New Feature... Two Tip Tuesday!!

I am excited to start a regular new feature that I have titled "TWO TIP TUESDAY"! Here's how it works... I pick a household item and show you two non-standard, but helpful, ways to use that item. I LOVE finding creative uses for common items to make them more versatile. It's usually more cost effective that way, and more fun to think outside the box!

This week's featured item is a belt and tie rack like this one:

The one pictured is a set of 2 for $4.99 at Target, so relatively inexpensive. Obviously, they are designed for holding belts and ties and work pretty well for that. My favorite use for them is for necklaces, though.

It keeps all my necklaces from getting tangled and allows me to store them easily by color. I love having my jewelry organized! 

My second use for these hangers is as doll clothing storage. Because doll clothes are so much smaller than regular clothes, it's hard to hang them up to store them. Doll hangers typically are not big enough to hang on a regular rod, and small doll wardrobes tend to tip over, undermining the purpose of the hanger, since all the clothes fall off the rod when the wardrobe tips. These hangers are velvety and hold onto the clothes, but are also small and fit in the smaller clothes!

Of course, these hangers are also great for scarves, storing lengths of ribbon in your craft room, or storing bracelets. 

There you have it! Two new uses for this handy little hanger! Happy Two Tip Tuesday!

Master Closet Reveal!!

So... the month of February I focused on creating systems for my master closet. I already had some systems in place, but there were others that were obviously not working... Here are some before pictures...

What's wrong? Clothes on the floor... 

What's wrong? Empty hangers collecting, clothes and bins on the floor... 

What's wrong? Seems I'm using the floor as a collection space... 

What's wrong here? My Miche covers store great here, but I switch them out downstairs and leave them around the house... 

What's wrong? Paper clutter!!

What's wrong? Ummm... maybe that empty, dusty shelf?

Here's my necklace storage system.

This is where I keep all sorts of things... including boots during the summer... on the top shelf. 

What's wrong? Random empty hangers... 

Okay, so you see the problems I've been having... NOW... What have I done to fix those problems? Here are the after shots... 

I moved our luggage to the top shelf here. It's easier to access and uses the space in the top of our closet productively. Leif's clothes are on the top bar and mine are on the bottom, just like before. 

I rearranged some things in the center tower... Leif's spare shoes moved down and I put the extra red bins in the bottom cubbies. I don't know what will go in there yet, but at least they look nice. 

Perhaps the biggest change in the closet is that I moved my Miche covers (and all handbag related paraphernalia) downstairs with my shoes. Then I moved my necklaces (organized by color) to the wall where my Miche covers were. I also moved a storage stool from the bathroom to the closet so I have someplace to sit while putting on socks, etc.  

Here's the end of the closet. My "donate" bin is ready for Goodwill or a clothing exchange. I put items in here as I cull them from my closet. 

This is where Leif's pants hang on the top rod and my skirts and pants and scarves hang on the bottom. I also put a small selection of hangers here, since Leif has asked me to keep some in the closet instead of in the laundry room. 

This is the formerly empty shelf!

Here's where the rest of my jewelry gets stored... 

Again, the red bins in the bottom of the tower. One holds my fleece-lined tights. The other two are empty for now. 

I organize my tops by sleeve length and color. I have been using these dividers to separate the different kinds of tops. I'd like to design new ones, but I haven't gotten around to it yet... =D

So there you have it... my closet. I am going to admit that I didn't do as thorough a job as I wanted to do with this, so there are things I still want to do. But the month is over, so now on to the Master Bathroom!!! And guess what? DONE is better than PERFECT!