Try saying THAT after a few mojitos.
The truth is, the bigger the abode we have the seemingly more stuff we have everywhere. It’s as if more square footage has given us the licence to become disorganised. Admittedly the whole re-decorating thing hasn’t helped (unopened boxes have been moved from room to room and there are a whole bunch of belongings without a permanent “home”)…but that’s no excuse for the inside of my wardrobe to resemble TK Maxx during sale season.
What I actually need are still small space solutions – I don’t want loads of bits and bobs on every surface, I want clean, serene and everything in it’s rightful place.
Starting with the aforementioned closet (aka complete tip) scenario. I used to keep my smalls in a plastic container, sometimes it was reasonably neat, other times it just looked like a pile of lace and silky frilly pieces jumbled together in a pile. I now have a practical and minimalist cotton drawer with dividers that has literally changes my life – it sits in on the shelf underneath where I hang my tops and my bras and knickers are even colour co-ordinated. It will be the best £12 you ever spend.
I am currently having a moment with knitted baskets, they look chic but are also very useful, and hold more products than you think. I am currently using a large basket for my hairdryer and various other barnet related tools and bottles and a smaller basket for skincare and shower paraphernalia. £22 and £10 respectively and they look as though they cost considerably more.
You may have already seen my gin shelf feature a few weeks ago and next to it in my kitchen I have a set of two industrial style shelves from Cox and Cox. These look great but also hold my cookery books, measuring cups and various teapots and vases that are too pretty to keep in a cupboard. I am currently coveting the brass shelves – I’m sure Mabel must need one or two in her new bedroom.
Last but not least…concrete. I’m not going to hold back, I think I have an obsession with it. My dream kitchen has concrete worktops and I am determined to make it a reality (one day!) but for now I’m fulfilling requirements on a much smaller scale with these beautiful storage jars from Nordic House. I use them on my dressing table to store make-up brushes, hand-cream and nail polishes. As I type there is only the medium size left.
Have you got any clever small space storage solutions? I would love to hear about any DIY genius you have up your stylish sleeves.
Then I can blatantly just copy your ideas and pretend they were mine.
I have been looking for ages for something to sort my underwear drawer out – the ‘cotton drawer with dividers’ is genius! 🙂
Nicola I’m so happy to enable 💁🏼
Charlotte your shelf situation is 👌
I use the little white fabric Ikea boxes for stuff like nappies but these grey ones are much nicer x
John Lewis have some lush storage stuff in right now – their basics range is nice but their croft range is AMAZING x
I’m a basket queen! With 3 kids in our house we’ve always got crap covering every surface so whenever I spot a nice basket, large or small, I have to buy it and leave one in every room for aforementioned crap. Slightly off topic, but I also have some lovely clear Perspex filing trays and magazine holders – 3 of each (one per child) on the dining table so that drawings / spellings / school letters etc can be filed immediately for the relevant child. I can’t stand random bits of paper floating around the house. Ok, I’m a basket case as well as a basket queen 😳.
Nic these perspex filing trays sound great, Mabel comes home with “art” pretty much every day and I have no idea where to keep it all. Also we are really awful at organising letters etc, we just have a big box in the kitchen that is overflowing…..maybe I need another basket (!) x
Love the concrete jars so much!! My best storage solution is keeping my hair straighteners in a wine bottle cooler (restaurant style one). Don’t have to wait for them to cool down either. Other than that, my dressing table is not tidy at all!
OMG! Love this idea! x
Josie this is so clever?!
Lurve the knitted baskets and shelves. I’m a Marie kondo convert and trying to clear out stuff and only keep things that bring me joy. It’s so hard! Especially with books!
Claire I tried to do this – did fairly well…and now my house seems to have more crap in it than ever 🙄
I’m impressed that you even have matching underwear! Enough said…..
YES! I need organisation in my life. I still have things without a home and we moved in 4 years ago. I want to cry every night when I go into my bedroom, the mess just keeps spreading!!! Not useful to this post but I did at least just buy some gorgeous baskets to store my daughter’s out of control toys in downstairs, so I am slowly restoring order to the house. I just need to train my husband not to dump crap wherever he happens to leave it. Those concrete containers are beautiful, and bra organisation sounds like the dream! I’m lusting after Skagerak’s crates to help organise downstairs (read train husband!), and I LOVE Muji’s stackable boxes – not really presentable for being on show but amazing for organising drawers and cupboards. I use some for my daughter’s nappies etc in her chest of drawers, and I use some more in the bathroom cupboard to contain toothbrush chargers, spare toiletries etc. Loving these posts!!
I use the lovely heavy duty paper carrier bags from posh brands to keep various things in – Dior one with opaque tights and my hair drier attachments under my dressing table; Selfridges bag with other, non opaque hosiery; Whistles bag and posh candle boxes with ‘toiletries in waiting’ around the bedroom and bathroom. The bags always seem o nice to throw away and too stylish to hide – empty boxes from posh candles, ditto.