Creative Storage

BY LYNDSEY TYM

Early in the year I shared some advice about organizing that discouraged deferring to purchasing organizational systems in an e ort to get organized.  e reason behind it is that more often than not, we already have things in our homes that we can use to create storage and establish organizational systems which are sustainable. Check out these ideas for creating storage in your home using things you probably already have.

One of the coolest storage systems you can create from things you likely have on hand is a large pull-out drawer to be stored under couches or beds. Take a bunch of shoe boxes that are relatively the same size and tape them together forming a large rectangle. What you will end up with is a large storage area made up of smaller compartments from each individual shoe box that you can easily slide on carpet or a hard  oor. Store whatever you want in the compartments and when it is not in use, slide it right back under the bed or couch.  e large

pull-out drawer will be out of site and stored in a space that typically goes unutilized.

Another creative way to reuse items on-hand is to use storage totes or shipping boxes as drawers in a cupboard or pantry. Rather than installing a pull-out drawer for spices, store spices in a box small enough to  t in a cupboard. It is easier to access the spices by using the box as a drawer inside the cupboard, containing all the di erent sizes and types. You don’t have to take out spices one by one to  nd what you need, just pull out your handy new shoebox drawer to quickly  nd them.

Another creative trick using items on-hand is for hanging belts in a closet. Using a regular clothes hanger and some chip clips: open the chip clip so the mouth of it has the bottom of the hanger inside of it, before closing the chip clip put the belt buckle inside of the mouth of the chip clip and then close it.  e result is the chip clip being secured to the hanger and the belt hanging and held in place. Storing belts this way keeps them easily accessible and untangled. You can also use a pants hanger to grasp and secure belt buckles, but this will only allow two belts per hanger.

 ese tips may not always look uniform, but in most cases where you are using the storage solution is out-ofsite. I use matching organizational systems in our home to store things that are regularly visible. Take a look around your home for things you have on-hand, and think outside of the box to use them to create storage.

Happy organizing!

Lyndsey Tym, owner of Simple Spaces, desires to help others declutter and simplify in their homes to free up time for the things they love. Learn more at facebook. com/simplespaceslyndseytym.