All Hooked Up

Recently did a post about organizing my broom cupboard. I promised a post about my big green box that finally has a purpose.  Well here it is!

Years ago I was given this green box.  Until now it has never had a purpose before.  It's nearly been thrown out a few times. But I always kept it for some reason.  And I'm really glad I did! When I was sorting out all my spare containers mixed in with the mess was all my spare 3M command hooks and picture hooks. Really. .. how am I supposed to find anything? I have organized these in the past but obviously it hasn't worked. So I hope this will.

I gathered all the hooks and bits a pieces together.  Then put them into families. 

Because this box had been sitting for a while I took out all the dividers and gave everything a good wipe over as it was a bit dusty. 

Now the fun part! I put the dividers back in where they were needed. And put my hook families into their new homes.

Now as you can see its not just all hooks in here. The is also spare 3M command strips and spare key rings.  I know I have enough key rings there to last for the next 20 years.  But one day when we went down to bunnings they had a special going. I think is was $1 a packet (4 key rings in a packet). So we got a few packets. There really isn't anything worse than a stray key. So now I have them on hand for when the need arises.

Also in here you will see some little containers.  In these are picture hooks with nails that are quite sharp and small in size as well.  So I raided my collection of containers and found these. They are containers that came with dummies I have bought. Great for small things.

Now the only way this was going to stay organized is if it was labeled. So out comes the label maker.  I was going to put the labels straight onto the box but the green  colour is quite dark and I would have problems reading it. And that kind of defeats the purpose of having labels in the first place. And of course I wanted to make it a bit pretty.  It's a great box and very useful but it isn't pretty.  I did think about covering the bottom with coloured contact but that would mean a trip to the shops. I wasn't keen on that idea as the budget for this project was $0. Maybe I might do this at a future date. So really the only way I could pretty it up a bit was with labels. 

I cut out pretty paper into strips.  Then I put the labels onto the paper.

I just used sticky tape loops to stick them on. It costs next to nothing.

There it is! This will make hanging something up so much easier and more pleasant.  Do you have your spare organizing things organized?

Organized By... Renee

The Boring Storage Spaces

I think just about everyone has one of cupboards or rooms that is used for 'storage' but really the only thing being stored is a mess. Well maybe the exception to this is my mother.  Every corner,  cupboard, even the garage is organized. But mum is retired and has a bit more time on her hands. She also is really disciplined about putting everything back. This is definitely where I got my love of organizing from. Mum has always loved pulling a cupboard apart and putting everything back  in a more functional way. And her hobby is collecting glass jars. Big and small.  She mainly uses them in her pantry.

Back onto subject. My disaster zone. My disaster zone is my broom cupboard.  It has a door so it's easy to pretend it's not there. But no more! The secret is out. It is time to get this space sorted!

In this space I wanted to store my broom, mop, duster and all my spare containers and little boxes for organizing projects.   So I needed shelves.  One shelf at the top is nowhere near enough.  That's why we are in this mess now. I can't go putting up shelves as I rent.  Then I thought about the shelf I already have in the garage.  I measured it up and it was a perfect fit.  Yay! And no I didn't steal that shelf.  Because then I would be fixing one problem by creating another one.  So off the Bunnings (my favourite store). I got the same shelf for $15. Yes it's just plain galvanised steel,  but I didn't want to spend a fortune on a fancy shelf.

So out comes everything.  When organizing I find it so much easier to start with a clean slate. While it was empty I also gave everything a good wipe over. I think that's an important part because everything looks so much better if it's clean as well.

The shelf came as a flat pack.  Now last time I put this shelf together it took me about 2.5 hours. This time it took me about an hour. And yes that was following the instructions both times.  Well because that's what we women do right?

In goes the shelf into the cupboard.  I was so excited.  I always get excited when I get more usable storage space.  Are you like that or am I the strange one out?

Now it's time to sort through everything. I'm a collector of boxes.  When I buy something the box it comes in gets the once over. I love making up dividers out of old boxes and covering them with wrapping paper.  It's much easier on the budget.  And whenever I want to do a project like that,  do you think I have the right boxes? So I keep the ones that are sturdy and usually small in size. I sorted through all my precious boxes. And I did throw a few out. And I fit them all into one big box. All my plastic containers went into a spare red basket. I have four of these baskets which are cardboard covered with fabric. These live under my tv in the cabinet.  Not sure why I have 5. Its a bit of an odd number.

So starting on the top shelf.  Yes it's empty!  I didn't have anything to put there. I do love it when that happens. It's great not having so much stuff that every inch is covered.  So if I ever need to find a new home for something I have the space. So I took a picture of it because I LOVE having spare space. Ok that's a bit strange too. It's really coming out today.  Oh dear!

So next down is a green box. Now this green box I was given years ago.  And I've been carting it around ever since and it's never been used. It's nearly been thrown out a few times. But no more.  It now has a purpose.  And that is to organize all my hooks for hanging pictures and other bits and pieces. Watch this space for a post about this soon. Next to that is just an empty basket yet to find a use.

So then is all my wonderful containers and boxes.

Now when I put the shelf in the cupboard I put it to one side so that I could fit my ironing board in there as well.  Up until now my ironing board has been living beside my fridge. Now it has a proper home.

On the door I was so excited about hanging up my broom, mop and duster.  So I got some over door hooks from my collection and hung everything up. Then stood back and admired my work. All finished! So I closed the door. ..and...it wouldn't close! Sometimes I really hate my doors as there isn't much room for over door hooks.  So into my collection I went. And I had some different ones. And they worked!  Happy dance! Ok I'm really finished. 

Im really happy with this space.  It's not really pretty but it works really well.  I have some other areas to sort out still, so the spare space in here is really going to come in handy. One area I really need to get stuck into is my office. I have started it but that's it. So a lot of the things that I'm currently storing in there will probably find a new home in here now.

So there is still lots more sorting to do but now I'm motivated to do it because when I organize another area I have spare storage space. 

What are your disaster areas? Are they hiding or in plain view?

Organized By. .. Renee