I thought I'd share with you guys a few of the ways I organize all the goodies I pick up at the stores. As many of you know, I live in a small apartment with my DH. I have absolutely no under the bed storage and there aren't many shelves or much floor room for them. With all of the groceries I buy I have to fit them somewhere right? Well, here are a few pictures and captions for ya of how I currently solve some of my organizing and space issues. And boy, is this going to be a long post!
I guess we'll start with the bathroom storage as it's easiest to explain.
So then first I want to brag about my storage containers: These boxes as well as most of the boxes in the following pictures I received completely free of charge! How you ask, did I get these free when they cost so much at home/office furniture stores? Well I didn't get them from a store. I was helping my father do a house clean out (the people were kicked out and tore the place up, so my father was hired to clean it) and to my surprise the house was full of these things! I was told that if I wanted them I was welcome to them, and I definitely wanted them.
Now onto the actual organizy stuff: These two boxes currently hold my stockpile of (you guess it) skin care, shaving needs, hair care, and oral care. I store my tp on top of these boxes and there's actually enough room for a few of the 12 packs to fit. Also these boxes are kept under the sink in the bathroom, so there's no running to the hall closet to get more when you're out. I do still keep the extra towels in the hall closet but I plan on rearrange it soon.
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From the bathroom we'll go to the, let's see, living room; where I currently keep most of the pantry goods. I don't have a pantry in the apartment and have yet to find one I'm willing to pay the sticker price for, so I'm left with converting my entertainment center into a semi pantry. I didn't mind to this so much because I already had moved the movies to another (hopefully permanent) location. (Pics of entertainment needs storage to come in another post.)
Going from left to right we have the cookie storage drawer. I must say this isn't the best place for cookies, right above the telly. On top of the cookie storage we have a fabric box full of different types of rice. We actually have more than what's pictured, but I still have to finish mixing them with seasonings. (Soon I'll post the recipes for the flavored rice I'm mixing up!) Then in the middle is my pouched tuna and tuna salad stockpile. I can't get enough of these; they are so convenient and delicious! And alas, we have pasta storage on top of the cracker storage. I thought I had a photo of all of them labeled but I guess I don't, here ya go:
On the "inside" of the entertainment center I have stored the packaged noodles, rice, and dinner kits. I love having these here as it makes choosing dinner so quick and painless.
There is a little shelf under this that is currently holding extra paper towels and chocolate/strawberry syrup until I can find it a better home.
Now for my dining room/kitchen. It kind of blends into one as my apartment is small, but here's not a half bad pic of what half of my dining room looks like:
To explain: The framed letters are wet/dry erase framed menu boards I made a while back and the liquid measurement chart I got from the house clean out (it really helps with converting recipe measurements). I hung mesh/wire pencil holders on the wall to hold peppermints, oatmeal, and popcorn as well as pamphlets I receive from companies about food products. I also created what I call a "wall pocket" to hold certain utensils that cannot be hung by a "S" hook. I found the white basket (on top of the microwave) with fabric liner at my favorite thrift store. I can't remember how much exactly I paid for it, but it wasn't more than $3.00. The basket is kind of my coffee station even though my coffee maker is on the counter in the kitchen, this is where I will find the thing I need to make my favorite hot beverages. Under the table that holds the microwave is my beverage basket. It's a plastic crate which holds extra soda, juice, water, etc. I love this crate as the heavy/extra beverage storage container because it slides out so effortlessly on the tile. I also have three plastic drawer towers which hold: (small black) chips and drinks/beverage mix; (tall white) canned veggies and pie filling; (tall black) soup, misc canned goods, chili, and more soup. I actually have to find another storage drawer for all the Campbell's soup I've been picking up this week because those drawers are full of the Progresso soup thanks to the sale from a few weeks ago.
In the kitchen I've placed a few more wall shelves to hold more sweets. I plan on adding more all the way down the door and on the inside to create a faux pantry, once I can get my hands on the baskets and hooks again (Dollar Tree, please restock!). These shelves are actually rather sturdy and can hold a lot in them. Starting from the top: chocolate pieces, bonbons, dumdum pops, more dumdum pops, tic tacs, chewing gums and breath strips.
I also have a hanging pocket organizer in my kitchen that I need to refill. I purchased this organizer for about $3.00 at the thrift store. I recently pulled most of the products out of it to create these:
Stack-able snack bins!
Oh but wait,
it gets or at least looks better when you . . . .
it gets or at least looks better when you . . . .
Add Colorful Labels! These bins hold open cereal, ramen noodle packs, pepperoni's, oatmeal, snack/cereal bars, and flavored crackers.
And finally this is what it looks like under my kitchen sink. It's a little organized but I'd like to see it more so. I really don't like how some things look tossed in. Anywho, this is where all of my cleaners go. From left to right: laundry care, smell goods, all purpose cleaners, bathroom cleaners, then kitchen cleaners. I did "install" a tension rod to hold certain trigger spray bottles to get them off of the bottom shelf, but the air freshener bottle triggers aren't big enough to fit on the rod, so I'm planning on adding shelves to the inside walls to hold them; and inside the door to hold the scrub brush, gloves, dust masks, swiffer pads, furniture repair pen, and other little cleaning things.
Ta Da!
So that's all for this post. Let me know what you think in the comment section below. Do you like what you see? Do you have a suggestion on how to store stockpile products? Have you recently organized your home? If so please let me know, I love hearing from my reader and lurkers; and I would love to know if you guy like these posts!
