Organizing Around the House Archives - Blue i Style

Candle Storage Ideas

blueistyle — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 11:17:44 +0000

Until recently, I’d never given much thought to how to store candles. Years ago I haphazardly stuck all of our candles into a couple of lidded boxes and put them on the shelves in our entry table. It worked ok… for a while, but eventually I had to admit that I needed to come up with a better candle storage idea.

I like to make simple changes to our decor for each season and holiday, so I have quite a few pillar candles, tapers, votives, and tea lights in various colors. Over the years, as I acquired more candles, I added them to the boxes until they were overflowing. Each time I pulled a box out, I would get frustrated digging around for what I wanted, and then even more frustrated trying to tetris all the other candles back into the box so I could fit the lid on again.

Finally, enough was enough. After considering a few different candle storage ideas, I came up with one that’s working great for me. But, since everyone’s space is unique, I’ve also rounded up some other smart ideas for how to organize candles, which you’ll find at the end of this post.

My Candle Storage Cabinet

Earlier this year, we installed IKEA Billy bookcases that wrap around the corner of our living room. The bookcase doors are glass on top and solid on the bottom – creating lots of new, enclosed storage space. I knew right away that I wanted to use one section of enclosed shelves to create a dreamy candle storage cabinet.

The first challenge was finding the right storage containers. The bookcases aren’t particularly deep, so I took careful measurements and did quite a bit of looking to find storage bins that would fit well. I discovered that these iDesign Kitchen Binz (affiliate link) were the perfect solution. At 10 inches deep and 6 inches wide, five bins fit perfectly across each shelf.

In addition to these clear bins fitting nicely on my shelves, they have several other benefits that make them ideal storage containers for candles:

Not Too Big – My old, lidded boxes were large enough that lots of candles got stacked on top of each other and I often found myself digging around looking for what I needed. These smaller bins, with fewer candles in each bin, will be much easier for me to keep organized.
Clear – Whether it’s a specific color of style of candle I need, the clear bins allow me to quickly find exactly what I’m looking for.
Stacking – These bins are stackable, allowing my to make the most of my shelf space.

How to Organize Candles

Gather. As is the case with any organizing project, it’s best to start by completely emptying your space and then sorting everything out. In this case, that meant emptying out my old candle storage boxes. I already had all of my candles in one place (it just happened to be one messy place), but if you have candles hidden here and there in various spots around the house, gather them all into one spot.
Purge. Next, it’s time to decide what stays and what goes. Storage space is precious, and there’s no point in organizing something that you’re never going to use again. I tossed any candles that were damaged, nearly used up, or in a color that no longer matched my decor.
Sort. Then I was ready to start sorting. Initially I thought I might organize my candles by type – pillar candles in one bin, tapers in another, etc. But once I had everything spread out in front of me, I realized that – for my purposes – it would be better to sort them by color.

Since I use different colors in my decor for each season, it’s very convenient to grab the bin with all of my orange and yellow candles in the fall, or the bin with all of my red candles at Christmas.

When deciding how to organize your candles, think about how you use them throughout the year, and create a system that will make it easy to find what you need, and equally easy to put them away when you’re done!

After sorting all of my colorful candles, I moved on to my large collection of white candles. Since I had more than would fit in one bin, I decided that for these it did make sense to sort them by type.

These clear stacking bins turned out to be perfect for votive and tea light candle storage. I filled one bin with my battery-operated votives, and stacked a second bin on top with all of my wax votives. Then I filled a third bin with all of my white pillar candles and tapers.

Finally, I used a few more clear bins to store my small candle holders, my jar candles, and my scented wax cubes.

Since I primarily use candles in candle holders for my decor, I don’t actually have that many jar candles – just a few from Bath and Body Works in my favorite seasonal scents that I replace as soon as they run out. But if you have a lot of jar candles, my friend Melissa has the perfect candle storage solution for you!

Leave Room to Store Candle Holders

I always go back to my 10 key steps for organizing any space – and #4 on the list is to consider how your needs change throughout the year. As I swap out my seasonal decor, one of the biggest problems I always run into is where to store some of my larger items when they aren’t in use – like the candle holders from my dining room table.

I really love these chunky black candle holders, and I leave them on our dining table most of the time. But at Christmas time I swap the candle holders for Christmas trees, and when we’re hosting a party, I often move the candle holders to make room for trays of food or other decor.

I’ve learned the hard way that it’s not that easy to find a spot to tuck 11 large candles holders out the way for a night (or a month). So when I planned out our candle storage cabinet, I opted to leave the bottom shelf empty to provide a convenient spot to store my oversized candle holders when they aren’t on my dining table.

There’s no best way to store candles, and no right way to organize them. What works best for you depends on the type of candles you have, the quantity, and what space you have available for your candle storage.

More Candle Storage Ideas

How to Store Candles When Your Shelf and Drawer Space is Limited

My biggest piece of advice for organizing when you’re short on space is to take advantage of every available nook and cranny, and one of the most commonly overlooked storage spaces is on the back of your closet doors.

I have a hall closet that I use to store most of our holiday and seasonal decor. A shoe bag hanging on the back of the door holds some of my faux flowers, but the pockets are also the perfect size for holding pillar candles!

Click Read More to see 15 other unique ideas for back of door storage throughout the house!

How to Store Jar Candles

If you love scented jar candles, then you've probably discovered that they present a unique storage challenge. Ideally you want to be able to see the labels on each candle to know what scent it is. On a shelf, you'll only be able to see the labels for the front row of jars, and in a drawer, you'll only see the lids rather than the labels.

Add to that the fact the glass jars are fragile... Candles aren't cheap, so you want to both store and protect them. My friend Melissa, over at Polished Habitat, came up with a perfect solution!

Store Birthday Candles in Your Baking Drawer

Birthday candles are one of those items that seems to multiply around our house. Each time we buy a package, we never end up using all of them (you don't need 12 candles when you're celebrating an 8th birthday). But none the less you wind up buying more when the next birthday rolls around.

A few years back, I created an organized baking drawer to keep everything we need for cupcake baking and cake decorating all in one convenient spot. I used three ceramic ramekins {from the Michael's dollar section} to corral all of my birthday candles into one spot.

Now I can quickly take inventory to see if I have enough candles of a particular color or size before buying more.

This quick little organization solution also encourages us to use up our extras. What kid doesn't love to blow out candles? Use them to celebrate the last day of school before winter break, a great test score, or just because!

Click read more to get all the details of this organized baking drawer.

The post Candle Storage Ideas appeared first on Blue i Style.

Why You Need Shelf Liner + Cleaning & Organizing Hacks

blueistyle — Wed, 22 Jul 2020 17:23:21 +0000

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Duck Brand Easy Liner. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you’ve ever asked if it’s really necessary or worth the time to use shelf or drawer liners, you’re not alone. I’ve wondered the same over the years, and I’ve sometimes skipped this important step, only to go back and redo it later. Since it’s a common question, I thought it would be helpful to share why you need shelf and drawer liner. And since we all love cleaning and organizing hacks, I’ll also show you some other creative ways to use it.

I love to organize and I’m a firm believer that when you take a little extra time up front, you end up with far better results in the long run. In my guide, 10 Steps to Get Organized and Stay Organized, I talk about the importance of completely clearing out a space before you organize. Not only is it helpful to start with a clean, blank slate before organizing a space – it’s also important to take a few extra minutes to line your cabinets, shelves, and drawers to keep them clean and nice for the long haul.

Do You Really Need Shelf & Drawer Liner?

Protect Cabinets and Shelves from Moisture and Stains – Shelf liner is designed to keep surfaces clean and dry, protecting them from moisture and stains.
Make Clean Up Easier – Dust, crumbs, leaks, and spills are inevitable, especially under the sink, in the pantry, and in the fridge. A removable and wipeable shelf liner makes clean up quicker and easier.
Give Shelves and Drawers a Fresh Start – It’s smart to protect your shelves and drawers with liner right from the start, but when you’re not the first to own your home, there may already be years of yuck left behind. Adding shelf and drawer liner can cover up anything that can’t be cleaned, giving you a fresh start in the space.
Keep Drawer Organizers In Place – In addition to protecting the bottom or your drawers, a textured drawer liner also helps to keep drawer organizers in place so they don’t slide around each time you open and close the drawer.
Protect Painted Furniture – Whether it’s a piece you spent hours DIYing, or a special piece you purchased, painted furniture deserves a little extra care to prevent any chips or scratches. Lining the shelves and drawers will protect your investment of time and/or money.
Protect Shelves From Scratches – I always recommend using baskets and bins to keep shelves organized all throughout the house, but both plastic bins and baskets made from natural materials can scratch your shelves over time. Lining each shelf before you get organized will protect your shelves for years to come.
Add Style to Dresser Drawers – Lining dresser drawers provides a nice, clean surface for your clothes while a little dash of style. I prefer a cushioned, non-adhesive grip drawer liner, like Fabric Topped Easy Liner^® that can removed and washed in the washing machine.
Add a solid surface to wire shelving – Wire shelving is economical and durable, but they also allow dirt and dust to fall through, and in the bedroom and linen closets they can snag fabrics or leave unsightly bumps. Lining wire shelving keeps things cleaner and provides a nice solid surface to protect clothes.
Protect Your Security Deposit – If you’re a renter, adding non-adhesive shelf liner is a great way to protect your security deposit by ensuring you’ll leave the kitchen and bathroom cabinets in great shape.

19 Ways to Use Shelf & Drawer Liner All Around the House

Shelf and drawer liner – as the name implies – is great for lining shelves and drawers. But that’s not all! In fact, I’ve created a list of 19 different ways I use it all around my house, from cleaning and organizing hacks to simple DIY decor.

#1 Cabinet & Pantry Shelves

Lining cabinet shelves keeps them clean and dry. In your dish cabinets, shelf liner protects the shelves from nicks and scratches, and in the pantry shelf liner keeps shelves free of stains from food leaks and spills. [More kitchen and pantry organizing ideas]

I prefer to store my glasses upside down to keep them dust free, but once in a while they have a little bit of moisture in them after they’ve been washed. The texture of the Clear Classic^® Easy Liner^® not only protects my shelves from moisture, it also allows air to circulate so the glasses dry properly.

#2 Under the Sink

Adding shelf liner below bathroom and kitchen sinks protects your cabinets from water drips as well as spills from cleaners. [More Tips: organize under the kitchen sink | organize a small powder room cabinet | organize under a master bathroom sink]

#3 Fridge And Freezer Shelves

The fridge and freezer get messy – and the spills always seem to be sticky! Lining the shelves, drawers, and bins on the doors make clean up much easier. You can simply lift out the liner, wipe it clean, and put it back in place for a fresh start. As an added bonus – the Clear Classic Easy Liner is dishwasher safe!

#4 Beneath Drawer Dividers

Adding drawer liner in the kitchen keeps drawers clean and protects them from nicks and scratches. I used to think that drawer liners weren’t necessary when using drawer dividers, but I recently discovered that a textured liner – like the Clear Classic – actually prevents drawer dividers from sliding around as you open and close the drawers. [More drawer organizing tips]

#5 Protect Dishes & Pans

Our every day dinner dishes are pretty durable and inexpensive, but I have a few sets of nicer dishes that we use when we entertain. Rather than purchasing expensive plate protectors, I prefer to cut squares of Select Grip Easy Liner to create DIY plate dividers to keep my nicer dishware from chipping and scratching.

This Select Grip Easy Liner also provides a great layer of protection between you non-stick pots and pans.

#6 Under Garbage and Recycling Cans

I love my pull out trash and recycling bins that keep the garbage tucked out of site, but when things inevitably get messy, it’s really hard to reach to the back of the cabinet to clean it up {as you can see in the left photo}. To make clean up easier in the future, I cut a piece of Clear Classic liner to fit the base of this cabinet. Next time something gets spilled, it will be much easier to slide the liner out, clean it, and slide it back in place.

#7 Protect the Table From Kids Art

My kids every type of crayon and colored pencil under the sun, yet they still prefer drawing with markers. They are pretty responsible, and know that they can’t use markers without putting something under their paper to protect the kitchen table – but usually that just means stacking up more paper below, which can be wasteful.

For a reusable alternative, I cut a few pieces of Clear Classic Easy Liner for the kids to use under their art projects. With the smooth side up, the clear liner creates a perfect drawing surface that protects my table from marker bleed-through.

#8 Easy to Clean Place Mats

The pieces of clear plastic liner that I cut for the kids to use under their art fit perfectly in the kitchen drawer with my fabric place mats – which made me realize that these could also be sued as easy to clean place mats.

#9 Under Dog Bowls

A piece of Clear Classic Easy Liner under pet food and water bowls protects wood floors and makes cleaning up spills quick and easy. The texture of this liner also keeps the bowls securely in place so they don’t slide around as your furry friend eats.

#10 Shoe and Boot Shelves

When we redesigned our coat closet a few years ago, I added a couple of shelves where we keep our snow boots tucked out of the way below our coats. Lining the shelves with Clear Classic shelf liner keeps the them clean and dry, even when our boots aren’t. [More tips: how to organize a small coat closet | ideas for organizing a larger coat closet]

#11 Protect Painted Furniture

Whether it’s a piece you spent hours DIYing, or a special piece you purchased, painted furniture deserves a little extra care.

Lining the drawers and shelves will protect the paint and prevent any nicks and scratches. Be sure to choose a non-adhesive liner, like the Clear Classic, as adhesive liners may end up doing more damage to your painted furniture.

#12 Protect Shelves from Scratches Caused by Bins & Baskets

I always recommend using baskets and bins to organize on shelves, but sliding those bins on and off the shelves over and over can cause scratches. Spending just a few extra minutes to line each shelf before you start organizing will protect your shelves and keep you furniture looking nice for years to come.

#13 Cover Wire Shelves

Wire shelving is popular in the garage, pantry, and closet because it’s durable and economical, but it also has it’s downsides. Wire shelving allows dirt, dust and small items to fall through from one shelf to the next, and it’s very hard to clean, especially if you’re dealing with a sticky or greasy substance like food, detergent, or motor oil.

[More Tips: How to Install Garage Shelves & Drawers | Brilliant Garage Organizing Ideas]

In bedroom and linen closets, wire shelves also provide additional challenges, including potentially snagging clothes and blankets, as well as leaving ridges in the clothes folded at the bottom on the stack.

Adding plastic liner – like Clear Classic Easy Liner – gives your wire shelving a clean, solid surface that prevents small items from falling through and is easy to clean. Or for an even more upgraded look, line the wire shelves in your closets with the fabric topped shelf liner shown in #14, below.

#14 Style & Function in Dresser Drawers

Adding shelf liner to your dresser drawers provides a nice, clean surface for your clothes, and it also provides an opportunity to add a little dash of style. As I talk about in 10 Steps to Get Organized and Stay Organized, adding pretty touches can provide great motivation to keep your space organized.

This striped Fabric Topped Easy Liner® {which also comes in other patterns} is perfect for lining dresser drawers because it provides a clean, cushioned surface for you clothes and it’s machine washable! It’s very easy to cut to the exact size you need, and the gripper back keeps it securely in place until you’re ready to remove it.

#15 Custom Jewelry Tray

I love the striped, cushiony Fabric Topped liner so much that I found a few other places to use it as well. I cut a piece to fit in my acrylic tray, and it makes the perfect place to put my jewelry at the end of the night.

#16 Coffee Table Tray Instead of Coasters

The fact that this Fabric Topped liner is washable makes it so versatile. The same acrylic tray, lined with the premium cushion striped liner makes a super stylish and functional tray for the coffee table that replaces the need for coasters.

#17 Stop Things From Sliding

Any time you need to stop something from slipping, Select Grip Easy Liner is a great solution.

When we created an inexpensive, DIY countertop in our laundry room, we added a layer of non-slip, grip shelf liner between the machines and the counter. This allows the countertop board to shift and move as the washer and dryer wiggle and jiggle their way through the cycles, without ever sliding out of place.

When our boys were babies, I used a changing tray on top of a chest of drawers, rather than buying a dedicated changing table. A layer of Select Grip Easy Liner kept the changing tray firmly in place {even with a wiggly baby}, and when our boys outgrew diapers, it allowed us to easily move the changing tray with no damage to the dresser.

A Couple More Creative Uses…

Over time, I’ve come to prefer non-adhesive shelf liners – like the Clear Classic Easy Liner and the Fabric Topped Easy Liner – for my shelves and drawers, but adhesive liners come in lots of pretty patterns and can be used in a variety of creative ways. Here are two examples:

#18 Line the Walls Instead of the Shelves

In my pantry, I used adhesive shelf liner in a fun pattern to line the back wall between the shelves. Used as faux-wallpaper, the adhesive shelf liner was easy to measure, cut and install, but can also be swapped out quickly if I want a different look in the future. [Tips: How to Organize a Small Reach-In Pantry | Creative Pantry Organizing Hacks]

#19 Upgrade Open Shelving

When I added open shelving above the toiled in our master bathroom water closet, I gave the shelves a quick style upgrade by wrapping them in adhesive contact paper. This is an easy and inexpensive way to add a custom look to any space with open shelving. [Easy DIY Shelf Tutorial.]

I’d love to hear what other ways you use shelf liner around your house and beyond. Leave a comment with your tips and ideas!

The post Why You Need Shelf Liner + Cleaning & Organizing Hacks appeared first on Blue i Style.

The Most Popular Organizing and Decorating Ideas

blueistyle — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 17:40:00 +0000

You’ve probably heard the saying that you have to look back to move forward. I think this is true on many levels, and it’s how I always like to start the year.

When it comes to the blog, I find it really helpful to look back at the most popular posts from the prior year to see which projects resonate with you – the readers – so that I can create more of the types of content you want. And on the personal side, as I plan my project priorities for the coming year, I like to reflect on the spaces in our home that I love, as well as those that aren’t working.

In today’s post, I’m rounding up the most popular organizing and decorating posts of they year, and I’m sharing some of my major plans for 2019.

THE 10 MOST POPULAR ORGANIZING & DECORATING IDEAS OF 2018

1. Water Bottle Storage

Sometimes the quickest organizing projects can have the biggest impact on our daily lives. The cabinet with all of our water bottles used to be a source of daily stress for me! Every time I opened the cabinet door I would flinch expecting a bottle to come tumbling out at me. I finally found a super easy solution that everyone in the family loves … and you guys loved it, too because it claimed the spot as the most popular post of 2018!

2. How to Redecorate a Bedroom Without Replacing the Furniture

I think this post was so popular because it’s something we can all relate to. You’ve got a room you’d really love to redecorate, but there’s just no money in the budget to buy all new furniture. I hear this all the time from readers and clients alike. In this post, I walk you through the process of giving a room a completely new look without replacing the furniture.

Here an example of two other bedrooms I’ve redecorated without replacing furniture: Modern Master Bedroom Makeover | Light and Bright Client Bedroom Makeover

I also helped a client stay on budget by giving their living room a completely new look without replacing their large, brown sectional sofa.

3. Stylish Home Gym Ideas for Small Spaces

If getting in shape is one of your New Year’s Resolutions, then this is the post for you! I prefer to work out at home, rather than paying for gym membership that I can’t fit into my busy schedule most days, but I hated to the look of my workout equipment in the corner of our guest room. This is, until I came up with some simple and budget friendly ways to give it makeover. Now my small space home gym is much more functional and blends in perfectly with the decor of the room!

4. Budget Friendly Sewing Room Ideas

My friend and neighbor has the most adorable sewing room packed with tons of smart organization ideas, including a dollar store solution for fabric organization that I just love! This space proves that you truly don’t need a large space or big budget to create a stylish and organized sewing room.

5. Maximize Storage Space with Over the Door Organizers

I’ve heard it said that you don’t need more storage, you just need less stuff. It’s true that we could all benefit from a good purging session, but let’s be honest, sometimes you really do need more storage! My best organizing advice when you’re short on space is to take advantage of every available nook and cranny, and the 21 square feet of prime real estate on the back of your doors is one of the most commonly overlooked storage spaces!

6. Modern Dining Room Makeover

This project had some stops and starts as we struggled to find just the right furniture on our budget, and dealt with back orders and other delays. But the wait was totally worth it because our updated, modern dining room makes me so happy! From the comments I’ve received, you guys especially love the added storage, the super budget friendly chairs, and the new gallery wall. What a coincidence – those are my favorite parts, too!

7. Install a Wall of Garage Shelving & Drawers

Our organized garage makeover has been one of my most popular posts of all time, but one questions kept coming up over and over. You guys wanted more about how we installed the wall of garage shelving and drawers, so I wrote a post with all the details!

8. How to Organize School Papers and Display Kids Art

If you’ve got school papers and kids’ art piling up, you’re not alone. We can’t keep everything, but it can also be hard to let go. I’ve discovered that we’re better off keeping most of their art and papers until the end of each semester, and then when we sort through it after a little time has passed, it’s much easier for them to choose just their favorites and the work they are most proud of. I came up with a solution that is working for us, and you guys seem to love it to!

9. Toy Storage that Can Grow with the Kids

The holidays are over and there are SO MANY new toys! It’s a perfect time to purge and donate toys that kids have outgrown, and to come up with a new toy storage plan that will grow with the kids! In this popular post, I show you the toy organizing solutions I created for a client, and share lots of tips for organizing toys in any space.

10. BEHIND THE SCENES OF MY BHG PHOTOSHOOT

And last, but not least, you guys loved hearing the behind the scenes details of my photo shoot with Better Homes & Gardens. Being featured in the magazine was definitely one of the highlights of the year, and all the kind messages I received for you guys made it even better. Later in the year, I was also named a BHG Stylemaker for 2018, and I recapped my trip to NYC for the Stylemaker event in this post.

WHAT I HAVE PLANNED FOR 2019

Sometimes it takes more than one try to find an organizing system that works for your space and is easy to maintain. In 2019, one of my resolutions is to identify why the prior systems didn’t work in the perpetually disorganized corners of our home, and to come up with a better plan for each!

At the top of my list for 2019 is reorganizing my master closet, reclaiming the basement bedroom that I used to use an office (before it became a dumping ground everything in the house that didn’t have a spot), and finally finishing the decor in our basement family room to make it a cozier and more functional space.

What’s on your priority list for 2019? How can I help? Let me know what challenges your facing when it comes to decorating and organizing your home so I can write posts that will help you create and organized and pretty happy home that your whole family can enjoy!

The post The Most Popular Organizing and Decorating Ideas appeared first on Blue i Style.

15 Ways to Maximize Storage With Over the Door Organizers

blueistyle — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 17:25:00 +0000

I’ve heard a lot of people advise that you don’t need more storage, you just need less stuff… and while we could all benefit from a good purging session, let’s be honest, sometimes you really do need more storage! Not everyone has the luxury of a spacious pantry, coat closet, or laundry room, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need food, hats and scarves, and clean clothes.

Here are 15 ways I use back of door organizers to create extra storage space around my own home…

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

COAT CLOSET

Coat closets are notorious for being over-crowded. And it’s no wonder… trying to fit coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and boots for an entire family into one closet is challenging! Try hanging a shoe bag on the inside of the door. The pockets are perfect for winter hats, rolled up scarves, and gloves. In addition to creating more storage space, an over the door shoe bag makes it easy to quickly see everything and find what you need when you’re in a hurry to get out the door.

I’ve also got a post with my favorite, damage-free way to hang a shoe bag on a door without using the over the door hooks, which is perfect if your doors are extra tall, like mine.

SHOP COAT CLOSET DOOR SOLUTIONS

CLOTHES CLOSET

Next up, let’s talk clothes closets. Both of my boys have fairly small closets, so using the space on the back of their closet doors is an ideal solution, especially for those items that aren’t made for hanging and don’t work well in drawers.

My older son loves sunglasses and dressing like a dapper little gentleman, so he has quite a few accessories, like bow ties and suspenders. He also wants to save all the birthday cards and postcards he receives, so I created some simple DIY back of door organizers for his closet that I attached with removable 3M Command Strips.

The top organizer has hooks for his belts, ties, and suspenders, as well as clips for hanging cards. The lower organizer has denim pockets for holding smaller accessories, like sunglasses, watches, and bow ties. I designed these accessories organizers with denim and leather to match the menswear theme of his bedroom.

My younger son’s closet is even smaller, and we needed a place for all of his hats and shoes. A standard shoe bag wouldn’t accommodate hats, so I found this over closet door organizer with spacious pockets. His closet has very narrow, double doors that pull open, and this organizer is narrower than most, making it a perfect fit. I added one to the back of each door, and used some of the extra pockets for the items we need for weekly events, like soccer practice and swim lessons. One of the pockets is large enough to accommodate his soccer jersey, shorts, socks, shin guards, and cleats.

SHOP CLOSET DOOR SOLUTIONS

You may have noticed one more bonus feature of the back of door organizer that I used for Cooper’s hats and shoes… the bottom is a hamper dirty clothes hamper that lifts off when I’m ready to carry it to the washer. Now we don’t have a hamper taking up floor space in the room – win/win!

SHOP DOOR HAMPER SOLUTIONS

BATHROOM

When it comes to toiletries, I prefer to always have extras on hand so that I never run out of something important at an inopportune time {although, let’s be honest, there’s no good time to run out of toothpaste or deodorant!}. But keeping all those around takes up a lot of space. I tried to keep it all under the bathroom sink wasn’t working for us, so I decided to add a some adjustable metal baskets to the back of a door in the bathroom. I attached the metal rail directly to our door {using hollow-core door screws and anchors}, but there are hooks I could have used at the top and bottom of the door to make this set-up removable.

This system gives us plenty of space for extra toiletries, medicine, and even our bathroom cleaning supplies. Having everything visible at a glance also makes it much easier to see when we are running low on something so I can add it to our shopping list before we run out.

SHOP BATHROOM DOOR SOLUTIONS

LAUNDRY ROOM

A laundry room was on my “must have” list when we were house shopping, and yet the house we fell in love with had a laundry closet. In my quest to make the laundry closet function like a room, I needed to add as much storage as I could. We added cabinets above the washer and dryer for all of our extra toilet paper and paper towels {lightweight makes the most sense for these cabinets because I’m short and can just reach.}

Then we turned to the back of the doors for everything else. On one of the double doors, I installed a rail with three metal baskets deep enough to hold various detergents and sprays, as well as canisters for stain sticks, lint brushes, buttons, needles and thread, and more. The bottom basket sits just high enough to clear the counter top when the door is closed. I attached the metal rail directly to our door {using hollow-core door screws and anchors}, but there are hooks I could have used at the top and bottom of the door to make this set-up removable.

On the other door, we installed a mutli-layer towel bar that we use to hang clothes to dry. I can drape sweaters over the rails, or hang my husbands dress shirts on hangers.

Below the hanging rack, I installed a glass noticeboard with a printed guide to laundry symbols behind the glass. Using a chalk marker, I can make notes on the glass that keep Scott and I on the same page when we share laundry responsibilities. I’ll often make a note to check specific shirts to confirm that stains are removed before drying them, or notes reminding us that certain shirts have to be hung to dry. If you like it, you can download and print this “Guide to Laundry Symbols” poster in your choice of colors.

SHOP LAUNDRY DOOR SOLUTIONS

STATIONERY & GIFT TAGS

A couple of years ago I transformed half of our guest room closet into an organized gift wrap station. I used bins, baskets, and drawers in the closet for the larger items, but I needed a solution for all of the small stuff. A set of adjustable metal baskets turned out to be the perfect place to organize all of my decorative tap, gift tags, greeting cards, stationary, and bows. I used clear bins within the baskets to keep everything neatly contained {and stop small items from falling through the metal baskets}. You can read all the details in this post.

I attached the metal rail directly to our door {using hollow-core door screws and anchors}, but there are hooks I could have used at the top and bottom of the door to make this set-up removable.

The back of the door is also a great place to store wrapping paper, gift bags, and other gift wrap supplies.

SHOP BACK OF DOOR GIFT WRAP ORGANIZATION SOLUTIONS

CLEANING SUPPLIES

My mom had the great idea to use a shoe bag to keep all of her cleaning supplies in easy reach on the back of the linen closet door at my parent’s vacation house. The clear pockets make it easy to see all of the contents, allowing anyone staying at the house to find what they need to do their part!

See that ribbon she used instead of the standard metal hooks? I’ve got a tutorial for this damage-free way to hang a shoe bag on a door.

SHOP OTHER CLEANING CLOSET DOOR SOLUTIONS

LINEN CLOSET

I used to avoid using my table clothes and table runners, because I hated having to iron them before each use. I thought there was no way to avoid the creases from folding them, but there is… hang them, instead! I installed two narrow towel bar on the inside of my linen closet doors, and I now hang all my table linens as well as extra blankets right on the door.

SHOP LINEN CLOSET DOOR SOLUTIONS

SPRAY PAINT

As you know, I use spray paint to makeover anything and everything! I have just about every color on hand all the time at the ready for my DIY whims. But spray paint is challenging to store. You shouldn’t keep it in the garage where it might get too cold and freeze, but you also can’t keep it in the utility room near the furnace because it’s combustible. I finally came up with a good solution by hanging a shoe bag on the inside of a closet door. It gives me plenty of space for all of my cans of spray paint, and the pockets on top are great for the stain pens that I use to touch up our wood floor and trim.

See that ribbon I used instead of the standard metal hooks? I’ve got a tutorial for this damage-free way to hang a shoe bag on a door, which is especially helpful on extra tall doors, like I have.

I get that you might not have the extensive spray paint collection that I have, but I bet you do have some other craft and DIY supplies, or even office supplies that need to be organized!

SHOP BACK OF DOOR CRAFT & DIY SUPPLY SOLUTIONS

SEASONAL DECOR

I love to decorate for every different season, but constantly swapping out our holiday decor means that I need a place to store it the rest of the year. I have an extra hall closet that I affectionately call my “prop closet.” Shelves along the back of the closet hold holiday decor, one wall is used for wreath storage, and a shoe back hanging on the back of the closet door is perfect for storing faux flowers and pillar candles.

Now that I have a dedicated candle storage cabinet in the living room, I use this entire over the door shoe bag for flowers – but pillar candles do fit perfectly in the pockets!

PANTRY BULLETIN BOARD

I originally planned to use the back of the door in our pantry for a space saving spice rack. But then I discovered that the pantry shelves are set back just far enough that I could use the wall space on the right side of the pantry for floor to ceiling shelves for all of our spices and oils.

Of course, I still wanted to find a way to put our pantry door to good use, so I decided to hang a simple DIY bulletin board {cork board wrapped in fabric} on the back of the door. This gives us the perfect place to keep our family calendar, birthday party invitations, school flyers, and – of course – adorable baby announcements. I love keeping these items right at eye-level on the inside of the door where we see them numerous times a day without creating visual clutter in the kitchen.

If you don’t want to DIY your own pantry door bulletin board, check out these cute options:

SHOP STYLISH BULLETIN BOARDS

Or if you need extra food storage, put the pantry door to use with one of these great storage options:

SHOP BACK OF PANTRY DOOR STORAGE SOLUTIONS

CABINET DOORS

Last, but certainly not least, don’t forget about using the inside of your cabinet doors as well! Under the kitchen sink, I added a towel bar on one side and a paper towel holder on the other side.

In my boys’ bathroom, I used 3M Command Strips to attached a divided metal bin to the inside of the cabinet door to hold their toothbrushes, combs, and washcloths.

SHOP CABINET DOOR ORGANIZERS

Still want more back of door organizing ideas?! I’m working on a couple more right now that I’ll be sharing with you soon! Be sure to sign up to become an Email Insider so you don’t miss any of my organizing, decorating, or DIY tips!

The post 15 Ways to Maximize Storage With Over the Door Organizers appeared first on Blue i Style.

Stylish Home Gym Ideas for Small Spaces

blueistyle — Tue, 23 Jan 2018 12:03:00 +0000

This post is sponsored by Cost Plus World Market, which you know is one of my favorite places to shop! This post also contains affiliate links.

Before having kids, we used one of the bedrooms in our house as a home gym. It wasn’t very stylish, but it was certainly spacious. Fast forward a few years, and that exercise room became a kid’s bedroom and we pared down our workout equipment and shoved it {quite literally} into the corner of the guest room. It’s taken me nearly four years to finally make this space a priority, but I can finally say that what our new mini-home gym lacks in size, it more than makes up for in style and function!

I don’t usually get too personal on the blog, but to explain why today’s project is so important to me, I need to give you a bit of a back story. Last May, Scott and I decided we wanted to get serious about losing weight, so we signed up for a program with a very strict meal plan and we’ve been really dedicated to it. Eight and a half months later, I’ve lost 60 pounds and I’ve just reached my goal weight!

I’m feeling great, enjoying shopping for a whole new wardrobe, and excited that I get to slowly reintroduce all the foods that I wasn’t allowed on the weight loss plan. But in order to eat my favorite foods and maintain my healthy new weight, I know that I need to get more exercise. I’ll never be that girl who’s training for a marathon {or even running a 5k for that matter}… but if it means I can eat a donut now and then, then I’m willing to put in the time and effort to burn those calories!

I’m not a big fan of going to the gym. I much prefer the flexibility of working out at home whenever I can fit it into my schedule, so I knew it was finally time to turn the pile of exercise equipment in the corner of the guest room into an organized and stylish home gym that I actually want to use.

I really love the decor in our guest room! It was inspired by our honeymoon in Santorini, and I find the space so calm and relaxing…

…except for this corner of the room. This corner was definitely not the relaxing island vibe we were going for!

A while back, I had the idea to just hide away the workout equipment by putting a folding screen in front of it. While the screen did mostly accomplish the hiding task, the truth is that hiding the problem was not fixing it.

Behind the screen was the same mess that I had before. And now I was even less likely to use the elliptical machine, or any of my other workout equipment, because the screen was heavy and cumbersome to move. I’d created an out of sight, out of mind situation, not just for my guests, but for me as well.

I decided it was time to retire the folding room divider, and transform this corner of the guest room into an organized, mini-home gym with a style that fit the decor of the room. I started browsing some of the shelving options at my local Cost Plus World Market, and before long I’d put together a complete plan!

Ok, are you ready to see how the plan came together?!

I can’t tell you how happy this space makes me! I’m still in that “pinch me” phase where I can’t quite get over how much function I was able to pack into this little workout corner, and how seamlessly it now blends in with the rest of the decor in the room!

Let me give you a closer look at the details, and how I’m using each element of the space.

I’d always envisioned putting a couple of shelves on the wall behind the elliptical machine, but all the options I’d looked at before felt a little too simple or utilitarian. I knew I needed something with a bit more interest in order to give this corner a finished and sophisticated look, and these triangle shelves are all that I could have asked for and more! These geometric shelves are no longer available at World Market, but I found some similar triangle shelves for you!

I’m so smitten with the gorgeous set of blue and white porcelain bowls that I picked up {here are some similar ones you might like}. They fit perfectly in the triangles and they are just the right size for containing all the small things I need, like my earbuds and fit bit. These bowls are also a great place for me to put my earrings and wedding ring while I’m working out.

In the other triangles I have my wrist/ankle weights, some rolled up white hand towels, fitness balls, and a blue lotus and cherry blossom scented candle in a cute blue and white jar {here are similar blue and white candles}.

Below the shelves, I hung a set of marble wall hooks. I just love how the chevron pattern of the wood mimics the triangles of the shelves. The combination of the mango wood and the brass and marble knobs gives this piece has a really high-end style that helps to balance out the less stylish items hanging from it, including my weighted jump rope and resistance bands.

I love using wall space to organize, so I also hung two galvanized baskets {here are some similar wall mounted baskets}.

One basket holds my travel magazines, because imagining wearing a swimsuit on a gorgeous beach vacation might just motivate me to keep moving on the elliptical… almost as much as the promise of being able to eat donuts again. Oh, better yet… donuts on the beach! Win/Win!

The upper basket holds a set of cute world map file folders that I’m using to sort all of the various workout tips and routines I’ve torn out of magazines and printed from Pinterest. I labeled folders for arms, legs, abs, buns, cardio, etc., as well as one folder for all the instruction manuals for my various equipment.

By choosing stylish storage pieces, and striking a balance between functional and pretty pieces to fill the shelves, this wall of fitness equipment ends up feeling much more spa-like than locker room.

Below the wall storage, I added a bamboo shoe rack for my gym shoes and a few hand weights. Tucked into the corner is, perhaps, my favorite creative storage solution of the whole space… a pretty, white metal hamper that holds my weighted body bars, yoga mat, and various other workout equipment. {This hamper has been discontinued one, but this white hamper has a similar style.}

The punched pattern in my metal hamper gives it soft and feminine look, but don’t be fooled – this thing is heavy duty. It’s really heavy and sturdy {way heavier than it looks}! This makes it perfect for storing my weighted body bars, but if you use hamper that’s not quite as heavy duty, be sure to lean your body bars or weights into a corner.

My old red yoga ball wasn’t holding air very well, so I replaced it with a blue one to better match the room {because, why not?!}.

I can simply tuck the yoga ball to the side of the elliptical when it’s not in use.

While I’m on the elliptical, I can use my phone to listen to audio books and pod casts, watch tv, or just admire the island view with the gallery wall of Santorini photos on the opposite wall.

I found a cup holder phone mount that’s made for a car, but that fits perfectly in the cup holder of my elliptical machine.

Looking at the before and after photos side by side, I can’t believe I waited so long to finally transform this space! I couldn’t be happier with this how this small space home gym came together. It’s proof that you don’t need more than a corner or nook to create a fitness space – you just have to use the vertical space to its full organizing potential and come up with some creative storage hacks!

Don’t let lack of space hold you back! Whether it’s a home gym, an office, or a craft/sewing room you desire, carve out a corner for yourself!

Start by browsing these small space storage solutions and this small space furniture collection for inspiration, and then get to work to turn that little piece of real estate into an organized and stylish spot you love!

SHOP THE STYLE OF THIS SMALL SPACE WORKOUT ROOM

Some of the items I used in our space are no longer available from World Market, but I have found similar replacements for each.

The post Stylish Home Gym Ideas for Small Spaces appeared first on Blue i Style.

Organizing Ideas for Every Room of the House

blueistyle — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 10:51:00 +0000

Does the start of the new year make you want to purge and organize ALL THE THINGS? Well, you’re in luck because today I’ve got more than 100 organizing ideas for every room of the house to literally help you organize all the things!

Each month I join with a talented team of bloggers to bring you the best of the best from each of our blogs, and this month we’ve rounded up our favorite organizing tips and tricks! I’d also love to send you a free copy of my e-book that outlines 10 simple steps to help you get organized and stay organized once and for all!

No matter which space in your house you plan to tackle first, we’ve got you covered! Scroll through the list below to find just the inspiration you need to get started, and be sure to pin this image so that you can find your way back to this full collection of home organization ideas!

100+ ORGANIZING IDEAS FOR EVERY ROOM OF THE HOUSE

An InLinkz Link-up

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IKEA HACK: 20 Ways to Organize With an Ikea Shoe Cabinet

blueistyle — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 11:23:00 +0000

I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who said they have too much storage in their home. Quite the opposite! No matter the size of your home, I am willing to bet you have at least a few problem items that are a constant source of clutter or that you just can’t find a good place to store.

We recently bought an IKEA shoe cabinet to organize the piles of shoes that are constantly piling up in our kitchen. But after assembling the cabinet for our entry way, it occurred to me that it could also provide a perfect storage solution for tons of other items as well.

At only 11 inches deep, and with two tilt-out doors, a shoe cabinet like this could fit just about anywhere from the entry way or mudroom to the office or even a kids room. The organizing potential is pretty much limitless! I came up with a crazy long list of ideas, and I managed to photograph 20 of them. So today I give you 20 Ways to Organize With a Shoe Cabinet that Don’t Involve Shoes…

If you’re not familiar with the IKEA Hemnes shoe cabinet, be sure to watch the video above for some context of what the cabinet looks like and how the tilt-out doors work. Now let’s take a closer looks at some of the ways you could use this versatile piece of furniture to organize just about anything in your home.

*This post contains some affiliate links.

First up are three solutions that solve problems I hear most often from readers: electronics overload; an overflowing coat closet; and no space for gift wrap supplies.

Electronics are a constant source of clutter! There was a time when there was a computer on the desk in the office, and that was that. But now we have multiple laptops, tablets, and portable keyboards floating around the house all the time. Add to that cameras and video cameras, headphones, and other small electronics. These are all items that we want to keep close at hand and easily accessible, but they too often wind up piled up on the kitchen counter.

I recently created a stylish solution for storing our cords, cables and chargers on the kitchen counter, but the bigger items are more challenging. I gathered up all of our gear and was amazed at how easily it all fit in one tilt-out section of the shoe cabinet, with room to spare.

Many people struggle with a too small coat closet, or simply want to store their winter gear closer to the back door where they more frequently come and go from the house. In addition to keeping shoes from piling up on the floor, the tilt-out doors of a shoe cabinet can also provide a great space to store umbrellas, rolled up scarves, hats, gloves, and earmuffs.

I use one side of our guest room closet for storing gift wrap supplies, but I’ve heard from a lot of readers who say they need a more compact solution for wrapping paper, bows, and gift tags. I decided to test out the shoe cabinet for this purpose and was pleasantly surprised to find that a standard size roll of wrapping paper fits nicely at an angle, allowing the door to still close with no problem. A narrow shoe cabinet in the hallway, guest room, or office would allow ample space for wrapping paper, gift bags, rolls of ribbon, bows, greeting cards, and gift tags.

Here are 17 more ideas broken down by category…

FOR FAMILY GAME & MOVIE NIGHTS

My boys have started to get really into games and puzzles lately, and I’m looking forward to many family game nights in our future! Our closed storage space is at a premium, and I don’t love the way game boxes look stored on open shelves, so I decided to test out some games in the shoe cabinet. Even our biggest board game boxes fit easily!

Ok, so I’m probably dating myself here by showing you that we have a DVD collection. We typically stream the new movies that we want to watch, but I just can’t let go of my old favorites that I enjoy watching over and over again in the background while I work. Plus the kids have their own collection of animated movies now. The shoe cabinet has plenty of room for all of our DVDs, as well as the remotes.

And what’s a family movie night without some cozy blankets to curl up under? I tucked two of our favorite blankets in the shoe cabinet, but I could have easily fit two more just in this section alone!

Our Wii hasn’t seen much action in the last five years, and my husband rarely finds time to play XBox football any more… but I know the days of video games will soon return to our house as the boys get older. And when they do, the shoe cabinet will provide a great option for storing all the games and controllers neatly out of sight.

IF YOU’RE SHORT ON LINEN CLOSET SPACE

The hallway linen closet {if you’re lucky enough to have one} is often bursting at the seams! A shallow shoe cabinet would be the perfect solution for storing extra sheets and towels. You could even add one of these space saving cabinets in a small bathroom for towels and toiletries.

When I lived in a small apartment during grad school, I found cleaning supplies to be one of the most challenging things to store. I had no room to spare in the kitchen, the one bathroom cabinet was too small for anything extra. I decided to test out the shoe cabinet and found that it could hold extra rolls of paper towels, toilet paper, boxes of tissues, napkins, dusting rags, and more. Bottles of cleaners would also fit nicely in one of the tilt-out doors.

Try as I might to use fabric shopping bags as much as possible, I still wind up with lots of paper and plastic grocery bags in the house. I take most of the plastic bags to the bag recycling bin at the front of Target about once a month, but I need somewhere to store them in the meantime. And that paper bags are always good to have on hand for reuse. I typically store mine under the kitchen sink, but I love they way they fit in the shoe cabinet as well!

FOR THE DIY & CRAFTY TYPES

As a addicted DIY and crafter, spray paint is one of my favorite tools. But storing it has always been a challenge. Our garage is detached and unheated, so it’s not an ideal spot for paint. And our small utility room is ok for storing extra water-based paint {like latex wall paint}, but it’s a no-no for cans of spray paint and other paints that are flammable or combustible. I was easily able to fit my entire rainbow of spray paint in the shoe cabinet. The tilt-out doors would also be great for storing other painting supplies, like drop cloths, paint brushes and rollers, and painter’s tape.

I’ve talked a few times recently here on the blog about my Cricut electronic cutter being one of my favorite craft tools. I love all of the ways I can use it to create decor and to make beautiful labels for my organizing projects, but storing and organizing my growing collection of rolls of adhesive vinyl has become a challenge. I discovered that the shoe cabinet is the perfect size for my vinyl, as well as my oversized cutting mats, paper and paper cutter. This would also be a great solution for scrapbooking supplies or other craft supplies!

Our recently organized garage is where we store all of our big tools, but I like keeping the small tools that we use on a regular basis {like nails and picture hangers, measuring tape, hammer, screw drivers, and small cordless drill} inside the house where I can grab them quickly when I’m hanging a piece of art or assembling a piece of furniture. All of these items fit neatly in just one half of one of the shoe cabinet tilt-out doors. I filled the other half with extra light bulbs – another of the items that we never seem to have a good place for in the house.

BECAUSE . . . KIDS!

These last few ideas are all about the kids. Whether you’re a parent or a grandparent, you know how quickly kids stuff can take over a room {or a whole house}. Books, games, legos, trucks, dolls and action figures… just so much stuff!

Our kids have a play area in the basement and keep more toys in their rooms, but they also like to have some books and toys on the main floor of the house. I don’t mind them playing in the kitchen and front room, but I’d rather the toys in these spaces be stored out of sight when not in use. I was impressed by how much I could fit in the shoe cabinet, and the boys thought it was so fun to tilt-open the doors to find their treasures inside! This would also be a great way to keep library books separate from other books in the house so they can be quickly located when the due date rolls around.

My boys have really gotten into art lately, so our collections of kids’ art supplies is quickly expanding… construction paper, coloring books, stencils, paint, crayons, markets, colored pencils… so much to keep track of! But the shoe cabinet is up to the challenge, and the large space is perfect for storing the over-sized items, like my boys’ favorite Melissa and Doug reusable sticker pads.

And where there’s art supplies, there’s bound to be loads of precious artwork! Between the art they create at home and all of the drawings and paintings they bring home from preschool, I needed a way to store our favorites. A while back I shared my solution for filing and protecting kids’ art work in these archival storage boxes, and it turns out that they fit perfectly inside the shoe cabinet!

We’ve been a diaper free household for about six months now {hooray!}, but anyone with little ones knows the pain of running up and down the stairs for every diaper change. I preferred to keep some diapers, wipes, and cream on each floor of the house, rather than having to trek from the basement playroom to the nursery hour after hour. I filled the shoe cabinet up with the extras we had around, but it could easily hold way more than you see here. This would be a great way to keep a supply in easy reach for quick changes away from the nursery.

BANISH THE PAPER PILES

Paper clutter seems to be the number one challenge in most households. It piles up and gets out of hand so quickly. If you struggling to get your paper problem under control, consider adding a shoe cabinet near the front door. It’s a great place to drop the day’s mail, the newspaper, files, calendars, and planners. The tilt-out doors are wide enough that you can easily give each it’s own dedicated space.

Where are my fellow magazine and catalog hoarders? Do you love to hang on to them so you can flip through them again later? Yep, me too! But I hate having stacks of them piling up around the house. Shoe cabinet to the rescue again…

I use these translucent storage boxes to contain all of the instruction manuals, organized into a few categories to make it easier to quickly find what we need. But the boxes are a bit too deep to fit on the shelves of our entry table or in our cabinets. But one of the tilt-out doors of the shoe cabinet is the perfect size to hold all four instruction manual storage boxes.

Whew!! How’s that for the most functional IKEA hack around?! Would you believe me if I told you that’s just a small portion of the list I came up with for ways to organize with an IKEA Hemnes shoe cabinet? I bet by now you would believe it, and I bet you’ve even come up with some new ideas that I haven’t thought of yet.

Be sure to pin these 20 ideas for later {I’ve got an easy pinnable image for you below} and then leave me a comment to let me know how else you’d organize with a shoe cabinet! A “Part 2” may be in the future…

My friend Melissa, over at Polished Habitat, also compiled a list of 14 genius ways to use a shoe cabinets to add extra storage in the kitchen. If you’re tight on cabinet or pantry space, you won’t want to miss her tips!

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Charger Cord Organizer with Custom Icon Labels

blueistyle — Tue, 31 Jan 2017 01:30:00 +0000

Technology has become such an essential part of our every day lives that I feel like I’m totally drowning in cords, cables, and chargers lately! The kitchen is the heart of our home, and I typically wind up working at the kitchen table rather than my home office in order to be closer to the kids, so I was desperately in need of a charger cord organizer to contain and organize all of technology in this space.

I finally came up with a phone charger organizer that is not only functional, but also stylish enough that I don’t mind having it on display on my kitchen counter! It even has enough extra space to organize headphones, portable speakers, camera batteries, USB drives, and more!

Thank you to Cricut for sponsoring this post, and thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible. As always all opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links.

A couple of years ago I showed you my quick and easy solution for labeling all of my cords and cables so I could keep track of what goes with which electronics, but I was still struggling with where to store all of the cables that we use on a daily basis.

Let’s go back in time one week so I can show you how I was dealing with this problem previously. You know that I’m a fan of using baskets to organize, but I’m also the first to admit when a basket just isn’t getting the job done. This was one of two baskets full of charging cords and small electronics that were junking up my kitchen counter, and digging through the baskets to find what I needed was driving me crazy!

While shopping at IKEA last week, I spotted a set of mini chest of drawers, that I realized could be the perfect solution! This product, called Moppe, has been popular on Pinterest for quite a while because it is raw wood – lending itself to being easily customized to fit the style of any space. But until recently it wasn’t available in the US.

I brought the Moppe home, sat it on the counter and started filling up the drawers to test it out. It was the perfect size for everything I needed to organize, so it was time to get creative and decide how to make these drawers look nicer in my kitchen. I started by giving the outer frame a coat of stain, and then spray painted the drawers using left over paint from my garage pegboard.

The stain and paint immediately made my mini chest of drawers look pretty, but it’s the labels that really give it a polished look. This is one of my best organizing tips – LABEL EVERYTHING! Not only do labels allow you to add a little extra style, they also make it easy for everyone in the house to find what they need {and it takes away any excuse for people to not put things away}.

There are so many ways to create DIY labels, but one of my favorite ways has always been to use my Cricut electronic cutter. Until recently, I was still using the original, decade old version of the machine. But a few months ago, my friends at Cricut sent me the updated Explore Air machine to try out, and wow!

With my old machine, I was limited to cutting with the fonts and graphics available on Cricut cartridges. But with my new machine I can cut anything that I can dream up! Not only can I use all of the fonts on my computer {as I showed you on the custom wood sign I created for my garage} – I can also upload my own designs and use Cricut Design Space to covert my JPEGs into cutable files.

Rather than labeling the drawers of my Moppe with words, I decided to create some simple icon labels that I cut out of white adhesive vinyl with my Cricut Explore Air.

If you want to learn how to upload and convert your images into files that Cricut can cut, I’ve got the full tutorial for you at the end of this post. But first, I want to show you how I put the custom icons stickers on the drawers, and what I organized inside those drawers.

After cutting the icons using my Cricut, I began peeled away the excess vinyl from around the round icons, and then began “weeding” the vinyl from the center of each icon to create negative space.

Each of my icon labels is just 1.5 inches in diameter, and some of the icons have very fine details – so I was a bit nervous about how well they would cut. But the precision of the cuts was spot on!

After I finished weeding they vinyl from the center of each icon, I strip of vinyl transfer tape over the icons, smoothing it down to burnish the vinyl onto the surface of the transfer tape.

I then slowly peeled the transfer tape away from the Cricut mat, ensuring that the vinyl lifted up with the transfer tape.

I used scissors to cut the icons apart in preparation for applying each to one of the newly painted drawers.

I positioned the first icon in the bottom right corner of one of the drawers and used a craft stick to burnish the vinyl to the drawer.

I then slowly peeled back the transfer tape, ensuring that the vinyl was firmly adhered to the drawer.

With all of my vinyl icon labels on the drawers, I was ready to fill up my mini chest of drawers.

From the top left, the drawers contain:

Camera batteries and chargers
Power banks and portable chargers
USB storage devices / Flash drives
Charging cords and cables
Portable speakers and my favorite bluetooth headset
Camera lenses and lens hoods

I am so excited about how this project turned out! It has allowed me to organize all of our chargers, cords, and even camera lenses in the place where I spend most of my working hours – then kitchen. And best of all, it actually looks nice sitting on the kitchen counter right next to our “mudroom” bench.

The stain is a nice match to our cabinets and the light teal spray paint that I used on the drawers looks great with our glass tile backsplash – both of which help the chest of drawers to blend in a bit. And the custom vinyl icon labels on each drawer are subtle but stylish, and ensure that everyone in the family can find what they need! That’s an organizing win/win/win!

I love this organizing solution so much that I’ve already bought a few more of these Moppe mini-drawer sets to organize some other challenging spaces! And you can be sure that I’ll be using my Cricut Explore Air to customize those as well.

HOW TO CUT CUSTOM LABELS USING CRICUT DESIGN SPACE

Ok, so now let’s get into the nitty gritty details! The following is a quick tutorial for how to upload and cut your own images using the Cricut Explore Air.

In order to create the icon labels on the drawers, I began by downloading some simple icon images from the internet and using Photoshop to overlay the icons onto black circles, saving each images as a JPEG.

Then, to turn the round icons into cut-files, I signed in to Cricut Design Space and began by uploading the image files.

Click UPLOAD IMAGES > UPLOAD IMAGE > BROWSE. Then choose the first file you want to upload from the files on your computer.

Once the file is uploaded, select whether it is a “Simple Image,” “Moderately Complex Image,” or “Complex Image,” based on the provided descriptions. Each of my icons were “Simple Images.”

I wanted the cut the black portion of each icon image from adhesive vinyl to be applied to my drawers, and I wanted the white portion of each image to become negative space through which the color of the drawer would show through. I used the “Select & Erase” tool to click on and remove each white area of the design. The checkerboard pattern indicates transparency, and shows the areas of of the design that I removed.

After selecting and erasing each white portion of the icon designs, I clicked on the “Preview” button. The dark gray area that remains shows my design as it will be cut by the Cricut machine.

In the next step, the program prompted me to select whether I wanted to save the icon as a “Print Then Cut” image, or as a “Cut Image.” Since I wanted to cut the icon out of white vinyl, I chose the “Cut Image” option.

After uploading all six of my icon images, I added all of them to the canvas, where I resized each to 1.5″ – the final size that I wanted to cut.

After resizing each of the images, I clicked on the GO button and proceeded to connect my Cricut Explore Air to my computer, loaded the mat, and cut the icons from my white adhesive vinyl {as shown above}.

This was my first time cutting one of my own files using my Cricut, and it couldn’t have been easier. I expected there to be a steep learning curve like there is with most design software, but Cricut Design Space walked me through each step, making it simple and easy, and completely removing the intimidation factor! Now that I know how easy it is to cut anything I want using my new Cricut, my mind and my Explore Air are both going to be working overtime!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine. Comments submitted may be displayed or featured on other websites owned by Cricut.

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Genius Wrapping Paper Organizer Ideas

blueistyle — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 21:17:00 +0000

I don’t do a lot of shopping right after the holidays, but I always try to hit a few of my favorite stores for clearance wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows to restock for the next year. I especially like choosing wrapping paper with non-traditional Christmas colors and classic patterns, like polka dots, stripes and plaids, that are versatile enough to be used for birthdays and other holidays as well.

This also makes this the perfect time to think about how to organize gift wrap supplies! Today I’ve rounded up some of my favorite tips and tricks for how to store wrapping paper and organize gift bags, ribbons, bows, gift tags, and even greeting cards!

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HOW TO ORGANIZE WRAPPING PAPER AND GIFT BAGS IN A CLOSET

The transformation of my guest room closet from cluttered disaster to organized bliss all started with the rolling wrapping paper/ribbon cart that I bought on an incredible sale! It’s perfect for holding my seasonal wrapping paper and lots of ribbon, and the drawers are ideal for folded tissue paper and bows. You can read all the details about how I organized the cart in this post.

I added my favorite stacking drawers on the floor on either side of the rolling wrapping cart. The large drawers on the left hold extra ribbon and gift wrap embellishments, and the drawers on the right hold small gift boxes and containers.

I used three laundry hampers on top of the larger set of drawers to hold extra wrapping paper, which I sorted by season and color.

On the other side of the rolling wrapping cart, I hung a gift bag organizer from the closet rod. I save every bag that we receive a gift in, so I rarely ever have to buy a bag. Instead, I can just shop my collection from this double-sided organizer.

I also used the back of the guest room closet door to organize all of our greeting cards, stationery, gift tags, decorative tape, and extra bows. For this back of door storage, I used my favorite adjustable door rack system.

You can read all of the details of my gift wrap closet and my back-of-door greeting card organization in the linked posts, but now, let’s look at nine other fabulous ideas to fit any space from some of my super organized blogger friends!

If you’d like to Pin any of these individual ideas, please click through to the original posts.

OVER THE DOOR WRAPPING PAPER ORGANIZER

I used the back of our guest room closet door for greeting card storage, but you could also use a door for wrapping paper and gift bag storage like Jen, from the Chronicles of Home did on her coat closet door.

HOW TO STORE ROLLS OF WRAPPING PAPER IN A BOOKCASE

Converting an inexpensive bookcase into a gift wrap station is a genius idea that you could use in any room of the house, whether on display or tucked into a closet. Read how Erin and Dan of DIY Passion created a small space wrapping station in their basement studio.

HOW TO ORGANIZE GIFT WRAPPING SUPPLIES USING AN IKEA RASKOG ROLLING CART

My friend Melissa, of Polished Habitat, recently gave her office the most spectacular makeover. Not only is it gorgeous, she also packed in a ton of storage, including a rolling gift wrap cart in the corner using a stylish rolling cart. Be sure to check out her full office post for tons of organizational inspiration!

HANGING WRAPPING PAPER ORGANIZER

Wrapping paper is so beautiful, so why not put it on display?! Monica of Monica Wants It combined style and function by converting a picture frame into wrapping paper and tissue paper storage that looks like artwork! Get the DIY details in her full post!

ORGANIZED WRAPPING PAPER
THAT DOUBLES AS DECOR

Similarly, Ursula of Home Made by Carmona likes to keep her wrapping paper on display where it can double as decor. Large rolls of wrapping paper look stylish in large baskets, and her mini rolls {like the ones you can get in the dollar section at Target} look perfect on her desk in a glass hurricane.

HOW TO STORE WRAPPING PAPER BEHIND A DOOR

I love organizing on the back of doors, but what about behind a door? This narrow ribbon and wrapping paper storage idea shared by Rhoda of Southern Hospitality is a fantastic use of otherwise wasted space!

HOW TO ORGANIZE GIFT BAGS
& TISSUE PAPER ON WIRE SHELVES

I love this ingenious use of wire shelving to store tissue paper and gift bags! Get lots more gift wrap storage tips from The Old Park Homestead.

ORGANIZING WRAPPING PAPER
IN AN UPSIDE DOWN STOOL

All it takes is an old kitchen stool and some basic sewing skills to create a totally DIY and customizable gift wrap storage station like this one! Get the detailed tutorial from 2 Little Hooligans.

BACK OF DOOR WRAPPING PAPER ORGANIZER USING A SHOE BAG

Here’s another great way to store wrapping paper on the back of a door. Tenth Avenue South converted a standard shoe bag into wrapping paper with a super simple DIY fix. And the remaining pockets would be perfect for ribbons, tags, scissors and tape.

I hope these ideas have inspired you to start the new year on an organized note! I promise that if you take an hour or so to organize all of your gift wrap supplies now, you’ll enjoy all of the coming year’s celebrations so much more!

As you can see, there are lots of DIY solutions for organizing wrapping paper and gift bags that you can create to fit any space in your home, but if you’d rather buy a simple but effective organizing system that is custom made for gift wrap storage, here are some of my very favorites:

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