Organizing inspiration from around the web
Thanks to the website Pinterest, I’ve recently come upon some inspiring home organizing solutions that I wanted to share with you.
MarthaStewart.com has a wonderful tutorial for making a mini office in a chest that is uncluttered and organized and perfect for a teenager or someone with little paperwork:
I don’t have a custom-built closet, but if I did, I would want pants storage like this closet featured in Better Homes and Garden:
Small tension curtain rods make great dividers for vertical storage in the pantry — again from the brilliant people at MarthaStewart.com:
The website Kitchens.com has pictures of a truly beautiful pot and pan organizing system by Rev-a-Shelf:
And, I’m not exactly sure where the website FFFFOUND! found this storage gem, but the under staircase storage in this home is gorgeous:
28 comments posted
Posted by Alix - 01/12/2012
The pot-and-pan system is awesome. Maybe I’ll start using my dishwasher for that instead of storing cleaning supplies in it, as I do now. (I’m a firm believer in hand-washing dishes.)
Posted by Wendy - 01/12/2012
I have been in LOVE with the under stair storage since I saw it a few months ago. We don’t even have stairs, but I bookmarked it and I judge houses we might buy by whether this would be a possible upgrade.
Posted by babysteps - 01/12/2012
Great pix! Using tension rods in the pantry is genius.
When we moved recently, I put two wire desktop folder organizers (that had been lost in a basement box at the old house) to work in my under-sink cabinet for cutting board storage. With the purchase of 2 small drainboards (actually shallow plastic trays) underneath, I can put my cutting boards away right after I rinse them off (instead of waiting for them to dry on the counter). I don’t have anything else under my kitchen sink (cleaning products & etc. are in my pantry).
Posted by Karen - 01/12/2012
WOW – great ideas! I absolutely covet both the pot-and-pan system and the under-the-stairs pull-out drawers.
Posted by Kyle - 01/12/2012
The pot-and-pan system is nice, but I can’t imagine what I would do with so many pots and pans! I only have four burners!
Love the chest-office and the under-the-stairs storage, though.
Posted by snosie - 01/12/2012
Kyle, i too wondered about ALL the pots, I think the photo is a plant by a pot company!! I currently have one saucepan and one fryer pan!
Alix – my dishwasher is a draining rack for the big stuff! It’s just me, so there’s no point ‘waiting’ for a dishwasher cycle. Plates etc, fit in my skinning sink side draining board, but the pots and pans are for the drying the dishwasher – my mother thinks I’m nuts!
The curtain tension rods are great too, just not sure I’ll find them that small… Have a great tension rod ne in the bath/laundry for ‘gently worn’ clothes, drying swimmers, and drying work out wear before putting it in my hamper – absolutely LOVE it.
Posted by chacha1 - 01/12/2012
The under-stairs storage is really great, but I would have mounted the handles for the first two cabinets vertically. I get what they were going for, lining them up with the slope of the stairs, but it looks kind of goofy.
Pot storage: surely this is a staged photo, not someone’s actual kitchen. I hope. Or maybe they have an eight-burner cooktop.
Posted by Bedalia - 01/12/2012
The under-the-stairs drawers look amazing, but isn’t that where stairs to the basement would normally be?
Posted by joanna @ I Won't Be A Hoarder Too - 01/12/2012
Those sliding stair cabinets are the greatest thing ever! I don’t have the built-in pot rack but I’ve found that using an old dish rack is fantastic for holding pots (and doesn’t require Martha to show up in your kitchen!)
Posted by Dee@ Small Houses - 01/12/2012
I love the office in the chest..
My husband and I were just talking about an office in a closet where you close the doors when you’re done.. but that chest is really helpful for a tight spot!
dee
Posted by Heartlover1717 - 01/12/2012
The mini office in a chest gives is a great idea that I can use for an old footlocker…
Posted by Eleonora - 01/13/2012
The under staircase storage is a brilliant idea!
Posted by JustGail - 01/13/2012
Let’s face it – all these photos are staged. I don’t mean it in a bad way – just that these photos are supposed to sell the possibilities and dreams of what could be. Even workspace of the week photos here. I know if someone wanted to photograph my storage in use, I’d be doing some straightening up first!
Posted by Bibliovore - 01/13/2012
Also, Erin, check out the separate rolling pants storage in this apartment — no need for built-ins!
http://www.apartmenttherapy.co.....ceh-104222
Posted by Ann - 01/13/2012
Bedalia, maybe this house is in the southern U.S. In the several decades I’ve lived in Texas, I’ve only known one person who had a basement (even though we certainly could use them), and it’s the same throughout most of the south, while everybody I know in the midwest has one.
Posted by K - 01/13/2012
The pants storage looks nice at first, but I think it would be a pain in the neck to use. As best I can see, the horizontal rods are holding at least 2 pr pants each, and you’d have to lift the entire rod out to hang a pair of pants, either that, or stuff them (and thus wrinkle them) down through the slots, probably dislodging the pants on the next rod.
Posted by Erin Doland - 01/13/2012
@Ann and @Bedalia — I think underground water supplies and earthquake risks determine if a region has basements or not. No basements in New Orleans, for example. Also, where I grew up, a lot of homes had cellars for food storage that weren’t attached to the house.
Posted by Dave Dash - 01/13/2012
What’s your pinterest account so we can follow?
Posted by Cindi - 01/13/2012
Just a note, if you look at the bottom picture of the stairs, you will see the one’s going down…
Posted by Erin Doland - 01/13/2012
@Cindi — GREAT catch!
Posted by Erin Doland - 01/13/2012
@Dave — I only have a personal account right now. I should put in to make an Unclutterer one. Stay tuned.
Posted by Karla - 01/13/2012
it looks like the orignal use for the tallest cabinets under the stairs was for wine
Posted by Louise D'Allura Revamp Professional Organisers Pty Ltd - 01/14/2012
Oh my… I’m drooling over the under the stairs storage! Soo brilliant.
Thanks for sharing these Erin!
Posted by mab - 01/14/2012
I have an IKEA wardrobe — where I live rooms don’t come with closets — that has a pants holder better than this: the posts stick out toward the doors and are open so you can easily pull the pants off. The whole rack also pulls out. Above it — a wooden shelf with dividers to hold scarves, belts, etc. Below — two pull-out wire mesh drawers for shoes. At the top — a pole for hanging clothes. It’s super-efficient. I store a lot of clothing in a small space and have easy access to all of it.
The under-the-stairs system made me drool with longing, too.
Posted by Mark Harrison - 01/14/2012
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see any advantages to the ‘pants storage’ over putting them on wooden hangers, which:
- Have a higher storage density
- Allow me to get at any pair without disturbing the others
- Allow me to put away any pair without disturbing the others
- Let me see which pair I’m getting at a glance
- Allow me less handling between initial drying and closeting (I take from dryer, and put on hanger, which then spends a few days in the airing cupboard [1]) Moving the hanger with trousers on it from the hanging rail in the airing cupboard to the one in my dressing room is much easier than rehanging.
[1] I don’t know whether North Americans have ‘airing cupboards’ in the same way us Brits do… It’s basically a small closet that also contains the hot water storage cylinder and is thus a lot warmer than the rest of the house, used for drying clothes in cold/wet parts of Europe.
Posted by Franziska - 01/14/2012
You’d be surprised how many pots and pans my husband (a trained chef) can use in the preparation of a single meal on our four-burner stove
Posted by Jonathan @ punchlifeintheface - 01/15/2012
I really love the office in the chest! Maybe not too practical though, if you’re wanting to use the top of the chest as a work surface.
Posted by Mary - 01/16/2012
I have had that exact same picture of the office chest in my home binder for the last few years! I guess it’s my retro version of Pinterest.
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