Showing posts with label Megan D. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Megan D. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2015
UHeart Organizing: We Like to Move It, Move it! Tips for Organizing a Smooth Move
Unless they are singing the song, how often do you really hear someone say, "I like to move!"?
The last time I moved I was only 19 years old with little to my name, yet I still remember it being stressful. Everything from the process of home building, packing, planning, shopping, moving, unpacking.... I am exhausted just thinking about it all over again.
I get asked quite frequently for organized moving tips, and although I think I know what I would do if I were to pack up our family and move, actually having the experience doing it is entirely different. However, Megan of The Homes I Have Made is a moving wizard. She has moved her family numerous times and has learned many useful tricks along the way. She is here today to share how she eases their moving pains.
Happy Spring, iHeart readers! I am so thrilled to be back here today sharing another organizing project. While I love getting my hands dirty and creating unique organizing solutions, today I’m going to share a bit of a different organizing task. My family and I are just a few short weeks away from our next cross-country move. As a military family, moves are both expected and frequent (in fact, this will be move #6 for us in just under 10 years). Even though we do them often, it doesn’t mean they are effortless or stress-free. There are so many tasks, chores, errands, and plans that need to be carefully organized and managed when you uproot and move your entire life. While I would love to share all of my moving tips and tricks, it would be enough content to fill a 10-part series. So instead of telling you how we pack our boxes or label our inventory sheets, I want to share how my husband and I organize the logistics of our moves, as well as keep track of all of our important moving/life paperwork…all in a two-part paper+digital system we’ve developed over the years!
Probably like many of you, I am a passionate list-maker. Lists help me remember important to-dos, prioritize tasks, and feel accomplished when I get to line through completed items. If there’s one time in life to make a list, it’s during a move. The amount of things to do and keep track of is seemingly endless. Years ago, my husband created an Excel spreadsheet that detailed every single, minute task we needed to complete during the moving process. With each subsequent move, we pull the old spreadsheet and update it with current tasks and pertinent information. In my day-to-day life, I am a pen-and-paper kind of girl; however, our family master moving to-do list is the one case we go completely digital.
The digital spreadsheet is not only something we can use over and over again (key for people who move frequently), but it also allows us to modify and update the list without having pages and pages of written and scratched-out items. Our spreadsheet is organized by Action Item, Person Responsible, Deadline, Location, and Additional Notes. By having these categories on an electronic list, we can easily sort by priority, person, and due dates, as well as delete out and add in items as necessary. My husband and I review the checklist together each weekend in the weeks leading up to our move to ensure we are staying on top of deadlines. We also share it via Dropbox so we can update it in real time!
I love having our master to-do list electronically, but we also rely on two other paper systems to keep our move organized and on-track. With the stack of important move-related paperwork growing on my desk, I knew it was time to assemble our moving binders!
One of the first things you learn as a military spouse is there are a few things you never ever, ever send inside moving boxes: jewelry and personal documents (birth certificates, passports, marriage certificates, etc). These things should be carried with you as you travel from one home to the next. While bringing a locked filing cabinet on the journey would be ideal, it’s also not very practical. So before embarking on each move, I assemble a binder of all of our very important family documents.
Binders are convenient, but you typically don’t want to punch holes in these special documents. My go-to solution is clear page protectors…specifically the ones with the fold-over top so items can’t slip out. You can get them in the full-page size (ideal for powers of attorney, wills, and medical files), as well as segmented versions (great for passports, shot records, social security cards, etc). By having everything singled out into individual pages, finding specific documents is quite easy! You’ll note I kept the outside of the binder relatively un-assuming so that people won’t immediately know what is inside; and we are extra diligent about keeping this binder in hand (while traveling) and locked up (in hotels) at all times.
The other binder we keep handy at all times during our move is our Moving Binder! Although we are a digital society, there is still so much paperwork associated with moving, and we’ve found a dedicated binder is the best way to keep it all sorted, handy, and easy to find!
Sure I could have just thrown everything into a binder with a few dividers and page protectors and called it a day; but I love pretty organizing solutions and handy printables about as much as Jen does, so I spent a rainy afternoon pulling together this fun binder to keep us organized in style! All the colors and graphics were pulled from a free digital scrapbooking set: Color Me Spring from Elle Designs.
I didn’t have any dividers on hand, so I made a quick set…much easier and cheaper than running out to the store! I started by designing the divider shapes in the Cricut Design Space software and cutting them from 12x12 cardstock.
To reinforce the holes, I covered the edges in clear packaging tape and then trimmed the excess down with a paper cutter and scissors.
I punched holes with a 3-hole punch and added text also using my Cricut Explore. In about 20 minutes, I had dividers ready to rock in my binder!
With my dividers made and my printables printed out, my binder came together super quickly and is ready to be vigorously added to over the next few weeks. Let me show you just how we stay organized moving from one state to another!
In the front of the binder, I keep a simple Notes sheet for jotting down quick reminders, notes, phone numbers etc. I also include a simple 3-hole punch for adding items while we’re on the road!
Our binder is split into four categories:
HERE
Behind the "Here" tab is everything related to our current home and the packing up of all of our stuff. This is where we keep: our current lease, housing inspection/checkout sheet, official inventory lists from the packers, our personal inventory of expensive items (specifically electronics with serial numbers), local utility company names/numbers/accounts/passwords to terminate services, and personal packing lists. For thick, bulky items, I use page protectors for ease and accessibility.
THERE
Behind the "There" tab is everything we have or will need as we move into our next house. This is where we keep: our new lease, inspection sheets, floor plans, utility company names/numbers to setup new services, a running list of Needs/To Buy for the new house, local area information (closet grocery store, pizza place, pharmacy etc) and more.
In our moving binder, I always include the measurements of all of our furniture, rugs, and other large household items (all measured before we pack up, of course!). Quite often, we are able to get into our new house well before the moving trucks arrive. By having exact measurements of our large items in hand, we are able to get a good start on the floor plan. In turn, this allows us to get settled faster because we are able to tell the movers exactly where to put items instead of having to play musical furniture for days!
IN TRANSIT
Behind the "In Transit" tab is all the information we will need or acquire as we literally travel from our old home to our new home. Depending on the distance we’re moving, there is a potential to live “on the road” for days or even weeks without a home or our belongings. Quite often, there are many different hotel reservations, tourist attraction reservations, and more to keep track of. To keep me from constantly scrambling through my phone for the right reservation or address, I like to keep all of our destination points on one handy sheet. We also track all of our traveling expenses, and tuck our receipts into another page protector so we can file claims on the other end.
When all of your belongings are packed into boxes on a truck driving across country without you, it can be very unnerving when you can’t find your passport or your new landlord’s phone number. We’ve found that corralling all of our personal documents and move-related paperwork into two easy-to-keep-track-of binders keeps anxiety at bay and the right information at our fingertips at all times. By setting up these systems weeks before the movers are set to arrive, I now have a landing spot for everything and anything that comes into our hands!
While I would love to show you what I’m doing right now behind the scenes at my house to literally get ready for the movers to arrive, I’m living in a state of somewhat-controlled chaos! I hope you enjoyed this broad-range glimpse at what all is involved in a long-distance move and our techniques for staying on top of all the moving parts. While each family who moves a lot has their own tips and secrets they’d swear by, I’m pretty sure we’d all agree that proper planning and good organization can make the difference between a bumpy move and a smooth move!
Thanks again to the lovely Jen for having me stop by today. The next time I am here, we will be moved into our next house so I will have lots of organizational and home décor projects in the works! Be sure to stop on by and follow me as we transition to our next “new” home over at The Homes I Have Made!
Hello! I am Megan, an exercise and nutrition professional turned stay-at-home mom and DIY blogger. I am married to a U.S. Marine and currently reside in Eastern North Carolina, my 5th home in 9 years! My focus is renter-friendly, movable décor and organizational projects that are high on style and function yet low on complexity and budget. Armed with creativity, ingenuity, a can-do attitude, and a strong Type A personality, I have become a pro at making each and every temporary living space an organized, functional, and well-styled home for my family! You can get all of my DIY, organizational and crafting ideas on my blog The Homes I Have Made.
Read more »
The last time I moved I was only 19 years old with little to my name, yet I still remember it being stressful. Everything from the process of home building, packing, planning, shopping, moving, unpacking.... I am exhausted just thinking about it all over again.
I get asked quite frequently for organized moving tips, and although I think I know what I would do if I were to pack up our family and move, actually having the experience doing it is entirely different. However, Megan of The Homes I Have Made is a moving wizard. She has moved her family numerous times and has learned many useful tricks along the way. She is here today to share how she eases their moving pains.
Happy Spring, iHeart readers! I am so thrilled to be back here today sharing another organizing project. While I love getting my hands dirty and creating unique organizing solutions, today I’m going to share a bit of a different organizing task. My family and I are just a few short weeks away from our next cross-country move. As a military family, moves are both expected and frequent (in fact, this will be move #6 for us in just under 10 years). Even though we do them often, it doesn’t mean they are effortless or stress-free. There are so many tasks, chores, errands, and plans that need to be carefully organized and managed when you uproot and move your entire life. While I would love to share all of my moving tips and tricks, it would be enough content to fill a 10-part series. So instead of telling you how we pack our boxes or label our inventory sheets, I want to share how my husband and I organize the logistics of our moves, as well as keep track of all of our important moving/life paperwork…all in a two-part paper+digital system we’ve developed over the years!
Probably like many of you, I am a passionate list-maker. Lists help me remember important to-dos, prioritize tasks, and feel accomplished when I get to line through completed items. If there’s one time in life to make a list, it’s during a move. The amount of things to do and keep track of is seemingly endless. Years ago, my husband created an Excel spreadsheet that detailed every single, minute task we needed to complete during the moving process. With each subsequent move, we pull the old spreadsheet and update it with current tasks and pertinent information. In my day-to-day life, I am a pen-and-paper kind of girl; however, our family master moving to-do list is the one case we go completely digital.
The digital spreadsheet is not only something we can use over and over again (key for people who move frequently), but it also allows us to modify and update the list without having pages and pages of written and scratched-out items. Our spreadsheet is organized by Action Item, Person Responsible, Deadline, Location, and Additional Notes. By having these categories on an electronic list, we can easily sort by priority, person, and due dates, as well as delete out and add in items as necessary. My husband and I review the checklist together each weekend in the weeks leading up to our move to ensure we are staying on top of deadlines. We also share it via Dropbox so we can update it in real time!
I love having our master to-do list electronically, but we also rely on two other paper systems to keep our move organized and on-track. With the stack of important move-related paperwork growing on my desk, I knew it was time to assemble our moving binders!
One of the first things you learn as a military spouse is there are a few things you never ever, ever send inside moving boxes: jewelry and personal documents (birth certificates, passports, marriage certificates, etc). These things should be carried with you as you travel from one home to the next. While bringing a locked filing cabinet on the journey would be ideal, it’s also not very practical. So before embarking on each move, I assemble a binder of all of our very important family documents.
Binders are convenient, but you typically don’t want to punch holes in these special documents. My go-to solution is clear page protectors…specifically the ones with the fold-over top so items can’t slip out. You can get them in the full-page size (ideal for powers of attorney, wills, and medical files), as well as segmented versions (great for passports, shot records, social security cards, etc). By having everything singled out into individual pages, finding specific documents is quite easy! You’ll note I kept the outside of the binder relatively un-assuming so that people won’t immediately know what is inside; and we are extra diligent about keeping this binder in hand (while traveling) and locked up (in hotels) at all times.
The other binder we keep handy at all times during our move is our Moving Binder! Although we are a digital society, there is still so much paperwork associated with moving, and we’ve found a dedicated binder is the best way to keep it all sorted, handy, and easy to find!
Sure I could have just thrown everything into a binder with a few dividers and page protectors and called it a day; but I love pretty organizing solutions and handy printables about as much as Jen does, so I spent a rainy afternoon pulling together this fun binder to keep us organized in style! All the colors and graphics were pulled from a free digital scrapbooking set: Color Me Spring from Elle Designs.
I didn’t have any dividers on hand, so I made a quick set…much easier and cheaper than running out to the store! I started by designing the divider shapes in the Cricut Design Space software and cutting them from 12x12 cardstock.
To reinforce the holes, I covered the edges in clear packaging tape and then trimmed the excess down with a paper cutter and scissors.
I punched holes with a 3-hole punch and added text also using my Cricut Explore. In about 20 minutes, I had dividers ready to rock in my binder!
With my dividers made and my printables printed out, my binder came together super quickly and is ready to be vigorously added to over the next few weeks. Let me show you just how we stay organized moving from one state to another!
In the front of the binder, I keep a simple Notes sheet for jotting down quick reminders, notes, phone numbers etc. I also include a simple 3-hole punch for adding items while we’re on the road!
Our binder is split into four categories:
- Here – for everything related to our current home and the pack-out side of our move
- There – for everything related to our next home and the pack-in side of our move
- In Transit – for everything and anything we may need to reference or keep as we literally travel from one home to the next
- Miscellaneous – for everything and anything we might need to reference or keep while we are without our household goods (military term for “everything we own!”)
HERE
Behind the "Here" tab is everything related to our current home and the packing up of all of our stuff. This is where we keep: our current lease, housing inspection/checkout sheet, official inventory lists from the packers, our personal inventory of expensive items (specifically electronics with serial numbers), local utility company names/numbers/accounts/passwords to terminate services, and personal packing lists. For thick, bulky items, I use page protectors for ease and accessibility.
THERE
Behind the "There" tab is everything we have or will need as we move into our next house. This is where we keep: our new lease, inspection sheets, floor plans, utility company names/numbers to setup new services, a running list of Needs/To Buy for the new house, local area information (closet grocery store, pizza place, pharmacy etc) and more.
In our moving binder, I always include the measurements of all of our furniture, rugs, and other large household items (all measured before we pack up, of course!). Quite often, we are able to get into our new house well before the moving trucks arrive. By having exact measurements of our large items in hand, we are able to get a good start on the floor plan. In turn, this allows us to get settled faster because we are able to tell the movers exactly where to put items instead of having to play musical furniture for days!
IN TRANSIT
Behind the "In Transit" tab is all the information we will need or acquire as we literally travel from our old home to our new home. Depending on the distance we’re moving, there is a potential to live “on the road” for days or even weeks without a home or our belongings. Quite often, there are many different hotel reservations, tourist attraction reservations, and more to keep track of. To keep me from constantly scrambling through my phone for the right reservation or address, I like to keep all of our destination points on one handy sheet. We also track all of our traveling expenses, and tuck our receipts into another page protector so we can file claims on the other end.
When all of your belongings are packed into boxes on a truck driving across country without you, it can be very unnerving when you can’t find your passport or your new landlord’s phone number. We’ve found that corralling all of our personal documents and move-related paperwork into two easy-to-keep-track-of binders keeps anxiety at bay and the right information at our fingertips at all times. By setting up these systems weeks before the movers are set to arrive, I now have a landing spot for everything and anything that comes into our hands!
While I would love to show you what I’m doing right now behind the scenes at my house to literally get ready for the movers to arrive, I’m living in a state of somewhat-controlled chaos! I hope you enjoyed this broad-range glimpse at what all is involved in a long-distance move and our techniques for staying on top of all the moving parts. While each family who moves a lot has their own tips and secrets they’d swear by, I’m pretty sure we’d all agree that proper planning and good organization can make the difference between a bumpy move and a smooth move!
Thanks again to the lovely Jen for having me stop by today. The next time I am here, we will be moved into our next house so I will have lots of organizational and home décor projects in the works! Be sure to stop on by and follow me as we transition to our next “new” home over at The Homes I Have Made!
YAY! The Smooth Move Binder printables and Master Moving Spreadsheet are available for download here!
Hello! I am Megan, an exercise and nutrition professional turned stay-at-home mom and DIY blogger. I am married to a U.S. Marine and currently reside in Eastern North Carolina, my 5th home in 9 years! My focus is renter-friendly, movable décor and organizational projects that are high on style and function yet low on complexity and budget. Armed with creativity, ingenuity, a can-do attitude, and a strong Type A personality, I have become a pro at making each and every temporary living space an organized, functional, and well-styled home for my family! You can get all of my DIY, organizational and crafting ideas on my blog The Homes I Have Made.
Monday, November 23, 2015
UHeart Organizing: Playing With Toy Storage
When it comes to organizing, playrooms are like the Disney Land of the home. And I am not talking about just for the kids. They are about the most fun and magical spaces to work on, it really doesn't even feel like a chore! Fun graphic labels, playful colors and a variety of storage solutions, always equates to a fun task ahead. Megan, of The Homes I Have Made, recently moved with her family into a new home. The first area she tackled was her playroom because not only is it a fun space to create and use, it was also helpful to give the kids a comfortable place to enjoy during their new transition.
Today, she is sharing with us a glimpse into her new play area, including all of the specific details behind the solutions she selected for the variety of toys and crafts she stores within the space. And if you are a fellow renter, I highly recommend following her journey to making her new house a home over the next year. She is already on a roll creating a beautiful selection of renter-friendly projects, big and small.
Happy Summer, iHeart Readers! My family and I have been spending the summer packing, traveling and moving into our “new” house in Kansas! We’ve been busy settling in and organizing each space, and I am so excited to be dropping by today to show you the very first glimpse of our new playroom and the various ways we organize all things toy!
The playroom was one of the very first spaces we set up as the moving boxes came off the truck. Not only is organizing toys one of my more favorite tasks (truly!), but it really helped to get our 4 year old’s play zone up and running so he could stay busy while we focused on the rest of the house. This is our very first time having a dedicated and separate playroom in our home, and what a treat it is. We had lots of good storage systems in place in our last home, and I loved building off of them for our new space.
These last few weeks, I’ve been busy purging, sorting, and consolidating ALL of our toys into this single space and finding just the right way to store and contain each and every one, from the itty bitty to the large and loud! My goal is to employ systems that are fun, simple to access, easy for both me and my child to maintain, and space savvy. While I like a picked-up space, it’s important that my child can see what all we have so that it will actually get pulled out and played with. Finding solutions that meet all of these criteria is the fun part of organizing a play space for me!
The star of our toy storage solution is the all-mighty IKEA Kallax (the new version of the beloved Expedit). We have used these sturdy, cube shelves to organize a variety of things around the house, but I find they really are ideal for toys. The cubbies are large enough to hold a majority of big, clunky toys; the toys that don’t fit can be placed on the top ledge; and the coordinating bins and baskets hold SO much!
Our basement features a wide focal wall, perfect for a long stretch of cubbies to hold all the playtime goodness. Putting them up on feet helps the units look more like furniture and allows for extra storage underneath (for games!) should we need it down the road!
We started using picture-labeled toy bins a while back, and now my 4-year-old is great at cleaning up! He knows just which toys go in which bins at the end of the day, and it really helps to keep control of the toys by giving everything a dedicated home. (And boy do they help when he’s trying to find something. I can simply say “Look in the school bus box!” and he can find exactly what he wants right away!)
I used my e-cutter and simple white contact paper to make the labels and stuck them right to the cloth baskets. They stick wonderfully, but aren’t too hard to peel away when I need to swap them out. Once or twice a year (usually after birthdays and Christmas), I go through all the bins and re-categorize/organize based on what we’ve accumulated, gotten rid of and are/aren’t playing with anymore. Not only do I love the graphic punch of the images on the boxes, but the pictures are ideal for little ones who can’t yet read!
The IKEA bins are a great size, and I am always amazed what can fit in them. Sometimes, however, they can hold too much, and little bits and pieces get lost in their depths. As such, I’m always on the hunt for small toys storage solutions. I recently stumbled upon these handled, metal tins from IKEA, and they are perfect for corralling our Play Dough supplies and play food. The lids fit snug, they are spacious, and have a handy handle, making them ideal for little hands. More vinyl labels help my kiddo know just what’s inside when he’s rummaging through the larger blue bins.
Magnetic letters, card games, puzzle pieces, and flash cards were other items that were constantly floating around the bottoms of the large bins. For a quick and easy solution, I turned to my fabric stash and made a set of these Velcro-topped see-through pouches. The Velcro keeps everything contained inside yet is easy to open, and the clear window allows for quick and easy identification of the contents. I can think of so many great uses for these pouches and am hankering to make some more!
DIY clear puzzle pouches are a similar solution for keeping puzzle pieces with their boards! These made-to-fit, envelope-style holders were a simple sewing project and great scrap-buster. Again, the clear window helps little ones see just what’s inside, and a simple snap closure makes the puzzles easy to get out and put back.
I also discovered that the clear packaging sheets/bedding/duvets come in are the perfect size for holding puzzles! If you’re not able to store your puzzles flat, these are a great solution for upright storage. If you pack them full/tight, the pieces don’t fall out!
I hoarded a ton of these flip-top plastic boxes while living overseas years ago, and they are great for grouping collections of items (below left). A party bucket (intended for drinks) fits the cubbie shelf perfectly and is a great catch-all for our blocks (below right).
I snagged these wooden lidded boxes from the clearance section at Target and discovered they were great for holding Little People, Little People Animals, and all those random and very precious little toys from machines, the dentist office, and Happy Meals!
The boxes are perfectly sized for the shelves and are labeled with simple black contact paper and a chalk marker. This is one of the only things in our playroom not labeled with a picture, but my little guy has pretty much figured out what’s in each one!
Anything can be used for storage if it’s the right shape, holds something just right and fits on your shelving system! A plastic tote corrals racecar track; a simple gift box keeps all of Mr. Potato Head’s parts together; and a metal bread box has become the perfect “garage” for our die-cast cars collection!
Our playroom doubles as our downstairs family room, so adding in furniture that works double duty not only allowed us to save space but also visually reduced toy clutter. I recently transformed an old ugly trunk into a show-stopper by covering it in grasscloth wallpaper. Not only is it perfect as a decorative coffee table, but we discovered the hidden storage was ideal for holding our extensive train and track collection. Since our kiddo prefers to build tracks on the floor now, we were able to get rid of our dedicated train table so the room feels less full and a bit more adult-friendly!
As our son gets older, our playing together has transitioned more into coloring, games, puzzles, and Lego building as a family. As we arranged the furniture in this new house, we realized we had just enough space behind our sectional couch for a small antique table that had been living un-used in our garage. Paired with some stools, we now have an (expandable!) table we can sit at as a family. I love that the table is in view of the television and playroom and is large enough for us all to sit at together. No more crowding around a tiny kid table!
To encourage art time as much as possible, I wanted to keep supplies easily accessible. Using only things I had on hand, I transformed an old wooden toolbox from a thrift store into the quintessential coloring caddie that can sit right on the table!
One of my quickest and easiest tricks for making dividers of any sorts is to use thick form core. If cut snug to your dimensions, the dividers will stand up right and not budge. To make this art caddie, I simply cut down foam core to fit the inside dimensions of the toolbox. I then used Mod Podge to wrap the dividers in leftover wallpaper from the trunk. Once slid into place, we had a quick and easy way to keep our art supplies sorted!
I am loving having all of our Play Doh, art supplies, papers and stickers easily accessible, and a place to sit and craft as a family!
Now that the function of this room is fully sorted out and set, I am hankering to move on with some other (more decorative) elements in this space! I’ve got a lot of fun things planned in here, including a no-paint, renter-friendly wall treatment for that blank space up there above the television. I’d love for you to follow along over at The Homes I Have Made as I update this space and the rest of our house as we live here for just a year! Happy Summer and see you next time!
Hello! I am Megan, an exercise and nutrition professional turned stay-at-home mom and DIY blogger. I am married to a U.S. Marine and currently reside in Eastern North Carolina, my 5th home in 9 years! My focus is renter-friendly, movable décor and organizational projects that are high on style and function yet low on complexity and budget. Armed with creativity, ingenuity, a can-do attitude, and a strong Type A personality, I have become a pro at making each and every temporary living space an organized, functional, and well-styled home for my family! You can get all of my DIY, organizational and crafting ideas on my blog The Homes I Have Made.
Read more »
Today, she is sharing with us a glimpse into her new play area, including all of the specific details behind the solutions she selected for the variety of toys and crafts she stores within the space. And if you are a fellow renter, I highly recommend following her journey to making her new house a home over the next year. She is already on a roll creating a beautiful selection of renter-friendly projects, big and small.
Happy Summer, iHeart Readers! My family and I have been spending the summer packing, traveling and moving into our “new” house in Kansas! We’ve been busy settling in and organizing each space, and I am so excited to be dropping by today to show you the very first glimpse of our new playroom and the various ways we organize all things toy!
The playroom was one of the very first spaces we set up as the moving boxes came off the truck. Not only is organizing toys one of my more favorite tasks (truly!), but it really helped to get our 4 year old’s play zone up and running so he could stay busy while we focused on the rest of the house. This is our very first time having a dedicated and separate playroom in our home, and what a treat it is. We had lots of good storage systems in place in our last home, and I loved building off of them for our new space.
These last few weeks, I’ve been busy purging, sorting, and consolidating ALL of our toys into this single space and finding just the right way to store and contain each and every one, from the itty bitty to the large and loud! My goal is to employ systems that are fun, simple to access, easy for both me and my child to maintain, and space savvy. While I like a picked-up space, it’s important that my child can see what all we have so that it will actually get pulled out and played with. Finding solutions that meet all of these criteria is the fun part of organizing a play space for me!
The star of our toy storage solution is the all-mighty IKEA Kallax (the new version of the beloved Expedit). We have used these sturdy, cube shelves to organize a variety of things around the house, but I find they really are ideal for toys. The cubbies are large enough to hold a majority of big, clunky toys; the toys that don’t fit can be placed on the top ledge; and the coordinating bins and baskets hold SO much!
Our basement features a wide focal wall, perfect for a long stretch of cubbies to hold all the playtime goodness. Putting them up on feet helps the units look more like furniture and allows for extra storage underneath (for games!) should we need it down the road!
We started using picture-labeled toy bins a while back, and now my 4-year-old is great at cleaning up! He knows just which toys go in which bins at the end of the day, and it really helps to keep control of the toys by giving everything a dedicated home. (And boy do they help when he’s trying to find something. I can simply say “Look in the school bus box!” and he can find exactly what he wants right away!)
I used my e-cutter and simple white contact paper to make the labels and stuck them right to the cloth baskets. They stick wonderfully, but aren’t too hard to peel away when I need to swap them out. Once or twice a year (usually after birthdays and Christmas), I go through all the bins and re-categorize/organize based on what we’ve accumulated, gotten rid of and are/aren’t playing with anymore. Not only do I love the graphic punch of the images on the boxes, but the pictures are ideal for little ones who can’t yet read!
The IKEA bins are a great size, and I am always amazed what can fit in them. Sometimes, however, they can hold too much, and little bits and pieces get lost in their depths. As such, I’m always on the hunt for small toys storage solutions. I recently stumbled upon these handled, metal tins from IKEA, and they are perfect for corralling our Play Dough supplies and play food. The lids fit snug, they are spacious, and have a handy handle, making them ideal for little hands. More vinyl labels help my kiddo know just what’s inside when he’s rummaging through the larger blue bins.
Magnetic letters, card games, puzzle pieces, and flash cards were other items that were constantly floating around the bottoms of the large bins. For a quick and easy solution, I turned to my fabric stash and made a set of these Velcro-topped see-through pouches. The Velcro keeps everything contained inside yet is easy to open, and the clear window allows for quick and easy identification of the contents. I can think of so many great uses for these pouches and am hankering to make some more!
DIY clear puzzle pouches are a similar solution for keeping puzzle pieces with their boards! These made-to-fit, envelope-style holders were a simple sewing project and great scrap-buster. Again, the clear window helps little ones see just what’s inside, and a simple snap closure makes the puzzles easy to get out and put back.
I also discovered that the clear packaging sheets/bedding/duvets come in are the perfect size for holding puzzles! If you’re not able to store your puzzles flat, these are a great solution for upright storage. If you pack them full/tight, the pieces don’t fall out!
I hoarded a ton of these flip-top plastic boxes while living overseas years ago, and they are great for grouping collections of items (below left). A party bucket (intended for drinks) fits the cubbie shelf perfectly and is a great catch-all for our blocks (below right).
I snagged these wooden lidded boxes from the clearance section at Target and discovered they were great for holding Little People, Little People Animals, and all those random and very precious little toys from machines, the dentist office, and Happy Meals!
The boxes are perfectly sized for the shelves and are labeled with simple black contact paper and a chalk marker. This is one of the only things in our playroom not labeled with a picture, but my little guy has pretty much figured out what’s in each one!
Anything can be used for storage if it’s the right shape, holds something just right and fits on your shelving system! A plastic tote corrals racecar track; a simple gift box keeps all of Mr. Potato Head’s parts together; and a metal bread box has become the perfect “garage” for our die-cast cars collection!
Our playroom doubles as our downstairs family room, so adding in furniture that works double duty not only allowed us to save space but also visually reduced toy clutter. I recently transformed an old ugly trunk into a show-stopper by covering it in grasscloth wallpaper. Not only is it perfect as a decorative coffee table, but we discovered the hidden storage was ideal for holding our extensive train and track collection. Since our kiddo prefers to build tracks on the floor now, we were able to get rid of our dedicated train table so the room feels less full and a bit more adult-friendly!
As our son gets older, our playing together has transitioned more into coloring, games, puzzles, and Lego building as a family. As we arranged the furniture in this new house, we realized we had just enough space behind our sectional couch for a small antique table that had been living un-used in our garage. Paired with some stools, we now have an (expandable!) table we can sit at as a family. I love that the table is in view of the television and playroom and is large enough for us all to sit at together. No more crowding around a tiny kid table!
To encourage art time as much as possible, I wanted to keep supplies easily accessible. Using only things I had on hand, I transformed an old wooden toolbox from a thrift store into the quintessential coloring caddie that can sit right on the table!
One of my quickest and easiest tricks for making dividers of any sorts is to use thick form core. If cut snug to your dimensions, the dividers will stand up right and not budge. To make this art caddie, I simply cut down foam core to fit the inside dimensions of the toolbox. I then used Mod Podge to wrap the dividers in leftover wallpaper from the trunk. Once slid into place, we had a quick and easy way to keep our art supplies sorted!
I am loving having all of our Play Doh, art supplies, papers and stickers easily accessible, and a place to sit and craft as a family!
Now that the function of this room is fully sorted out and set, I am hankering to move on with some other (more decorative) elements in this space! I’ve got a lot of fun things planned in here, including a no-paint, renter-friendly wall treatment for that blank space up there above the television. I’d love for you to follow along over at The Homes I Have Made as I update this space and the rest of our house as we live here for just a year! Happy Summer and see you next time!
Hello! I am Megan, an exercise and nutrition professional turned stay-at-home mom and DIY blogger. I am married to a U.S. Marine and currently reside in Eastern North Carolina, my 5th home in 9 years! My focus is renter-friendly, movable décor and organizational projects that are high on style and function yet low on complexity and budget. Armed with creativity, ingenuity, a can-do attitude, and a strong Type A personality, I have become a pro at making each and every temporary living space an organized, functional, and well-styled home for my family! You can get all of my DIY, organizational and crafting ideas on my blog The Homes I Have Made.Monday, November 16, 2015
UHeart Organizing: Office in an Armoire (With DIY Paper Drawer Dividers!)
How are you doing with your Dare to DIY With a New Supply challenge? I am excited for the weekend so I can finally tackle a couple of small lingering projects using supplies I am not all that familiar with. It is like blind dating a DIY project; so much excitement for the unknown!
Megan is here today to share how she recently used decorative paper to completely organize her office armoire. Her project is an ideal example of DIY'ing with a basic supply to make a positively sweet impact to her days. My initial draw to Megan was her use of color and her endless creativity. Then, I found out that she moves frequently as a military family and provides an abundance of renter friendly ideas, so I became even more intrigued! She is finding ways to make her house a home without painting her walls, but by working with furniture, fabrics and wallpapers to make a major, yet temporary, impact. Did you know you could create focal walls in a rental? You definitely can and Megan will show you how on her blog.
Today's project is one that anyone can do, living in a rental or not. And it can be done on a tight budget with a little time and some simple cutting skills. If you have never organized with decorative papers before, this is a great beginner project. OK, enough gushing by me, here she is to share more about her newly organized office in an armoire.
Happy Fall, I Heart readers! This is Megan, from The Homes I Have Made, and I am so excited to be back sharing another organizing project with you all! Contributing here is such a huge honor for me, so I’ve been working hard on this latest project. I think you all will love it!
When we moved this past summer, our big, heavy office desk was damaged so I jumped at the opportunity to replace it with a more sleek and simple style. While I love the aesthetic of the new Parsons-style design, it doesn’t have any drawers or built-in options, leaving us without a place to neatly store all of our office supplies. To mitigate the situation, I went off in search of the perfect run-down piece to upcylce and turn into an office supply storage station.
While I didn’t find a battered old piece in need of new life, I did find the perfect dresser, already updated and painted for a ridiculously good price. While I love a good furniture-refinishing project any day, with this one already repaired and painted, I could quickly turn my attention to the inside!
To some, this Provincial highboy dresser might be perfect for socks and underwear; to me, the wide and shallow drawers were ideal for office supplies! There was sufficient drawer space to hold everything we needed to store (and more!), and I knew I could transform this empty vessel into the perfect office supply headquarters. Little did I know how easy, cheap, and fun it would be to do so!
Before I give you the full tour, I want to share a little bit about my thought process behind organizing this dresser and my DIY method for making the most of every single square inch! Like Jen, I’m a true sucker for acrylic organizers and pretty paper liners; and admittedly, that was my plan for these drawers at the beginning. But as I began to play around with various organizers I had on-hand, I became frustrated by how much wasted space I was left with (even in the best configurations) and how awkwardly a lot of my supplies fit within the trays themselves.
Sure, I could have splurged on expandable organizers or hunted around for the perfect-sized trays, but with just some pretty papers from my stash, scissors, and tape, I was able to make fully-custom and tailor-sized organizers that use every single bit of space within each drawer!
Not only do I love that I was able to truly maximize the amount I can store in each drawer, but each little tray/cubby was intentionally sized to hold specific supplies. No more cramming supplies into too-small slots… each and every item was given a perfectly-sized and dedicated home!
Because they are measured to fit snug within the drawer, these organizers are fairly sturdy. However, since they are made from cardstock, they aren’t the most durable things ever. This project is ideal for office supplies, craft notions and the like, but probably not the greatest for clothes, kid items, or toys. Still, if you can measure and cut, you can do this project. I’m still in awe at how great it worked!
SUPPLIES:
Tip: Before making and adding the paper organizers, paper the insides of the drawers.
The organizers will fully cover the bottom, so no need to waste paper there; but adding a pattern to the sides of shallow drawers is a fun way to add more color and pattern to this project!
I recently wallpapered my office (in a completely renter-friendly way!) using non-pasted wallpaper and liquid starch. It worked so well that it has become my favorite, totally temporary way to add wallpaper to anything! I simply cut down some wallpaper samples I had on hand to fit the sides of the drawers and attached them all with liquid starch. When I change my mind or this dresser needs to function in a different way in our next home, I can simply peel it off and start fresh!
With the insides of the drawers papered, I suggest doing a little planning before cutting and making your organizers. Sure, you can make one box at a time and build the organizer as you go, but since I wanted my organizers to fit specific items and still fill out the drawer perfectly, I saved myself some major headaches by planning out all the drawer layouts on paper first. Using digital graph paper and constantly checking the sizes of whatever I needed to store, I came up with the ideal layouts for each drawer, as well as the measurements for each and every box I needed to make!
Tip: Pre-planning also helps you figure out what size and how much paper you need, as well as what colors you want to use and where!
Here’s the best thing about this project: you can literally make an organizer any size and depth you wish. Your only restriction is paper size… so the bigger the paper you have, the bigger the organizers you can make. I chose to make all of my organizers 2” tall. I found that depth was deep enough to hold things well, but shallow enough to easily get small things out. As such, I added 4” (2” for each side) to every dimension I cut.
EXAMPLES:
Tip: To keep me from going batty as I made almost 40 of these in various sizes, I made and referenced a “Cut List” with the “Finished” measurement sizes and the “Cut” measurement sizes. Total lifesaver!
Once I had a plan, the boxes come together quickly and easily! Start by cutting your cardstock down to the right dimensions (with the added inches for the height). I found a rotary cutter works great for papers that don’t fit into a standard paper trimmer. Then using a scoring tool, score a fold line for each side of the box.
(1) Again, my boxes measure 2” tall, so I scored a line in 2” from each side.
(2) Next, trim along the score line at each corner, and make it into a slit by cutting again on diagonal.
(3) Fold each side up on the scored line. If you only have a pattern on one side of the paper, fold toward the pattern.
(4) Flip the paper over and add strong tape along the straight edge of each slit.
(5) Create a box by folding the corner flaps onto the adhesive tape. Before securing, ensure the edges of the paper are flush along the top of the box.
(6) You can secure the flaps to either the inside or outside of the box, depending on what you’re using them for. Since each box would butt up against another, I chose to put the flaps toward the outside, keeping a clean inside. To keep everything smooth, secure the flaps with extra scotch tape (7).
Now that you’ve figured out the process, turn on a Netflix series or great Pandora station and continue to cut, score, fold and tape to make boxes to match your planned design!
As you make them, add the boxes to your drawer and adjust sizing as necessary. If you cut pretty accurately, everything should slide into place just right!
Okay! Now that I’ve shown you just how I made my drawer dividers, let me show you how the whole dresser came together!
The top drawer was designed to hold all of our itty bitty and most-used office supplies. From various tacks, pens, cords, and paper clips, everything has a proper home!
The second drawer holds our extra filing folders, notebooks, page protectors and other full-page-sized items. Since the bottom surface of this drawer could be seen, I papered it all.
The bottom drawer has more organizers to hold envelopes in every size, various tapes, camera parts and more!
The two little drawers are perfect for holding our printable papers. Plain printer paper and photo paper on the right, specialty papers on the left.
One of the things I was most excited about this dresser was the size of the bottom drawer. I (finally!) have a concealed yet totally accessible place for my laptop, our scanner and laminator!
While I would prefer to have our printer concealed, having it up top is really the most convenient and practical solution for our household.
All in all, I could not be more thrilled with this unique storage solution for our office supplies! Not only do I love that the dresser has many functions (so it can be repurposed in our next house), but the size and amount of the drawers lend themselves just so perfectly to our office supplies. While I may have splurged a bit on an already-painted dresser, I was able to fully outfit the inside using only supplies I already had on hand. I guess this really is a great example of a high/low project!
Thanks so much to Jen for having me here today! I do hope you guys will pop over and say hi to me at The Homes I Have Made. In the coming days/weeks, I’ll be sharing more projects from this office space, as well as more renter-friendly and movable décor projects in our current home (that we’re only living in for a year)! See you next time!
Hello! I am Megan, an exercise and nutrition professional turned stay-at-home mom and DIY blogger. I am married to a U.S. Marine and currently reside in Eastern North Carolina, my 5th home in 9 years! My focus is renter-friendly, movable décor and organizational projects that are high on style and function yet low on complexity and budget. Armed with creativity, ingenuity, a can-do attitude, and a strong Type A personality, I have become a pro at making each and every temporary living space an organized, functional, and well-styled home for my family! You can get all of my DIY, organizational and crafting ideas on my blog The Homes I Have Made.
Read more »
Megan is here today to share how she recently used decorative paper to completely organize her office armoire. Her project is an ideal example of DIY'ing with a basic supply to make a positively sweet impact to her days. My initial draw to Megan was her use of color and her endless creativity. Then, I found out that she moves frequently as a military family and provides an abundance of renter friendly ideas, so I became even more intrigued! She is finding ways to make her house a home without painting her walls, but by working with furniture, fabrics and wallpapers to make a major, yet temporary, impact. Did you know you could create focal walls in a rental? You definitely can and Megan will show you how on her blog.
Today's project is one that anyone can do, living in a rental or not. And it can be done on a tight budget with a little time and some simple cutting skills. If you have never organized with decorative papers before, this is a great beginner project. OK, enough gushing by me, here she is to share more about her newly organized office in an armoire.
Happy Fall, I Heart readers! This is Megan, from The Homes I Have Made, and I am so excited to be back sharing another organizing project with you all! Contributing here is such a huge honor for me, so I’ve been working hard on this latest project. I think you all will love it!
When we moved this past summer, our big, heavy office desk was damaged so I jumped at the opportunity to replace it with a more sleek and simple style. While I love the aesthetic of the new Parsons-style design, it doesn’t have any drawers or built-in options, leaving us without a place to neatly store all of our office supplies. To mitigate the situation, I went off in search of the perfect run-down piece to upcylce and turn into an office supply storage station.
While I didn’t find a battered old piece in need of new life, I did find the perfect dresser, already updated and painted for a ridiculously good price. While I love a good furniture-refinishing project any day, with this one already repaired and painted, I could quickly turn my attention to the inside!
To some, this Provincial highboy dresser might be perfect for socks and underwear; to me, the wide and shallow drawers were ideal for office supplies! There was sufficient drawer space to hold everything we needed to store (and more!), and I knew I could transform this empty vessel into the perfect office supply headquarters. Little did I know how easy, cheap, and fun it would be to do so!
Before I give you the full tour, I want to share a little bit about my thought process behind organizing this dresser and my DIY method for making the most of every single square inch! Like Jen, I’m a true sucker for acrylic organizers and pretty paper liners; and admittedly, that was my plan for these drawers at the beginning. But as I began to play around with various organizers I had on-hand, I became frustrated by how much wasted space I was left with (even in the best configurations) and how awkwardly a lot of my supplies fit within the trays themselves.
Sure, I could have splurged on expandable organizers or hunted around for the perfect-sized trays, but with just some pretty papers from my stash, scissors, and tape, I was able to make fully-custom and tailor-sized organizers that use every single bit of space within each drawer!
Not only do I love that I was able to truly maximize the amount I can store in each drawer, but each little tray/cubby was intentionally sized to hold specific supplies. No more cramming supplies into too-small slots… each and every item was given a perfectly-sized and dedicated home!
Because they are measured to fit snug within the drawer, these organizers are fairly sturdy. However, since they are made from cardstock, they aren’t the most durable things ever. This project is ideal for office supplies, craft notions and the like, but probably not the greatest for clothes, kid items, or toys. Still, if you can measure and cut, you can do this project. I’m still in awe at how great it worked!
SUPPLIES:
- Drawers (shallow desk, kitchen or dresser drawers are best)
- Heavy cardstock (patterned or colored, silver foil paper shown is from Joanns)
- Drawer liner, wallpaper, wrapping paper (optional, wallpaper shown from Walls Republic)
- Scissors, rotary cutter/mat, ruler, and/or paper trimmer
- Scoring tool
- Strong adhesive or double-stick tape
- Scotch tape
- Tape measure
Tip: Before making and adding the paper organizers, paper the insides of the drawers.
The organizers will fully cover the bottom, so no need to waste paper there; but adding a pattern to the sides of shallow drawers is a fun way to add more color and pattern to this project!
I recently wallpapered my office (in a completely renter-friendly way!) using non-pasted wallpaper and liquid starch. It worked so well that it has become my favorite, totally temporary way to add wallpaper to anything! I simply cut down some wallpaper samples I had on hand to fit the sides of the drawers and attached them all with liquid starch. When I change my mind or this dresser needs to function in a different way in our next home, I can simply peel it off and start fresh!
With the insides of the drawers papered, I suggest doing a little planning before cutting and making your organizers. Sure, you can make one box at a time and build the organizer as you go, but since I wanted my organizers to fit specific items and still fill out the drawer perfectly, I saved myself some major headaches by planning out all the drawer layouts on paper first. Using digital graph paper and constantly checking the sizes of whatever I needed to store, I came up with the ideal layouts for each drawer, as well as the measurements for each and every box I needed to make!
Tip: Pre-planning also helps you figure out what size and how much paper you need, as well as what colors you want to use and where!
Here’s the best thing about this project: you can literally make an organizer any size and depth you wish. Your only restriction is paper size… so the bigger the paper you have, the bigger the organizers you can make. I chose to make all of my organizers 2” tall. I found that depth was deep enough to hold things well, but shallow enough to easily get small things out. As such, I added 4” (2” for each side) to every dimension I cut.
EXAMPLES:
- If you want your final box to measure 5" x 5", cut a 9" x 9" square
- If you want your final box to measure 4" x 8", cut an 8" x 12" rectangle
Tip: To keep me from going batty as I made almost 40 of these in various sizes, I made and referenced a “Cut List” with the “Finished” measurement sizes and the “Cut” measurement sizes. Total lifesaver!
Once I had a plan, the boxes come together quickly and easily! Start by cutting your cardstock down to the right dimensions (with the added inches for the height). I found a rotary cutter works great for papers that don’t fit into a standard paper trimmer. Then using a scoring tool, score a fold line for each side of the box.
(1) Again, my boxes measure 2” tall, so I scored a line in 2” from each side.
(2) Next, trim along the score line at each corner, and make it into a slit by cutting again on diagonal.
(3) Fold each side up on the scored line. If you only have a pattern on one side of the paper, fold toward the pattern.
(4) Flip the paper over and add strong tape along the straight edge of each slit.
(5) Create a box by folding the corner flaps onto the adhesive tape. Before securing, ensure the edges of the paper are flush along the top of the box.
(6) You can secure the flaps to either the inside or outside of the box, depending on what you’re using them for. Since each box would butt up against another, I chose to put the flaps toward the outside, keeping a clean inside. To keep everything smooth, secure the flaps with extra scotch tape (7).
Now that you’ve figured out the process, turn on a Netflix series or great Pandora station and continue to cut, score, fold and tape to make boxes to match your planned design!
As you make them, add the boxes to your drawer and adjust sizing as necessary. If you cut pretty accurately, everything should slide into place just right!
Okay! Now that I’ve shown you just how I made my drawer dividers, let me show you how the whole dresser came together!
The top drawer was designed to hold all of our itty bitty and most-used office supplies. From various tacks, pens, cords, and paper clips, everything has a proper home!
The second drawer holds our extra filing folders, notebooks, page protectors and other full-page-sized items. Since the bottom surface of this drawer could be seen, I papered it all.
The bottom drawer has more organizers to hold envelopes in every size, various tapes, camera parts and more!
The two little drawers are perfect for holding our printable papers. Plain printer paper and photo paper on the right, specialty papers on the left.
One of the things I was most excited about this dresser was the size of the bottom drawer. I (finally!) have a concealed yet totally accessible place for my laptop, our scanner and laminator!
While I would prefer to have our printer concealed, having it up top is really the most convenient and practical solution for our household.
All in all, I could not be more thrilled with this unique storage solution for our office supplies! Not only do I love that the dresser has many functions (so it can be repurposed in our next house), but the size and amount of the drawers lend themselves just so perfectly to our office supplies. While I may have splurged a bit on an already-painted dresser, I was able to fully outfit the inside using only supplies I already had on hand. I guess this really is a great example of a high/low project!
Thanks so much to Jen for having me here today! I do hope you guys will pop over and say hi to me at The Homes I Have Made. In the coming days/weeks, I’ll be sharing more projects from this office space, as well as more renter-friendly and movable décor projects in our current home (that we’re only living in for a year)! See you next time!
__________________
Hello! I am Megan, an exercise and nutrition professional turned stay-at-home mom and DIY blogger. I am married to a U.S. Marine and currently reside in Eastern North Carolina, my 5th home in 9 years! My focus is renter-friendly, movable décor and organizational projects that are high on style and function yet low on complexity and budget. Armed with creativity, ingenuity, a can-do attitude, and a strong Type A personality, I have become a pro at making each and every temporary living space an organized, functional, and well-styled home for my family! You can get all of my DIY, organizational and crafting ideas on my blog The Homes I Have Made.
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