1, 2, 3, Organize!

Last year I set a goal for myself that I knew I could accomplish  fairly easily and was realistic. I wanted to declutter and organize all of my stuff. I looked around me and everything was in complete disarray. Bills, beauty products, magazines - I needed to find a way to organize all this stuff so it would stop piling up but I also didn't want to spend a whole lot of money either. I searched and found simple, cheap solutions to help me with these problems.


I currently live with my boyfriend in a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment and at times it feels like it's just not enough room. Things tend to get shoved here and there without much order so the first thing I did was reorganize my closet space to fit as much as I possibly could but still keep it neat and tidy. Then I had to face the leftovers and figure out what to do with those things.


1. Make-up/Brushes
When I put on my makeup, I sit at our desk in the second bedroom, which we use as an office. The desk also holds my sewing machine, my bf's computer, our printer, a lamp and other random things.  I needed to find something that would hold my makeup and be easy to move around if needed rather than having makeup scattered everywhere. I bought a  drawer organizer from an office supply store to solve this. The organizer is only for the makeup I use on an everyday basis. The rest I have in small plastic drawers in my bathroom. This setup will change after I get a vanity but is the best option for now.






My makeup brushes were just laying around on the desk as well so I went to Michael's and picked up a short wide glass vase that they could stand up in.



My eyeshadow palettes didn't have a home either so I bought a letter holder they could sit in and take up less room.



2. Magazines
Both of us subscribe to various magazines and too often do they wind up all over the place! I decided to get a magazine holder which can be found at multiple places (office supply stores, Target, Walmart) and decided I would only keep the most recent issues in the holder and throw the rest away.

3. Hair tools
Headbands, hairties, combs, and clips were strewn all over our master bathroom counter. I needed something to hold them all in one place so I went to Target and searched their dollar area. They had cute little storage containers in different colors and patterns for a dollar each! I picked up 2 and have one in each bathroom.

4. Bills/mail/receipts

This is something I'm still working to get organized but for a quick fix I bought a letter holder for current bills and stamps and a simple filing unit for things I need to keep handy until it's time to graduate to a bigger (and more pricey) filing cabinet.

5. Books

One thing about me is that I am an avid reader. I have many books but had nowhere to store them besides boxes. My parents happened to be getting rid of their super old bookcases and so I took one off their hands, cleaned it up and painted it black. It adds so much to the room and I even added some decorative pieces that were laying around. Often times you can find people selling or even just giving away bookcases (or other pieces of furniture) on Craigslist.



I've been so happy with the progression I've made in becoming more organized. It really takes a lot of stress away. I'm still looking for more ideas so if you happen to have any let me know!