Organization

Storage Solutions: Ideas for using a set of Baskets

September 27, 2017 by CORINNA HENDERSON

StoreBeautifully

Storage needs fluctuate throughout the seasons. We always need storage, but maybe what we are storing is different today than what we will be storing in 6 months. We are entering the cooler months of the year and that means winter wear, extra blankets, visitors and a lot more indoor play (toys, toys and more toys). Adjusting how we currently organize things to accommodate all the extra things this season brings can easily be accomplished with a set of baskets.

Deeper hues of colors you already decorate, mixed in with some earthy colors are a great way to effortlessly welcome autumn. Because teals and blues play a prominent role in my decorating, this teal and jute basket set compliments a seasonal change in my decor. Baskets come in a variety of materials and colors, though. So you’re sure to find a set that blends into your home.

I chose a set of 6 baskets in a teal water hyacinth. The baskets are gigantic. Which is pretty great when you’re considering the amount of things that need to fit into them. More baskets and other storage containers can be found in Wayfair’s storage selection.

5 Ideas For Basket Storage

These suggestions work great when you’re eyeing a set of nesting baskets and just aren’t sure what you’d use all the various different sizes for!

Children’s toys

It’s getting cooler outside and I know my kid is trading bike time for dinosaur play. I know that’s a challenge a lot of parents deal with this time of year. Toys end up everywhere! Baskets are perfect because it’s easy to pour things out and throw things back in. And… pick them up and throw them in the boardroom when company arrives.

Giant Basket = Giant toy storage for all the indoor play during cooler months like Fall and Winter

Entryway Storage

Summer was pretty easy. We didn’t need to think about jackets and other outer wear. We could just get up and go. Cooler months requires things and preparation. And things need places to go. Putting a basket by the front door is an easy drop and grab solution for umbrellas, scarves and gloves. A change in seasons = a change in wardrobe = a change in storage.

Small or no entry way solution: Use a basket to gather gloves, scarves and umbrellas

Spare Blanket Holder

I know my kid and husband are perfectly content putting extra blankets on the floor and then stepping on it before grabbing it when they’re chilly. Me on the other hand? I prefer crumb free throw blankets and pillows. A throw basket beside the sofa is a stylish way of keeping everyone in the family warm on cool evenings.

Keep a pretty basket beside the sofa for extra blankets and throw pillows for those cool Fall nights you want to snuggle up and keep warm.

Guest Toiletry Essentials

It’s bound to happen. With all of the extra visitors we have in our homes these holiday filled months, the toilet paper runs out fast. Keeping a basket out in plain sight filled with extra rolls keeps visitors stress free. I mean, nobody likes texting their friend for the bathroom for more toilet paper.

Basket full of toilet paper keeps guests at ease during the holidays since they won't have to worry about running out of toilet paper.

Off Season Wear

If you’ve got a spare bit of space in the bedroom, tuck those off season clothes into a basket and throw a tray and plant on top. Chic plant stand meets needed clothing storage. It’ll be there when you need it and you won’t have to fumble in the depths of closets or attics.

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It’s no secret that baskets make fantastic storage. But maybe you hadn’t thought of a few of these Fall inspired ideas. Do you have any great tips for using baskets? Let’s keep the ideas going by leaving yours in the comments below. Don’t forget to share these ideas by Tweeting, Facebook sharing, or saving to one of your Pinterest boards.

How I Organize My Bathroom

February 21, 2017 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Renovating a bathroom is a lot of fun. But when the process is over and you’re actually living in it, that’s when you truly discover what kinds of things make your bathroom work for you. For me, discovering our best storage and organizational needs took some time. I teetered back and forth on some solutions I’d thought up. But, for quite a while now things have been unchanged. Now that our bathroom functions well for us, I thought I’d share just how I organize my bathroom to give you some ideas to try for yours.

If you’ve got any good bathroom storage tips, be sure to leave them in the comments below. I’m always looking for new things to try to make living life as enjoyable as possible.

Utility Closet Organization Ideas

September 14, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Creating pretty spaces through decorating is a lot of fun and rewarding. But its oftentimes the spaces we dont hang out in, or the spaces guests dont see that get neglected. But its so important to give these spaces attention because they affect how we live in our home. The utility closet is no different. If you use this space to store anything, using some simple organization will make the space less frustrating and easier to use.

I just recently took on giving my own utility closet a bit of a facelift. I had a few different priorities for the space.

Function better
Fit in vacuum and carpet cleaner
Purge Cleaners
Utilize Wall Space

Here are a few solutions I came up with:

Take Advantage Of Vertical Space

I went through my leftover lumber pile and cut down enough pieces to fill in space for a good deep shelf. This way I could still sort and store all the smaller things this space holds while still having the ease of simply rolling the vacuum and carpet cleaner in and out of the small closet.

Space Maximizing Shelf Organizers

I went a tad higher with the shelf than I really needed to because I didn’t want things to feel tight in here and because I wanted to be able to use various shelf organizers to maximize space. One of the main things we pop into this closet for are batteries, so now they can be front and center. This minimizes disruptions for the other storage bins and helps keep things orderly.

Hooks On Walls For Slim Items

Now that I had better access to the walls, I used hooks and pushpins to hang various items along the walls. The dustpan, power drill battery charger, and screwdriver holders all went on the walls. Fewer things on the shelves = fewer things to pile up.

Utilize Inexpensive Plastic Bins

My bins are from the dollar store. You can go as simple or as complex as what you know will make best sense for your space. For mine? I needed a bin or cords/powerstrips/cable line, light bulbs, tools, loose screws/nails/etc and packs of command hooks/screws/hanging hardware. I grab the bin I need from the stack and just place it back in the stack when I’m finished going through it.

Easy, Inexpensive and a system that’s totally working for me. I’m glad I took the time to give this space a bit of attention because the less stress I experience actually living in my home, the more I can enjoy it. Which is why I’d totally encourage you to take a bit of time to purge and organize a closet sooner than later!

Tons Of Storage In A Small Bathroom

August 26, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

When you’ve only got one bathroom in your house and closet space is slim to none, you’ve got to think creatively and maximize what you do with the space in that bathroom. I don’t have the smallest or biggest of bathrooms, but I have jam packed a ton of storage into the space. Today I want to share all of those bathroom storage solutions because even if you can’t make them all work, there’s ideas here that will work for any space.

Build A Recessed Shelf
- I don’t find organizers that hang over the showerhead or use tension to hang in the corner of the rub to be very effective. They’re normally not stable enough nor are they ever big enough to hold everything.
- If you can invest to DIY or have someone come in and put a recessed shelf into your shower area, you’ll love it. Our is especially huge but even a small one (or a series of small ones will go a long way in making the space function better.
Double Shower Curtain Rod
- Don’t waste wall space on towels. A simple and relatively cheap space saver is to change out your shower curtain rod for a double shower curtain rod. Instant double duty. And then while you’re at it, treat yo self to some cute towels.
Install A Cabinet Over The Toilet
- If your linen closet is better suited to storing things you normally keep in there. Like first aid kits, medicines (that aren’t susceptible to moisture), towels, personal care products and anything else you need to store in there.
- Also allows you to stock up on things like toilet paper because you’ve got a place to put the extras.
Add A Freestanding Cabinet
- If you’re really struggling with space, you likely don’t have room for this tip, but I love this! I can basically become a hoarder now that I’ve put this cabinet in my bathroom. Even rarely used bathroom cleaning products and their back ups get stored in here because I have room for everything else.
Choose A Sink With Storage
- When choosing between sinks for a bathroom remodel, don’t torture yourself with a pedestal sink (I guess unless you’re about to implement the other 7 ideas here). Bathroom vanities have come a long was from the free standing kitchen cabinet look and there are plenty attractive ones that take up minimal floor space.
Shelf Over The Door
- Steal a little square footage above the door. Extra toilet paper rolls, a basket of makeup, folded towels all display nicely in this space since it’s not a main space the eye rests in a bathroom.
Utilize Wall Space
- You can use wall space for shelves to display pretties and for all the daily essential.
Baskets & Containers
- Hang a basket from the ceiling a la macrame planter style for boho storage that takes up little space.
- Put a basket on the floor for toilet paper/towels/laundry.
- For storing small items (makeup, travel sized items, toothbrushes, deoderant)
- Use a basket on the wall for a textural shelf

How we blend toy storage with our decor

May 8, 2016 by CORINNA HENDERSON

How To Keep Toys Organized While Keeping Style In Mind

A Boho Momma’s tiny home living room and playroom combo

For anyone who has been curious about the latest toy storage to enter our living room, today I can finally share the details with you! We don’t have a dedicated space for toys. Nope, no toy room, no play room in this house. With a 3 (almost 4!) year old, it’s definitely something we’re had to ensure we accommodate into our other living spaces. Most our his play happens in the living room and creative items are in the dining room.

On the Remodelaholic blog, I’m sharing the tutorial for this wood wrapped cube shelving unit. Cube organizing units are phenomenal storage pieces, but they look like storage pieces and I’m not a fan of how they look in their plain form. So I looked at the furniture I have, the furniture I like, and I came up with this solution.

wood wrapped ikea kallax cube storage unit - storage made to look like mid century furniture (DIY tutorial)

It’s been an awesome way to sort out legos from train sets from plastic animals from blocks. For the things he has a larger collection of, I utilize bigger baskets.

all the favorite toys are hidden in cute baskets

Sure, they’re not perfectly hidden. But in a space where there’s practically never toys about, it’s the perfect blend of our real life and our aesthetic.

My kid is a huge fan of garbage trucks. He watches the Youtube videos over and over. So naturally he’s acquired a collection of larger trash trucks, too. For that? I found this awesome ornate hardware wicker trunk that holds those and a few of the Green Toys trucks he has, too.

ornate brass details wicker trunk boho

And finally, we utilize heavy duty end tables with cabinet space for things like puzzles and board games. I’ve found really neat ones on Offer Up and local thrift stores.

I’m a fan of wood with brass details for the look of my living room, but also the large cabinet space. I have 2 dedicated to lesser used toy storage and 1 that I use in my pseudo “office” aka the white chair in my living room.

thrifted craigslist side table perfect toy storage with pretty brass details

And that’s all the ways I store toys in my living room. And where you can find the tutorial for the cube organizer I created. If you’re having to pull double (or more!) duty in your living spaces, furniture with storage capacity, cute baskets and adapting classic storage pieces to suit your style are a great way to go!

How To Keep Toys Organized While Keeping Style In Mind - A Boho Momma's tiny home living room and playroom combo

How to fit Lots of Storage in a Small Living Room

August 5, 2015 by CORINNA HENDERSON

Hey Guys!

I LOVE finding ways of stretching the space in our small home. I’m a borderline hoarder and I have a 3 year old son who loves to shop (yes! really!). So I’ve got to find ways of hiding my growing collection of glass bottles and my son’s growing collection of Matchbox cars. I like to toot my own horn a little bit on this subject because I think I’ve done a pretty darn good job of fitting in lots of storage while still having a cute space to hang out in! Let me share what I’ve done to capitalize on our small space as well as some fabulous ideas from the blogosphere!

First and foremost, I love baskets. I think every self proclaimed decorator loves baskets because they really are an amazing piece to add to a room. Big baskets sit fine on the floor and small ones fit nicely atop shelves and under tables. I use baskets to store train sets, matchbox cars, legos, decorative items not in use at the moment and media “junk.” But you know, anything can go into a basket.

The second piece that’s a must in a space with good storage is furniture with cabinets/drawers. You’ll see it everywhere right now, people are turning credenzas and dressers into media cabinets. And it’s seriously so smart. Even if you don’t need storage space for traditional media cabinet things, those cabinets and drawers are perfect for hiding away extra candles, seasonal items, or a dangerously big glass bottle collection. 😉

If you’ve got a spare closet in your living room space you can convert it to a totally functional mudroom space. Even if you don’t have school age children, having a mudroom space is super practical. Books, backpacks, jackets- basically anything you may need before leaving you home can be stored neatly and out of sight here. And then at the end of the day, it’s a neat place to hide away those things, too. Kim from Hunt & Host shared how she converted her spare closet into a mudroom space. It’s so functional and organized. Hooks in a closet is much more practical for me. I do not like battling with a hanger at the end of a cold day.

Another really fabulous idea for families with students is this door organizer. It corrals all those related items into one central location. But obviously is makes a really great utensil station, too! Jamie shares a really great school organization post covering how to use a simple door as a fun way to get organized. All you need is a small section of wall and you’ve got a great spot for storage in the living room.

A really great idea is to use interesting accent furniture with drawers and/or doors. Like this apothecary cabinet in Mandi of Vintage Revivals’ Lofty living room. You could store all sorts of amazing craft supplies in those drawers. Or kitchen utensils. Or DVDs/pictures/etc.

Maximize an empty wall by making custom built ins. Not only will you maximize all that vertical space, but holy hidden storage! You don’t have to clean under it and it’s custom to fit your needs. Check out all the cabinets in this built in Entertainment Center from Danielle of DIY Danielle.

I think we can all agree that taking an idea from Emily Henderson is probably the best move. This campaign dresser is stunning, but it’s also totally practical. Again, taking a beautiful accent piece that doubles as a hideaway for all the unsightly things is a great way to go. This also frees up possibly needed end table storage so she could use this swanky metal wire one. The combination is perfection. Check out all the beautifulness from her Living Room Reveal.

I love Jen’s idea for making over a dresser and using it for non clothing storage. The drawers conceal the art supplies but they aren’t so deep that art supplies get lost in the depth of the drawer. Jen shared the transformation for this dresser on her blog Fresh Crush.

Michael from Inspired by Charm always has a plethora of good ideas. But I was especially inspired by the built in bookcase shown here in the living room. Even open storage is great storage- for pretty things and unsightly things within baskets and boxes. The whole space can be seen in his post about changing the wall color of this space.

Lory from Designthusiam recently shared a post highlighting 4 reasons you should use your living room. She mentioned that the piece below serves well for holding thank you notes and stationary. That’s such a good idea! And a piece like this would work really well for those of use who move from space to space trying to find the right inspiration for our work. The drawers also function to hold gift wrap amongst other things. And it folds up to be out of sight when not in use.

Naturally I can’t avoid finding reasons to share beautiful spaces. Here’s another one shared by A Cup of Jo- Brooklyn Home Tour. I’ve always been infatuated with the idea of lining a wall with bookcases. If you can afford to bump out your couch about a foot, why not place some bookcases behind it? The hidden shelves can hold seasonal items and the visible shelves can hold pretty things and more in boxes and baskets. The whole home is absolutely stunning and full of really great ideas.

And last but not leave, wall mounted shelves are a great way to have full control over every element. From style to function to little things like, “how low can I go before my little kid can use this as a ladder?” kind of control. I created these shelves for my living room by “hacking” the IKEA Ekby Lerberg brackets. I’ll have the tutorial for them up next week!

I hope you’ve found this post helpful and interesting. If you have anything to add to the list, please leave it in the comments below! Leave a link if you have one if you want the tip to be included in Part 2!