Pretty ways to organize everyday items

January 25, 2017

I always feel like organizing this time of year and it last for a few months. The older I get, the less stuff we have and the longer we live here...I feel more and more organized. It's taken awhile! 

But organization doesn't always mean hiding things away into containers behind closed doors. The things we reach for the most can look good out in the open too! 

I thought I'd share a few examples of how I do that with items that fit seamlessly into our decor. It's easy to go overboard with tchotchkes so I chose to keep things out that I know we use every day. 

Like our commonly cooking utensils by the stove:  
Cute ways to organize in the kitchen

I found this little container at HomeGoods -- it came with a lid. Of course we have a lot of other utensils in a drawer nearby too, but these are what we grab 90 percent of the time.

I first shared these jars with you seven years ago when I showed you how to make easy chalkboard labels for them:
Kitchen baking storage

I've since changed out the Cheerios (that we used to go through super quick at the time for the Bub, sniff!) for baking needs. We keep flour, sugar and powdered sugar in our containers. Our friends laugh that we keep that much powdered sugar but we use them to make our favorite margaritas. ;) 

My absolute favorite zone for cute organization in our kitchen is our wood and metal shelf -- this thing is our hub every day and I've been able to organize quite a few everyday items in a cute way: 
Wood and metal shelf for kitchen organization

I keep our mail in the basket, cat and dog food (and treats!) in the white containers, odds and ends for the animals go in the copper bowl and our smaller office supply items go in the metal basket. I also keep our extra kitchen towels in the fabric bin at the top. 

This spot really does work overtime for us and I love that we can keep items that usually clutter up a kitchen stored away. 

I used to legit have a problem with magazines. For real, I would buy them constantly and hold onto them forever. Over the years I've moved past that and I can't even tell you how nice it is! 

ALL of our magazines go in this wood container (I think I got it from Target):
organizing magazines

If you've seen my past posts about my beloved magazines you know this is pretty big for me. ;) I give myself this much space -- if it starts getting too full it's time to purge. I like having them out so I can actually see them and remind myself to look through them, but they aren't super obvious or laying on the coffee table. (And they help to hide the subwoofer a bit!)

I use trays all over the house to corral little items. I told you about the tray on our kitchen island here and how it's our little station with items we reach for every day. This one sits on the desk in our office and has all of the supplies we need day to day: 
trays for organizing small stuff

That's one sad looking plant! 😆

I think my absolute favorite way to organize in our office/craft room is this DIY craft caddy I made a couple years ago using dollar store pails: 
DIY turning craft caddy

We reach for that nearly every day! I don't mind having craft items out if they're organized and cute. I really think that is the stuff that makes a house a home. :)

For years now I've organized our son's markers, chalk and paints in this caddy I got on clearance and painted: 
DIY rolling craft caddy

I gotta say, adding the wheels on the bottom was a brilliant move. ;) It's so easy to wheel it to the kitchen table or wherever we need it. 

I think bathrooms are another room that have random stuff that has the potential to look cute. Our son's bathroom doesn't have much storage so I put all of his random stuff like brushes, washcloths and toothpaste in this small basket: 
simple ways to organize everyday items

And I keep my bath supplies looking cute on our tub with a small tray and simple glass containers: 
pretty bathroom storage

I think bath items look especially pretty behind glass -- cotton balls, soap and bath salts all look like decor while staying organized. I hope to add more of those when we redo our master bathroom someday. 

These are just a few ways I've done this around our house! If you reach for it every day it can look good while staying organized. Do you have a favorite way to store everyday items in a pretty way? I'd love to hear about them! My goal for our home is always to be super functional, but I promise you it can be both that and look good too. :)




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Comments

  1. I really like that metal shelf! That would be great to have!

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  2. Everything looks great. I also use a crock to hold my wooden utensils and find it super useful.

    Elisabeth @ Treasuring the Moments.net

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  3. I love your kitchen wooden utensils. Your perfect organisation makes me feel so guilty about my messy home! But it's motivated me to get cleaned up for Chinese New Year - thank you for that. :)

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

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  4. Love the ideas! I got a lot of ideas from your kitchen shelves. I recently bought a $75 solid wood toolbench from Home Depot and am painting it white this weekend. It's going in my kitchen to hold our microwave and coffee maker and misc large items on the bottom. I need some canisters like those white ones!

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  5. You had me at margaritas. Are you willing to share the recipe? I'm intrigued that it uses powdered sugar unless that's just for the rim! Thank you!

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  6. These are such great ideas :)

    Rachael xx.

    theteacozykitchen.blogspot.co.uk

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  7. I love your organization supplies! Our house has a severe lack of surfaces for similar containers though. I need to build some shelves in our single bathroom. Any surface in "kid reach" typically can only have non-breakable things. I hear you on the magazines! I hang on to catalogs, too. oiy!

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  8. I love these organized designs! We live in a small house, so we always need to maximize on surface areas. I can't wait to find some cool trays to start "zoning things" so they don't go crazy!

    Also-- so glad all is well with the kiddo. It's never fun when they're sick. :)

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  9. I also put my forks, knives and spoons in three matching mug cups on the kitchen island counter top then put the cups in a basket. No more opening drawers everytime you need a spoon. Drawers for kitchen towels and tools now.

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