Thanks to Brandy from Savin' Some for this great guest post. She is way more creative than I am!
Organization - it has long been a goal of mine to completely grasp this concept. However, with so many “must-have” tools and systems it can add up to a nice chunk of change. Or at least that is what I thought until I decided to get creative with it.
If you are anything like me, my house is full of items that have the potential to be great organization tools. You see, we have five children ages 6 and under, so we have lots of “things”. Most of these “things” fall into the category of “needs organization”, but there are quite a few that can be used as tools.
Today I want to share some ways in which you can organize your space, simply by using what you already have stashed in other places.
Beach Buckets
Most people have a few of these lying around the house. These make the perfect container for small Lego blocks, little cars, Barbie clothes and shoes, and even “Princess Dress-up accessories”; we have a lot of those at my house. By simply adding a cup hook to the inside of the closet, you can hang the bucket by the handle to keep it up off of the floor.
Boxes
We have moved twice in the past two years, so we have had our share of boxes. Guess what I found out, you can actually use those for organization. We were recently in need of a toy box for one of our children’s rooms, so I found a way to make it work. I took a sturdy moving box (one of the larger ones) and cut the flaps off of the top. Next I added some cute material from my sewing stash, and ta-da, we had a toy box.
Peanut butter and Jelly containers
These are one of my favorite tools, partly because we have so many. PB&J seems to be one of the favorite food combinations at my house. There are tons of things that you can use these for:
- Cut a slit in the top of a PB container and let the kids decorate the container. Just that simple you have a custom piggy bank.
- Use them in the craft room to hold safety pins and push pins.
- Screw the top to a shelf and you can use them to hold craft nails, or other small items, when you need one of the items, unscrew the container. I love the fact that this frees up counter space.
- Use them to hold toys or even snacks in the car on a road trip.
Baskets
It seems like baskets are everywhere. You receive them as gifts, etc. Rather than throwing them out or donating them to the GoodWill, use them to get organized such as:
- Use them to organize items in your bathroom cabinets.
- Spray paint them to match your theme, and use them to hold towels or wash clothes on top of the bathroom counter.
- Use them in the game room to hold all of the pieces to each game.
The possibilities for organizing with “found” items are limitless; you just have to get a little creative. I took inventory of what we had the most of and went from there. Not only will organizing with this method help save you time, but it will save money too.
Brandy is a homeschooling mother of five, who loves to save money. She is the author of www.savinsome.com, a blog where she shares tips that will help save you money, time, and sanity.
Amy
I really love these tips. I was in a position once to where I thought to organize I had to go to a retail store and buy the most expensive pretty bins and baskets and drawers I could find. It left us in a bind because we were never able to really afford to do that. Here recently I have discovered that repurposing things around my home can make for great storage. We reuse wipe boxes for lots of things. Right now one holds my coupon collection, one holds my odds and ends in my kitchen, one holds my sons therapy toys. I have several more I plan to find a use for. Also, dishpans are wonderful! Anyway, just wanted to say that this post is great and thanks for the wonderful ideas! Come check out my new blog if ya get a chance!