Author: The Organizing Lady (Page 8 of 11)

office florals — Found on mattieologie.com

Inspiring Home Office Spaces That Make You Love Work

July 31, 2015 / The Organizing Lady

You get up, eat some breakfast, shower, get dressed (maybe) and head to your home office to start your work day (in no particular order). If you are not loving your home office space, you may not be loving your work so much, or at least not loving to do work in your space.

Making your home office into a stylish place, possibly even the most stylish room in your home, just takes a bit of re-thinking your home office environment.

So here’s some ideas to give your home office a picker-upper and make it the office you LOVE working and being in. And, most of all, an office that inspires work and creativity.

Open space doesn’t have to mean same space for home office

A stylish room divider that compliments the room while dividing the home office space is a good alternative to an open space design.

Found on Hometone.com

Turn home office wall space into art

Adding a bit of distinction on one wall with creative paint work or wallpaper can bring character and style to your office area.

Found on Nousdecor.com

Found on homedit.com

Match your home office style with a wall art design

Get creative here and check out some specialty stores that carry wall art, or make your own!

Found on Carlaaston

Found on brit.co

Add functionality to your home office wall space

A chalkboard wall will let your creativity explode in your home office, and it can be a lot of fun marking up the wall.

Found on Upcycledtreasures.com

A paper roll for the wall also works for note-taking …

Found on design-milk

A framed clipboard center can organize those special papers in style without looking like clutter.

Found on liagriffith

Keep your family, friends and favorite places in view with a photo collection

Photos around the office remind you of your loved ones and/or memorable places, making work so much more pleasant.

Found on inspiredsnaps.com

Found on cosmopolitan.co.uk

Found on dopedecor.com

Light up your home office space with special lighting

Office lighting is important and giving some style to your lighting solution is even better.

Found on howtodecorate.com

Found on Stylelogistics

Found on lushome

Create some nostalgia in the home office

What kind of article would this be if I didn’t include my own home office?! Obviously, I’m also into filmmaking and use decor that inspires me 🙂

hollywhollywood styled home officeood styled home office

Source: Organizing Lady

Spice up home office bookshelves

Again, this is my home office area with a couple bookshelves that do not bore me. And I keep supplies and materials hidden in decorative storage luggage and book drawers.

Source: The Organizing Lady

And for a brighter look, white bookshelves with colored accessories add flavor to the space.

Found on simplified-bee

Found on designrulz.com

Found on Stylecaster

And, just for those special home office books …

Found on Brit.co

Bring style to your desk with styled desk accessories

Forget boring desk accessories and go with all the cool desk accessory styles now available to us.

Found on simplyjessicamarie.com

Found on modishandmain.com

Found on thelegalcareergirl.com

Found on Hative

Found on Brit.co

Maximize your desk area using the wall for office accessories

I came across this DIY accessory holder with a lot of character and had to share!

Found on Hative

Show office file folders that have some style

Like desk accessories, file folders don’t have to be boring when they are in view in your home office space.

Found on runtoradiance.com

Stylize your home office filing system

If you can’t hide your filing cabinet, there are other solutions …

by Martha Stewart

Paint your filing cabinet with chalkboard paint to write your own notes on.

Found on designimprovised.com

Use office furniture that enhances the home office space

This is where style meets your personality or personal taste. Shop around to find the perfect fit!

Found on TheNester.com

Found on ballarddesigns.com

Found on carlaaston.com

Bring inspiration into the home office

If you’re like me who likes to keep things that inspire me in view, these inspiration boards are perfect ideas for the home office.

Found on artek.com

Found on iheartorganizing-blogspot

Found on Still-Inspiration-blogspot

A cool office chair adds character and style to your home office space

To complete the look in your office, don’t forget the office chair!

Found on refinery29

Found on laurieannes.com

Florals and plants will emphasize the home in home office

And lastly, let’s not forget to bring some life into your home office with florals and/or plants …

Found on mattieologie.com

Found on stylelogistics

You can check out more on my Pinterest board!

8 Simple Ways To Reclaim Your Messy Space In A Hurry

July 29, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 0 Comments

Let me see, you’ve got some stuff in your living space that is taking away from the aesthetics you once created in it. Maybe it’s the kid’s stuff, maybe it’s the spouses, or maybe it’s your own stuff that never found another home space? What’cha gonna do?

I’ve seen this happen all too often, and it usually begins with walking in the front door and dropping stuff off nearby. The situation continues as it becomes a dropping place for many other things now – like returns to the store, gifts you purchased, bins filled with donation items, and so on.

Pretty soon, that open space is no longer open space – it is now clutter space. In my article”4 Easy Ways To Give Your Cluttered Home A Space Lift” you’ll see my method in clearing clutter, and you may want to start there. Because that’s the first thing that needs to be done – removing stuff that doesn’t belong in the area.

After that, here are ways to reclaim and re-create your space.

1. Place decor on furniture surfaces

Placing a plant or candles on a side table and maybe even a fish bowl or something doesn’t leave a lot of room for dumping other stuff on it and is the best way to avoid clutter build-up.

Found on on-eggeth

Found on-decor4all

Found on-homedecorationconcepts

Source: The Organizing Lady

2. Create a ready-to-go table setting

Adding a vase or planter on a dining table and some table settings, for instance, will claim that space as a dining area – not a dumping table.

Source: The Organizing Lady

Found on buytrion

3. Decorate your living room furniture

Put decorative throw pillows on sofa and chairs to avoid furniture dumps.

Found -on-hgtv

Found on -on-eco-fueler

4. Re-decorate your bookshelves

After the clutter is taken off the bookshelves, you can now make them a showcase of books, photos, and decor items.

Found on on decoist

Found on fortikur

Found on chicandglamorous

5. Give your home work area a quick makeover

You can add some style to your work area with some new stylized desk accessories, and also bring character and personality to the area with some wall art, new shelving for extra storage space, and maybe even a plant or florals.

Found on visiop

Found on housebeautiful

Found on davinong

6. Reclaim your kitchen counter space

Find space in cabinets for the food, or add wall shelving for it, but get it off your counter (unless it is in some decorative jar or basket. Same goes for the abundance of small appliances sitting there that you don’t use frequently.

Found on Fridgecheck

Source: The Organizing Lady

Found onmedberian

7. Turn your bedroom into a showroom

Your bedroom can be a sanctuary place. Dress up the dresser and bed tables with some decor and functional storage-type items.

Found on howtodecorate

Found on homedesigns-today

Found on cahomepro

8. Make your own bathroom guest-friendly

Yes, it’s your own bathroom, but make it LOOK like a guest bathroom and keep minimal items in view.

Found on saybrookhomes

Found on homebunch

Found on cristinarobinson.net

Found on ihomewatch.net

Recycling Stuff To Your Friends As A Cool Whatever Gift

July 27, 2015 / The Organizing Lady

Want to get rid of the stuff you don’t want and make yourself a superstar friend at the same time? Then maybe try re-gifting your stuff.

Also, when you need a gift, there’s also the factor that you may have neglected to go shopping for that birthday gift. Or maybe you’d like to bring something with you for the host at a dinner party. Whatever the occasion, you just need a last minute gift.

You can personalize a gift to someone special by adding something that you know they would like or use. There are probably many things around your house you have tucked away, or that you purchased at the grocery store that could be included in a gift basket. A bar of soap, for example, is not a gift by itself, but mixed in with other items can make a splendid gift mixture.

To show you how simple and quick this can be, I personally went around my house and gathered stuff to make some gift baskets, of sorts. Here’s what I came up with in a short time for each one (without any basket stuffing or ribbon and bows!):

The Cook’s Gift Basket

I simply gathered up some kitchen items I had excess of (like cooking utensils, measuring cups, kitchen towels, etc.) and displayed them in a stainless steal colander. To give it lift, I crunched up a red kitchen hand towel inside.

Coffee Lover Gift Basket

Oh, this was fun since I’m a coffee lover myself! Using one of my old mixing bowls, I stuffed bags of coffee, an extra French Coffee Press that was gifted to me, and a coffee mug inside and was able to create this basket.

Movie Lover Gift Basket

Too simple for words – a dollar store popcorn container was my holder for a jar of popcorn, a bottle of root beer, and 2 movie tickets. If I had a big popcorn bowl container, I would have been able to stuff more inside!

Chocolate Lover Gift Basket

My house has no shortage of chocolate, so I threw a bunch of stuff in this basket – chocolate cocoa, chocolate syrup, chocolate coffee, chocolate cake mix, cacao nibs, and some bars of chocolate bars.

House-warming Gift Basket

Anything goes for this type of gift basket, so I put a wine glass inside with a small bottle of wine, some trail mix, box of tea, a few snack bars, and some candles.

New Job Congratulations Gift Basket

Going through my abundant office supply stash, I was able to toss in some pens, scissors, stapler with staples, note pads, notebook, and my very cool fancy high-heel-shoe-pen holder hanging outside the basket (clearly for a woman!).

Filmmaker Premiere Gift Basket

Okay, not a common type gift basket, but hey, I had the stuff lying around, so why not?

Hey, it’s okay to Pin these photos to your Pinterest boards and share the love!

10 Savvy Solutions That Roommates Can Use To Organize Shared Spaces

July 24, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 1 Comment

It goes without saying that roommates need to set ground rules (oops, I said it!). So, let’s move on to how they can live in harmony around their shared home spaces.

Now, although I can’t help you in the personality conflicts area, I can help you create a balanced home environment to achieve harmony. Let’s start in the kitchen, the most shared space of all in a house sharing situation.

KITCHEN AREA ORGANIZATION

1. Designating food shelves in cupboards or pantry and in fridge

If you can spare some space, like some shelves in the cabinet and fridge, this can make a roommate feel right at home.

2. Using labels in food cupboards

Albeit, some of the food may be shared, like staple food and spices, there will be food specifically for each roommate. And, if there isn’t a designated food cabinet for a roommate, labeling food is a smart solution.

3. Using labels for fridge food

With designated food shelves in the fridge, you may not need to label food. However, if you’re sharing the entire fridge, this will delineate whose food it belongs to. Unlabeled food is open season for whoever is in there so, unless it’s leftovers from a shared meal, better slap a label on it.

4. Keeping lots of disposable food containers at hand

Without these nifty containers or jars in the kitchen, the fridge and cabinets can become cluttered or messy. And, since containers stack so nicely, the cabinets will always look nicer. And, for shared shelving, make sure to also keep some masking tape at hand for labeling!

5. Maximizing your cabinet space

Space-savers like lazy-susan turntables and space-saver racks will turn the cabinets into more usable space.

Also, grouping a lot of food items in bins or containers will save space in the food cabinet.

6. Creating new storage

If you need more cabinet space, you might consider hanging pots and pans on a ceiling overhang.

There might even be some wall space for wall shelves to get dishes or extra food items out of cabinet spaces.

7. Keeping a shared shopping list

It’s bound to happen – one roommate uses the last of the cinnamon spice and you won’t know it until you go for it. Keep a list inside a cabinet door or as a decorative framed chalkboard piece.

BATHROOM ORGANIZATION

8. Creating space

In a shared bathroom, storage space can be a big issue. Over-door storage will maximize the room and provide additional storage.

Installing wall shelving will also add more storage space.

Baskets hung on the wall add more storage space, too.

COMMON LIVING SPACES

9. Staying clutter-free with bins

Besides the kitchen, a living room or dining room are the most shared spaces, and keeping these areas free of stuff that doesn’t belong there can be challenging. Keeping basket bins around is one way to control the clutter.

10. Using a drop-off station

It might be a good idea to have a drop off station for things like keys, sunglasses, coats, mail, purses, whatevers. Here’s some ideas on that …

Found on Lauren Conrad

Happy house-sharing!

Best Travel Wares For An Organized Trip

July 22, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 0 Comments

Get ready ‘cuz here you go (my spin-off of the song Great Ready ‘Cuz Here It Comes by Rare Earth). Okay, so maybe if I start this off corny the rest of this will sound better.

When it comes to travel, you’ll want to organize things in your carry on bag or travel case in the most efficient way possible. Not only will this organize everything in nice little cases, but it makes it easier to settle in at your destination.

Since I prefer style over “ordinary”, I thought I’d show you some cool ways to travel in style. Here’s the travel shopping list:

Hanging toiletry organizer

By Aliexpress

A hanging travel bag found at most discount department stores

Makeup organizer bag

Makeup travel bags found at most discount department stores

By Benefit

Plastic travel bottles for washables

First aid travel kit

Clothing Compression bags

Pack It Compression Bags By Eagle Creek

Clothing Cube Bags

Pack It Cubes by Eagle Creek

Jewelry travel pouch

Signature Travel Jewelry Case at clos-ettetoo.com

Charger travel bag

Travel pill organizer

Pill case by Ezy Dose

By Aliexpress

Portion control travel bag

This type of thing would only be on your travel shopping list if you plan to take food (and can fit it into your suitcase!).

portion-control-container-case-Jaxx-FitPak

By Jaxx FitPak

Travel wallet

By Bellroy

Purse Traveler Bags

Bag Pod by Red Dog Bags

Creative Ways To Display Your Photo Collection

July 20, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 2 Comments

There are a plethora of awesome ways to display all those photos you love, and I’ve gathered some of the most creative ones I found. I figure that one or more of these might inspire you to show off your photos off as a piece of art for your room’s design instead of having them sit inside some album or box.

While some of these displays are DIY projects, I wanted to select the ones that would be easiest to put together yourself.

found on Bed, Bath & Beyond

By Uppercase Living

Found at Photojojo

Found on Babble

By Mommy Moment

Found on Hometalk

Found on Hative

By Alys Beach

Found on Ekstrax

By Design Fanatic

Found on Hative

Found on Ekstrax

Found on Eksrax

Found on Postalpix

Found on The Love Nerds

4 Easy Ways To Give Your Cluttered Home A Space Lift On A Dime

July 17, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 0 Comments

Giving a space-lift to a cluttered home is like a face-lift to your face – you are giving your space new dimensions and a new look that makes it more beautiful.

After all, when we start getting wrinkles on our face, bags under our eyes, or sagging necklines, we want to do all we can to bring back some of the youth we once had.

The same principle applies to a room that’s sprinkled with clutter, sagging with overloaded shelves, or stuffed with too much stuff in cabinets and closets. When it starts happening (or has existed for too long), we should want to make it more beautiful again, or at least more livable.

So, here’s some fast and easy ways to do a space-lift without spending a lot – like you are doing design on a dime!

1. Remove clutter

Gather up all clutter in the area into sorting bins

De-cluttering the living room and family room are good places to start because these are common areas of the home and can accumulate the most stuff which ends up out of place for long periods of time, sometimes indefinitely. So, begin by collecting any items on the loose lying around and put them in receptacles by category / type.

Once that is done, your area will be clutter-free!

2. Give the area more space

Re-arrange furniture and items in room to make it more spacious.

Situate furniture so it’s more functional for the room and get rid of too much furniture for the space. Same for items on table-top surfaces and bookshelves.

The transformation of your space is now even more visible – and that’s without spending a dime on new paint, flooring or new furniture!

3. Streamline your belongings

Sort through each clutter receptacle to determine if you want or need the item in it.

So far you’ve done the easiest part of the easy ways to do a space-life and haven’t spent a dime yet. Don’t stop now! You’re almost there!

This is typically the longest part of the organization process, but a very necessary part. If you end up leaving everything in its sorting bin, you’ll just end up with organized clutter in some area of your home.

The easy way to tackle this step is just to dive right in – one receptacle at a time – and start looking at each thing you pick up from it. Take all the time you need on this and don’t worry – you’ve had this stuff lying around for quite some time so another few days or weeks sorting through the stuff shouldn’t matter much.

4. Give stuff a home

Find the right organizing solution for your stuff.

Now that you’ve sorted through everything and know what you’ll be keeping, you can either a) put it away where it belongs or b) find a new home for it.

That “home” might be in a new container, bin, basket, or some type of holding place or storage containment product. This is where you’re going to end up spending a little of your cash if you don’t already have something to use around the house.

You might think this step isn’t so easy, but it is. Not only that, but it’s the most fun!

Just make a list of the stuff you want to contain and go into a discount department store to walk down the home organization isles. Or, go online to have a look around (and those Pinterest Boards for home organization are fabulous!). You’ll find plenty of organizing solutions, ideas and inspirations doing any of those things.

Now, it’s done! You’ve completed a space-lift and didn’t spend a small fortune doing so! Step back and enjoy the new view of your space.

[Note: All images from DVD clips of “Get Organized With Cyndi Seidler”]

20 Quick Fix Home Organization Hacks Lying Around The House

July 13, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 0 Comments

When you have a home organization issue, there are some very ingenious ways to fix it. But “a quick fix, really?” you may ask. “Just how quick?” Well, it depends on how fast you can move to find any of the items in this article – this could be your organizing scavenger hunt!

Since there are dozens of ways to get organized and dozens of various organizing solutions, the ones I wanted to show you here are the quick fix remedies- especially since you may already have some of these around your house already. This makes the task much quicker – again, it depends on how fast you can move to find them around in your house (or how fast you can get to a dollar store).

The way I see it, if a lot of stuff is just lying around, it’s clutter. If it’s put away in (or on) something, it’s organized. This goes for hidden places like cabinets, drawers and closets. Just use any of these inventions and you will be cured. I mean, your home will be cured.

1. The Jar

Open food in cabinets can become unruly, not to mention that the food can get stale faster. So a jar is a good fix for that.

2. The Basket

What a great bin these turned out to be in trying to get organized indeed.

3. The Container

Now these are fabulous, simply fabulous. You can just throw in like-items and group them together in a container.

And tiered containers with drawers … marvelous!

4. Plastic Shoebox Containers

If I got a dollar for every use I found for these, I’d be so very rich.

5. The Can

If you haven’t saved any of your food cans, start putting some aside because they can be a useful thing to use in getting some of those pesky utensils organized.

Even a small trash can comes in handy for other things besides trash.

6. Canvas Bins

These seem to be quite popular in stores now and must be selling well since they are still around. I bet you have some. If you do, throw some stuff in them.

7. Dollar Store Bins

A cheap fix to hold just about anything. Think about the under the sink clutter and try putting it to use there for a start.

8. Drawer Trays

For those kitchen drawer blues, these nifty trays do wonders inside drawers.

(via therealisticorganizer.blogspot.com)

9. The Tool Box

Another cheap fix from the dollar store – the plastic tool box. Throw all your craft stuff in, or whatevers, it doesn’t matter. It’s useful for something.

10. The Bucket

Again, if you don’t have one or two of these around, take a trip to the dollar store. They have a use.

11. The Lazy Susan

It’s not called the Lazy Susan for nothing – it may have been invented for lazy people trying to stay organized, is my guess. Who it’s named after is simple – it’s Susan.

Okay, so you you may not have it lying around your house. But just go out and buy one (or two or three or …).

Now this incredible turntable invention can be used as a treatment for a lot of kitchen issues – namely those deep cupboards which hide our stuff behind other stuff in the front row.

And you can use them in your fridge as well since they share an equal problem of hiding stuff.

I personally go a little crazy when it comes to these because I also use them on my countertop to group stuff on that clutters the counter. And I’ve seen them used on desktops to group desktop accessories too.

12. The File Folder

Forget about your filing system for now (or lack of) … and use those file folders for paper you can’t quite find a home for (other than your kitchen counter – which is not really a home, but a resting place that gives you no rest). Pocket folders are even greater.

Now, if you have some of those really cool plastic transparent folders, the better to see your stuff with, my dear!

13. The Notebook Binder

You know, these binders are not just for students to carry around their school papers (do they still use these, I wonder?). They are actually the perfect cure for accumulated papers because you didn’t want them stuffed inside some forgotten file cabinet.

Take for instance, all those clippings of your favorite recipes, those dozens of restaurant menus you’ve collected, and let’s not forget to mention those project papers you needed handy.

14. The Clipboard

I’ve never known a home to be without one of these. But if you’re one of those few that didn’t bother to get one, here’s something you can do with it that could help you get a handle on all those papers.

15. The Envelope

Got envelopes? Try using it for receipts and misc. paper stuff.

16. The Hanger

Think outside the box when it comes to hangers – you can actually hang other stuff on them beside clothing.

17. The Totebag

Quite a clever thing, particularly for gathering up all those items on the loose and keeping them there until you find another home for them.

Even papers can be toted around if you find yourself mobile a lot.

18. The Bag

For all those bags you’ve saved, now is the time to put them to real use.

19. The Gift Bag

The gift bag is a good start to be on the stylish side of organizing.

20. The Box

Wow, what an invention this was! I saved this one for last because we probably all have a box or two around that isn’t being properly utilized – especially some archive banker boxes.

…or those shoe boxes that never got tossed after we took the shoes out.

And low and behold, you can even use shoe boxes to store shoes!

Designing With Clutter Using Creative Methods

July 10, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 0 Comments

Tired of your clutter? Don’t feel like throwing it away?

Now you don’t have to let your clutter sit around as an eye-sore and without purpose. You can take some of those things and use them to do a bit of decorating. And although you still have to deal with the clutter in order to do this, you just display them and still end up admiring it.

In other words, organize your clutter so it looks cool.

Artistic Clutter

The Photo Collection

Take all those framed photos all over the wall and make them into a more attractive display.

Photo Wallpaper

Got a lot of photos all over the place? Tack ’em up on the wall as decorative wallpaper and enjoy the view more.

Paint Brush Decor

If you’re a painter and have a lot of used-up paint brushes that you haven’t tossed, why not display them?

The Book Stack

For books that tend to pile up all around the room, just stack them up into art. Why not?

Bookshelf Clutter Color

Having lots of books that clutter up a bookshelf isn’t cool until you show them off with some style.

(image by Katey Nicosia)

The Pez Collectible Display

(image by Katey Nicosia)

Kid Artwork Wall

If all those art drawings and paintings are tucked away somewhere creating clutter, you can take them out and show them off.

Greeting Card Art

Saving all those keepsake greeting cards is just stored clutter until you display them.

Magazine Art

If you subscribed to too many magazines and don’t want to toss them just yet because there is probably something inside them you want, you can cut out pages and display them.

You can also save those special magazine covers with a magazine cover display.

15 Ways People Give New Meaning To Clutter

July 8, 2015 / The Organizing Lady / 0 Comments

Clutter can be said to be in the eyes of the beholder. Some person’s “organized” paper pile mounds might another person’s view of clutter. Another person’s treasured collection of stuff over-powering a room might be another person’s vision of ugly.

The question remains – is it clutter or is it some sort of functional disorder? Or maybe even a work of art … Whatever it is, it’s someone’s organized clutter.