In 2010, and even before, it became difficult for someone
with a degree in my field of Interior Design to find a job because of the
housing market. Not many people were buying new homes at the time. Instead,
they were improving on what they already had.
Little has changed since then.
Because of this, many women have become “Do It Yourselfers”
who spend hours daily and into the night reading and searching the Internet DIY
Blogs and Pinterest trying to discover new and trendy ways to improve on their
homes without breaking the bank. Many of these blogs focus on creating the
perfectly organized home.
Most homes today do not come with enough storage space (unless
you are lucky enough to have designed your own dream home to your
specifications). Any area that can be used for storage is “Prime Real Estate”
meaning the space needs to be efficient enough to store everything you need so
that items are not in view or taking up much needed counter or floor space.
The biggest trend now is to treat these Prime Real Estate
areas as a room themselves. Some of these areas include closets miraculously
turned into mini-offices, laundry rooms with coordinating color schemes, and
pantries fully wallpapered, painted and labeled. Looking through these pictures
of grandeur on the Internet can be daunting especially when you go in search of
some of the same items and see what it would cost to replicate in your own
home. It is not difficult to quickly spend a fortune trying to imitate what we
see in these picture perfect spaces.
To ensure that we do have a beautiful home, use all of the
Prime Real Estate efficiently and don’t break the bank, follow some of these
simple rules:
1) Don’t be afraid of the Dollar Store and
Goodwill—Both of these places tend to carry a large selection of containers and
baskets for a fraction of the price it would cost at the normal retail stores.
These stores and garage sales should be your first option. IKEA is also a good
option for low priced items for organizing.
2) Don’t throw anything away—Those ever popular
glass containers can get expensive if you purchase them from a retail store
(there are some great ones at Target and Wal-Mart that are relatively cheaper,
but it can add up) so SAVE, SAVE, SAVE those jars from your spaghetti sauce and
your jams and mayonnaise and reuse them in the pantry or other spaces. You can
also use oatmeal containers covered in pretty fabric or paper to store toilet
paper or packs of spaghetti. Pringles cans and tennis ball canisters can be
used for straws, skewers or paper cup cake liners. Note: The canisters from
coffee, powdered drinks and Pringles cans can serve as pretty containers for
Holiday cookies for friends and teacher gifts as well. Heavy-duty shoeboxes
with thick cardboard can also be covered and repurposed- the larger the shoe sizes
the better.
3) Repurpose— Pretty ceramic bowls can be used to
corral keys in the entryway or jewelry in the bathroom. These can be found by
shopping in the bathroom décor section at most stores (cotton ball/Q-tip
containers can be used to hold keys at the door or other small items). These
can also be found at Thrift stores and garage sales. An old dresser with a
fresh coat of paint can be used in an entryway to store items such as dog
leashes, sunglasses and other items needed quickly, or seasonal items such as
tablecloths, large platters or vases. The same dresser can be used in the
living area to hold DVDs or kids’ toys and games. When purchasing dressers or
older furniture, it is important to ensure the drawers and any doors do work
properly or can be repaired. Larger dressers and chests with a larger number of
deep drawers tend to hold more items than the typical entryway table or sofa
table. Never be afraid to think outside the box. Manufacturers make tons of
money off of creating items that are marketed for one specific use. It is up to
us to create new purposes for these items.
4) Make Your Own—Many “Perfect” pantries have
everything in uniform containers with pretty labels. Turn to printable Avery
labels for creating your own custom labels instead of buying the already made
ones. Martha Stewart Home has some that are removable so you can wash or change
the container for another use later on. Both the printable Avery labels and
Martha Stewart Home labels ($3.00 for 18 removable labels) are sold at Staples.
Round hanging labels for baskets can be created by using cardboard from cereal
boxes, scrapbook paper, and ribbon. These can be used in closets, pantries and
laundry rooms and are easy to see from higher shelves.
5)Shop Seasonal Sales—There are certain times of
year when containers and organizational items are at their lowest prices. Back to
School and College sales are great times to shop for containers and bins.
Locker organizers can also be used as shelves under the sink in the bathroom or
kitchen. During fall and Christmas, larger bins and containers are also
discounted because they are fall or Christmas colors.
Whatever the room of your home that you are planning to
reorganize or decorate, remember that every space in your home that can be used
to corral our ever-growing items is Prime Real Estate. Items need to be stored
close to where they will be used the most. Items not used often need to be
stored in the back of the closets or the harder to reach areas of the home.
Always look for alternatives to using items before taking them to Goodwill or
putting them out in the garage sale. Many times, we toss or recycle items to
clear space when those very items could be helping us to save space.
I would love to hear your money saving tips for
home organization and design. Be
looking for my dresser redo that is currently being used in the entryway of our
home. Look for more money saving organizational and design tips in the future.
And, in the meantime- have fun making your home the best it can be.
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