Containers bring me inner peace.

If I had not been a toddler in the 80s, I would probably have sold Tupperware.  Things have a way of growing legs and spreading all over your house. From the shoes you kick off at the door, to the bag of groceries you bring in from the car, to (my personal unfavorite) the junk mail that multiplies no matter what you do.

Here are a few of the containers that I have bought or re-purposed that make my Type A self say, “Ahhh…” when I see them in action.

Since I have long, skinny drawers in my bathroom, these white baskets keep things corralled. I can’t fit a third organizer in the back so a few items are roaming free back there. Although it may not be a perfect fit for everything I need, I saved money by using containers I already had.

My new favorite way to organize bobby pins. This is an old first aid travel kit that is a little bigger than an altoids tin (which also makes good container for bobby pins).

I threw away several old spices during my 7 Days of 7 Throw Aways week and I re-purposed this one to hold toothpicks.

This basket was just sitting in a closet and I now use it to house bathroom essentials we keep on the counter.  I really don’t like clearing off the sink to clean it every week. So this basket is amazing because it holds a lot, is nice and sturdy, and I can just pick up the basket and move it when it’s time to clean.

An old container for sprinkles holds our headphones.

This red table in our entryway serves as a place to keep shoes, keys, papers, and mail until it is sorted and filed.

What containers in your house can be re-purposed to make your life easier?

Rebecca is a former educator turned stay-at-home mom (for now). She loves exercising, reading, and blogging about her adventures as a wife and new mom at D and R Tabb.

Container Organization is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

He has a bin in our front hallway closet for his caps but soon they started to spill over to the space beside.

(Just for the record he also has another stash in our bedroom closet but that’s another story)

Anyhoo I could have put my foot down, pouted, whined, pleaded with him to get rid of some of them but I decided not to do any of those things.  Instead I simply added another bin and hid them all away.

I could have perhaps gone ahead and tossed a few myself, I’m almost certain he would never have missed them but that would not be respectful.   They are his things after all and so what if he has a completely unhealthy attachment to his caps.  I’m pretty sure he would say the same thing about me and all my hair supplies.  So we live in harmony.  Me with perfectly coiffed hair and him with his hair all covered up.

It’s all good.

Don’t fight the small stuff, it’s just not worth it.

PS:  As you can see I also added some fun labels to my bins.  They are part of Martha’s new line at Staples.  I pretty much went crazy for it all and bought up a whole pile of the stuff the other day.  You know, in the name of “research”.  They called out to me, I couldn’t resist :)  The blue part is elastic so they were so easy to attach.  Read my blog post about where I got my bins here.

Related post:

Thin hangers can double your hanging space

Don’t fight the small stuff is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

After Christmas and the winter birthdays, I tend to do a toy purge. There are so many broken toys, various pieces of junk, etc, etc everywhere and it just about drives me bananas. While I’m tossing and donating toys, I keep the momentum going and start going through all of my dressers. …and I’m not talking clothes. You see, our house is full of dressers — a dresser for this, and a dresser for that and a dresser for just about anything you could think of. They are wonderful storage pieces, they are often found for free on the side of the road and they can be painted and accessorized to fit into the room in which they are placed.

Example #1 The Sidebar Dresser

This dresser was found for free on the road and given a thorough cleaning, a coat of white paint and some sanding and planing to keep the drawers from sticking (Thank you Alex!). This “sidebar” is placed under a mirror ($5 at a yard sale) and adjacent to our dining room table. Contrary to the traditional china and flatware, our sidebar is filled with food styling and accessorizing pieces, along with a bit of decor and candles. It holds things that I will use throughout the year, and anything that has NOT been used gets tossed or sent to the basement for long term storage. These drawers are high priced real estate in this house and I want them to be beautiful and organized inside.

Curious about how to create a vignette that makes your dresser read more sidebar than dresser?  You can check out my recipe for a  Sidebar Vignette right HERE!

Example #2  The Tools, Art and Games Dresser

A calendar, organizer pockets and bins and buckets make turn this dresser into a full organization station!!

This dresser was also a freebie on the side of the road and it is one of my favorites – check out that detailing!  The bottom 2 drawers hold board games that we actually play (if they don’t get played, they don’t maintain their spot in the dresser!)  The 3rd drawer up (2nd drawer down) is chock full of art supplies.  This drawer is an easy one to wheedle down after the holidays.  Simply pile a bunch of the supplies on the art table and let the kids go at it for a few hours!

Finally, the top drawer is perhaps the most opened drawer in the house.  It is a tool drawer, but not a junk drawer, full of batteries, hammers, nails, screwdrivers, hot glue gun and more!  Everything we use on a weekly basis goes in this drawer.  Anything superflous is given a new home quickly!

Example #3  The Sidebar Entertainment Center

This dresser is an actual sidebar, but we use it for storing vases and plastic bags (left) a cd player and cds (right), along with art supplies (more of them!) and tools (more of them too!).  The dresser was painted with a strie technique and when worked into a gallery wall, it completes a pretty pictures, don’t you think?

Example #4  The Shoe Dresser

Our house has too many shoes.  Period.  We can’t help it though.  We need three little pairs of school shoes, three little pairs of rain boots and three little muddy junk shoes, not to mention a variety of work and home shoes for Dad and a larger variety of muddy garden boots, cute equestrian wannabe boots and workable flats for Mama.  We just have a lot of shoes.  The solution?  A shoe dresser.  Another freebie from the side of the road, this dresser holds a plethora of shoes and even devotes one drawer to winter hats and gloves.  It makes getting out the door slightly easier!

A dresser for this and a dresser for that makes our life function a bit better, not to mention being a free organizational tool!  Next time you see a dresser in the trash, at an auction for 10 bucks or at half price night at the thrift store, consider how YOU might turn it into a tool to help Organize Your Life!

Amy Renea is a freelance design writer, blogger and commercial photographer based out of Hershey PA. When she isn’t chasing three little boys around the house, she is chasing three chickens around the yard. You can find her award winning blog at A Nest for All Seasons and her photography portfolio at ALLENAIM.com.

Dressers Make Excellent Storage Containers is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Do you have the clutter runs? (sorry I couldn’t resist)

My brother-in-law apparently does, he told me so himself.  So next week I’m flying to Ontario to help him with his clutter digestion problems.  Okay okay so maybe I’m not flying there for that reason alone (although I am going to tell him that so he thinks I’m the best sister-in-law in the whole wide world!) since it does also happen to be my Granny’s 95th birthday while I’m there.  NINETY-FIVE years young, crazy!!

So where were we?  Oh yes, diarrhea.  How many times do you think I can say that word in one post anyway?  My sister and brother-in-law live in a tiny tiny house.  Well they live in a big house but are kindly sharing the basement portion with my parents which only leaves them with the top floor to work with.  When they first moved in and for the first couple of years (pre-kids) their living room space consisted of both a living room at one end and a formal dining room at the other.  However once my darling nieces arrived the living room exploded with toys.  They were everywhere, it was messy (just like diarrhea!).  So they decided to turf the formal dining room table (seriously brilliant maneuver on their part, who needs two dining areas anyway?) and created a play space where the dining room used to be.  The couch acts as a divider between the two rooms.  I promise to show you all pictures when I get there.

So do you see where this is going?  They’ve carved out the space for the toys but now need to maximize the potential of the space.  And that’s where I come in!  Even more exciting is my brother-in-law is giving me $500.00 to spend on the project, whoot!  I love spending other people’s money and he apparently is ready to cure his runs once and for all.  Poor guy, I don’t blame him, clutter runs can be so painful.

So in anticipation of all the fun we are going to have cleaning up their explosiveness, I started to do my homework ahead of time.  To Dr. Google I went and sadly I got no assistance after typing in “what to do about organizational diarrhea?” and I’m pretty sure Pepto Bismal’s not going to fix this one.

So what we need here is a way to house some of the toys out of sight so a toy rotation can be put into place, store craft supplies which are currently taking up valuable kitchen space and in my brother-in-law’s words “make it look nice”.   I can do that and after spending a bit of time on various websites I think I have found the perfect solution.  Normally I’d recommend cubbies but they wanted it to look a little more grown up and wanted to keep little fingers out (they don’t want the girls just helping themselves.  They do have another small organizer for the “toys in rotation”).   Of course I haven’t even shared these ideas with them yet but they’ll read this post and tell me whether or not I need to continue to drink the pink stuff because I’m way off from curing any digestion instability.

I initially thought an armoire of some kind would be nice but since they already have a computer armoire in their living room I thought another piece of large and tall furniture would be too much.  Remember the space isn’t that big.  So I’m leaning towards a dresser of some kind although I have learned from experience that this can be a controversial topic.  When I put a dresser in my old living room and posted about it, you people had some serious opinions in the no department.  So I’m not going to call it a dresser this time, I’m going to call it a buffet.  That sounds nice and totally appropriate for a dining room turned playroom don’t you think? :)

Here’s what I have in mind from Ikea:

This Hemnes 8-drawer dresser comes in a variety of colors and is $299.00.  On the wall above it I’d like to put some floating shelves with some pretty baskets for additional storage.

Here is what I’m using for inspiration:

source: i heart organizing

Isn’t that pretty?  Then underneath the bottom shelf, I would love to add a curtain rod like this one below (also from Ikea) to hang the girl’s artwork.

So there you have it.  Let’s review the cost:

Buffet: $299.00

plus

2 Shelves: $40.00

Equals:  $339.00

I’ll need a few dollars for accessories and baskets but should have plenty of  money left over.  That way they can buy me a bigger Christmas present!  Just kidding, my brother-in-law is a chef so I actually get paid in delicious and pretty plated food while I’m there.  Yum!  I can’t wait to see what they think of my suggestions.  I’ll keep you posted on the outcome and whether or not it cures their organizational runs.

In the meantime you know I have to ask, do you suffer with your own organizational diarrhea?

PS:  will you ever forgive me for mentioning the word diarrhea 10 times in one post?

Part two can be found here.

Related posts:

Organizing my sister’s kitchen
Organizing my sister’s nursery
Organizing my sister’s coat closet

Organizational diarrhea, it can be painful is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

So as most of you know while I was in NY a couple of weeks ago I stopped in to visit the Container Store for the first time.  Here in Canada we don’t have Container Stores but we do have a similar store called Solutions which I wrote about here.

This store is a sight to see, talk about container heaven!  It can definitely be a little overwhelming though that is for sure.  So to help you navigate the aisles of organizing bliss I thought I’d put together a handy little guide to help you get through it in one piece with your sanity intact and without breaking the bank.

1.  Go with a plan

What’s my #1 rule of organizing?  Containers come in the middle of the PROCESS, not at the beginning!!  The first step of the PROCESS is P for PLAN.  Yep you need a plan before you go buying out the Container Store.  For example, if you have decided you are sick and tired of food falling out of the freezer onto your feet every time you open the freezer door then yes containers are a great way to solve that dilemma.  However before you go skipping off to the store you need to do two other steps before you get all wild and crazy on me.  Remove everything from that space and do a sort and purge.  Once you know what’s left and what you’ll need to organize back into the space THEN and only then can you make a trip to the candy Container Store.   Don’t forget to bring the dimensions of your freezer space (kind of important, right?) and as well any budget considerations you need to factor in.  Make a list!

2.  Keep a level head

The temptation to walk in the door and be swept away on an organizing high is great.  Focus my friend, focus!  You have a list remember, you can do this. FOCUS!

3.  Do not buy containers without a PLANNED purpose

The way they have the store set up by home space is very clever.  For instance, everything you could ever imagine to organize your kitchen is all in one area.  Problem is while looking a freezer containers in the kitchen section you’ll be distracted by the shiny gadgets around to organize your pantry and your cupboards.

You’ll see things you had no idea you needed but now can’t live without.  Shiny.Pretty.Must have.  Stop.It.  Remember, you have not planned for those spaces.  Right now you are imagining organizing your clutter.  You cannot organize clutter.  You must walk through the PROCESS steps first and perhaps when you are done you won’t even need any containers to organize that particular space.  Think about the money saved you just saved…you’re welcome!

4.  Look for products with multiple uses

These are my favorite types of containers, ones that can be used for so many different purposes.  For example, you could go to the kitchen section to look for your freezer containers or you can head on over to the office section and check there.  Here you’ll find multipurpose bins that could even be used to organize a freezer.

This is ideal because in a couple of months when you grow tired of your freezer containers or they just aren’t cutting it for you there anymore, you can easily swap them out and use them elsewhere.  Make sense?

5.  Ask yourself if you could solve your dilemma for less

If budget isn’t a concern for you well then just skip this step.  For everyone else, don’t be swayed by the pretty.  Especially if the pretty costs $109.00 like these plastic drawers do.  And yes I said plastic.

You are shelling out big bucks for those pretty decorative poppies.  It’s ridiculous.  If you are ever tempted to spend this kind of money on something like this please email me so I talk some sense into you.  If you just really love the look, then how about buying plain drawer organizers for $20.00 and adding some pretty scrapbook paper to the inside of the fronts of the drawers.  Voila, instant solution without the big bucks!

6.  Bring a friend

Better yet, bring a friend with you to talk some sense into you when you start veering off course.  And believe me you will.  She’ll say to you, “What are you nuts?  You want to spend $109.00 on plastic drawers with poppies, give your head a shake!”.  And you will and everything will be fine.

7.  Wear comfortable shoes

You don’t want to be slowed down with aching feet.  And chances are good that check out lines will be long and you’ll be on your feet for awhile.  Go prepared!

8.  Go with snacks

You’ll also need sustenance for this adventure.  Blood pressure drops will also slow you down and contribute to irrational thinking (and buying!).  You don’t want to be forced to abort your mission half way through now do you?  Bring food!!

So the next time you are in an area with a Container Store go armed with this handy little guide and be prepared to enjoy your visit to Container Land!

8 Tips to Help You Navigate the Container Store is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Anyway while standing there waiting for my order I saw they had a stack of empty (and clean) frozen yogurt tubs against the wall with a big sign that said 4 for $1.00 with all the dollars going to charity.  The tubs were such a great size (not too big, not too small) and of course I got excited just imaging all the various ways I could use these lovely containers.  No doubt I had to bring some home with me.  They were calling my name, I swear.  I just couldn’t turn my back on them.

So come home with me they did and I found the perfect use for them in my cupboard to hold my flour and sugar.  I use to have the proper Tupperware containers for this purpose in my old house but unfortunately those containers didn’t fit into my new space but luckily my new tubs do.

Say hello to my new friends everyone.

I used my Silhouette to cut the label letters out and of course I gave them a thorough washing myself just to be sure they were clean.  Also in case you are wondering, the reason I have two for flours is because one tub wasn’t quite big enough for a 10 kg bag of flour.  I keep my whole wheat flour in the fridge.

So if you’ve got a smoothie shop or an ice cream parlor nearby consider asking them what they do with their old tubs.  They might even be willing to give them away for free.  Recycling at it’s best for sure for everything from toys to craft projects!

Just something to think about this fine summer day.  Have fun!

Have you used ice cream tubs for organizing projects?

A new container for me on the cheap is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Grrr.  So annoying!  If there is anything I’ve learned in the last couple of years is that small frustrations like these can be toxic if we consistently let it bother us without doing something about it. Luckily, for the most part, there is almost always a way to solve the problem.  I knew there had to be a solution out there and you all had many suggestions to offer up.  Thank you!

However as I sat here one night I happened to glance over at where I keep my stash of 3M Command products and saw one of their products I hadn’t put to use yet.  Which product am I talking about?

3M Command Brand Picture Clips

These are designed to hold pictures but I thought, why not labels instead?  So I tried it and it worked beautifully.  I can easily snap in a new label (I just printed off cardstock labels on my printer) whenever I need too and they stay put!!  You should have seen how excited I got about the whole thing.  I was jumping up and down and all around.  Seriously it takes so little to amuse me…ha!  I also new it was the end of an annoying problem and I was not going to be irked no more.  Take that you labels that don’t stick.  Whoot!!

Let me show you some pictures:

Want a great way to organize your fridge?  Add a basket or two to contain “like with like”.  I was tired of my condiments all over the place.   A beautiful basket to the rescue!

Of course the fact that I have an 11 year old son means the word condiments gets a giggle every time he sees it.

It’s one of those things where I wonder why I didn’t think of it sooner.  It’s such a perfect non-permanent solution.  I LOVE versatility in an organizing product!!

3M asked me to do a video for them of my experience (which was also very exciting as you can imagine) so I calmed myself right down and gave it a go.  You can see that video clip by clicking below.  I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to embed it into my blog.

Picture Clips_052311

So there you have it.   An inexpensive (you get 6 clips to a pack) organizing solution to a terribly annoying problem.  Yay!!

3M provided me with a selection of products but the creativity?  It’s all mine baby! :)

Solving my label problem with 3M Picture Clips! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Kids grow up so fast, don’t they? They quickly graduate from baby food to real meals, eager to eat us out of house and home. Just as quickly they mature past the age of Diego and trade in their silly stuffed animals for hand-held gaming systems. And who could forget that they outgrow their clothing faster than we can keep up with the laundry.

The organizing junkie within me doesn’t want to settle until I’ve found the perfect way to organize my children’s clothing. I try large plastic tubs, huge zipping plastic bags, I even try using plastic drawer systems. Weeks go by and the house– namely the kids’ rooms and laundry room– are a disaster. Too… much… clothing. Must… seek… help.

I’m sure you’ve all been there– knee deep in outgrown clothing. And, truth be told, there is no perfect way to organize this mess. So what are you left to do? Give it your best shot! And in the event that you would enjoy further advice from me– a busy SAHM who forever aspires to be overly organized but has never truly been– here’s how I handle the heaps of clothing in every size imaginable:

I have several large plastic shelving units purchased from Target or Kmart on sale for about $25 each. On top of those shelves go cardboard (i.e. cheap) boxes from the dollar store.

Each box gets labeled with size of clothing and gender. The reason it is helpful to put these boxes on shelves is because then I can easily access any box at any time without having to move a whole big stack. The cardboard boxes I have are small but I’ve also seen them about twice as large, which would work great too! I keep the shelves in my walk-in attic space upstairs. If you don’t have this luxury, consider using your laundry room, basement or an extra large closet.

Although I have yet to implement it because I am in the process of reorganizing my laundry room, I plan on keeping one large plastic tub with a lid in my laundry room. This tub will be designated the “outgrown container” and all freshly washed clothing that is too small will be placed in there. When the container is full, that is my queue to haul it on upstairs to the attic to be categorized and stored, ready to be used by my next little rascal.

Conquering the clothing clutter may seem like a never-ending battle. Try not to get overwhelmed! Establish a system that works for you and your family and stick with it. Each season of life brings unique challenges and organizing clothing understandably may not be your top priority right then and there. And that’s okay. If you have to take a break from organizing the outgrown-ware, do so and then, when things settle down, set aside some time to pick up where you left off. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ll get there!

Is this an area you struggle with?  Do you think this system could work for you?

Jenny Schick is a blogger at DIYparenting, a blog that is dedicated to serving the stay-at-home parent of the past, present and future. They’re committed to offering encouragement, wit and wisdom through the journey of parenthood. Jenny lives with her husband and three children in Pennsylvania.

How To Organize Kid’s Clothing is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Truth was it was huge, I just didn’t realize it at the time.  I had gotten so use to traveling with this toiletry suitcase bag that when it came time to pack for a trip I just grabbed it and went.  I don’t even think it was because I had a whole pile of stuff in there, it was just one of those really awkwardly sized jumbo things.  Well let me tell you, nothing makes you sit up and take notice though like hearing the words “what the heck is that?” in reference to my massive bag.  Oops!

Now this is usually where I’d show you a picture of said bag but I was so completely traumatized worked up about getting rid of this thing as fast as I could that off it went to the thrift store as soon as I got home.  I was a changed woman!  Except of course for the fact that I had no bag to replace it with.  Who knew a great toiletry bag was so hard to come by!

I searched and then searched some more and finally found one at Rexall drugstore.  I wanted small, I wanted some compartments to keep my stuff sorted, a handle and of course I needed it to stand on it’s own two feet.  I hate a wobbly bag, don’t you?

So anyway after my long “I’m going to show those girls” search, I did finally come up with something suitable that will hopefully keep the “still can’t get them out of my head” GASPS down to a bare minimum.

So here you have it…my new and improved, not so big, toiletry bag that measures 8″ x 4″ x 6″:

Top zippered section holds my UNII Palette and brush:

The inside section (below) has a smaller zippered section to contain the little stuff (mending kit, hair elastics, bandaids, etc):

I keep my toiletry bag packed and ready to go underneath my bathroom sink.

And to Tanna and Margarita, don’t worry about me.  I’m sure after a couple of more therapy sessions I’ll be totally fine!! :)

How big is your toiletry bag?  Come on, tell me there are others hauling big bad bags around.  Are you in need of a toiletry bag intervention?

Toiletry Bag Makeover is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

or this?

Yep me too!  And all it took for my sister-in-law to disguise all that visual clutter were two lovely Debbie Travis containers from Canadian Tire:

That’s a quick fix with a huge return!

Less clutter = less chaos

Less chaos = less stress

Repeat it with me.

Less clutter = less chaos

Less chaos = less stress

Ahhh, it’s music to my ears.  Hey you know what I need?  I need a clutter rehab song.  Oh and a dance to go with it!   Wouldn’t that be fun!  I could totally take it on the road….hahahaha!!  Could you see it now….Laura from I’m an Organizing Junkie, live and onstage…will work for containers!!

Quick TV Stand Clean-Up is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie