Blog - Graceful Order

Linen Closet Organization

August 17, 2013 · by Maria · 9 Comments

You may remember that I recently released a post on the { linen closet } that I have in my master bathroom. You may also remember that there are no linens in that closet. The irony.

I also have another linen closet that is extremely narrow and is bookended between my sons room and the boys bathroom. I need every bit of space in that closet to store not only linens but also items that don’t fit under the bathroom sinks. Here is the closet.

Since the closet is narrow I pulled out all the baskets so that I can share with you the contents. Also, the lighting in this corner of the house is horrible so I took most of the pictures in my bathroom. My bathroom has 3 windows so the lighting is amazing for photography AND for seeing every single hair that falls on the floor. Every strand of hair that falls on that floor looks like a garter snake…perfect lighting will do that! Since I love well-lit rooms, I have a broom nearby!

Here are the baskets that I use for corralling the items the linen closet. They are Rubbermaid Bento boxes and can be found at Target. I like that they have pop out dividers so small items don’t move about. I chose to mix the khaki pattern with the solid Khaki. These are the medium and large sizes. There is also an extra-large size but it was too large for my closet; maybe it would work in yours.

I used one of the boxes to put all of our band aids.

In the smaller pop-out dividers I placed the ointments and smaller items. In doing so I realized that I will never run out of Neosporin.

I used the larger box for other first aid items such as bottles of peroxide, rubbing alcohol, sprays and gauze.

Here it is full.

One box holds all the sunscreen and insect repellant.

I chose a plastic container for bubbles and sidewalk chalk. These items would make a mess inside a fabric box. These are the ITSO bins from Target.

In the very top of the closet I store water toys that I use in the backyard. The other water toys I keep with the {beach bag}.

In every closet that is nearby a bathroom I like to have a cleaning caddy. This one holds some of my favorite cleaners and favorite brands.

Here are the items back inside the closet.

Linens, of course.

I added cute labels to the baskets and I secured them with square clips. I am attaching this free printable in pdf format for all of you. Click HERE for the printable. I left the labels blank so you can either write on the labels or use a label maker to print the tag. I had my labels laminated to make them sturdier.

In the very bottom of the closet I used a large bento box for my son’s school supplies. The only thing that would make it more perfect would be adding small wheels to the bottom of the basket. That would make cleaning the floor underneath easier. I will add that to the honey-do list.

Please share with me what you currently have inside your linen closet. Do you only store linens in there or a bunch of stuff like me?

Happy Organizing!

Maria

Toddler Room Organization

August 10, 2013 · by Maria · 10 Comments

Toddlers. We fear them with good reason. They are bundles of never-ending cuteness and never-ending energy. Their little smiles make them get away with almost anything. It’s like a spell. I am convinced!

As I was working on the blog yesterday there was a pause…silence. All mothers know that toddlers and silence equal trouble. I quickly went to check on my toddler and he was standing on a swivel chair in his brother’s room while feeding the fish in the tank….a WHOLE bottle of fish food. He just smiled at me as I walked in. Help me Jesus!

So we have now established that toddlers are not easy to keep in line and neither are their rooms. We also know that despite the magical “Clean-up” song…we end up doing most of the work. Cleanup needs to be easy for both parent and child.

Here is my toddlers room. All the furniture was his brothers and that means that the furniture is 9 years old. Math is my thing.

This is the smallest room in the house so we built out his closet before anyone else’s to help with storing all his items. Here is his closet.

There is so much in this closet but it usually stays organized since everything has its place. His room does get messy fast but it is quickly picked up thanks to all the systems in the closet.

You will notice a hamper in the bottom left; it is full of stuffed animals. The hamper makes it easy to just throw them in there. Above it is a basket that is full of balls. Open baskets and containers are great for quickly putting away large items.

The closet is fully adjustable so as he grows I will adjust the shelves and rods. I am a believer in having all hangers look the same because it instantly makes closets look so much neater. Ours are inexpensive Wal-Mart hangers.

Legos. We also fear them with good reason. You don’t know pain until you have stepped on one of those colorful blocks. Ouch!

I keep all his legos and small toys in these green containers. In order to have my toddler help with the clean-up I added labels with pictures. I suggest that you laminate the labels so that they last longer.

I store his DVD’s in the closet (most of them were also my 9 year olds). I keep them up high because otherwise, they would all be all over the floor EVERY DAY and no one has time fo dat!

I have these little ceramic containers in this closet as well. I keep little notes for the boys and sometimes I write down funny things that they might say. I probably write down .001% of the funny things they say because I end up forgetting to write it down but I still hope they appreciate it when they are older. I am so sappy…

I love hats on little boys and I am blessed with a son that keeps them on! I put all his hats and caps in this flexible bin. I also use these bins to store his swim trunks and water shoes.

I keep all his small books inside a bin because it is the only way to contain them in one spot. I nest that bin next to his larger books.

On the floor I keep these three bins. The bottom two are the next 2 sizes that he will be wearing. Any size larger than that is stored at the very top of the closet. The top bin (without a lid) is where I place clothing that no longer fits him. It fills up fast!

So that’s the closet! We purchased a toddler bed (at Wal-Mart) that has two thin drawers at the bottom. In one drawer I place his small stuffed animals and in the other the small toys that would otherwise fall into the bottom of a toy chest.

Done! That’s how I organize my toddlers room.

Just in case you were wondering, the fish lived. They are now full. They love my toddler. And so do I!

Please share with me your ideas to keep your toddlers organized and out of trouble!

Happy Organizing!

Maria

Kitchen Organizing – Before and After Photos

August 3, 2013 · by Maria · 16 Comments

This is not my kitchen. Unless I am sleeping and dreaming. In that case, this is my kitchen.

I have missed you all this week and I wanted to share what I have been up to. A friend of mine recently moved into the home of her dreams (and everyone else’s dream for that matter) and she quickly unpacked like we all do. She was yearning for some real organization in the home to make her life easier. The home is beautifully decorated and completely uncluttered but she never got around to fixing the drawers, cabinets and pantry. She has three little kids…you understand.

She recruited me for the job. I concentrate on the blog but since my passion is organizing I decided it was a good opportunity for me to do what I love while taking pictures to later share with you…my fellow order seekers!

Don’t you love a good “before and after”? I used to record the show Hoarders and I would completely fast forward through the middle just to see the after photos. All the drama is in the middle and that stresses me out. No matter how bad you think your house looks, you feel like a domestic goddess after watching the show. Am I right?

Well this home is nothing like Hoarders, its more like a home featured on Better Homes and Garden. It just needed a couple of baskets and some turntables and the results follow.

The pantry is HUGE and from this picture you can’t even see the side shelves or the drawers on either side. My friend is blessed. Yes she is.

We emptied the pantry and made the kitchen look really bad before making it look really good. We discarded anything that had expired and set aside items that they didn’t like or use.

I created stations for everything so that she could quickly find what she needed. The items that were kid related I placed at the very bottom and without lids so the kids could easily access snacks and juice boxes. The kids love cereal and they all have their favorite so we purchased matching cereal containers. They serve a dual purpose since the cereal stays fresh and it looks so much better. Here is the after {music please!}

Many of the OXO containers pictured above she already had but wasn’t using them. You can find the containers {here} in the amazon store and sometimes you can get lucky and find them at Homegoods and Marshalls. OXO containers are awesome but undoubtedly expensive so if you can’t go out and purchase them, any other matching container will do. If you don’t have matching containers you can make them look cohesive by adding the same label to all of them. In this case we used chalkboard labels and the label maker (which at this point I wear around my neck).

They have a ton of nutritional smoothie ingredients so we purchased a very large turntable to make it easy to find what they need. If you have the cabinet space to put such a large turntable (which I don’t), you can find it {here}. Here is the before and after:

I did the same thing for the oil and vinegar but in much smaller turntables.

The sodas, the kids juices and snacks are at the very bottom where they can easily access them. I purchased my favorite Target baskets for this. I also wear them around my neck.

Lunch Snacks:

There were already built-in drawers in the pantry but I added some small baskets to corral items such as bars and packets. All the small white baskets are from the big red circle as well (I get tired of writing the “T” word).

I placed the cans in tiered shelves and by the end of the project, even the paper towel looked decorative!

Here are a couple more shots of other areas in the kitchen that we tackled. I forgot the before shot of the other drawer.

After. This is the first time I use this drawer organizer kit. L-O-V-E-D it! I added it to the Amazon store and I am ordering one for myself. You can find it {here} or possibly at a The Container Store (perhaps even Bed Bath and Beyond?). I don’t recommend it for every drawer if you have a lot of utensils (like me) but I like having one drawer in which items are perfectly organized and accessible.

Then we organized under the sink. We took everything out, cleaned the cabinet and placed a pretty liner before placing any items back.

On one side I placed a baking rack to hold all the cutting boards upright. On the other side a cleaning caddy with essentials. In the center dishwashing items.

Then the spices:

Using a tiered shelf and two turntables gave everything a home. If you don’t do this you will end up with 5 bottles of pumpkin pie spice because you will buy one every year around thanksgiving when you can’t find it. Here is the after:

I will continue working on her home and I will keep posting pictures to keep you all updated on the progress.

When your pantry is organized you will find that so many things are easier. It is easier to grocery shop because at-a-glance you can see what you are missing. It is easier to put the groceries away because everything has it’s place. It is easier to cook when you are not rummaging around trying to find an ingredient. Mostly, it is visually pleasing to open a cabinet that looks so nice. Organizing is definitely work but very gratifying.

Thank you for being patient with me this week and if anyone needs pumpkin pie spice, I have 4 bottles that I can part with!

Let me know what is the next project you are going to tackle.

Until next time,

Maria

Organizing your Vitamins

July 27, 2013 · by Maria · 1 Comment

This is a quick post about organizing your vitamins. Not much to say about it and not much to do but you will be glad you did it.

We used to store our vitamins out of sight to make the counters look cleaner. We quickly realized that if we didn’t see the vitamins, we didn’t take the vitamins. We needed to either completely change that system or supplement it with a more practical one.

{Did you catch the cheesy vitamin humor in the last line? I couldn’t bring myself to edit it out. My name is Maria…I’ll be here all night!}

We found this plastic container that was tall enough to hide the bottles so that we could keep it on the countertop without being an eye sore. It was perfect.

As you can see we have lots of supplements and vitamins. We don’t take all of them daily; instead we alternate them.

Most of our vitamins are from the same company and of course the bottles are similar. The problem is that we couldn’t distinguish one vitamin from the other. We would pull out 4 different bottles before reaching for the right one.

I then labeled each one with either the name of the vitamin or its function. Voila! Problem solved.

I use my label maker so often and I have no idea why it took me years to think of this. Now it’s so easy in the morning to find what we need.

I tell ya…its always the little things!

I hope you enjoyed this tip! Please share with me if you will also be labeling your vitamins or am I the only person that has this “problem”?

Happy Organizing!

Maria

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Kid’s Bathroom Organization

July 25, 2013 · by Maria · 9 Comments

I have two boys and they share a bathroom. ‘Nuff said. You feel my pain. It is the bathroom that gets cleaned most often and doesn’t seem to stay clean for long. I decided that I needed to de-clutter the bathroom to make cleaning easier. I used to have all of the boys toiletries right on the bathroom counter which made it more of a chore to clean.

I found two solutions to clear out the clutter. The first was purchasing this curtain from amazon which you can purchase {here} or you can find at most Targets. The picture below is not my boys bathroom because we covered it with another curtain which you will see in the next picture. I don’t recommend that you put really heavy items in the pockets such as large shampoo bottles but I did put hairspray, cologne, a hairbrush and water play toys in our curtain and it holds them just fine.

Amazon photo of the Maytex pocket curtain.

This is the boys bathroom. Like the curtain? 60’s psychedelic right? Well here is my bathroom conundrum: I have a toddler who would love to have a Mickey-themed bathroom and a 9-year-old who would threaten to run away if he had a Mickey-themed bathroom. He is apparently too cool for the big mouse or any cartoon for that matter.

Keeping that in mind, I decided that I wanted to make the bathroom fun and colorful but not include a theme. We found the curtain and mat at Target.

Since the counters need to be wiped down so often I just placed the essentials. I chose this little container (also from Target) because it has a divider and the boys can share it.

I also purchased three small plants from IKEA and I spray painted a plastic plant holder that I had in the garage. That’s as crafty as I get. No joke.

The second storage solution was under the sink. If my boys were both older I would definitely have a cleaning caddy under here but for now I like to keep those in higher cabinets. Instead, I stored in these two baskets all the items that didn’t fit in the shower curtain pockets. They hold one extra set of bath towels, hand towels and shampoo. You have seen me use these baskets in the past because I love them so. Also from Target. I feel like I say “also from Target” after every sentence. I guess I am drawn to that red circle!

The baskets are stackable so I purchased a large and a small one so that I can push the small one back when I need something from the larger. I am so happy that the baskets fit despite the plumbing pipe. That is always something to consider when purchasing containers for under-the-sink organization.

I love having the area cleared out and it is so much easier to keep the bathroom clean and tidy. Peace to all {keeping the 60’s theme in full effect}.

What ideas do you have for keeping kids bathrooms organized?

Maria