carmellyn

Hello,
I am on a kick to get my house organized. I just recently became an empty-nester, and I now have more room to have thing more accessible out in the rooms as long as I have neat looking ways to store display them. I have thinks stuffed in closets, piled in drawer, etc. I am looking for some ideas on making pretty storage areas and/or containers, etc to store these things. Some of the many ideas I am looking for are office supply storage, stationary storage, craft supply storage, a way to store books and magazines I want to keep, a place to organize my mail that comes in until I go through it once a week, pet food and supplies storage, etc. I really like the idea of giving things a new use, such as using something that would normally be disgarded and using it for something else. Any ideas?

downrightart

Using all the space there is my thing! Look at the little blue trays. Heh. That's using every nick and cranny!

I also purchased more decorative baskets this past weekend. Before posting pics, I'm waiting on my sofa. It will be delivered Thursday and I'll take more pics then.

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gma2rjc

What kind of craft supplies do you have? One or more?

Some pictures would help us know what you're working with. But you don't have to post them.

I would go through all the areas where you have things stored. Take everything out and put it all in one room (living room?) to sort. Put like things together - everything for knitting in one pile, paper crafts in another, etc.

When you have all of that sorted, divide things into piles of similar items again - paper in one pile, stickers in another, adhesives, markers/pens, etc.

Also make a pile for things you won't use again. You can either sell them or give them away.

Once you're all done with that massive project, you'll have a better idea of what size and how many storage containers you need.

Barb

__________________
May your troubles be less.
May your blessings be more.
And may nothing but happiness
Come through your door.

downrightart

Great post Barb!

I've decided to try my hand at some printer boxes. We use the paper for transcripts and reports at work. I think they will actually fit in my cubby holes in my pic above. I have decided to either use my contact paper (I have on hand) or paste/clue my material that I have on hand.

If and when I do it, I'll post some pics. Surely it can't be too hard.

pinokeeo

Maybe you could do some decoupage on your printer boxes. I just got some Scottish travel magazines, and I'm trying to decided what to put the beautiful pictures on.

I like the idea Barb has about sorting everything. I'm in the process right now of putting all of my instruction sheets into a notebook. I write myself notes and make diagrams, so now I'm getting them organized.

__________________
I cannot master those things which I have not tried.

carmellyn

Hi,
That space in the pic above is a REALLY organized area. The reply about what I have got me to thinking that I need to get all of the stuff out to see just what I do have. Most of it I am not even sure of since a lot of it is stuff my daughters left here when they moved out and no longer want. Also, through the years, I have accumulated: a lot of fabric and fabric embellishments, (we used to sew horse accessories for my daughter's horses and make show clothes), ribbon, scrapbook supplies, jewelry making supplies, photos that need to go into albums or scrapbooks (me and my daughters are supposed to start getting together to work on this), glues, sewing supplies, etc. Then, I collected glassware and have a lot of that still around (I have to decide if I want to keep it or not). I am looking to make or buy some kind of area to store/sort mail, magazines, and paperwork until I go through them (since I can't seem to quite procrastinating, I might as well have a decent place to put it until I go through it, lol). Other things I am looking for ideas on are cd's, jewelry, pet food and supplies (I use several different dry dog foods, and two different dry cat foods). I guess I will have a better idea as to what exactly there is after I do the daunting task of getting this all pulled out and into piles, getting rid of what I don't want. This in itself may take quite a while. I just lost my mom to cancer a little over a month ago and the house organizing wasn't attempted while she was ill because we took care of her at home and spent all our extra time with her since it was limited and therefore priceless. Now my eldest daughter needs surgery and my youngest is expecting next month. So I will be working on this as time permits, but I will be so glad to get it done no matter how long it takes.
Thanks for the ideas, and I look forward to more as I see what exactly I have to find solutions for. I will keep posting as I go through the stuff.

carmellyn

This idea sounds great, they could be used to store a variety of things. Any one ever tried to cover printer boxes? If so, what did you use, and how did it turn out?

pinokeeo

I do all kinds of paper stuff like that. Instead of using mod podge, which can be expensive, I use watered down white glue. It works just as well, and when I'm finished with a project I put a coat of water-based varnish on. It comes out very nice and has a hard finish on it.

__________________
I cannot master those things which I have not tried.

gma2rjc

I'm so sorry you lost your mom last month. I hope your daughter's surgery goes well. What a blessing to have a new little baby bringing wonderful changes to your family.

Would some of your glassware be able to serve as storage? A collection of it on some shelves could look beautiful.

I've seen pictures of table-top wine racks with beautiful glasses sitting where the wine bottles would be. Then, pens, pencils, stylus', bone folders, scissors, exacto knives, etc. are stored in the glasses. It keeps all of those little, often used tools right at hand.

I have a couple Iris carts that I use for storing things I don't need all the time. I used to have about 10 or 12 of them, but found that I didn't like having to go through the drawers to find things, even though the drawers were labeled.

One of the carts has a big bottom drawer that holds hanging files. I use that for stickers and have them sorted by theme. One of the other two drawers in that cart is for baby/child theme stickers, since they didn't fit in a file. The third drawer is for outdoor theme stickers. One other cart I have is for Christmas stickers and alphabet stickers.

Then I have two carts that I got at Kmart a long time ago that are stacked on top of each other. The drawers are clear plastic and big, so I store stamping and scrapbooking tools in them. Except for one drawer that has blank cards and envelopes in it.

One thing for you to keep in mind as you're planning your storage space is to make more space than you think you'll need. It'll come in handy for future purchases.

Barb

__________________
May your troubles be less.
May your blessings be more.
And may nothing but happiness
Come through your door.

carmellyn

Thank you for the thoughts about my mom and my daughter. It will be great to have a little baby to bring happiness!

I think I will try the decoupage with the white glue trick, that way, if I mess up, I didn't spend that much, lol. That wine rack idea sounds great I can't picture what you mean , do you remember where you saw the pics?

Take Care!