Basket Gone Bad ~ Part One
Look at this poor basket. If you listen closely, get closer, even closer. You’ll hear it saying, “help me, please, I beg you, I’m drowning in spices and I can’t hold on”. So very sad. I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.
“Hang on my friend, help is on the way!”
I found this poor neglected site (seriously I might have shed a tear or two AND had a moment of silence) when I was helping a girlfriend reorganize one of her kitchen cabinets a couple of weekends ago. The good news is the way she used an old baby wipes container to contain her spices (way to go!). The bad news is the container had exceeded it’s limits.
The way I saw it, I had three options:
1. Leave the basket alone in all it’s overcrowded glory
2. Keep the basket and purge the stuff
3. Keep the stuff and purge the basket
Which one do you think I did?
To be contined…..
An example of container magic…
Pam, a reader (who doesn’t blog), sent me these before and after pictures of her newly organized cupboard and I was so happy when she said I could share them with you.
Would you rather find something in all this mumble jumble:
Or in this lovely containerized space?
Now that’s what I call an investment in sanity!!
Hey cool cats, check out my new Kool Krates…
This morning I was still recovering from my week at camp when I dragged my sorry butt to the grocery store. I was a sad sight all tired and gloomy shuffling along, so pathetic really. Then out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of something great. I did a double take thinking it was a mirage messing with my cranky mind. Nope it was still there, I could see it plain as day. I felt a smile slowly start to tug at the corners of my mouth before breaking into one of the biggest grins you ever did see. There is only ONE thing that can bring the twinkle back to my eye in 2.2 seconds flat. Can you guess what it might be?
Oh ya baby, a new display of containers!
Meet the newest members of my collection. Finding these beauties in the grocery store totally brightened my entire day :)
When I first saw the display I was surprised because I haven’t seen these bins around my neck of the woods in quite some time and I’ve been wanting more for awhile now. There wasn’t a price sign near them so I grabbed two. When the cashier was ringing them up she told me they were only a $1.00 each so I charged quickly went back and grabbed four more. I love them for storing my CD’s and DVD’s. Some of you will remember that I use them to organize the CD’s in my van.
Of course they don’t have to be used for CD’s. I’m sure I’ll end up using them for all sorts of things. That’s the beauty of containers, the possibilities are endless.
So let me ask you this. What one thing (product) can quickly cheer you up on a gloomy day?
The container that started it all….
I just realized that I’ve never shared with you the one container that I hold entirely responsible for my bordering on neurotic itty bitty teeny tiny organizing addiction. It was a gift given to me by one of my bestest girlfriends when I was around 20 years old (in other words not that long ago…wink, wink). It’s a simple wooden container, nothing fancy except for of course the beautiful paint job she did on the front and back of it to make it that little bit extra special :)
What this lovely little container did for me was introduce to me the concept of divide and conquer. No kidding, it was an epiphany for me when I realized how easy it was to find what I needed. Check it out:
Now isn’t that an amazing gift! The divide and conquer technique can also be accomplished very inexpensively with boxes or baskets as well. Any dollar store will have small baskets to fit your drawers and help you set some boundaries and limits.
As I was taking the above picture I thought hmmm what else can I take a picture of in my bathrooms. So here are some storage tips that you might find useful when getting your own bathrooms whipped into shape.
For whatever reason it seems like too much trouble for my kids to put their toothbrushes away in a drawer. I solved that by purchasing (at the dollar store) a small ice bucket for my counter top. It’s just big enough for all the toothbrushes and toothpastes.
Buckets of soap
My ensuite is very tiny with just a pedestal sink and nowhere to put anything. I purchased this floating glass shelf from Canadian Tire to provide me with a little extra storage space.
My daughter’s hair accessories. These divided containers can also be purchased at the dollar store and work great!
I don’t have cupboard space for bath toys so these containers by the bath tub do the trick nicely.
Potty training Skittles, gotta have those :) Six days of many a mess and not leaving my house my son finally knows what he’s suppose to do, yay!
So my friends, have a wonderful day.
Now off you go to DIVIDE and CONQUER!
The Basket Carnival is here!!
Today is all about baskets, containers and totes, woohoo! Talk about exciting, it’s like Christmas for me! All you have to do is take a picture (or more!) of some basket goodness going on in your home and link up to the Mr. Linky below. Easy! Any kind of container creating some order for you is fair game. Feel free to tell us about it as well if you like but no pressure. There is no right or wrong way to use baskets, if it works for YOU it’s the right way. Let’s just have some fun!
I’ve also got a surprise for one lucky participant who links up by Wednesday at noon pst. Someone, selected at random from the list of participants, will win one of these excellent little products called the Card Cubby.
The Card Cubby is an alphabetized mini-card file that keeps your coupons, gift cards, business cards, and/or frequent buyer cards organized in one central location. It’ll hold up to 80 cards yet it’s small enough to keep in your purse or in your vehicle console. Wendy Krepak created this product out of her desire to get organized and you can read more about that here. So great!
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In my house you’ll find baskets in just about every single drawer and cupboard. I’m pretty sure I’ve shown them all to you at some point or another here on the blog. Well I know I haven’t shown you my undie and bra drawers but that’s probably a little too much information…LOL.
It then occurred to me that I’ve also never shown you the wall of totes that resides in my storage room. I love my rubbermaid containers and use them to hold all sorts of things. Things like winter mitts and hats, snowpants, winter coats, winter boots, hawaiian party supplies (you just never know when you are going to need to be ready for a hawaiian party!), keepsakes, etc.
Now it’s your turn, show me your baskets!!
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