Simple Solutions for the Creative Mind and Collector’s Heart

and I should add, for those short on storage and closets. I have this delightsome old house. I’m not sure what they did with the things they treasured most…is it a part of our time where the newer houses have closets galore; kitchen cabinet for days; garages; and that beautiful thing…walk-in closets. 

Sigh…

I have none of the above. The best thing about our former house was the drive under garage. There were two extra rooms. One for me and the children – our crafty-creative room and the other for Dearest – where all his tools and such happily lived.

Fast forward…Delightsome Old House…

Our house has four rooms downstairs, a laundry room (former ‘breakfast room’) and side porch. We have an AMAZING Master bedroom upstairs – it spans the width of the front of the house with a ‘Summer porch‘ that Dearest uses for his office. Then there’s two other bedrooms – not large in size – one with a tiny, I mean tiny closet and the other a former ‘blanket closet’ that now is a bathroom. The upper hallway has a lovely linen closet and longish closet – darling daughter still has a few things stored there and a pretty decent closet – that houses all my crafty things – barely! One of the bedrooms has built-in shelves – more like a library that for now I have fabric on the bottom and out-of-season decor items. 

For the Collector and Crafter at Heart….

 

This house has precious little storage – we actually have a LOT, wayyyy too much stored in our attic, but that’s long-term storage. Most of it really needs to go! 

So What Do I Do? What Storage Solutions Do I Use….

I have to be very, very purposeful in my storage otherwise my distracted self might put something away and forget where I put it. Desks and dressers, wardrobes and such provide storage space…but I really need to be selective, or else I’ll be saying that well known phrase, ‘it’s here somewhere’. One of our challenges is ‘clutter begets clutter’. If something is laying around it seems to ‘invite‘ other things to join in!

My Favorite Tips

• Store Like Items Together
• Use ONLY white bath towels, washcloths etc…
• Less paper is more – learning to love ‘the cloud’ and digital storage
• Trade Off – if you want-like something new…perhaps something old needs a new home
• Baskets, boxes, crates and more – the prettier the better!
• Old suitcases can be storage and decorative too!
• Be Purposeful in your storage – only those things that belong in the room get stored there – every thing needs a home
• ONE LAST TIP – let your family know your storage and organizing plans! They’ll be a help not a hindrance!

This is challenging when you have an older home with few places to store things. It has challenged me to be very selective in the things I choose to collect…you know the current, popular storage – organizing ideas…’if you LOVE it…’ 

 

This is a project for me, one that I plan to conquer in 2017! What are your tips, best ideas for storage and organization? Are you feeling positive about this upcoming year? Are you planning to focus on and to conquer those things that challenge and up to now have eluded you? That’s me! Let’s see how this year will turn out. I’ll share more very soon!