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Author: Darla DeMorrowbathroom clutter General Home Organizing Small Spaces

12 Easy Ways to Organize Beauty Products

Easy ways to organize beauty products in the bathroomOrganizing your beauty products will cut down on the time it takes to get ready in the morning and will start your day off on an organized, empowered note. Here are 12 easy ways to get started:

1. Keep only the items you use every single day in your medicine cabinet. Leave room for the basics like your toothbrush and skincare. At least that part of your routine can be simplified to just one product for each step, even if you have a million choices for color and finishing touches.

2. For beauty items that coordinate with your outfit or the season, like blushers, eye shadows, and lip color, group them together by category so you can see your choices at a glance.

3. Use clear acrylic drawer dividers or decorative boxes to hold groups of each makeup type in drawers or on shelves.

4. Use wall space by adding bins like those found in kitchens to hang utensils. Add magnetic or hook and loop (Velcro) fasteners to hang items in plain view on the back of the medicine cabinet door. The back of the bathroom door can offer even more storage space with the addition of a clear see-through shoe pocket organizer.

5. The under-sink space is super-high value real estate. Use a 2-tier sliding organizer to make use of all the room under your sink, and to reduce spills and messes.

6. Minimize the amount of beauty product in your tub area. Find a shampoo and body wash that the whole family enjoys using rather than tripping over multiples.

7. Most tubs don’t have much built in storage. Add racks that hang over the shower head and offer 2-4 shelves to hold beauty products and gear. Or suspend another shower rod on the inside back wall at eye level to hold baskets that can hold even more beauty items or bath toys.

8. The 80/20 rule applies to most beauty products. We usually use 20% of our products 80% of the time, and most products get used barely at all. Decide which items are your favorites, and pack the rest away for a month. If you don’t go back into the box to retrieve any of those items, you can probably do without them altogether.

9. Repurpose whenever possible. Use mason jars, wooden boxes that were original packaging for nicer beauty products, and small tin pails from the garden department to help you sort items together and make them look nice.

10. Even simple plastic bins from the dollar store can look great if they are in the same color scheme and labelled nicely.

11. Update your light bulbs. It’s hard to organize what you can’t see.

12. If you are updating your space, ensure there are plenty of drawers to store your beauty products in. Most basic vanities don’t come with drawers. With drawers, you can easily separate your beauty stash and keep your counters clear so you have room to prep each morning.

Author: Carla ShipmanGeneral Home Organizing Organizing Products Small Spaces Storage

Love Those Drawer Organizers

You know we always hear “Everything has its Place.”  It really does. Take a cluttered junk drawer filled with all kinds of mess. Often there are keys, batteries, receipts, tools, money, pens, gift cards, coupons, pencils, candy, stamps, unpaid bills, medicine, and restaurant menus having a conversation. You get the point. This happens when there is no designated area or system for these items. When we search for something and can’t find it, it affects our behavior and emotions. Stress icon showing negative impact Yes, unfortunately here comes the yelling at the kids or running late for work because we can’t find the keys.

That is why drawer organizers are a great, efficient, and simple way to transform your space so everything has a proper spot. The goal is to find items when we need them. Imagine grabbing your keys and walking out the door on time for work. What a great feeling.

Here’s how to get started (once you’ve taken measurements and purchased your drawer organizers).

• Empty the cluttered drawer.

• Sort like items together — decide what you’ll keep and discard the rest.

• Take a look…no more clutter. Now grab those keys and go to work.
Happy organizing!

before during and after drawer organizing project

(Images of Organized Drawer owned by Carla Shipman aka Ms. DeClutter)

Author: Barb BermanHome Organizing Small Spaces

5 Organizing Tips for Living in a Small Space

Is it possible to live in a small area?  You bet it is!

Most of us know people living in small houses or apartments, going to college and living in a dorm for the first time, or moving from a big home to a smaller one.  Even if you don’t, you may have experienced one of these situations yourself at some point. Down-size, right-size or re-size – there are plenty of options for small spaces.  No challenge is too small or too big.  Here are 5 tips to make your space shine.

1.  Divide and conquer.  Small spaces must service many needs.  Decide what you need and where to locate it and then use furniture, rugs, and other creative items to divide the space.

2.  Create storage solutions.  Shelves, milk crates, or foldable colored bins are a great way to store and add color to any room.

3.  Identify other areas that may have possibilities.  Hang items over doors, on the back of doors, in closets, or even on the wall by using Command Strips.  Command strips make for quick and easy solutions, and they don’t damage the wall space.

4.  Design your own shelf appeal.  Think vertical space.  Add wall shelves like you would a wall paper boarder – store books, pictures, trinkets, and even baskets high.

5.  Use hide-away options.  Raise your bed (http://www.bedrizer.com/) and store underneath.  Smart options include bins or old drawers from old dressers – add four canister wheels for ease of sliding.  Store clothes in bins or plastic bags for seasonal solutions.  Add a dryer sheet for freshness.

Just think, when living in a smaller area, you will have less to take care of and more time to do what you want to do!