Maximizing Storage Space & A Link Party!

Welcome to the final installment of Clear Your Clutter week! What a great week it’s been too with all of my awesome cohosts!

• Master Closet @ Mrs. Greene
• The Bathroom @ HomeMadeville
• The Kitchen @ The Country Chic Cottage
• Kids’ Spaces @ Attempting Aloha
• The Garage @ Condo Blues

I hope you drop by and say hi and check out their fabulous organizing tips.

Today it’s my turn. I’m sharing a really simple plan to not only organize a space, but also maximize the storage you have in that space too. It’ll work for any space in your home, but I chose my work space/craft room/art studio.

You only need a few things to get started –

• Blank paper
• Sheet protectors
• Dry Erase markers

The first step is to make a drawing of all the available storage in the space. Drawers, dressers, shelves, files, whatever you can use for storage. You can make it really simple by drawing it – a box for drawers, a line for shelves.

I like to use Microsoft One Note so if I need to redo the storage, I just print off another copy. Any drawing program will work though, even Microsoft Paint. You just need lines and squares.

Since the sheets will be placed into sheet protectors, it’s nice to have the paper set up on Landscape rather than Portrait.

I needed three sheets for my art and crafts storage. The upper left for two large baskets and a nightstand, upper right for built-in drawers and shelves, and the bottom is a plastic shelving unit and a little desk.

When you have all of your storage areas drawn out, slip the papers into sheet protectors and grab another blank piece of paper and a really, really comfortable pen to write with.

Am I the only one that has a ‘thing’ about writing pens?

I digress. Stay with me here, ‘kay?

With your really, really comfortable writing pen, make a list of everything in your space. I mean Every.Thing.

Have you ever spent 15 minutes looking for thumbtacks? Or a half an hour for the extra Exacto knife blades? Write ‘em down.

Now that you think you have everything written down, start making groups. Office supplies. Adhesives. Paper punches.

This is about the hardest part of this whole process – you might have to physically gather all of the items in one group to see how big a space you’ll need. Otherwise you’ll wind up putting office supplies in a drawer and the drawer is too small, know what I mean?

I’m all about saving effort, ok?

Since I have really deep built-in drawers, I can put a bunch of stuff in them. Problem is, I forget what I put where.

Not anymore!

Once you have a place for everything and it’s written on your sheet protectors you can just go ahead and use a permanent marker on the sheet protector (after you’ve erased the dry-erase) or on the paper itself.

Then store these sheets in a binder.

Ta-da!

This whole process took me less than an afternoon. I’m not kidding! Even drawing the little computerized boxes. Of course, more junk items are gonna take a little longer.

If you’re organizing a space like your office, craft room, or kitchen, you might want to ‘live with’ the new placement for a while before you decide it’s permanent. That’s another reason why I make my drawing on the computer. If something just isn’t working in that drawer I just print off another sheet and ‘move’ it around.

Okay, let’s review this Simple Plan –

1. Draw all your available storage spaces and put drawings in sheet protectors
2. List everything to be stored.
3. Start with items most frequently used.
4. Mark these on the sheet protector with dry-erase marker.
5. Continue marking until every item has a ‘home’.
6. Mark item’s home either on paper or sheet protector with permanent marker.
7. Place sheet protectors in a binder.
8. Move on to the next room.

So this space here –

now looks like this! Okay, so it still doesn’t look that great but I now know where every single item is. Thumbtacks? in the middle drawer of that desk (next to the pile of filing – gimme a break, ok?)

Oh! And see that pile of boxes on my craft table? That’s what got emptied after I found homes for everything. Yeah. Hello? And check out the little nightstand next to it. Empty shelves except for the magazines. And those are soon to be stored in some cutie-patootie boxes.

That’s my next project – making boxes and bins look cute. And maybe the windows. And then, and, and . . .

Well, hey, shouldn’t the room you work in not only function well but look good too?

I dunno. It’s so nice and neat and organized, I’m just dyin’ to get in there and start some new paintings!

Before I start organizing the kitchen, that is.