Thursday, March 8, 2012

Organized Closets, Craft Rooms and Clean Bathrooms

I've been on Spring Break all this week and what have I been doing??? ORGANIZING!!! Most people find it a repulsive task but I think it is so fun...I know...I'm the weird one. Here are a few things I've done this week:

First was one of Matt's closets that's in the hallway. We don't have this problem with any of our other closets in the house, but for some reason this closet is really shallow. Regular clothes hangers don't hang right on the rack...they sit at an angle. This takes up so much valuable space...and more importantly, it doesn't look pretty. I spent some time looking around on the internet at hangers and had a great idea! Children's hangers!! They're much smaller than regular hangers and they'd probably fit in the closet nicely. I found these Nuby hangers on Amazon for $3.69 for 10 of them. Here's the link:


These hangers came in the mail 2 days later (I love Amazon prime...definitely a valuable investment if you buy alot of things online like we do). Free 2 day shipping on most items! Anyways, the hangers were just what I needed! Matt's man pants fit on them perfectly and they were shallow enough to fit in the little closet! Everything looks so much better! 

I also wanted to organize Matt's ties. He has so many.  We registered for a tie organizer when we got married and we got it and it has been great. It only holds 16 ties, however, and Matt has about 30 ties. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get another one and they didn't have it anymore! They have it online, however (it's called a Walnut Tie Spinner).  I didn't want to spend $10 plus $7 shipping for a new one and then I had another great idea! Look on Amazon! I found the same exact thing there for $9 and free 2 day shipping. Here's the link:


I just love Amazon. While I was at Bed Bath and Beyond I did decide to get a belt organizer. I found this one for about $6 (with my 20% off coupon) and it works wonderfully:


I got the shoe rack about a year ago at Ross for $10. Here is the final product!




The next thing I did was organize my belts. They've been kind shoved in the back of my closet and in different containers and they've been hard to get to. Most of my belts aren't like Matt's with a buckle so I couldn't use on of those organizers. I did find a solution though! We have the world's tiniest closet in our bedroom...seriously, it's miniature.  The door, however, has a hook on it. I hung a clothes hanger on the hook and it's a perfect solution to belt hanging.  It's now way easier for me to see my options!


Next was the closet in Matt's man room. I love storage containers. In my opinion, you can never have too many. I also love to label. It makes me feel good inside. I have this tall container with drawers in it to organize things like extra toiletires (ie soap, shampoo, etc), Matt's long-sleeved shirts, makeup that I don't use often that won't fit in my bathroom drawer, travel toiletries, and creams and lotions. 

I also organized my scarfs and hung them in this closet. Mrs. Paula (my mother-in-law) got this idea from Pinterest (of course) and bought me the supplies to do it! All you need is shower curtain rings (dollar tree), thick and hearty hangers (I used flimsy ones before and those were no good), and scarves! They found a nice home in Matt's closet (because my closets are just way too full). 



The other half of this closet I just organized with more storage bins, of course!!



Next is my closet! I got the shoe racks at Target about a year ago. I love them. The rest of the closet is just organized with more storage bins!!





Next I organized my cake supplies!! I have a whole cabinet in my craft room dedicated to cake stuff. Here is my cabinet!



Another thing I did was organize my cupcake cups! I previously organized them in the pink box in the picture above, but it started mushing them and they were losing their shape. I left my silicone cupcake cups in the box but I found a better idea on Pinterest for my paper cups! This took like 2 seconds. I got these containers at Hobby Lobby for less than $10 for both of them and voila! 


Another thing I actually did when I moved into my house about 3 years ago. I spent a long time looking for something to organize my necklaces with. I found my solution at the Home Depot!! I found this tie rack and it turns out that it's perfect for hanging necklaces. It'd be awesome in a walk-in-closet. I had to hang mine behind my door in my craft room because I don't have a walk-in-closet. I love how it turned out. 



The last thing I actually did when Matt moved in and I rearranged my rooms. I organized my craft room! I call it organized chaos. It might look crazy and overwhelming when you first walk in, but everything has a very specific place that is probably labeled. I just want to note that the large pink bookshelves I found on the side of the road...yes, I am sometimes one of those people. They were sitting on the curb a few houses down on my street and I couldn't help but confiscate them. They were black before but I painted them pink with a little yellow thrown it. They're just what I needed! I actually purchased the other things.  Here are some pics!





I think that's all for now. I also have organized a utility closet that wasn't worth showing and another of my closets and my attic...but I'm not going to bore you anymore with my organizing endeavors. I just get really excited about having a place for everything and everything being in its place!! I hope this has inspired you to get organized!!

Another thing I've been doing over the break is deep cleaning my bathrooms!! One night I spent 2.5 hours just cleaning a shower. It was pretty gross though, I'm not gunna lie. I clean every week, but I think it was just in need of some deep cleaning. I found some ideas on Pinterest (of course). I'm not going to upload pictures but these things really worked!!

First is the tub scrub! I used this to clean tile and the tub. It worked wonders!!

http://www.marthastewart.com/265635/tub-scrub

Next, I used a dry sheet to remove soap scum!! This is what I was most excited about. Our house is about 50 years old and the shower had SO much soap scum on the door. I couldn't for the life of me get it out! Then...I used a dryer sheet.  It didn't removed all of it but the glass door looks like a different door!! I was so excited!

http://www.realsimple.com/new-uses-for-old-things/new-uses-cleaning/dryer-sheet-as-scum-buster-00000000043218/index.html

Lastly, I used vinegar and a hard-bristle toothbrush to clean some hard to get places (tile grout, around the drain, etc). It was incredible!!

http://decorate.tipjunkie.com/how-to-whiten-tile-grout-2/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TipJunkieAllSites+%28Tip+Junkie+~+Creative+Inspiration%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

So that's been my Spring Break and I've actually enjoyed it! I feel like a new person being all clean and organized. Until next time!