- Home
- Home & Garden
- Home Improvement/Organizing
Tips for Blending Households: What To Do With All That 'Stuff'
- By Christine OKelly
- Published 10/5/2009
- Home Improvement/Organizing
Getting married is an exciting time. It also means moving in with your betrothed, now that you are husband and wife. In doing so, many couples discover that they have duplicates of many household items and less storage space than they need. Instead of renting a storage unit and hiding your prized possessions away, the very walls of your home hold the storage space you need, right before your eyes.
Two sets of dishes, plus the china you received as a wedding gift, two blenders, more DVDs and CDs than you care to count, magazines and books, knick knacks, stereo equipment, clothes, household cleaning supplies… the list seems endless until you get organized with In Wall shelving units that use the space between the studs in your wall for storage that won’t use up floor space.
Make A Marvelous
Entertainment Center In Your New Home
Media is a big part of our lives today. Music, movies, computers and video games provide hours of entertainment but the components can drastically interfere with simply walking across the room. In Wall Media Storage uses your walls to protect, display and store these items. DVD media storage allows easy access in an attractive manner. Audio shelf systems can keep your electronics dust free and easy to use. A CD shelf can make your music collection look better than ever.
Wood media storage looks attractive, is easy to maintain and it will keep your possessions safe and out of the way. Set into the space between the studs in your walls, In Wall media storage leaves you plenty of room for other items while providing easy access to those things you use most often. In Wall media storage can also incorporate a hidden jewelry cabinet, to protect your valuables, keeping them out of sight.
Don't Get Mad, Get
Organized!
Getting used to living with someone else, even someone you love dearly, can bring on certain frustrations. These frustrations can be minimized with a plan of action. Getting organized is really an exercise in categorizing and sorting. You will also have to recognize that you don't have to keep everything you own when your spouse already has the same item. Relax and try to enjoy the process of creating your home together.
Set aside time to work together. Once you have your media storage installed, unpack all of your DVDs and CDs and see if there are any duplicates. These can be given to your local Good Will or other charity group for a tax write-off. Then, you can fill your CD and DVD media storage shelves attractively. As you go through each room, use your wood media storage to sort, protect and display your possessions.
Media Storage Isn't
Your Only Option
While media storage is a big part of setting up a household, it is certainly not the only thing in your home taking up space. Your kitchen can be made more efficient and safer with In Wall spice racks, shelf systems and other storage. Bedrooms, dens and living rooms can be made more spacious and livable with In Wall book shelves, In Wall magazine racks and other storage options.
Your new life together can be made all that much more enjoyable with useful and effective storage options that keep your possessions safe, easy to reach and attractively displayed.
Organization 101: Even The Clutter Bug Can Get Organized
- By Christine OKelly
- Published 10/5/2009
- Home Improvement/Organizing
Not everyone is born with organizational skills. In fact, many people are just the opposite! Small stacks turn into toppling piles. Bills are put aside and lost. Important papers are thrown out accidentally with the pizza boxes and fast food bags. Today's lifestyle can make getting organized feel like a low priority when we actually need in now more than ever.
Getting organized is not an impossible task for the Clutter Bug. The decision and the commitment to get organized is half the battle. If you are truly fed up with the mess, dust, chaos and lack of floor space, there are simple steps that you can take to turn your Rats' Nest into a home worthy of Architectural Digest…okay, that's a bit much. But you will be able to walk across a clear floor, find your files, your movies, your music and entertain a guest without having to apology or dig out the couch.
Step One: Create Your
Categories
Your categories for getting organized will depend largely upon your personal interests and your lifestyle. Are you a big movie or music buff? Do you work at home? Are you a musician, a collector or an avid reader? Even if your living arrangements are relatively limited, you can invest a surprisingly small amount of money and even less space in the latest shelf systems that take advantage of the space in your walls that already exists between the studs that support those walls.
For most people today, paper files and media storage are the biggest clutter culprits. Paper files are still best suited to an old fashioned file cabinet. The basic rule of thumb is one drawer of file cabinet space for every cardboard box of papers you have lying around. A sturdy file cabinet is a worthwhile investment, both for your records and your sanity. Start by designating one drawer to each category, such as bills, old records, business related paperwork, and so on. After that, it is simply a matter of putting your paperwork in the file cabinet in an orderly fashion. Media storage is such an organizational issue today, that it requires special attention.
Media Storage For The
Organizationally Challenged
Media storage consists of where you will put your books, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes and computer paraphernalia. DVD media storage is perfectly suited to In Wall storage systems. Installing DVD media storage components in your home allows you to get all of your DVDs in one place and off the floor. Your CDs and VHS tapes can go in the same place. Books will also fit into these shelf systems quite nicely.
With all of your books, DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes in one place, you should be able to see a major improvement in your home. You may also benefit from installing an audio shelf for all of your audio, video, and computer electronics. By this time, you should be able to see the floor and most of your furniture. Don't stop now, you’re in the Home Stretch.
Household Shelf
Systems
Most households, whether they are apartments, condos or single family homes, manage to contain a variety of household cleaning supplies, cooking tools and utensils, medicine cabinets and tool drawer collections that end up everywhere except where you need them. In Wall shelf systems can provide you with a simple and streamlined method for storing all of your cleaning supplies, your tools, your medicine cabinet contents and even the spices you use when cooking.
Once you actually get started organizing your home, you will be surprised at how simple it is to maintain and to find the things you are looking for. In Wall shelf systems, media storage, an audio shelf and a file cabinet may be all that you need to turn your Cave of Chaos into a Den of Delight. Who knows, your guests may even be willing to come back!
Wine Racks & More -- Creative Kitchen Storage Ideas For A Modern Kitchen
- By Christine OKelly
- Published 09/4/2009
- Home Improvement/Organizing
Many people are downsizing their homes these days to help save money. Unfortunately, moving into a smaller house also means that something has to go, and it's usually storage in the kitchen. Now is definitely the time for you to start thinking of ways to create more storage space in the kitchen, and it needs to be functional and chic. After all, there's no reason for you to compromise one or the other. You just need a little imagination.
Racks, Racks, And
More Racks
Pot racks hung from the ceiling are a fabulous way to clear out precious cupboard space while making the perfect pan for meal preparation easy to spot. They also provide a unique interest to a small kitchen space. A baker's rack in a corner can display dishes, serving bowls, or hold dish towels to free up even more cupboard space.
Wine rack cabinets aren't just for wine anymore. Even if you're not a wine aficionado, a wine rack cabinet can hold a number of different items, from magazines to towels and even other types of beverages. With tall plastic containers, you can also use a wine rack cabinet to hold rice, pasta, or flour. You can utilize different colored dishtowels to add a splash of color in your kitchen.
Hook Them High, Hook
Them Low
Cup hooks are handy to hold coffee cups. You can screw these small hooks into the underside of a cupboard or cabinet to clear out shelf space for other items. Bigger hooks on the inside of cabinet doors can be used to hang dishtowels or washcloths.
On tall cabinet doors, you may hang the broom, mop, and dustpan for easy access. Hang a custom-made bag holder on the inside of a door to store the plastic bags you bring home from the grocery store to use as garbage bags in small trash containers.
Use It, Don't Hide It
You probably have a number of pretty vases taking up room in the cupboards that only surface once in a blue moon to display flowers. Take the vases out of the dark, and display them on your counter filled with wooden spoons or other useful implements.
Use your gorgeous serving bowls that only come out on holidays to display fruits and vegetables or to hold the spare bits and pieces that seem to accumulate in a kitchen such as screws, rubber bands, pencils, wire ties, and batteries. Why clutter a drawer with this stuff when you can store it all in a pretty bowl, making such things easy to find when you need them?
All of these tips can make kitchen storage much easier and more stylish than stuffing everything in a cupboard. Wine rack cabinets are a perfect way of keeping cooking magazines handy. Pot racks make choosing the right pan easy. Hooks can hold your coffee cups until needed. Organization in your kitchen will make cleaning and cooking a snap.
Wall Bathroom Storage -- Secrets For Drastically Increasing Bathroom Storage Space
- By Christine OKelly
- Published 09/4/2009
- Home Improvement/Organizing
Often the smallest room in the house, the bathroom sees much more traffic and serves many more roles than the largest room. One of the biggest concerns with bathrooms is the plain lack of storage. There just never seems to be enough for everything that must be included in a bathroom, and it's also difficult to make storage look chic and decorative. How can you add storage space to such a small room and still make it look attractive and stylish?
Use Every Square Inch
The trick is to use every available surface, nook, and cranny when thinking of bathroom space. For instance, an over-the-commode shelving unit can hold towels, supplies, and other necessities. Organizing closet space with shelves and hooks is also a good idea. Stacking cubes and a small table with shelf space can also help with storage concerns in the bathroom.
Use hooks on the back of the bathroom door to hang damp towels, robes, and pajamas. Look at your walls with a keen eye; often in-the-wall bathroom storage cabinets can offer a place for medicine, personal items, and bath products while still looking stylish and offering architectural interest to the room.
Pairing Up Wall
Bathroom Storage To Maximize Space
When considering a bathroom storage cabinet, think in pairs to double your storage space. Side by side or on opposing walls, matching storage cabinets afford twice the storage space without taking up precious room in your bathroom.
They can also serve as a focal point to the room while offering tons of space to stash personal necessities. As an added bonus, space can be allotted to all family members so everyone knows where their particular items are stored. A quick inventory can tell you right away which items need to be replaced.
Thinking Outside The
Box
In tiny rooms, a bathroom storage cabinet may seem too large for the room. Think outside the box in this case. Consider setting kitchen spice racks in the wall as an alternative to conventional wall bathroom storage. Kitchen spice racks come in a variety of styles, colors, and dimensions and can be paired up or even tripled to add much-needed storage space.
In addition, this unusual approach can bring a unique design element without overwhelming a small bathroom. You can choose either frosted or clear glass doors, depending on the design look you're after.
Designing a bathroom for function and stylishness can be a tricky proposition. There's not a lot of space to work with, so you have to be clever in solving your storage problems. By using in-the-wall bathroom storage solutions, you can solve several problems at once.
Adding style as well as purpose, a bathroom storage cabinet can be your best friend. Pair them up, and you can create a stunning and unusual bathroom that is ready to take on all the duties required of the smallest and most used room in the house.
Making The Most Of Your Wall Space With In-The-Wall Storage Units
- By Christine OKelly
- Published 08/14/2009
- Home Improvement/Organizing
In-the-wall storage units take advantage of a wealth of space already available to homeowners that hasn't been given enough thought until recently. The studs that support your home's walls provide a unique opportunity for storage of items you wish to be securely hidden, easily accessed or conveniently located without taking up any more floor space that you are already using.
Online cabinet merchants that specialize in In-The-Wall storage units can provide you with ample storage units for your kitchen spices, your cleaning supplies, your book and media collection and for a secure hiding place for your valuables that no one would even know existed unless you told them where it was so brilliantly hidden!
Classy Spice Cabinets
For Your Kitchen
Kitchen cabinets are frequently cluttered and chaotic. Spices are used and then quickly returned to a cabinet where they often fall down, roll to the back of the cabinet, sometimes never to be seen again! Instead of tolerating this mess, you can invest in an In-The-Wall spice cabinet that is conveniently located, easily accessed and takes up absolutely no room whatsoever, freeing up more cabinet space than you had before.
In-The-Wall spice cabinets feature glass doors, solid doors, single and double doors, depending upon your interests, home decor and available wall space. The narrow depth of these spice cabinets means everything is in plain view, without room to roll around or get lost. Organization becomes a simple matter of personal taste and style.
Make Your Living Room
More Livable With In-Wall Bookcases
Many living rooms are cluttered with books, VHS tapes, CDs, DVDs, magazines and other forms of media. In-wall bookcases take up no room at all and yet provide you with an attractive means of organizing your books and movies. Most movies, books, CDs and DVDs are narrow enough to fit neatly and attractively in a variety of styles of in-wall bookcases. Instead of stacks of plastic cases falling to the floor, damaged book bindings and a clutter of knick-knacks, you can easily install in-wall bookcases that will display and protect your possessions while freeing up more space in your home.
Kick Clutter To The
Curb With Utility Cabinets
Cleaning supplies, brooms, mops, wrapping paper and other paper products often create havoc in cabinets and closets but you can eliminate this problem with in-wall utility cabinets. Instead of tall items such as brooms and mops falling out into the hallway each time you open your closet door, you can hang them neatly away into their private storage area, where they will wait until the next time you need them, out of sight and out of mind.
Wrapping paper, decorative ribbons and bows always seem to make a mess no matter where they are stored, but no more! Custom fit wrapping paper utility cabinets provide convenient storage that will protect your wrapping paper for the next holiday season or birthday, with ribbons and bows stowed neatly and conveniently. Whether you are storing tools, cleaning supplies or a cache of paper products bought in bulk, these utility cabinets provide you with hooks for hanging, adjustable shelves for storage and an opportunity change your disorganized mess into easily accessible convenience.

Home Improvement/Organizing