Organizing on a Budget

While the current economic state is still in recovery mode, I am in spring cleaning mode, so I thought that I'd put together a melange of options and ideas for organizing on a budget this spring. It is completely possible with some creativity and time!



Let's start with the kitchen since that's where I started my spring cleaning this year.

Stackable Bamboo Organizers



These are perfect for silverware, utensils or even your junk drawer or office drawer. As low as $2.99 at The Container Store - wow!

Mesh Packet Holder



I have to admit, here, that I had never seen this before! I love this idea and really think I'm going to get one of these. We all have single packets of this that and 12 other things in our pantry, but this is an excellent idea on keeping them together and organized. Nice job Container Store.


Silver Mesh Storage Bin



If only I had more of these! I've got a mesh storage bin like this in my pantry where I keep coupons, pens, pencils and post-it notes.

Cupboard Shelf



I have a couple wire shelves that I stick in my cupboards for extra elevated storage. They are wonderful! The best ones I have are in my bathroom cupboard and under the sink - they maximize space and promote the ease in finding your stuff.

Cabinet Organizers



If you have as many spices as I do - this is a great organizational tool for being able to find spices in the back of the cabinet.

Spice Jars



I love the idea of transferring store-bought spices into cute individual jars. These are adorable. And totally multi-functioning - you could use this easily as a multi-tasker.

Ceiling Pot Rack




This is a fantastic space-saving idea if you have an excess of pots & pans and not much extra storage space to give.

Let's move to closet and storage organization.

Over the door hooks




These are a wonderful space saving option for bathrooms, closets, storage rooms and kids play rooms. $2.99 from The Container Store is a great steal!

Over-the-door shoe organizers



There are tons of options for over-the-door shoe organization currently on the market. Here is Crate & Barrel's take.

Shoe Storage




Keeping your shoes off the floor allows for a clutter-free closet. This is a great solution to storing your shoes on the floor.


Sweater Bag Drawer



Don't have enough room in your closet for your winter and summer clothes? That's ok - grab a few sweater bags or containers and slide them under your bed with your seasonal apparel.


The Container Store is currently in Spring Organizational Sale mode - click here to find the closet location to you.

I happen to enjoy Crate & Barrel and The Container Store; neither company knows who I am or is in any way affiliated to Organized Ali. I write about products I use or would like to use.


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Over-the-Door Organization

A true space saver is an over the door organizer, whether it is a shoe rack, a hook, a set of hooks, or a hamper, it will be your best friend if you are in need of maximizing your space and getting things off the floor. There are several price points to over the door organizers, you can do it very inexpensively, or not so at all. In addition, you can find a very wide variety of options for over-the-door storage.

Hooks to hang over your doors are such a genius invention I wish I could take credit for. One of the downsides to my bedroom/bathroom is that I have more pocket doors than hinged doors. I take full advantage of the regular hinged doors for their organizational capabilities. On the back of one door I have my shoe rack, and on the back of the other door I have a set of eight hooks. I use the hooks to hang my purses from. If I had more doors to take advantage of I would use one door to hang another set of hooks on with the intention of hanging sweatshirts, tank tops and pajamas. If my bathroom door was on hinges I would use another set of hooks to hang our bathroom towels and my bathrobe from. I really wish that our entry way closet door was on hinges because I would use hooks to hang scarves and umbrellas from.

Without my over the door shoe organizer I would most certainly not be as organized as I am. I actually wish I had another shoe organizer or two because I have so many pairs of shoes they don't all fit together. There are several different types of over the door shoe organizers on the market. Shop around and figure out what you're really looking for in a shoe organizer. I really love mine. It has 24 pockets and I can fit two shoes in most of the pockets, depending on what shoes they are.

Over the door wreath hooks are available so you don't have to nail into your front door to display your holiday or seasonal wreath. I love this idea because I really love to hang a wreath for a beautiful, fresh holiday decoration.




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Kids Stuff...Outside Toys

Ok, so you've taken charge of the inside of your house... Time to combat the toys scattered about your yard making it appear as though you're throwing a yard sale.

The same way you did a walkthrough of your house, I think it's a good starting point to do a walkthrough of your yard and garage. Take into account what types of toys your kids play with outside, where they are stored and what you would like to have happen with their outside toys. Is it okay if they keep their bikes and trucks and sandbox toys outside, or would you rather they be stored in the garage? Where do the kids commonly throw their bikes after they get done riding them? What are you using for kid toy storage in the garage right now? How can you improve it and make it easy for the kids to pick up after themselves?

Where you go from here really depends on what you want to happen and what your needs are for kid storage.

If your kids play sports it may be handy for you to find a storage cabinet for your garage to house all of their sports equipment. These cabinets are great, durable, child proof and not only store sports equipment, but other toys, too. I think that large plastic storage chests are fantastic for garage storage as well - pop the lid open, dig around and find what you're looking for. Storage chests are very resilient and can help you contain a lot of toys, like basketballs, rollerblades, beach toys and remote control race cars. A set of really sturdy shelves dedicated to kids toys is a super idea also. Shelves can store sidewalk chalk, bubbles, rain boots, sandbox toys and gardening toys.

Another wonderful alternative is hanging your kids' things from the walls or the rafters of your garage. There are special hooks you can buy at the hardware store that help hang bikes from the ceiling. That is a great way to get the bikes out of the way, at least in the winter when the kids don't ride them. In addition to getting bikes off the ground, you can utilize hanging shelves from the ceilings to store more permanent items that the kids may not need to get at very often, like off-season clothes or toys.

If storing the kids' toys outside is acceptable but you'd like them to be contained, consider a shed. This can offer more benefits than just housing toys - you can use it for other storage purposes, like storing the lawnmower or the hedge trimmers. A shed can be a big investment, so if you aren't up for that, think more in terms of a large plastic storage bin that you can find an inconspicuous spot for. The bins are great because they are waterproof (if your kids remember to put the lid back on!) and can store an army of toys.

The most important thing about keeping your kids toys organized is making them responsible for following through. Some more non-parent advice is to make it a game for them - create a reward chart for their organizational habits and responsibilities and give them praise when you see them pick up after themselves and put their toys away - especially without being asked.



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Kids Stuff

I don't have kids, but as a former nanny and someone who worked in a daycare for several years I know how easy it is to accumulate countless toys, clothing, movies, books, photos and other completely random paraphernalia related to your kids. Kids stuff tends to overpopulate the house if you don't keep the lid on it. Now is time to put your foot down and regain the rights to your house if this is happening to you.

Do a walkthrough of your house and take notes about where your kids are hoarding their toys. If their toys are consuming your house it's time to set some boundaries. Include the kids in this discussion, for example, suggest that kids indoor toys are only to belong in the respective owners room and the play room or the den. We'll cross the bridge to the outdoor toys later.

Great, you've identified that the kids' toys are everywhere. Now you need to decide what to do! My non-parenting suggestion is to limit where toys are allowed. After you come to a consensus that your family can agree on it's time to get to work. Take note on your current organizational system. What is working and what isn't working? Do you have enough storage and it just isn't being utilized by the kids? Do your kids have too many toys for the spaces that you have now decided to contain them in? Can you come to an agreement on having a garage sale or donating some of the kids old toys to give the kids more space to play in? How can you improve the storage areas you already have for the kids toys?



So, say you've decided to contain the toys to your kids' bedrooms and their shared playroom. Great! If you're starting from scratch, some basic things I would recommend to you are to bring in some shelves or big cubby holes like preschools have for basic storage and book storage; add a stackable drawer set (or several sets...) that is easy to house your kids' arts and crafts supplies, papers, school projects, random decks of cards, small toys and anything else that can easily be stored in a drawer; buy or search your house for large buckets or bins that can be turned into storage for larger toys like Tonka trucks and Barbie dolls; even consider bringing some old laundry baskets that you no longer use to be a storage spot for the various toys.

Zones are a great way of sectioning off space in the playroom. Some zones that might be applicable to your kids' playroom are: board game zone, Barbie or doll zone, arts and crafts zone, "play house" zone, trucks/cars/automobiles zone, music and dance zone, video game and TV zone or reading zone. These various zones will help to keep specific toys in their area - think of this like the setup of a kindergarten classroom.

Now, for your kids' bedroom. I hope they at least have the basics: a closet, a dresser, maybe a nightstand or another table, and a bed that can double as a storage area (under-the-bed storage). My guess is that most of the things occupying the dresser and closet are clothes. Make sure that at least the clothes are organized. Use the same things that you would use to organize your own closet: additional shelves, shoe storage and consider a custom closet. For the outlying toys in the kids' bedrooms I think it's a great idea to employ the same types of storage ideas as you do with the playroom: add a bookshelf for book and toy storage, buy some under-the-bed bins to store Barbie's and other toys in, find some additional bins that can sit out on the floor for added storage and use the dresser or other tables to display prize toys, awards or double as extra storage.



For further inspiration, please read The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room. This book was probably my childhood inspiration for being the way I am. I LOVED this book. Every time I read it I would be so excited to go clean my room and organize everything. Maybe your kids will be too!

It seems like I'm always coming back to the same generic "solutions" for storage: bins, buckets, baskets, boxes, over-the-door hangers, shelves or drawers. Why do I always say the same thing? Because it works. Run out to Target or The Container Store with the kids and find some great storage solutions to put into use in your home.



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Closets, closets, closets

If I had to choose, I think that closets would be at the top of my list for what I enjoy organizing the most. Usually bedroom closets are the home to numerous items related or unrelated to clothing and are all unique in size, shape and capabilities. Closets definitely require a lot of attention and thought, depending on the size and other limitations. Here, I will offer suggestions geared towards your bedroom closet. Now, I realize that there are many other functions of a closet and will get to those eventually, but the suggestions and tips here can be transposed into other closets and areas of your home.

Right off the bat, some generic suggestions for managing clutter in the closet are using boxes, bins, tubs, or buckets; buying a large, medium or small set of stackable drawers; building a custom shelving system into the closet; adding a book shelf; or simply making the contents of the closet look neater by rearranging the shelves or floor space, folding the clothes and finding a nicer way of stacking them, and organize board games or other boxes and toys by size.

Anyone can come up with a generic cure to closet clutter; however, the real challenge is finding something that works for you. I think that custom closets are absolutely fantastic, but sometimes end up limiting the space of the closet by adding too many random custom elements. Working with what you have and enhancing it is a great money saving fix.

As with most spaces, I recommend that a good first step towards organizing a closet is removing everything from it. This will allow you to see all of the space that is available to you. Once you have everything out I like to group it together on the bed or the floor by category, or put similar items together: dresses, shoes, jerseys, belts, baseball hats, etc. This makes it easier once you bring everything back into the closet because it's already grouped together.

Before you start bringing your things back into your closet I strongly recommend that you go through everything and decide what you absolutely must save and what you really don't wear, use or need anymore and get rid of it or donate it. This will be your savior, especially if you've lived in your home for a while or if it has been a long time since you last cleaned out your closet.

Now that you have decided what is coming back into the closet and grouped it together, it's time to decide how it is going to reenter the closet. If your closet was just disorganized and you were able to get rid of some clothes and things and you think all you need to do is find a neater way to hang things and store your items on a shelf, that's great - have at it. But, most of you, I'm assuming, need a bit of assistance with organizing your things when they make their grand appearance to their home in your newly reorganized closet. That's the tough part, and it all depends on the space you have and what you are willing to do to accommodate your belongings.

Shoes are the number one thing that create clutter on a closet floor. I do not like, nor would I ever suggest, for anyone to ever store their shoes on the floor just "as is." I think that shoe trees are great for hanging your shoes on the back of a closet door, or shoe shelves are even more fantastic because you can just stick the shelf under your hanging clothes, even storing your shoes in the boxes they came in is better than allowing them to sit out on the floor.

Consider adding some hooks or something that allows you to hang belts, baseball caps, scarves, ties and the likes from. If you have the space and the funds to do so, I would also recommend adding a dresser or a set of drawers, or mount some individual shelves or obtain a book shelf to create additional storage. Who couldn't use an extra set of drawers or an extra shelf?

My last relatively generic thought is for those pesky random things you have sitting in your closet. Since you have grouped them together it will be easier to decide what to do with them, whether it is putting them in a stackable bin or a basket, or leaving them to sit out on the closet shelf, or finding some cute buckets to put things in, or finding a new place for some things altogether.

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Hang it, Mount it, Get it off the Floor

I could go on and on about how much I love to use hooks to hang things from. Over-the-door hooks, closet hooks, hooks on hangers, 3M Command hooks, and key hooks are so easy, inexpensive and perfect for getting things off the floor and into a permanent place. The availability of some of these products makes the potential of an organized home right at your fingertips.

Let's talk about over-the-door hooks, as these are my favorite types of hook. You have an endless realm here with what you can hang on the back of your door. This is a fantastic space to utilize when you are creating your new organized life! The backs of all of my hinged doors are used (unfortunately I only have two, the rest are pocket or accordion-style doors), whether to hang shoes, purses or sweatshirts from, I take advantage of that from an organizational standpoint. A row of over-the-door hooks can be an inexpensive lifesaver for belts, purses, baseball caps, bags, jackets, scarves, towels, and so many more things I have yet to think of.

Another favorite of mine are those cool and innovative 3M Command hooks that you can stick just about anywhere you want (and they won't take the paint off the walls when you remove them!). These are so handy because they come in so many different sizes and can be used for various purposes, like hanging your keys on, hanging Christmas stockings from, guiding and securing your holiday light display around the house, displaying awards from (I'm talking gold medals, here), hanging your bathrobe or pajamas on, or hanging up your kids' backpacks from. Try mounting some hooks on your coat closet door or wall at a height your kids can easily reach to motivate them to hang up their own coat and scarf, and do this in their bedroom and bathroom so that they get the idea they can hang things from these nifty hooks.

There are so many different types of hooks on the market these days. Their purpose is endless, there's always something else that you could use a hook for - just be creative! Use a few hooks in a closet and hang different buckets on them to create a bin for your kids hats or mittens, trucks or trains, or even just hang their sand pail and shovel!

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