Closet Organization

You know the saying- I like my money right where I can see it, hanging in my closet? Well, what is a woman supposed to do when there is no longer room in the closet? For some people, space isn't an issue, but for people who rent or live in a small home or apartment with even smaller closets, organization tips can help utilize the closet space you do have. 

Bookshelves: We all know bookshelves are lifesavers when it comes to book clutter, but did you know bookshelves can help organize clothing and shoes too? In fact, I use an IKEA bookshelf to display everyday flats and boots, plus I even have some larger handbags on the bottom shelf.
Be sure to check it out at the end.

For now let's talk inspiring bookshelves:

 Get fancy with it and add some hooks for your necklaces between shelves

I love how this person mixed the shoes on the shelf as if they belong right next to the other decor. *Mentally takes notes*

Who said a smaller bookshelf can't be used for strictly purses? Nobody.
Pretty and practical, I love it.

Maybe you want to use a bookshelf but don't want to have it displayed in your home. No problem, just drape a piece of fabric over the shelf like below.

Wardrobe/ Dresser: Another way to organize the clutter in your closet is to invest in a wardrobe or dresser. You can find affordable ones at thrift stores, yard sales and flea markets then fix them up the way you want. You can even add shelves or compartments to fit your needs, such as:

An easy way to create those small separators for drawers happens to be hiding within the shelves of your local hardware store. Just ask for 48 inch (or however long you need them) wood lath pieces.

Image via Organized Mom

Cube organizers: When I say cube organizer, I'm referring to furniture with perfectly made squares made for those cube organizer bins. Well, one way to incorporate them into your closet is to organize socks, underwear and other intimates in them. Another way is to ditch the bins and fold your jeans in them. See what I mean below:

I love and am totally stealing the idea of adding a cube to a dead space like the top of a closet. 

Perfect for organizing shoes and/or jeans.

Cubes are also a good place to organize t-shirts. Add more storage on top with modern looking boxes or maybe some jewelry trees for jewelry organization.

Now for a look at how I organize my everyday shoes and larger handbags 

(Don't mind the dust, I literally dusted as soon as I saw this picture, yuckkk):

I have boring books and magazines on the other shelves.

How do you organize the clutter in your closet? 

Did this post inspire you to add some organizational furniture?

Comment below!

Planning

I published the first post on Apartment Sense this morning, check it out here and let me know what you think! I am extremely excited and have already planned a list of topics to talk about. Speaking of planning, every inch of my life could use some organization. How about yours? Organization begins with planning and planning begins with a new planner, right? (Blogger logic). Right! For 2014, I wanted something more than just a black mead planner (yes I have been guilty of those in the past). I started researching for one last month and found too many options to decide so I decided to put planner buying on the back burner.

Now here it was the third day of the new year and 3 days before school starts, and I was still without a planner so earlier today I ventured to Target for socks and came back with two notebooks and a planner.

The planner is super functional and PINK; I absolutely dig it. Guess what is on the top of each page? Gold polka dots! What brand is it? Paper Sugar based out of Los Angeles, California. 

To visit the website click here. 

To see it in person, visit your local Target...in the meantime, take a look from my eye:

Are you also guilty of rushing out to buy a new planner as soon as a new year rolls around? Which brands do you prefer and why? I've never spent over $10 on a planner so are the good ones worth forking out the bucks for? Also, Do you have multiple planners or just one for everything? I have a planner for school and another for blogging! It seems to work out better for me because I like to keep blogging separated from school...and shopping. Although if I have a big event I will mark it in both; which can be a bit of a hassle.

Notebooks were purchased from Target also but are from the brand greenroom, linked here.

One more thing, don't forget to subscribe to my new blog Apartment Sense to see my home office transform.

I hope the new year is treating you well blogging family!

IKEA ALEX Organization [Small Space #5]

Today is all about what I included in each drawer of my ALEX furniture piece made by IKEA.

Drawer #1: Face

Drawer #2: Eyes

Drawer #3: Lips

Drawer #4: Nails

Drawer #5: Make Up Bags

Drawer #6: Hair products

Drawer #7: Extra Jewelry Storage

Drawer Eight & Nine are empty so far.

 I told you the ALEX line for IKEA is AMAZING and is perfect for people who live in small spaces.

What can I put in drawer 8 & 9?
How do you organize all of your beauty product clutter?

Tell me below!

This unfortunately concludes this Small Space series. It has been real and it has been fun. Back to clothes.

Beauty Organization [Small Space #4]

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Hello there beautiful people,
Today continues the Small Space series with post #3. Let’s talk about inspiration to organize all of the beauty clutter. Earlier this year, I traveled to a bigger city to go to IKEA for the first time. I was beyond excited to explore the many floors and experience the full IKEA shopping experience. It is mind-blowing how innovative and space conscious IKEA is. The furniture is built for small spaces; which is why I had to include this trip and what I bought in the series. I bought a few little things because everything is so considerably cheap, but I was the most excited the ALEX storage system that I bought.
ALEX is a popular furniture line of IKEA’S because of all of the storage it provides.

Pictured below is the ALEX piece that I bought:

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This particular ALEX piece has 9 drawers and is tall and skinny so it works perfect for small spaces.
I bought this item in March and haven’t even taken it out of the box until this past weekend.
Why you ask…
1. The box it came in was entirely too heavy for me to lift.
2. IKEA furniture comes in a zillion pieces and honestly intimidates me.
3. My boyfriend attempted to put together a bookcase I bought from IKEA and ended up putting the shelves on backwards so I was not going to ask him.
4. Since I moved into this apartment, I had no clue where I was going to set it up.
Well, my mom came to visit this past weekend and she finally convinced me to dive in and try to piece it together, piece by little piece. So, we did and I have to mention that it looks just like the picture! WOO HOO, SO SO PROUD!
I was going to include pictures of how I organized each drawer but this post is already so long.
Stay tuned for pictures of each drawer in Small Space #4: IKEA ALEX ORGANIZATION tomorrow!

Have you tried IKEA furniture? What are your thoughts on it? Also, do you have a funny story about attempting to build IKEA furniture? I would love to hear.

Tell me in the comments!

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Small Space #3: Solutions

I have a space solution to discuss: My boyfriend has wayyyyy too many hats so I picked up this coat tree from Kirklands and transformed it to a hat organization tool. I think it turned out pretty great and am pretty proud of myself for seeing hat organization in a coat hanger! 

The next solution I want to mention is too organize all of my shoes. Including: flats, boots, sneakers, heels, and whatever else. I picked these plastic drawers up from Target or Wal Mart (I don't remember). Either way, I had them stuffed with computer paper, pens and pencils, and other office supplies. I think they fit in much better in the closet and helps with my shoe hoarding problem.

There are a few problem areas in my closet, as you can see. The question is what can I do to fix these unorganized and overflowed parts of the closet? My jeans are an obvious struggle and with the weather getting cooler day by day, I need some organization. What do you suggest?

By the way, I had an unexpected death in the family, an overload of unavoidable work, and my mom came to visit all in one weekend, So I apologize about being gone for a few days, but I am back. 

The Small space series will be extended through the next week then I have an upcoming giveaway! Yay! 

Stay Tuned!

Small Space #2

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I have so much I want to blog about other than small space tricks but as promised, here ya go…Small Space #2.

According to Five Style Tricks to Open Up Your Small Space from Apartment Therapy, there is five things that make your small space appear more open. My apartment only has one of the five things mentioned in the article and that is white walls. Apparently, white walls make smaller spaces look bigger, who knew? Okay, so check to white walls.

Now I only have to add built in storage, deeper bookshelves, more height, and more light. One thing that is hilarious about my old school apartment (not really funny at all) is that there is no ceiling fans or over head lights EXCEPT in the kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and the master closet. See what I mean about it not being funny, at all? How old school is that? Well, needless to say I DEFINITELY need more lighting.

Which of the five things does your small space lack? What other tips would you add to open up a small space? Also, does anyone have any lighting secrets? I need more lights but don’t want bulky lamps or the stand up kind and adding ceiling fans is out of the question because I am a renter.

Any input is appreciated, Thanks!

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Small Space #1

Happy Monday! Today [as promised] is the first Small Space post. To access the full story behind the Small Space series, check out the post before this one.

The first thing to keep in mind when decorating a small space is multipurpose. Look for furniture that can be doubled as something else, like the example below: This piece not only doubles as a perfume stand and bookshelf, but triples as a little bit of shoe storage also!

Utilizing one piece of furniture for multiple reasons really accentuates the ‘small’ in small space.

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Next, who does not love IKEA furniture? The innovation demonstrated in IKEA’s furniture is amazing and literally built for small spaces so check out this Expedit storage below:

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Third…two words…floating shelves. Yes, these can be found at IKEA also. Living in a small space makes a person want to decorate every inch of their apartment to make it seem not so…small. Floating shelves is the perfect way to stylishly store and organize all of that “stuff.”

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Another take on storing “stuff” is more innovative and genius than stylish and decorative. Below is an example of behind the door shelving which can be used to hide some clutter:

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Basically, you do not necessarily have to get rid of all your belongings when moving somewhere smaller; just learn how to effectively and sometimes stylishly store everything!

So, how do you effectively store all the “stuff” or clutter? How has moving from a large space to a small one impacted your life and cleanliness?  Leave responses below!