Wow where do I start friends? It’s seems forever since I’ve just had time to chat with you. I was away for three weeks with limited internet access and wouldn’t you believe that’s when things start happening that required my attention stat. Never fails does it. I think the second day I was away my site went down and this is after I just changed to a new host only two weeks prior so that this exact thing wouldn’t happen anymore. What was happening I wondered? Turns out my daily traffic more than tripled thanks to some nice Pinterest traffic. I almost never check my stats so you should have seen my face when I checked and saw the numbers going crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a huge traffic surge like that before as my traffic has always been slow and steady so it was a nice surprise and thankfully my host provider was able to get things all taken care of on the back end. So thank you to whoever started that chain of events by pinning the home page of my site and to everyone else who kept it going. Very cool!
Another exciting event that happened while I was away was my app, Org Junkie, was finally updated, yay!
Did you all get to check out the updated version yet? One of the things my developers fixed is the timer but it still doesn’t work for me even though it works for them. It’s very strange, but regardless they are moving to a new timer in a future update so this won’t be an issue anymore after that. Could you let me know if it works for you? Also we’ve added the shopping list but the menu planner and android version could still be awhile (sorry about that!). A few other bugs were fixed up as well. The main focus of my app is simplicity, just a quick and easy place to help you organize your organizing on the go. I think we’ve done a good job of accomplishing that. I do hope you think so too!
While I was away I had fun checking out some organizing stores here in Canada including one I’d never even heard of before (how could that be?) called Canadian Closet. They sell more than just closet stuff too, they had all kinds of organizing gear for me to check out.
We totally found it by surprise when we were out driving around one day in Calgary and when I saw it I shouted to my husband “stop the car, stop the car”. Sheesh I almost gave him a heart attack. Good thing he’s use to me and my organizing craziness! Then, again by total surprise, we found another Canadian Closet store in Red Deer and this one was three times the size. Fun stuff!
When I am in Ontario visiting family I always like to check out the Solutions store. This store is very similar to the Container Store in the US, complete with expensive prices and all 🙂 In fact the only thing I purchased was a cleaning cloth for my iPhone, can you believe it? I did however really enjoy looking at all the eye candy! Sorry for the blurriness of some of the photos…I was on the fly with my iPhone.
I loved the color of this shoe organizer.
Fun office supplies. I’m loving the colorful ones in the top right hand corner.
I’m really gravitating to the natural looking baskets these days.
In fact when I popped into the Real Canadian Superstore I found this whole collection of them.
Seriously drool worthy!
Then we went to Costco and I found this set of three baskets for $19.99. If I didn’t have to fly home these would have been in my cart for sure! I was hoping to find them in an Alberta Costco but no such luck.
Back in Alberta I checked out a Bed Bath and Beyond. They carry a ton of organizing supplies but I found their prices to be way crazy. Yikes! In fact the only thing I bought was this beautiful under sink organizer. For both pieces it cost me nearly $40 though, so not cheap but I really wanted to be able to utilize vertical space and haven’t been able to find a set for less anywhere.
Here’s the before picture:
And here is the after. The new organizer on the bottom holds my hair tools (curling irons, etc) and hair rollers and the top shelf holds my cosmetic bags and other hair accessories. The three drawer bins on the left hold my girlie products 🙂
Okay this has gotten a little long so I’ll finish here but not before saying thank you to all of you lovely ladies (men??) that visit me here each day. Love ya!
Jessica says
Odd that you don’t have those baskets in your Albertan Costco, we have them in Saskatoon! On an endcap on the main aisle. Perhaps they will come to you soon!
Jill Robson says
I love Solutions it’s like Chapters for organizers. I also find their prices high, that is why i am waiting with baited breath for Target to open March/April of next year in Ontario.They have great organizing products which i hope will be in line with US prices. Love the undersink organizer I’m thinking i could use that under my kitchen sink! Welcome back.
Sally B says
We just bought those under sink organizers for my daughter at BB&B for her dorm room being she needs as much storage as possible. We did luck out though, they had the bottom one on the clearance rack as it has a small marker mark on it so we saved about $5 on it. She plans on using them to hold her makeup and other personal things under her open sink in her room.
Helen says
Have you shown the pic of your baskets that you saw at the Costco in Ontario to your local Costco? The more people that request an item they already sell, the quicker it gets into the store. I did this with a few items I saw in Quebec and within a few weeks, it was at my location 🙂
Sinea says
Welcome back, Laura!
What a blessing! So great to have an overload problem like that! Just getting my feet wet with Pinterest myself but it sure is a great way to connect with people and build visibility as well.
Don’t you just love organizing stores? I do, too! Could get lost in them. No college-bound students here but walking through Bed Bath & Beyond made me wish I had one. The organizers and space savers for college dorm rooms are outrageously cool!
Olusola says
I was so excited to see the Canadian closet was in Alberta until I clicked the link and saw it was in Red Deer :(. I’ll still keep it on my radar though. Thanks for the good links, they’ll be coming in handy when we move
Yvonne says
Okay, I’ve decided to move INTO the store in Canada! I will be the crazy lady hoarding my stuff in ALL the purple bins and baskets-LOVE THOSE! Unfortunately, here in the US, it seems like organizing stores come and go…mostly go.
I’ve been re-doing my daughter’s under-sink area with bins and found she had like 25 half-full hair product bottles that we consolidated down to 4. I’ve been trying to teach her that she doesn’t need to buy it until she’s nearly out but her idea of “out” of something is not the same as mine LOL.
Mary T, Illinois says
Guess it’s a good thing you were flying home instead of driving!! I can imagine the amount of items you could grab! PLEASE, PLEASE let me know when the OrgJunkie app is available for the Android. I’m sure it will help me out a great deal!!
Susanne says
I just bought those brown baskets from Costco. Have no idea where I’m putting them yet, but with Costco you gotta get when you see ’em or they’ll be gone the next time you go back. LOL. I can ship you a set if they still have them if you want.
I have that very slide out drawer under my bathroom cabinet. I wish I had the top one too.
Laura says
Ahh how sweet are you? I haven’t checked the Edmonton Costco yet so maybe they’ll be there. Thanks for thinking of me though girl 🙂
Susanne says
Oh, it just occurred to me that you could probably also look at Costco.ca for those baskets. Anyway let me know. :v)
Jodie says
I’m still waiting patiently for your app to be available on Android but until then I’m using Out of Milk, its pretty good but if you have more than one shopping or to do list it can be a bit fiddly to get to them. I am LOVING the look of those baskets by the way, its a good thing I only use them in drawers or I’d spend a ton on pretty ones. Since I’m here anyway there’s something I wanted to show you, I don’t know if you’ve seen them already but I bought one and I’m in love: http://uniicosmetics.com/
Laura says
Yes I’ve used the Unii and loved it as well!!
Jessica says
I’m loving the under the sink drawer organizers you bought at BB&B. I’m going there to get myself a lovely faux fur tiger print duvet cover so I may have to pick me up a set of those, I have things just tossed under my counter, not pretty! Thanks for the picture so I can see just how they will look when they are stacked!
J-
jessica says
I love the bins you bought for your hair supplies!
Irene says
I bought those Bed Bath and Beyond drawers back in May and they are wonderful! I had that same problem with what to do with all that stuff under the bathroom sink! Being that they stack as well makes for even more room!
marie says
That’s really cool! I think the sink area is the worst to organize because there is always so much clutter crawling back in there!! That’s why I try to keep my stuff in general to the bare minimum, but sometimes it’s hard!!
Jennifer says
I found those drawers here in California at Ross for half the cost of the ones from Bed Bath and Beyond, and they work like a gem. They had both sizes and I bought some for every cupboard. Really makes a difference in the organization of those under the sink cupboards!
Mary Jane says
Laura, you’ve inspired me to organize under my bathroom sink! But where do you keep your TP? I’m having trouble finding a spot in my shoebox-sized bathroom.
Laura says
Hi Mary Jane, I have a cupboard in my en-suite behind the door where I store my toilet paper. You could always keep it in your laundry room or something like that as well.