Peek Inside: A Professional Organizer's House... {Abby's Room}

I got an overwhelming response last month when I had my first "Peek Inside" post. As a result, I've decided to go room-by-room in my house, and give you the specifics on what organizing methods I use. Today, my daughter's room is featured!

 

{Now, let me just give you a little background on Abby first. She is 5, going on 15. She's full of sass & personality, and has the most infectious laugh I've ever heard. She loves anything pink, dancing & singing in her room, playing dress-up, coloring, and pestering her older brother....}

The diva herself

Growing up, I was a huge tomboy - and still kinda am! - so the word "princess," and the color pink was just not in my vocabulary. It still isn't. But oh the things you will do for your daughter....

 

Zone 1: The Bed & Nightstands. I store a few space bags under Abby's bed, filled with clothes she has outgrown and I need to consign. As for the nightstands, I wanted them to have lots of storage, so each has a drawer and cabinet.

 The top right picture is Abby's "junk drawer".....I let her put whatever she wants in there, as long as it fits in that little bin. The top left picture has a container for all her bookmarks, and the purple case holds her Pokémon cards. (Yes, her brother is rubbing off on her a little bit!) The bird pillow is her Tooth Fairy pillow....haven't had to use it yet though. The books on the bottom left are ones we have been reading lately, and the picture on the bottom right holds her piggy bank, wallet, and cds (her clock doubles as a cd player/radio.)

 Zone 2: The Dresser. I'm pretty proud of this beauty, because I refinished it with a friend. (She even did a fabulous stencil on the side; look 2 pictures up!) We painted it a light gray with white hardware, and then I purchased the glass knobs at Hobby Lobby.

 I lined the drawers with metallic wrapping paper, just because I thought it was pretty! (And my daughter loves all things shiny.) I glued it on with a spray-on adhesive, like this one. The bins are from IKEA, and help to organize socks, leotards, underwear, and tights.

 This bow organizer was another DIY project of mine. I bought an old frame from Goodwill, spray- painted it, removed the glass, and hot glued pieces of thick white ribbon on the back. (The reason I used hot glue was because the frame is plastic. If you have a wood frame, I would recommend using a staple gun.)

 Zone 3: The Kitchen & Art Wall. I feel like this kitchen is a bit of an eyesore (Thanks Nanny!), but Abby loves it and plays with it constantly. When she outgrows it in another year or two, I'm picturing a white desk or maybe even a vanity in it's place.

Abby is pretty good about keeping the kitchen organized, so this is what it looks like on a good day! All the white bins are from The Dollar Store, and do a great job containing all of her "food."

 I created an Art Wall for Abby because she is constantly drawing pictures for her family, friends, and strangers on the street :) These are some of her current favorites, and the frames are super easy to change out at a moment's notice. Another great IKEA purchase! (Or you could get similar ones at Michael's when they are on sale.)

I purchased the watercolor in the middle from a friend...
let me know if you want her contact information!

 

Zone 4: The Closet. Wow, that's a lot of pink! I have Abby's dresses, and out-of-season short-sleeve shirts on the top bar, since she can't reach that high. Down below, I have her dress-up clothes (tucked in the left corner) and her long-sleeve shirts. She insists on picking out her clothes each day (and it's always a very colorful ensemble to say the least!), so it's important that she can reach the clothes herself. I also think *every* kids' closet needs a hanging organizer (far right). Abby's holds extra hangers, large & small blankets, and an extra set of sheets.

 The pink bins on the middle shelf are a lifesaver. In fact, I blogged about them a few months ago, in my "Tuesday Tip" post.  I've found that the easiest way to deal with the constant influx of clothes is to designate two bins in Abby's closet as follows: "Too Big" and "Too Small." Since I am a mom that loves to shop at consignment sales, as well as sell/consign my kids' clothes, these bins are a tremendous help with in those two areas! For example: when I buy something for the next season, it goes in the "Too Big" bin. And when I've decided those shorts are just toooo short, they go in the "Too Small" bin. (I previously mentioned that I have space bags under Abby's bed with out-of-season clothes. The pink bins will eventually be emptied into those; they just serve as a temporary holding spot when I'm in a rush.)

 

If you're wondering, I got the canvas bins from Target. And I created the labels using these name badges, Microsoft Word, and some scrapbook paper!

 

The first bin on the left is labeled "Summer," and holds swim suits & sandals.

 Looking up into Abby's closet, you will see a box labeled "cards", a basket for "quilts," and then the one on the far right is a memory box I gave to Abby on her first birthday. It holds a few special pictures, my hankie from my wedding, and a lock of hair from her first haircut.

 As previously mentioned, my daughter loooooves to play dress-up! I have her costumes tucked away into the left corner of her closet. She loves the easy access, but we are still working on her being able to correctly hang them back up. (Right now, I just ask her to put them in a pile when she's done with them.)

And here are her two bins - one has miscellaneous items like wands, boas, tiaras, etc. And the white bin holds all of her dress-up shoes. These she can definitely pick up & put back on her own.

 Zone 5: Bookshelf & Table Set. On the top shelf, I have hardback books of Abby's that are keepsakes or gifts (translation: she's not allowed to mess with them!). The bottom shelf holds the rest of her books, and her jewelry box. (Oh, how my girl loves to accessorize!) Again, these are right at her level and provide easy access.

The cabinet underneath holds her Legos. The two white bins are from The Dollar Tree, and I just cut up part of the boxes from each set so they could be easily identified. (If you've already thrown away the original packaging, just stick a chalkboard label on there with the name of the set, or print a picture off the internet.) The two clear bins inside the gray box hold Lego sets as well, just smaller ones.

 

Now, I know a lot of people tend to store Legos by color, but I have found that my kids prefer to store them in sets, so they don't have to go hunting around for pieces. To each his own! (When I feature my son's room, you will see that it was more of a challenge to create his Lego storage, since he has a gazillion sets!)

 Abby's table & chair set was a present from "Santa" this year, so we are still getting used to it. Right now, she's using it to display (& play with) her Lego sets after she assembles them. In the future, I see her using this for tea parties as well.

 

And the large basket in the corner holds all of Abby's "friends." Whenever the basket reaches capacity (which it pretty much is right now!), I tell her we have to donate a few or find a new home for them.

 Zone 6: The Bathroom. I told you my daughter was a diva, and she a bathroom attached to her room. (It was put in by the previous owners, right before we moved in 2 years ago. Score!)

 

I refinished the cabinet on the right, by painting it white and then giving the interior cabinet a coat of sea foam blue. I removed the glass from the cabinet doors and added chicken wire. And 300 cuts on my hands later, it was complete! :) The baskets are mostly used for extra hair accessories, nail polish, and combs/brushes.

And that concludes the tour of Abby's room. Stay tuned for more rooms in the upcoming months!


**I want to make it clear that - for the most part - these are staged pictures. My daughter is five years old, so her room is not this spotless all of the time! The main things I have her do to stay organized is to make her bed every morning, and then clean up her toys/dress-up clothes before bedtime. I'm happy with just those two chores, and I don't feel like it's asking too much of a five year old. So please just keep that in mind when you're viewing these pictures!**

If you'd like to share how your kids' keep their rooms clean, please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!

Reader Space: Organizing Kids' Artwork

A reader asked for help when it came to organizing & storing her son's artwork. And because he's only 2, you KNOW he is bringing home a masterpiece with handprints or doodles every.single.day!!

 

As a mom of two kids (age 5 & 7), I can sympathize. Luckily, there are oodles of ideas out there and here are a few of my favorites:

-Create a "brag board" (made out of an bulletin board, cork tiles, etc) for each child. These could hang in either a playroom or kitchen. Only place items on these boards that your child is *super* proud to show you. So... you might be changing them out every day :) But if they are tacked up with a pushpin, no big deal, right?!



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-A similar idea is to either make a DIY "Masterpiece" board like the one shown below, or hang a magnetic strip (from IKEA) with just a few favorite pieces displayed.

(This would also but cute done with clipboards or cork tiles).

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Again, these two ideas are mainly for "favorite" pieces. So what do you do with the other 105,834 pieces of artwork that come home with your child!? Well, if you want to get fancy, here are two options that I adore:

-You can purchase a collage made from your child's artwork! See the Etsy listing here.



Please look at how cute this is! It could easily
serve as artwork on the wall in your child's room.

 -Through www.plumprint.com, you can have your child's artwork turned into a coffee table book!!

......But, I must get back to my reader's original question :) 

She asked about two solutions - to hang a few favorite art pieces in frames, and then file the rest. To that I say: Bravo! That is exactly what I do, and it's been a great system for me so far.
In fact, here are pictures of my kids' "brag boards" in our playroom:

 



(I covered the backing of each frame with burlap, took out the glass, and hot-glued a clip}

 

....And our craft room:

 

...And then my daughter has a display in her bedroom, because she colors & draws 24/7:


{I got the frames at Michael's when they were on sale}

Those 3 places are where I display their most favorite pieces, as soon as they bring them home.

With the rest, I put into a double wall pocket, similar to the one shown here.

{This one is from IKEA, but there are other cute options at
Target, Amazon, Pottery Barn, and Hobby Lobby}

 

At the end of each week, I go through the wall pockets, and do an initial purge. (Again, I keep things that the kids seemed really proud of, or ones that demonstrated a new skill, like writing their name or perfectly their addition facts). Then, I file the "keepers" in a tub like the one shown below. 
(I purchased 2" expandable hanging file folders, and designated one for each grade. And I made the labels using Microsoft Word.)

 

{I found both the file boxes & hanging files at Office Max}

 

At the end of the year, the folder will be overflowing, so you will have to do a second purge. Believe me, at the end of the year, not every single thing with a handprint will deem necessary to keep. And....I'm gonna say it.....you have my permission to throw away some of your kids' artwork!! It does NOT make you a bad parent to do so. Most likely, they will never know the difference anyway :)

 

So, Becca, I hope that answers your question and that you can find a good solution for your son's endless supply of artwork. I would love to see what you come up with.

Good luck!

Wrap Up! Scarf Organization

Scarves are my favorite Fall accessory!

 

You see, I'm not much of a jewelry person. I wear earrings and my watch everyday, but that's about it. And I'm no fashionista, but I do feel like a scarf has the potential to really pull an outfit together. So, if you're like me.....your scarf collection is growing and you need some storage ideas for them. Luckily, there are so many options out there. And chances are, if you have a Pinterest account, you have seen them! :)

 

Here are some of my favorites:

You could hang your scarves from an over-the-door towel rack, using shower rings:

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Or even hang them from a wooden hanger with shower rings:

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 Or just leave out the shower rings and tie them on a hanger. Again, I would go with a sturdy one. (Just FYI - tights are show below, not scarves! You get the picture though.)

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 You could even turn an IKEA towel stand into a scarf rack, if you have space to display them in your room. Love this idea! (But if you don't have an IKEA near you, a quilt rack would be a similar option.)

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 Tying them on an old ladder is another option. Super cute!

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 Because I'm super OCD, I like to have my "regular" scarves separated from my "infinity" scarves. (I know, I'm a little nutty.) So here is how I store my scarves:

Regular scarves go on a scarf hanger like this one from Target, and infinity scarves go on a standard pants hanger. This is just what works for me!

 

Bundle up this weekend!! :)

Reader Space: Shoe Storage in an Entryway

A reader sent me this picture of her entryway:

I think she's definitely on the right track!! And while I am *super* envious of her mudroom cubbies, I do see that she could use a little help when it comes to shoe storage. It looks as though each family member has a designated shoe cubbie (excellent!), but the shoes are just thrown in there haphazardly and I'm sure it's difficult to find a pair. If she would just take it one step further and get a well-fitting bucket or basket to fit into each cubbie, it could look like this:

 

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Which would make:

1. Each family member able to find their shoes more quickly and

2. The space would look a lot prettier! :)

 

However, I think the key in the bucket/basket system would be to LIMIT the number of pairs that are allowed for each family member. Probably 5 pairs for each kid and 3 for each adult (since our shoes are so much larger!)

 

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For those of you out there without a built-in mudroom, here are few other shoe storage solutions for an entryway:

 

 1. Lay a hanging shoe organizer on its' side inside a bench

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 2.  Usually found in a dining room, a wall-mounted plate rack is a genius idea to storing shoes in a small entryway space!

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 3. IKEA has a solution for everything :) And this slender, 12" deep cabinet can fit almost anywhere!

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 4. Or if you're particularly handy, you can make these DIY wall bins. Love that rustic look!

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Hope these shoe storage solutions helped! Leave a comment with your latest organizational dilemma to be featured in my next "Reader Space" post.

Happy Organizing!

Holiday Decor Storage

When it comes to storing holiday décor, my philosophy is "the simpler, the better." Because let's face it, we can't all have garages that look like this:

 Instead, a more realistic example may be my basement:

 It contains mismatched colors/sizes of tubs, a random cord hanging from the ceiling, and some extra light fixtures and boards to throw in as well. It's still pretty organized in my opinion, though it may  not be the "prettiest" space! :)

 

I have one tub for Halloween/Fall décor.....

 .....two tubs for Easter/Spring décor, and then about 10 tubs for Christmas decorations. I used a simple label-maker to mark each tub, and for now, that is good enough.

 

I'll be honest though, I'd love for my storage space to look like this, with all matching clear tubs so you can see the contents:

I can blame my OCD for that!

 However, I have stumbled upon this idea as a better way to label your holiday décor tubs, and I can't wait to implement it this Christmas! Simply create a Word document that can serve as an inventory sheet for each tub. Then laminate the label, and list each tub's contents with a dry erase marker, as shown here:

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I would even add a little section at the bottom called "Need for Next Year," as a quick reference if something broke or you didn't use it to decorate that year. For example when stores - Hobby Lobby, I'm talking to you! - put their Christmas décor out in September, you can see at a moment's glance if you need something new for the upcoming holiday.

 

Another great idea: hanging wreath storage. Now, I only own about 3 wreaths, because like I said, I'm a minimalist. But I realize that some people - especially for Christmas - hang wreaths on multiple windows and door. If that sounds like you, here ya go!

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 I've had my fall decorations out for about a week now, and nothing make me happier than walking into my living room and seeing this!!

 And here is some of my favorite décor around the house:

One more tip concerning holiday décor.... as I was decorating last week, I realized I couldn't remember where I had put certain things the previous year. So, I decided to pictures of my house fully decorated, and can easily refer back to them in the future.

 

Let me know if you have any tips for storing holiday décor!

 

Happy Decorating!!