AFTER SHOT. Today's post is non-stamping related and deals with organization. I'm an organizational freak, and thankfully married to one too.
I recently re-organized my linen closet in my bathroom, and wanted to share what I did to make life easier.
The closet is an unusual shape. There are two of them - one flanks each side of the vanity in the master bathroom. So funky are the closet shapes that the two national closet companies that came out to quote another project kindly declined to tackle them.
BEFORE. So I was left with four shelves. And a mess. This is the before shot. Imagine knocking over one bottle of lotion - it was a domino effect!! aaaagh!! My towels needed to be higher to be avoid getting bumped. Neatly stacked towels are a must in this house - I'll openly admit I have OCD with certain things.
The clear storage bins with blue lids on the top shelf worked for a while, but most of those items didn't fit into one clear bin - I needed baskets - one per function. I found these purtty celery ones at Pottery Barn Kids a few months ago. I can't find this color online now so you want this color you might try calling stores in your area.
I moved the dirty laundry at the bottom into a huge wicker hamper in our master bedroom closet - which is off of the bathroom versus bedroom - my preference for speed when getting ready.
Then I created soldered labels using 7gypsies paper (Saratoga) as the background. I printed the trimmed 12x12 patterned paper down to 8.5x11 sheets and ran through my printer, incorporating a vintage font called Grunge Caltek. May Arts ribbon ties the soldered glass labels to each basket.
The baskets' soldered labels consist of:
- cotton (cotton balls, cotton swabs and backup packages)
- extras (all those backups of shampoo, razors, deodorant)
- face
- hair
- nails
- tools (hair dryer, diffuser, etc)
- travel
- washcloths (there are so many and don't stack well, so they are assigned a basket)
Most of the baskets have a custom cut piece of 1/2" plywood in the base so bottled items stand upright easily.
Underpinnings are stored in clear drawers from Hold Everything (now West Elm - but they only carry the smaller size - check ebay or other storage sites for the larger size).
Because I get fully dressed in the bathroom to save time, I have my handmade, everyday jewelry in this linen closet too. Storage consists of lined jewerly trays and and bracelet trays from firemountaingems.com.
I wear decorative, funky rings on the middle finger of my right hand. The ring display is also from firemountaingems.com. The earrings I wear frequently are displayed and easily plucked on a Southern Living at Home urn I bought at a neighbor's home party a few years ago. I never used it in the kitchen so why not as storage in the bath! hee...
The decorative pins and pendants are hooked directly into, or mounted with pins that are stuck into a Michaels' frame - I removed the glass and inserted a cloth covered corkboard. A layer of cotton batting lays between the fabric and corkboard for extra plushness.
(Decorative barettes are from Joan Miller, bead artist extraordinaire.)
The last storage solution idea I had was to use 7gypsies knobs as hangers for my many pendant necklaces. The knobs were mounted onto small pieces of painted plywood (thanks to my wonderful handyman Bob the Builder who built my ribbon armoire and the plywood basket inserts) then mounted onto the interior door frame molding.
I'm off to organize my husband's side next!!
edited to add: soldering supplies available at Ellen Hutson; color of bathroom walls is Behr Fossil Butte (#350F-6)