I need help coming up with topics for Decorganizing Wednesday so I am starting a little contest. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post or send me an email at sidney@eclectic-idg.com with a topic you would like me to cover and you will be entered into the random drawing to win this book...
Home Organizing Workbook: Clearing Your Clutter, Step-By-Step
by Meryl Starr
And if you are feeling really industrious, send me a picture of your unorganized space and I will provide you with some organizing tips, free of charge, in exchange for allowing me to feature your organizing dilemma on my blog. I promise to keep it anonymous!!!
So get going. Contest deadline is Wednesday, July 21st!
How do you organize your make-up? In pretty little jars on a vanity? In a drawer? In a fancy make-up bag?
Real Simple
Real Simple
Trish McEvoy
I have mine organized in a drawer but I do like my Trish organizer for sleepovers. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that there is a compartment for everything! Bravo Trish, bravo. As you already know, make-up can go bad. I did some research and found this article Real Simple did a while back. Some products have a PAO (Period After Opening) icon on the packaging that will help you keep tabs on the freshness but if not, you can refer to this chart.
Mascara/Liquid Eyeliner Lasts: 3-4 mos Toss it sooner if you get an infection, pink eye or the tube goes dry.
Powders (eye shadow, blush, face powder) Lasts: Up to two years Toss it sooner if it gets suspiciously crumbly or shiny.
Lipstick, lip gloss, balm Lasts: A year with wand, two years with direct brush application Toss it sooner if you get a cold sore or other lip infection. (duh!)
Pencils Lasts: Up to 3 years, with sharpening Toss it sooner if it becomes unusually dry or melty.
Liquid Foundation Lasts: Up to 2 years Toss it sooner if the color changes or separation occurs.
Moisturizer: Face or Body Lasts: About 2 years in a pot; 2-3 years in a pump Toss it sooner if you notice a change in the smell or consistency.
So my brother used the term "decorganizing" last weekend and I about died. LOVE IT! I am not sure what tickled me more that someone used the word in a sentence or that my brother reads my blog! Now if only I had coined the term instead of Tina Fey.
I need some help...anyone have anything they want me to talk about on Decorganizing Wednesday? Leave me a comment or send me an email sidney@eclectic-idg.com.
Congrats to Stacey Bunch of The Whole Package for being the winner of The Home Organizing Workbook: Clearing Clutter, Step by Step! I hope you find this book handy! And to the rest of you, thanks for submitting your organizing challenges and requests for topics on Decorganizing Wednesday, I really appreciate it! Keep the ideas coming...
Real Simple
Now this isn't exciting but I do think it is really important. And it is a handy guide from Stacey's new book on what bills/documents you need to keep and what you can toss. So save it or print it out and keep it somewhere you can remember and refer to it as needed. Need more information? Click here for good article from Real Simple.
I am a big believer in making organization attractive. A lot of professional organizers out there are just function focused. For example, I just helped a client "prettify" her organization because she had hired a professional organizer years ago who had used all the ugly plastic Walmart containers with white label maker tape. Come on! There are a bizillion options out there so why not take the extra step to make things look nice too. I think the nicer an organized space looks, the more likely you are to maintain it. Ok, stepping down off of my soapbox now...
With all that being said, there are a ton of storage products for organizing jewelry out there but I am not going to talk about them. I want to show you some outside the box ideas. Here goes. If you want to show off your jewelry collection boutique style then keep it all tabletop and make a pleasing vignette like these...
Martha Stewart
Unknown
Real Simple
If you prefer to keep your jewelry out of sight try using an antique muffin tins, cupcake molds, ice cube trays or a mismatch of teacups inside dresser drawers. I have been dying to use one of those old print letter trays (perhaps painted) to organize jewelry, they already have all the compartments that would be perfect for rings and earrings! They are even shallow enough that you could layer them inside a dresser.
Cottage Living
via paisleywallpaper.blogspot.com
Martha Stewart
If you want to display your jewelry on a wall so you can see it and so items doesn't get tangled try one of these options. You can use a custom frame with either chicken wire, picture wire or insert a radiator cover. Easy to make yourself!
jfkaufmandesign.com
Cottage Living
Pottery Barn
Any more ideas? Email me sidney@eclectic-idg.com or leave a comment. And as always, if you have any topic you would like me to cover on Decorganizing Wednesday, let me know!
If you are really popular (like me) and having a hard time figuring out what to do with all of your party invitations, take some cues from these creative folks.
Designer Lindsey Harper
Designer Mary McDonald for Domino
Use an old door or shutter. P.S. I tried this once and the tacks wouldn't penetrate [pause for giggles] the old wood so check first!
Designer Kay Douglas for House Beautiful
I have a random wall in my kitchen that is about 30" wide and I have filled the entire wall, floor to ceiling, with invites and photos. I tried using the chalkboard/magnetic paint but it wouldn't hold a magnet (despite three coats) so they are just tacked in. I am real excited about the day when I get to spackle this wall![she says sarcastically] Therefore, I highly suggest using cork instead.
When you are done displaying your invitations, you can cut them up and use the pretty printed parts as tags for gifts (or so says my inner Martha). Anyone have any other creative ideas for displaying party invitations? Leave a comment!
I received a reader request to talk about organizing a kitchen pantry and since I have been organizing so many lately, I thought I would share my process as well as some tips.
Step One: Clear As you clear everything out, throw away anything that has gone bad or is past its expiration date. If there is unopened, good food that you know you will never eat then donate to a local homeless shelter (or the like).
Step Two: Categorize Clear off some counter space or table space for this step. As you are clearing everything out, try to group like items i.e. put all pastas in one spot and all snacks in another. This step will make the whole process a bizillion times easier.
Step Three: Clean Wipe down all shelves, vacuum up crumbs, etc. so you can start with a blank canvas.
Step Four: Conceptualize Think about your lifestyle and how you want to use your pantry. Do you cook a lot? Do you buy in bulk? Does it need to be kid friendly? This will help you know where to put things in your pantry. If you cook a lot, you might want spices and such easily accessible. If you buy in bulk, allow space for these types of purchases. If it needs to be kid friendly, put breakables up high and bins with kid's snacks down low.
Step Five: Contain Choose the proper containers to house your food items. I like to take dried goods out of their box and store them in glass or plastic (BPA free) containers. This not only increases their lifespan but it looks better too! Just be sure to also snip off any box instructions you might need for cooking. I also like to use bins or baskets to contain all the things like bags of potato chips, snack bars and such.
Be sure to label all containers with clear label maker tape or create your own unique labels. One tip I have for making any space look neat is to limit the types of containers. For example, use all of the same glass containers and then all the same type of baskets. If you have six different style baskets and six different types of glass and/or plastic containers it can start to look cluttered real quick! *I put this as Step Five but ideally you should buy/order many of these containers in various sizes before you start the organization process.
Once you have everything cleared out, organized by category and in the proper containers, you are ready to put everything back in the pantry. Be sure to keep like items together, allow space for new purchases and make sure all items are visible (put taller items in the back and shorter in the front and keep labels facing forward). If you have the space, you might want to keep a step stool in the pantry for those hard to reach items. This was an earlier post I did on some super organized pantries to wet your appetite and give you a push to get this project started!
If you are local and want help organizing your pantry, let me know! I can help your organize your current space and/or design a custom storage system for you (via California Closets). Give me a shout sidney@eclectic-idg.com.
And remember, if there is a subject you would like me to post about on Decorganizing Wednesday, please let me know!Leave a comment or shoot me an email at sidney@eclectic-idg.com.
I need to once again admit that I stole that term from Tina Fey on a 30 Rock episode just in case she reads my blog and wants to sue me. The reason I like it so much is that a space can be well organized but well, lack-luster. I feel that in order to keep a space organized, it also has to look good!
Here is a pantry that I found in the blog world and thought it was very inspirational! I have organized many pantries but they don't always photograph super well but I thought this one laid out the process very well so here goes...
Before
After
The keys to organizing any space are basically the same. I will break it down into 5 simple steps.
Remove everything from your space.
(Yeah, it's gonna look bad before it looks good!)
Separate like items. For example, put all baking goods together as she has done below.
(It is best to do while you are doing step no. 1 so you are more efficient!)
This is especially smart so when she goes to bake, she can remove this box and all her supplies are handy!
Once you have a "blank canvas," clean it top to bottom and then do what you can to improve the overall aesthetic.
Here she painted and then used a vinyl decal on the wall to add more interest.
Once you have everything separated into categories, put the items into proper containers and be sure to label them as needed.
Load the space! It is best to put seldom used items up high and more frequently used items in easy reach.
Here is another after shot! Great job!
Via House of Smith's
And if you love all her labels as I do, you can get them here!
In 2010, I did Decorganizing posts every Wednesday but I felt like I was (pardon me) half-assing it. So in 2011, I will still do Decorganizing posts more sporadically and only when I really feel inspired! But I need your help! If you have a specific area that you want organizing help with, leave a comment or email me at sidney@eclectic-idg.com and I might do a post on this topic providing you with organizing tips and inspirational photos. Or email me photos of your space with a description of your organizing needs and I just might feature it on my blog! I will give you details instructions with specific product information on how to decorganize your space! Or if yo need hands-on-help, email me for information on my organizing services.
There are many ways to organize your pots and pans no matter the size of your crib or how often you use them.
Pot racks, wall or ceiling mounted...
In a cabinet or drawer...
Laid out on a wall Julia Child's style...
House Beautiful
Martha has some tips (shocker) for protecting your pots if you go for the nesting method. She suggests using large coffee filters, paper towels or paper plates in between pans to protect the nonstick surfaces. Like so...
And these suckers are handy for keeping up with all those pesky lids...
Typically, I am a bit of a minimalist. Not too many prints or accessories. However, I am a big fan of packing it in when you are living in a small space. Think function first, then make it look pleasing. Some good tips to take from these images are: use pretty baskets or bins to organize unsightly items, use art to break up a massive bookcase of not so pretty books, use furniture for double duty (like this desk as a nightstand or this sofa which can double as a bed), use every inch of space (storing magazines under the coffee table) and I say keep the walls and architecture one color so that all of your "stuff" stands out like a punctuation mark!
This is a clever way to organize fabric swatches for a project!
This is for all you interior designers out there. I am dying to hear from you all as to how you organize your fabric memos, swatches and/or books. Personally, I cannot stand the books! I don't like to be told how to match fabrics! In fact, I cut the fabrics I like out of them and throw the actual books out (sorry reps!). Except for the solids like a solid silk book, those I keep. I have a bunch of baskets and bins that are labeled by type of fabric: Silks, Cottons, Velvets/Leathers, Linens, Sheers, Matalesse, Outdoor, etc. in which I put the memos and/or books of solids. Or I organize them by type of print: Graphic Patterns, Organic Prints, Stripes, etc. This works for me based on how I work on a project...if I am looking for a print as a jumping off point then I can grab one of these bins, search for the print I need and then easily search for my coordinating prints and/or solids. [I should mention that I live in Charleston, SC and we do not have access to a design center (boo! although I do go to ADAC often) so I have had to create my own fabric library.]
My fabric bins...
So designers...please share with us how you organize your fabrics!
Do you fold your's on shelves like this?
via flikr
Some other ideas: clear plastic bins, clear over the door shoe holders, towel or curtain rods, books on peg board...
Check out Celerie Kemble's office...that must be nice!
In my experience as a closet designer, it seems that most people want to get all of their clothes into the closet verses having a dresser in the bedroom. I LOVE this idea! You can find inexpensive dressers at flea markets, yard sales or your local IKEA to house all of your personals inside your closet. Get creative and label the drawers like this clever minx did. I mean why not???
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