One of my favorite parts of the new year, and colder winter months is getting the inside of my home organized, decluttered and fresh for the year! Once the warm weather rolls around, I don’t want to be stuck in my house organizing a closet. Last January, I tackled my office closet and the year before that our tiny kitchen pantry — and I’m happy to report, both spaces are still clean, organized and most importantly super functional. As I tackle each of these different and unique spaces, there are a few must-have and go-to pieces that are functional and work in a plethora of spaces, especially when creating your own organizational solutions.
Let’s Talk Shelving Solutions. Ok, so my absolute favorite piece and go-to for a closet space is a cube organizer shelf – these range in a variety of options, but are relatively affordable and provide a variety of storage from clothes, to shoes, to craft supplies! I typically get the 11″ cube, but if you’re wanting something a bit more sturdy with more fabric storage box options, the 13″ cube organizer shelf is the next best thing. These are available at Targets (linked), Lowe’s and even Home Depot, just to name a few. Plus they are great for horizontal or vertical spaces!
I am also all for creating your own shelves to create room to organize for your unique space, especially when it comes to closets. We live in a 100+ year-old home, so our closets are odd shaped and each one is a little different, so you have to get creative and go semi-custom, but don’t let the word custom scare you off or think you have to spend lots of $$$$! A super easy way to create a shelf that also looks nice is, laminate shelf boards (pick your depth, length as needed) paired with a simple L shelf bracket – this is a super affordable option to add custom shelves to a closet. You can get a fancier looking shelf bracket depending on the look like these gold brackets; just remember to check for weight limits, and try to drill into a stud whenever possible! I also have spray painted the simple L shelf brackets, gold (screw heads too) for a higher end look at a much lower price.
My Favorite Storage Containers. Now that we have our spaces and nooks created, the next best part is all the boxes and baskets to store our goodies. Baskets and storage bins are great for a variety of spaces and contain the goods to a space within your space, allowing ease of use and function. My go-to basket, is the Y-Weave bins from Target — they come in a variety of neutral colors and sizes for all of the things! I use these in my bathroom, hall linen closet and even our kitchen pantry, they’re also affordable and sturdy.
Plastic clear storage bins (without lids) are also a go-to favorite, although a little more expensive these are a clean look and again work in any space. I’m currently working on my accessories closet in our master bedroom and definitely splurged on clear storage solutions! Fabric bins are another great way to give a higher-end look to store craft supplies, scarfs, clothes or toys.
Once you have the pieces and parts to help get you organized, it’s also important to sort, purge and consolidate the contents of the space you’re organizing — often times this may need to come first to see what you’re working with, the types of things you need to store and how much you have of everything! Don’t be afraid to find or reuse containers around your house if you can’t afford (or don’t want too) buy all new baskets or matching pieces, it’s 100% ok to work your way to a matching and perfectly organized space.
What spaces are you tackling to get organized to start your year off?
I’m not used to having so much space to fill up, especially in my bathroom! But I love how this came together and is nicely organized while also having options for guests while the essentials for us — another drawer is completely full of toilet paper, but I still have a few more drawers that have extra space for more towels and other bathroom essentials!
For our pantry makeover – I ended up painting the entire inside, this is one of the few spaces that lingering green from the previous owners – and although I’m a fan of some color, I love what white paint does to a space, especially a small one! Since this space is not the greatest constructed – I didn’t want to mess around too much so I stuck with aesthetics and just updated the existing layout & pieces. Here is the evolution off the de-greening. 
The other benefit of cleaning up the pantry was I ended up organizing and consolidating some things like our tin-foil, plastic wrap and sandwich bags into a hanger on the pantry door which basically freed up an entire drawer in our kitchen! So the organizing, consolidating and purging spread out beyond the pantry which actually gave us room for things. With using up leftover paint we had, and buying some organizers and the leftover wallpaper I spent about $60 for a small thing of paint and 10-different organizers. I’m unsure about adding labels, so I may still add a few more fun and functional finishing touches.
the bee life 