You did what with that?

I thought I would keep on the recycling theme and speak of recycling items into things that you may have never thought of. It helps save some space in the landfill and creates a new wonder for your home!  

I drank that bottle for my art project 

For all you wine lovers in the audience, why not make a cork board out of all your old corks. Take an old frame and as you finish your bottles of wine glue the corks in a grid pattern against the back board. It makes for the perfect to hang photos, notes or other household paper clutter. 

Shoe Hangers for more then shoes

Between the bathroom, kitchen and laundry room cupboards who knows where all your cleaning products are when you need them. Why not use up the space behind the door to store all your cleaning products by purchasing an inexpensive shoe holder that hangs on the back of the door. A shoe hanger for more then shoes? Who would have thought! 

Put a little spice in your bathroom 

Inexpensive spice racks from Ikea or a home store are the perfect size for cosmetics to help clear off the bathroom countertop. 

A new use for an old chest 

An old chest can be the perfect place to keep all your files and other important information organized. Simply run a rail or piece of doweling down either side of the chest to provide a place for your hanging folders. Inserting some cork along the lid can provide another organizational option. 

A hanger & shower curtain rings 

A simple hanger and shower curtain rings can turn into the perfect place to hang and store your scarfs or belts. Try it! 

A palette table 

Simply adding some inexpensive legs and glass top to an old palette can give you a new artsy coffee table. Who would have thought! 

Peering through the glass 

An old window frame can become the perfect place to hang your previous memories. 

Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose

Some of the best organizational tools may be right in front of you and you don`t even know it. Repurposing items can be the key to your next organizational job. With a little bit of elbow grease who knows what they could turn into!

(1) Glass Bottles or Jars 

Spray paint old mason jars in a funky design to store and hold all your beauty, makeup or bathroom supplies. 

Even attach them to a plank or wood that can then be hung on the wall. 

Just by adding some labels to old glass bottles, they can become the perfect storage for cooking or baking items.

With a little bit of paint, any old glass jar can be the perfect cute storage solution. 

(2) Aluminum Cans

Turn old aluminum cans on the side, which makes for the perfect storage solution in a home office or front hall. 

Attach the cans to a piece of plywood to create an art area for the little ones of the house.

Think about adding a piece of wallpaper or a coat of paint to the cans to tie them into any part of your home. 

(3) Baskets

Why not hang baskets on the wall for storage and free up some floor space! 

(4) Frames

Take the glass out of an old frame and string some twine or wire across, to make the perfect place to hang necklaces, earrings or other jewelry. 

Remove the glass and screw in some hooks to create  a place to hang your keys. 

Insert a sheet of lined paper in an old frame and use as a dry erase board for memos or shopping lists. 

(5) Pots

Decorating old pots big or small, can make for storage solution in a bathroom, bedroom, living room or home office. Even consider them in the kitchen by the sink to hold your  sponges or other washing items. 

What`s at the back of your closet?

Your closet can look like this! 

The changing of seasons brings about the perfect time for cleaning out and reorganizing that cramped overstuffed closet that we all have. A closet is probably one of the hardest organizing tasks to tackle, so i`ve summarized my top 5 tips for tackling your closet 


(1) Empty it! 
The first step to organizing your closet is to take everything out. With all this "stuff" create 3 separate piles; the first for the keepers of in season clothing; the second for the keepers but out of season clothing; the third the pieces that have outstayed there time in your closet that your ready to donate. The general rule of closet clearing is to get rid of anything you haven’t worn in a year or two along with any items that don’t fit you any more. 


(2) A wardrobe for all seasons 
The best way to make your closet more functional is to pack up seasonal items into storage bins that you can tuck away into less accessible places until they are needed. One of the most unused spaces in a bedroom is underneath the bed. This can be a great place to store these seasonable items in inexpensive plastic containers made for these unused spaces. 


(3) Group It 
Organize the clothes that you are keeping into categories: work wear, casual wear, formal wear, etc. Then, within each category, group all the tops, pants, skirts and dresses together. The final step to this is to group like colored items together. 


(4) To hang or to fold 
Strategically decide what to hang and what to fold. This is largely a personal decision but can be dependent upon how much space of each you have. If you find you don`t have enough of one or the other the hardware store has some inexpensive solutions to adding another bar or some stacking storage shelves. 


(5) Unify 
What you’re using to organize your closet can be just as important as what’s in it. Stocking up on the same style of hangers helps create a cohesive look and can save space. 


The best tip I can offer is not to get overwhelmed. Once you`ve hauled everything out sometimes it looks like the task maybe more then you can handle, but trust me once it`s finished you`ll be happy you did it! Take it one step at a time. 

Pass The Remote

It`s that little piece of electronic house ware that we all can`t live without. When it goes missing there is a housewide APB sent out for its. What else would get such a fuss then the television remote. If your anything like my house you probably have 2 or 3 for each television as well. I`ve been exploring some inventive ways to store your television remotes so the search has to be no more.

Side Couch Organizer

This option is great if you lack space around your living room. These can be purchased at any home outfitting score, or make one yourself for a more personal feel.

Baskets

Baskets, whether wicker or metal, make a great storage solution for remotes. There are so many different styles out there, so choose one that best fits with your other decor.

Decorative Plate

Not only do decorative plates make a great and convenient place for you to place your remotes, they also act as an art piece for the room.

Plant Pots

Plant pots are a great inexpensive way to store your remotes. You can paint and decorate them in different colors to fit into your room.

Vases

An old vase is a nice sleek way to store your remotes, just be sure the opening is large enough to easily access the remotes.








As i`ve said before the decision on what to use, largely depends on your decor and what works best for you and your family. Happy channel surfing!

Memories Are More Then The Things

The one downfall I have with the "stuff" in my life is that I seem to collect a lot of it; not unlike many people I know. I particularly noticed this from my recent travels abroad. I had saved every ticket, every brochure, every program of every event and once I got home I had no idea what to do with it all.

Thats when I started to realize that the memories are not in the things, and sometimes they`re not worth keeping and cluttering up your space with. Don`t get me wrong, I still have a shoebox full of the more important mementoes of my travels, but not everything is worth keeping. For example do I need every single t-shirt that I picked over my university career... probably not.

So I guess the point to this post is that i`ve learned that just because you let go of a few things doesn`t mean the memories are gone.

My organizational tips to getting rid of "momentous" pieces are as follows:

(1) Make them electronic. Scanning or photographing helps clear up space, but still gives you a smaller piece of something to look back on.

(2) Limit yourself. Maybe save 1 thing from each special occasion. Do you really need 3 programs, 5 tickets and your robe from your graduation day? Think about it...

(3) Think about what your kids or grandkids will want to see. Things are saved to help stimulate and bring back memories of a certain event. Think about it in the context of what your kids or grandkids will want to see in the future. Will they get the significance of a ratty old t-shirt with your sororities name on it? Probably not...

I hope some of these tips can help you clear some room in your closet to bring in new memories.

Jewellery Organization

Don`t you hate it when you reach into your jewellery box and pull out a tangled mess of necklaces, that take you longer to unscramble then is worth the time. 

As my necklace collection continued to grow I knew I needed somewhere better then the bottom of my jewellery box to display and organize these prized possessions. For the past few months they have been hanging on push pins inside my closet, but after some Pinterest 'researching' I came across a new idea. 

I took a trip to the hardware store and picked up 5 dresser knobs, a picture hanging hook and a discount 2 foot piece of crown moulding. Drill 5 equally spaced holes in the crown moulding and insert the knobs. Screw in the picture hanging hook into the back. I found it was better to place one on each side, so that when the weight changes with the placement of necklaces it still stays centred.  And with that you have an expensive looking display, that your necklaces will be proud to hang on, with no tangling!