Organizing With Etsy: Dressed Up Containers

This is a beautiful storage container from Simply Polished. Measuring at about six inches deep it would be useful for many things. From the site:

Dress up your storage! This is a fun container that will add life to your personal storage needs. Use it for your bathroom accessories, socks, recipes, mail, photos, books, toys, or just about anything!

Simply Polished takes custom orders. If you find yourself wishing you could find the right container that matches your decor go check them out.

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Organizing with Etsy, is an every other weekly feature where I share unique organizing products I find while browsing on Etsy.

PB Kids: Rolling Canvas Bin

The newest Pottery Barn Kids catalog was waiting for me in the mail yesterday. They have new canvas storage bins that come in red, blue and orange. The bins are collapsible and look quite sturdy. I wonder how they would hold up with my little rough and tumblers. For $44 I would hope the bins would live through ordinary rough housing.

Pictured on the bottom of the bins are wooden trays on casters. The trays are another $29. I think it is a great idea to have rolling storage for the little ones (unless you have stairs) and it would make clean up time a breeze. I don't know if your kids are like mine but for some reason it is nearly impossible to get them to bring the bin to the mess. They have to pick up one or two toys at a time and bring the mess to the bin. It is a slow and agonizing process, but in their minds it is much easier than picking up the larger bin. They'll catch on one day but in the mean time maybe wheels will help.

I don't know if I would pay the extra $29 for the trays but this could be a nice DIY project.

Fun Baskets For Kids

I received the new Pottery Barn Kids catalog in the mail today. I thumbed through it while my son was doing homework and I came across these adorable rattan baskets. While they are not very practical to use in bulk due to the shape, they would add a nice touch to a kids room or playroom while providing a little extra storage.

If you don't have kids but have a thing for turtles or elephants you can use the baskets yourself. If you have a beachy theme going on the turtles would be quite useful to store magazines or books by your favorite comfy chair.

The elephant basket brought back some memories for me. I grew up with this rattan elephant table and I remember setting up barbies all around it pretending they were visiting some far off place.

I asked my mom about the table and she said it was a "had to have" item from her teenage years and my grandparents bought it for her. It stuck around for many years and we can't recall whatever happened to it. Perhaps a yard sale. I know it was still around in the early 90's. Let me tell ya, rattan holds up great! That poor elephant took a lot of abuse and always looked the same.

[elephant table: via Style Court]

Flickr Groups: Inspiring You To Keep The Clutter Away

Sometimes all it takes is a little inspiration to give an organizing project it's initial kick start. I thumb through magazines and a picture will strike a chord with me and my heart sings out to tackle the next project. A picture is worth a thousand words. When you see a product used a certain way or a bookshelf turned into a visual masterpiece using colors and containers it can cause you to have an Ah Hah! moment. Suddenly it all becomes clear... you have found the solution to your organizing problem.

If you are looking for a little inspiration your in luck. This week I will be featuring a new Flickr group each day that deals with organizing. I will post pictures form each group that I find are the most inspirational. I came across the Flickr groups while visiting Making it Lovely. Today we will start with the group Nicole started......

Organization is for Squares

Spring has sprung at Chez Larsson. I love this home office. You can find many more pictures like this of her "less than 800 square foot home." She has made great use of the space she has and how beautiful it all is.

Lovely pink containers from The Domestic Diva. Check out the Sewing Room Organization Challenge held at her site for tons of useful tips, products and of course inspirational photos. (It almost wants me to take up sewing)

Wow. I'm speechless. If I had this many purses I would certainly have cubbies for them all. Becky even has a Flickr Photo of the Week feature at her blog on Design Public and this week it just so happens that it is an organizing photo.

Last but not least, the photo that started Organization is for Squares. Nicole's squared away studio where she stores all of the lovely products she carries at her online store, Pink Loves Brown.

There are so many other great photos but only so much time. Check them out and maybe add some of your own. I noticed a couple of others in the group that I have actually blogged about before here and here. I just love the ideas and inspiration these photos bring.

I'll be back tomorrow with another group and more beautiful photos.

Spruce Up Your Plastic Containers

Plastic containers are one of this organizer's favorite organizing products. They come in all shapes and sizes and you can store everything from cereal to shoes. Sometimes I run into clients that prefer cute baskets or bins over plastic. When you have a job that requires twenty baskets or bins it can get a little expensive.

An easy solution to adding a little more life to those plain plastic bins is to line the inside with colorful scrapbook paper or wrapping paper. Then of course you would label the outside with your handy little label maker to identify the contents.

Now, let's take it one step further and spruce up those labels as well. Don't get me wrong I am all for my label maker but when I saw this idea at Deep Fried Kudzu, I just had to pass it on. I am a huge Scrabble fan and it turns out you can buy extra Scrabble tiles on the Hasbro website. Ginger used these tiles to label her plastic containers after she added adorable scrapbook paper to the inside. Isn't it beautiful?

The Rusitc Look

Three-Bin Chalkoard Organizer Good for organizing your incoming mail, magazines, and school papers. Or, just use a bin for each member of the family so they have a place to keep mail and important papers.

Barn Wood & Chalkboard Bin Create seperate bins for all of your items to be recycled.

Chalkboard Storage Bins Perfect size for the playroom. Let the kids draw a picture of the toys stored inside so clean up will be quick, easy, and fun.