Reorganizing for the New Year

Organizing, Labeling, and Reorganizing… these are a few of my favorite things!

I’m starting you off with the calm before the storm… How cute is my little label? The storm is pretty awful. The state of our linen/storage cabinet in the hallway was despicable and annoying. It seems to be a trend in our house that I push it and push it until every time I open a cabinet to get something, 10 things fall out. I pick them up and shove them back in, and hurry & shut the door so they don’t fall out again. It just gets worse & worse. Then one day, when I’ve had it up to HERE, it ALL gets dumped out of the cabinet and we start over.

In anticipation of hitting my dumping point with this cabinet, I picked up a few organizer tubs/corrals at the 99 Cent Store, and a cute basket from Goodwill for $3.99. It’s brand new, & was clearance from Target to Goodwill. Keep your eyes peeled for a Goodwill in close proximity to Target because Target often dumps stuff that either doesn’t sell on clearance or if the box is a little too mangled, but the item inside is perfectly fine, BAM! You just scored a Target clearance item for an even deeper discount. I happened to pick up the lighted tree topper I had been eyeing at Target for $4.99 & a table cloth for $2.99. Still in Target packaging. Boo and yah! I also spotted a Missoni for Target bedding set for $49.99. Still in it’s original packaging. I know…amazeballs!

So back to this closet:

This houses all of our extra toiletries, candles, light bulbs, paper towels, toilet paper, and anything else I don’t quite know what to do with so I shove it in here. Hence the state of emergency…

Step One – DUMP!

After I wiped down all of the shelves, it was time to segregate. It’s not ok to do with people, but it’s ok to do with toiletries.


A little close-up of what went into a few of the buckets:

I tried to keep in mind stuff that we might get to everyday, like the vitamins. So those went in the front spot in a bin that will sit on a shelf easily accessible for Hubby & I, but still out of Will’s reach. Shampoo & conditioner bottles were the biggest items, so they got corralled in the biggest basket. The cold & flu meds got the boot out of our too-cramped medicine cabinet & put into the back part of a bin that goes up high, since we don’t access it often, and, again, out of Will’s reach. I figured sunscreen was a good fit for that same bin, and the little tissue packs are in the front so I can run & grab a new one if I need it on the way out the door.

Before & After
   Phew! Is that OCD enough for you?! I know…it’s riveting! You’re on the edge of your seat with excitement!

A little shelf by shelf action. Here’s the top shelf:

I relocated the paper towels to the closet in the living room, which will also get a re-organizing overhaul, but it’s tolerable for now. We are a shower gel family, and I didn’t think they needed a bin since I didn’t have a ton of them & they’re big. I have a big Costco-sized box of Thera-flu behind the Sick/Sun bin. I listed it on the tag up front so I don’t forget it’s there.

Shelf Two:

Vitamins are right up front where they’re easy to access. Face washes didn’t get a bin since, again, I didn’t have that many & they fit nicely in between the Vitamins & Deodorant bins. Omg…I misspelled Deodorant on my tag! Be right back…
And the shaving bin has, of course shaving stuff for Hubby & I, but also houses lotions, bubble bath, & Chapstick. Listing the other smaller items in the same bin helps me remember what’s in there if I can’t see it, & also is quick reminder of where to put things away when I’m restocking. That bin was one I had under a cabinet. It wasn’t doing anything, so it found a new home in here. You might be able to see some toothpaste sticking up behind my Vitamins bin. All of the teeth cleaning supplies are in their own bin, aptly tagged “Teeth”, but it’s tall enough behind the Vitamins bin so we can see it.

Bottom Shelf:
Q-tips, Loofas, Hubby’s shearer – I mean beard trimmer…, & the Hair Care basket are on this shelf. Sleeping behind the Loofas & Q-tips is a giant bag of cotton balls that rarely get used, but you can see it back there, so I figured no label necessary. 

To attach the tags to the fabric containers, I cut a little slit just below the bias tape trim, but above the cardboard inside so I could thread my ribbon through. There is a bottom half of this cabinet that I haven’t quite gotten to yet, but it’s on my list of to-do’s. It’s far less exciting since it’s just got towels, sewing machine & supplies, & candles & accessories. I figure I’ll get to it when I am re-accessorizing the living room after I put away all of the Christmas décor. I’m hanging on to Christmas a little longer. It was just too much fun to shut the door on it just yet!

It was SO much fun that Will is now happily in his room playing while I am blogging from my room at my desk. What?! You say. Yes, I’m actually using my desk for something other than a place to dump stuff… which also means I had to clear it off! Shocking! I know… Hubby is ecstatic since all of the crap usually on my desk is smacking us in the face from our bed. So rude…

So here’s to starting 2012 off right, in a less cluttered, more organized fashion. Have you done any organizing lately, especially since you have to figure out where to put all your new Christmas gifts? Have you cleaned up something that you’ve been meaning to get to that drives your spouse nuts? Are you procrastinating on taking down your Christmas décor because you’re hanging on to the last shrivel of joy from the holiday season?