I was on Pinterest today (I'm an addict) and found a couple of organizational ideas that I honestly feel really stupid for not thinking of before. I thought I'd share them with you guys. These are things that are actually easily and cheaply done and free up space, or time, which we all need! I know no one actually wants to do this with all the other more relaxing things you could do but these are simple tips to start organizing your home one step at a time.
1. The dollar store wire dish drainer can be bought pretty cheaply and work amazingly for storing all of those plastic lids. It's already made to hold things like that upright and is easily picked up and out of the cabinet to rummage through. I have the good intentions of buying the nice storage system with the easily found lids but I never remember it when I'm at the store with the money. I only remember it when mine come sliding out of the cabinet, attempting to assassinate me. Go ahead and throw out all the ones that don't have a bowl to them anymore. I had fifteen. Really? Fifteen lids that went to absolutely nothing.
2. The cheapo shoe organizer. You know what I'm talking about, the clear plastic thing meant to hang on your closet door to store all your shoes that you never use. Yeah, that thing. Cut it down, and attach it to the cabinet door under your sinks to hold extra shampoos, brushes, lotions, cleaners, etc etc etc. I was thinking the main problem with this one is the way you attach it because we've all had that one shampoo bottle leak and it's not easily cleaned up. Any ideas on that?
3. The DIY hat organizer. My Brandon has a lot and I mean A LOT of baseball caps. Does he wear them? No. He only has two that he wears, a UK hat and his work hat. Can I throw the others away? No. Why? Because he might wear them one day...So all you do is get a wooden hanger and some round shower curtain hangers (the part that attaches the curtain to the rod) put the little hangers on the bottom of the clothes hanger and clip the hats onto those-facing the same direction. I have 20 on mine. All stored away in the back of the closet just "in case".
4. User Manual/ Warranty Organization. If you're like me you have a drawer dedicated to this crap. I can never find the one I need when I need it. All you need is a large three ring binder (I buy these at thrift stores quite a bit) and some clear three ring pockets (they only have an opening in the top and three holes on a tab to connect to the binder. Dedicate one pocket to each product and in this pocket keep your receipt, user manual, and any warranty information or insurance information. Just as a little add on I also recommend keeping a note (maybe on the outside of the pocket in sharpie) of the brand name model number and serial number. Also keep note of any expiration dates on any of these warranties as with several companies you may be able to call in and renew the warranty as long as you call in before the expiration date. Trust me, I work for one of these companies and I can't count the number of customers who had a serious and costly problem two days after their warranty expired.
5. The tension rod. Last one for this post. You can get small tension rods pretty cheaply at the dollar store and walmart. I know you know what I'm talking about even if you don't realize it. These are the spring loaded round rods you put in your window frame to hang curtains. In this application however you put them in your cabinets, running vertically (or horizontally if you'd like though you'd need more this way) to store baking pans and cookie sheets separately so that you don't have to unstack a huge pile to get what you want.
This post is really longer than I wanted it to be. I guess Brandon's right, I do talk too much!! Please feel free to leave any comments of any ideas you have. I'm particularly fond of re purposing something, using it in a way you never would have thought of and thanks for reading!
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