we will hopefully constantly be updating that. 

 

Come back over the next few days/weeks for some tutorials on projects around this room and let me know what you think!

 

Also, just as a side note we also have this ledge on the landing in our stairwell that we updated as well as part of the loft redo...

 

Before:

 

After:

 

 

 

Car Kit: Part 1

I, like many people find so much inspiration through Pinterest and others blogs and lately I've noticed a lot of people creating personalized car kits for their cars.  I am guessing they are so popular right now because of the summer time and so many families taking road trips but I love the idea and decided to create my own. 

So many times I am in my car wishing I had some contact solution or something of the sort so I decided to rack my brain and come up with all of the things I might need while in the car and here is the list I came up with.  A lot of the items I already had on hand, it was just a matter of putting them all together...

     * Kleenex
     * Small Flash Light
     * Pad of paper and pen
     * Lotion
     * Chap Stick - in a tub in case it melts, it won't matter
     * Contact solution
     * Hand Sanitizer
     * Wet Ones
     * Small Manicure Set - Nail File and Clippers
     * Gum
     * Bleach Pen
     * Bobby Pins
     * Safety Pins
     * Hair Ties
     * Plastic Grocery Sacks
     * Small First Aid Kit
     * Toilet Seat Covers
     * Water Bottles - NOT for drinking

Once I had my list - I went through and figured out which items I already had and which ones I needed to pick up and headed out to get them.  I also got two of these plastic bins from Wal Mart to store everything in.  The first tote will have the personal type items and as you can see I have plenty of room to add more things as I come up with them.

The second tote will have more road side assistance type items.  I will be talking with the hubs about what those items should be this weekend (because lets face it, I know nothing of those things) and then I will post the list we come up with. 

Everything will be stored in the back of my car in this tote I found at The Container Store. 

Come back in a couple days so I can show you the finished product!

Linking up:

 





Organization: Master Closet

I am here to tell you that I am the official owner of the smallest Master Bedroom closet known to mankind.  We moved in to the house we are living in 5 years ago and after living in 2 small apartments we were so excited to have a space to call our own.  To be honest we didn't think much about things like closet space or storage room when we were making our decision.  Once we started moving things in however we quickly realized that going from a walk in closet to this much smaller closet was a bit of a stretch.  We did what we could to make it work until just recently I couldn't take it anymore!!  Something had to be done!  So, before I tell you what we did to change it let me show you what it looked like before.

Before:

We had two racks - one on top and one on bottom.  We originally started out with just one rack along the top but my husband installed the second rack a few years back which did help with maximizing our space. 

Hers:

His:

One of the biggest headaches this closet gave me was the shoe storage situation.  WHAT A DISASTER!  They were all hidden behind our clothes on the side walls of the closet.  We bought these little shoe towers but it was always such a pain in the rear to get to the shoes that were in the back. 

We were also keeping our laundry baskets in the middle section of the closet so we lost a lot of good space doing that. So by building this new closet we have created a new dilema in that we need to find a new place for our laundry baskets but it was so worth it!

The very top shelf held extra shoes, shorts, pants, bags, sports stuff, etc. Nice storage space but not cute!

Now that you've seen the before, let's take one last look at it all emptied out...

Now the good stuff!  About 3 months ago we were at The Container Store (L.O.V.E that store BTW) looking for some baskets and bins to organize some things in our guest bedroom closet and on a whim decided to have them build us a closet with their organization system.  Not gonna lie - I was pretty shocked by the quote they gave us but seeing what they were able to do with our small space got me excited and got me thinking about what we could do.  A few weeks passed and we were in Home Depot looking for some hooks I needed for another project. We were walking up and down the isles and ended up on the closet organizing row. Martha Stewart has an organization line there that is pretty reasonable and ended up costing a fraction of what we could have had done through the Container Store so we went for it!  We had to order all of the pieces on line because they don't carry the white unit in the store.  It was delivered to our door about a week later and we got to work!  The whole system is completely customizable and very easy to install and we are MUCH happier!!  Ok so here we go...presenting our beautifully functional closet!!

After:

Shelving, nearly floor to ceiling for shoes

Two bars for hanging

More shelving for shoes and folded clothes

Two bars for hanging

Hooks for hanging belts, ties, jewelry - one on each side of the closet

We decided to put the shelving in the middle with the hanging rods on either side

His side

Her side

I love that we were able to customize the shelving to fit each of our needs.  My husband wanted to be able to fold his shirts, shorts and pants and didn't need as much hanging room or shoe space so we were able to build his shelves accordingingly.  I wanted all of my shelves to be used for shoes so we built my shelves accordingly.  Perfect!

Here are a couple of shots of the closet all filled up.  We bought some baskets at the Container Store to store my hubby's socks on one of the shelves.  On the floor I used the same baskets to store swim wear, slippers and warm weather accessories. 

 I am now able to store all of my handbags on the top of the closet instead of in a laundry basket like before which I love.  The last thing I need to do to finish off this closet is to get some dividers to put in between the bags to help them stand up better. 

I hope you've enjoyed this tour of my new and improved closet!  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking Up: