how i organize my...

I get asked all of the time how I organize different parts of my home. Every home is different and functions differently and I am a firm believer that each home should be organized the way that works best for the owner, but I also think sharing how things look in your home can spark ideas for others!

I found these bins at the Dollar Store... pretty great because I hate spending money on storage when I feel like it's not always necessary, just makes things look better.
My laundry room is upstairs and basically just holds my washer and dryer, so I have to find other spaces in my home to house things that I normally would put in a craft room or laundry room.  I do have 2 linen closets in my hallway upstairs so I use one of them as my space.

Here is how I organize my gift area:

Small boxes or bags for wrapping // ribbon // pre bough gifts for boys, girls and babies 

gift bags // tissue // tissue

My girlfriends make so much fun of me but I have never purchased a gift bag or tissue paper because I have kept all of it from showers, gifts, birthday and Christmas. {You know a gift is from me if the tissue paper isn't pressed perfectly}. I totally don't care though because I never have to pay for it!! 

How do you organize your gift wrapping area? 

closet organization

We should all be going through our closets at the change of every season. My sister and I do this for each other all of the time. I went over to her house this week to do some work!! We are bold with each other when it comes to this. You really need another eye and opinion. We don't need most of the clothes that we have and really end up wearing a small circle of items. Let's take things out and give it away to charity or a friend, think of the benefit others will have, not the loss that you think you will experience.

How we do it:

1. The owner goes through and takes out things she's unsure of. This could be:

a. things that may or may not be cute anymore 

b. things you haven't warn in the last 6 months

c. things that feel old and outdated or worn

d. things that you don't feel excited about putting on in the morning or feel beautiful in

2. The helper goes through and takes out items she questions. BE BOLD.

3. The owner goes through everything in the pile and tries on or says yes or no

4. You put back in your closet organized.

I like to organize my clothes by type of item.

Jackets, Cardigans, Sweaters, Button Ups, Long Sleeves, Short Sleeves & Tanks

I like all of my hangers to be the same type. It's a good thing to invest in to keep clothes fitting well.

Put all of your clothes in the same direction on the hanger

Sort shoes by type of shoe. To save space, put one shoe one direction and the other shoe the other direction. Shoe racks are always a good idea.

Happy organizing!!! 

Call me up and invite me over if you need help.

My friends will tell you that I'm honest ... right guys?

baby girl's room

This being my first baby, I wasn't quite sure what I needed to have around her room or where I should actually put it. After talking to friends, I organized everything before she was born the way that I thought best. Five months later I have for sure moved things around to make it work better for how we live in her space. I love her room and the way it turned out, it feels like us!

Some of my inspiration:

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Some shots of her room:

How I organized:

I didn't want to purchase a lot of storage tools so I made do with what I had. I hope to show that can still have a place for everything without having to buy things or organize it in a way you could never re-create while actually living in the space.

Are you about to be a new mom? Do you have any specific questions about how to organize all of the stuff? 

a little photo organization

Ever since my little one was born I have been worried about not capturing and correctly organizing pictures of her. I take way too many iphone pictures and not enough SLR pictures. I have always organized my photos by year but with the way babies change so much I wanted to break it down more than that.

A few weeks ago I decided that on the same day each month, the day that my babe becomes a month older, that I would upload all my pictures from my camera and phone to my iphoto library and title each event by the month. 

This will also help make sure when I sit down to make her baby book that the timeline is correct. Doing it once a month takes away my back up of never getting around to it. I always find you need to take a little extra time to do something often otherwise it's a big headache a year from now.

How do you all organize your photos?

office alternatives

We all need a space for "office stuff"- bills, calendar, mail etc. but we all don't have an extra room to hold that in our homes. I love these alternatives that hold everything necessary but don't take up a lot of space! Would you ever try something like this? I love how you can make it these also look decorative as well.

Source: realsimple.com via Olivia on Pinterest

Source: iheartorganizing.blogspot.com via Olivia on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Olivia on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Olivia on Pinterest

organize my day

If you work part time or are a stay at home mom, like a lot of my friends, you have a lot to accomplish in a week around your home. Some days you have too little and some days too much time to do it in. How do you get everything done in a week without feeling overwhelmed and give up?

Step 1: Make a list of all of the items you have to complete in a week
EX:  laundry, fold & put away, clean bathrooms, pick up & organize, vacuum, pay bills, mop (etc.)

Step 2: Make a list of the things you'd like to do in a week
EX: work out, crafting, read a book, blog

Step 3: Write out your current schedule to find the holes
EX:   8:30-12:30 Work
          12:30-1:30 Lunch
          1:30-3 Free Time
          3-5  Social Time

The holes I've created are  1:30-3 and 3-5 - what makes the most sense to me would be to have the "have to do's" 1:30-3 and the "want to do's" 3-5

Step 4: Make a schedule for each day of the week so you get everything done but it's spread out and doesn't feel like an overwhelming task.

                                                 1:30-3                            3-5
DAY OF THE WEEK           HAVE                          WANT
Sunday                                   Laundry                        time with husband
Monday                                  Fold & Put Away          work out
Tuesday                                  Clean Bathrooms          read & blog
Wednesday                             Pick Up House             work out
Thursday                                Vacuum                        see a friend
Friday                                     Mop                              work out
Saturday                                 Pay Bills                       craft

Step 5: Display this somewhere in your home to motivate you. Stick to it but give yourself grace if it doesn't work every single day!

Source: mochithings.com via Scarlet on Pinterest

Do you struggle organizing your day or getting things done?
Take 20 minutes to do this for yourself and see what you can come up with!

organized: jewelry

New house, new room, new rules. I've got to say that it's been more challenging than I would have thought to move into a new home and not put everything back the way it was. I laid out all my decor on the ground and really forced myself to get rid of the things I didn't like anymore.

 I really want this home to truly be us and part of that is making sure the things we own are us! In my old bedroom I had a black mirror on my dresser but felt like it was too dark against the furniture. I stole this white mirror from my vanity that I don't really have enough room for. I like the way it makes it look more feminine.

The second "new" decision I made was to display all of my jewelry in one place. I have a few cute trays and boxes that I've collected from my grandma or thrifted and displayed them all out! Nothing revolutionary but I like being able to see everything well and not have it look cluttered!

before

after

organized: Kitchen Pantry

I did a little organizing work this week at a sweet friend's house. We were chatting away and, like always, I got too excited to start and forgot to take before/after pictures...

1. Assess: open up all of the cupboards, create what we think is a good flow for her use of her kitchen, are the dishes and cups in the best place? do the things they use the most on the bottom shelves or hard to access?

2. Buy: She wanted this look of jars & baskets so she bought 4 to start with. She had these jars already which were great to add in some style.

Source: decorology.blogspot.com via Cristina on Pinterest

Source: beiteversohumble.com via Alicia on Pinterest

Source: theinspiredroom.net via Siobhan on Pinterest

3. Take it all out: I know this seems counter productive but it's way easier to create the space you want when it's a blank canvas!

4. Get rid of what you don't need/use: pretty self explanatory

5. Store what you don't use often: choose a space in your garage or a closet to store those items you don't use daily: picnic baskets, extra plates etc.

6. Put it all back organized!!

the result?? more space than she ever knew she had! I love it when that happens. 

organized interiors

loving these today: how can you create your decor to double up as organizational tools?

Source: ariannabelle.com via Olivia on Pinterest

Source: traditionalhome.com via Olivia on Pinterest

Source: lonnymag.com via Olivia on Pinterest

organized: pantry

who wouldn't want to meal plan and cook with a pantry like this!?

Source: stagetecture.com via Olivia on Pinterest

Source: beverlyworkman5.blogspot.com via Olivia on Pinterest

organized: no closet?!

Reader Question:

Olivia! I love all your organizational skills & posts. We are moving to a much larger house but the whole place has only one large closet which in a little sitting area not any of the bedrooms. How would you organize closet-less bedrooms?

Thanks all for your questions, keep them coming!! I love answering them!

Closet-less bedroom!! Why would anyone build such a thing! :) 

Some tips/ideas for you my friend:

1. Pair down your clothes: this is a great opportunity to look at the clothes you own and make sure you you ask your self the following questions with each one: 1. do I love this? 2. do I wear this? (in the last 6 months, season depending) 3. am I drawn to it when I'm getting dressed in the morning . If you answer "no" to any of these questions, it's got to go! Even if you spend money on it and barely wore it or if you got it as a gift, get rid of it!! You'll feel great!

1a. Store away in an attic or bins not in your bedroom your out of season clothes, if it's summer, you don't need sweaters taking up "closet" space!

2. Decide what NEEDS to be hung up and what can be folded to fit in a dresser. This will help you see what you are working with and what size of something you may need to purchase

3. If this is a space you see staying for a long time, invest in an armoire (#2 can help you decide this as well as what size to get)

Source: lovelyliving.tumblr.com via Debi on Pinterest

4. Create your own closet: 

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Caitlin on Pinterest

5. Utilize under the bed: Once dressers &  armoire are full and you need more space, under the bed is a great option for sweaters, scarves, pants or out of season items

Source: bhg.com via Luisa on Pinterest

6. Utilize Baskets, Trunks and Ottomons to double as decor: This is a great solution for any part of the home! If you can find a great piece of furniture that you love that also holds storage, its a bonus!

Source: potterybarn.com via Kristin on Pinterest

Anyone else have other tips for our friend with no closet in her bedroom??

organized: small spaces

Today we have another Reader Question from Mandee:

Mandee

I admire you! I have a very tiny apartment with my boyfriend and hardly any closet space. In our living room I try to hide my vacuumm cleaner by/behind my coat rack. there is no space for it! I try to be a minimalist with other things/decor but I am at a loss for this one. No coat closet (hence the coat rack). what do you think?

Thanks so much Mandee for your question, as for your vacuumm, I would try under a bed, in your closet, or a guest room closet,  even if it doesn't make sense to put in in a place, as long as it is out of the way!  Here are some tips for organizing in a small space:

1. Declutter. I know this sounds simple but it's so true. I recently had to do more decluttering as we prepared to put our house on the market and I truly surprised myself how much bigger my space was when there were less things around. Take a look at what you really need and love and get rid of everything else. If you miss it, you can always put it back! 


2. Utilize closets. When you're working with a small space you have to keep your closets EXTRA organized. Most likely closets have just a few shelves, or one hanging bar. Take this out and create a shelving plan that works for the items that you have to fit in there. Utilize every space of it from top to bottom! 

Source: bhg.com via Elisa on Pinterest

3. Remove Furniture. This one was tough for me, we have people over a lot, and a lot of people sometimes so I tend to keep extra chairs and such around for them. Once I kept only the pieces that fit in the space, I loved my rooms so much more. Sometimes the colors, texture and weight of an item makes the space seem smaller. 

4. Choose the Wall instead of the floor. Using shelving on walls to decorate or hold things up instead of adding a bookcase or storage unit that will sit on your floor. This gives the illusion there is more room.

Source: pbteen.com via Tori on Pinterest

5. Decorate with your storage items.  Sometimes we would have more room in storage for the necessary storage items if we didn't use it for things that didn't need to be hidden. Go through your closets and pick out items that could be used as decorations such such as vases, serving platters, bowls, pitchers etc. This will give you more room in closets for the "ugly" items 


6. Buy furniture that doubles as storage. Coffee tables, window seats. ottomans, all of these things can be used lots of different ways

Source: orgjunkie.com via Oksana on Pinterest

organized: desk clutter

Reader Question:

Sara B: 

I would say the thing that is hardest for me to keep organized is paperwork/mail/desk clutter. I always tell myself I'm going to get better at opening mail right away, creating a file system, staying on top of things that need a response, etc, but then it never seems to work! So any tips on keeping desk space/drawers/and counters clutter free and organized would be awesome!

Thanks for the questions Sara! I think this is a huge problem for a lot of people. The first thing I would say is to make sure you create a system that works for the way YOU like to deal with mail/bills etc. Don't set too high of expectations for yourself because you'll be frustrated when it doesn't work out. 

 #1: Use a portable file folder holder for things you are done with, to file away. However, it doesn't need to just be bills and paperwork. I also file away recipes, things from magazines, birthday invites etc.  (all via the Container Store)

#2 On your desktop just use ONE bin for "inbox" this can be things you need to deal with, RSVP to, bills to pay etc. I've found that if you use multiple place for multiple things, they get lost in the shuffle. If you have ONE place for everything, once it's big enough you'll have to go through it. 

Depending on how much you trust yourself this can sit on top of your desk or inside the top drawer.

#3 set a time of the week where you go through everything. I like to do Sunday nights. As I get ready for the week, I go through my inbox and take care of everything possible. I send emails, I make a to do list and grocery list for the week. If you make it a routine and habit to do in a consistent time, you're more likely to follow through.

#4 Decorate while you organize. Find things that you think are fun and cute to motivate yourself to stay organized!

Source: bhg.com via Olivia on Pinterest

Source: ballarddesigns.com via L. on Pinterest

Anyone else have more questions about desk organization?

I'll leave you with some appropriate inspiration:

Source: bhg.com via Kayla on Pinterest

Source: hgtv.com via Sue on Pinterest

Source: homedecoratingideaspictures.com via Britta on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Megan on Pinterest

Have an organizing (or anything) question?? Ask here