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Getting Organized

Let's look at some organizing space organizing ideas um for spaces okay, so organization what kind of organizing challenges are you dealing with right now? Many eyes your laundry list my laundry list so the piles and piles of toys and legos so like many other parents with small kids um my kids have all these toys and all these little pieces and I have a pretty nice way of handling of storing them right now where they're in kind of a a basket system but they get dumped out played with all day and the end of the day I have to dump them all back in so that yes, you know, because I can't go to sleep if it doesn't feel like the room is back to a peaceful summer in the same way. So we have a lot of toy organization issues and um we have a lot of issues around just kind of pantry type things. And so as a family I buy things in bulk or I buy, you know, four things of laundry detergent when they're on sale and it's like, well, where do I keep all this stuff? And I have, um in our lower level I ...

have a closet that was built in under the stairs but it's not really functional because it's just one big space that it's hard to get in stuff in and out um so I can't really use that for things that I'm going to need, you know, otherwise, it's, just a big mess and you can't you have to pull out ten things to get the one thing you need, so just toys and in a lot of household goods, pantry type stuff. Um, anything else that lisa are aaron, that you're dealing with from the organization or storage standpoint? Um, without, uh, work, work, desk types, enough home office, paper filing systems and that kind of thing? Yep. Okay, how about you? Me? I have a lot of painted I'm I'm an artist, so I I've taken over pretty much all of my storage space, storing paintings and drawings about work and yeah, way have I think even maybe a little bit here, but also tomorrow we talk about some specific types of space is like that, um, and how you can use spaces, but let's, look at a few of these things and think about some ways that we could make things more functional. So the key to getting the most out of your space, of course, is allowing it to function correctly like you're saying it just because you have a closet doesn't mean it's a good closet, that it works for you. In fact, when you're thinking of closets, I've even found a lot of times that the kind we were looking at a moment ago with the deaths that are more shallow and wider and you can open and get access to the front full frontage of that closet sometimes are more functional than a walk in closet depends on the scenario, but really making sure that they work for you and your needs because we all have different sense of needs as we've learned yesterday, what our activities are in their lifestyle and all of those things, of course, keeping clutter to a minimum as we've talked about, some people aren't as bothered by this, but I'm like you, leslie, that I have to I was saying yesterday I drive my mud daughter and my husband crazy cause I have to come and clean everything off before I can relax that night, the counters have to be cleaned off, things have to be tucked away. Visual clutter is not okay with me. I can't relax, so keeping it to a minimum and giving yourself that ability to find things, too, because nothing is more stressful to me than when you're in a hurry and you can't find what you're looking for, whether it's the car key, your other shoe. Um you know, whatever it is and when you're lived in homes that have been very organized that I've designed and really made them work for our family right now I'm living in one that we haven't started on you because we just moved in and all kinds of works on back to I went from disorganized too so super organized and now I've taken a few steps back, which is really frustrating but it's really good for me to realize how great the last place wasn't what we really need in this space but you need to be able to find things at a moment's notice and we're always all in a hurry and what I find that I do and I'm sure a lot of you do if you don't have a specific place for things in your home and you've just mindless action, you come home and you just do something with with whatever's in your hand and you don't know where you put it. So having a certain place that you're in the habit of putting your car keys is so helpful if you just dropped it in your bag it's the bottom of it or you left it in the car you can't remember if you put it on a different counter, those are the kinds of things that really add a lot of stress to our lives, so how can we get organized in that way organization creates good flow and energy so that good ci that we want in the space because all that visual clutter really interrupts that not only the physical flow of traffic in the space, but the energy flow in the space, it can be really stressful. So what are some of the things that we can do in a multipurpose way that adds function to our spaces? So I love the idea of this ottoman that has shoe storage in it. Um, someone yesterday was asking me about how I had a short store shoes, and I said that in one of the segments there's, this great ottoman that actually has pockets for shoes to fit into it. So if you don't have a great way to store shoes, I actually have a lot of luck with shelving adjustable shelving for shoes because I like to see all of my shoes and adjustable shelving allows youto have boots, ah, and some shelves, and if you have flats, you can have the shelves really close together and really maximize the space, but I think if you don't have the option of something like that, maybe thinking about a piece like this that khun store things for you it's a great place also, you can get ottomans like this that have cedar storage inside the store sweaters. So that in the off season, they're not getting damaged or having maw fels, and I'm like a lot of a steel with and all sorts of things, at least in the area I'm living in that something that you deal with so lots of ways you can use pieces like this for clothing storage, we really relevant multipurpose spice, that sort of depressive mai and a bit because I have feel like a byron e j toby, have you any recommendations for multipurpose living area to include a gaming station? The sisters right in my teens own right, right? My son doesn't like regular sofas to sit on, I think he's replacing the seating because I've got a three cedar and a two seater sofa. One floats, one on the wall, but she's worried a game chair will ruin the area. Their stations there are, um, really okay, there are some really, really, really cute chairs that I love from lee industries that we were talking about earlier that has the sustainable cushions, they make some really fun swivel chairs that are perfect for gaming. They're kind of like a little sloped chair and they swivel around, but if they were sitting so I in front of a fireplace or near the television. They could just look like two cool modern chairs, and then they would swivel around perfect. I've thought many, many times when I've seen them that they would make the perfect gaming chair. So lee industries dot com cool chairs, there's also some great ones from cr lane, our sponsor who made this there's some really neat little tub chairs that they make that have low back so your arms could sit on them like they're the same height all the way around, and they're also little swivel chairs, and I left that they're not very, very big. So as theresa was saying yesterday, some of us don't like these this huge furniture, and she said she actually loves them more firm, small seat that fits her body better, and so they're really and leslie, you would like this to you were saying, you know, the idea of your your smart, much smaller so liking furniture not being so big, so they're not small, like a child's chair, but they're just lower profile and their little tub chairs and also could swivel all the way around and be perfect for gamey and then turning back into the um to the living area so it's not as horrific as your eyes, you're afraid it might be. Um and these air also pieces of furniture like we were talking about not buying things for kids, rooms that air childlike, they're not hokey and the fact that they're just for kids or that it's not just pottery barn furniture, although that they have some things that are great for teen spaces. If it's in your living room, you want riel furniture, so both of those companies make a really cool options for swivel chairs that worked great for gaming stations. Now we have some people that I've worked with it just want to kill me for putting swivel chairs in their house because the kids are constantly swiveling and it just drives them mad, but it does work great for multi purpose space like that. That is a relief. Yeah, I mean, this goes back to my family, my father always wanted when you'd call it a pool table, but in britain was a snooker table, which is actually bigger on dh he desperately wanted once, eventually, when we all moved out, he bought one and put it in the back bedroom. It was the spare bedroom it drove my mother nuts, but I kept saying, why don't you buy one that converts into it, has a beautiful chop and can be a dining table, but she wouldn't get rid of the dining table so you couldn't win well and there are no that wouldn't be right that would be a good girl and I don't know that I haven't been here we'll see in a minute I can't remember but I just that just reminded me of their arses several tables one isn't actually an outdoor table that I saw recently in the last year or so at the highpoint furniture market in north carolina that was a very sleek stainless still outdoor table that literally the top opens up and it had pool or different kinds of games in the center so clever and then another friend of mine amanda nous but he's a wonderful designer in new york city did a project one time where she made the dining table at a medal a medal based with a plexiglass top that was about this thick and then when it wasn't used for dining it had a little, um table tennis knit that attached over the top of it and the kids used it for gaming and playing table tennis and it was the and then they took it off and it was the dining table so really, really clever um creative ideas to make small spaces workers she again like you she was in new york city a little bit more limited in the space and there's lofty kind of room so oh, but there is hope for um for both gaming and video gaming did questions that s so even when it comes to your decor in your decoration in your house, if you're in a small space or you need organization, think about using decorative items if you do have to go to that idea filler or maybe it's not filler, maybe there's something that actually had a meaningful to you or you collect when you travel these could actually be knock off so they could be something that you found on your travel in your travels, like from morocco or somewhere that you travel to exotic but think about purchasing things that have a function to them so things like boxes like this can hold hold or start to things from jewelry teo photographs tio small little pieces of like my daughters like yours, she has all kinds of little tiny toys and that allows youto have a function and a decorative element all built into one, and I've mentioned this idea several times, but the same thing with what you used to catch your mail or your keys or whatever it is that's constantly coming into the house think of creating spaces, spots containers that all of that goes into it does get messy in the bowls sometimes, but it's really easy to pull it over, sit down with it at the table, sorted out and start over again and I do this in my kitchen we have a large green bowl and sometimes it's carries fruit but for the moment has fruit in it but for the most part it isn't having everything that possibly could come into the kitchen like spare change and receipts and fortune cookies and small toys from the local fast food restaurant and the dogs medicine and anything that goes on the kitchen counter goes into the green bowl and then periodic the male goes in there sometimes um and you know once a week or so I just clean it all out organize it put things where they go but it keeps things tidy in the main time and it just really at least controls that visual clutter and I can deal with the fact that there's one bowl with cem stuff in it on the counter with that but not necessarily having it all spread out around the room it could be something like this is his night burkas for target our could be really something that you actually have collected could be an heirloom it could be something from your travels s o depends on what you like to purchase it doesn't have to be exotic but it certainly can be so thinking about using the open space underneath things that's really important for a lot of you so you can't it's not okay just to use a table and waste the space underneath so think about ways to add other container stackable things that allow you to store in an under every piece of furniture in your house, I love this piece it's actually a pottery barn piece there's all different levels and layers of of things happening there. It allows you to display artwork in the middle, um, there's shelves for books. And then all of these other found objects and interesting containers happening underneath the store. Other items, this is great also a great area and height accessibility for kids. So if there were boxes or bins that they knew right where they were and they can go over and get their hands on them themselves, and then even learned but their toys back away in them. It's nice because it's kind of their zone and down on their level. For sure, I notice places that this was something about this was exciting another way tio, make use of space that would otherwise be dead space, right? Yes. So you just forget sometimes that really you can squeeze the function and storage out of every little space underneath other pieces of furniture. And I think if if those items that are on the ground were just on, say, the stack the same as they are, but the table wasn't there, they would look like someone just dropped him there, but because they're contained right angry with you it doesn't look messy yes so that's that idea that I was talking about even the way we relate the furniture to the lower plane are the situate this sofa in front of the drapes anytime you give something a boundary or a sense of place it suddenly goes with off the table all of a sudden it's a kind of a vignette together it's not just these random things sitting on the floor so I agree with you like making them have a sense of place there and also it helps you remember that things go back there because if it's randomly around the room all of a sudden you go sit something next to that and next to that and you're and like a lot of your spaces that you were showing you're like ok, I didn't pick this up before I took the picture we're all living like that there's stuff lined around the walls and sitting on the floor so this gives us that parameter or a boundary to keep things inside I agree so we looked at a storage ottoman for she's but they're great for other things they're great for extra bedding a lot of us have extra decorative pillows and things on the bed and when we take those off they just pile in the corner on the floor they looked really messy so even thinking about storing them in an ottoman at the foot of the bed or as we said before, its additional storage for wardrobes and all other things, but I like this idea because I'm the one who wants everything to look tidy, and I'm not one to put tons of pillows on the bed that just go off onto the floor, but some decorative pieces and I liken idea of having a place for them to go when they're not on the bid, and we usually make our bed every day because I'm one of those people that even if we did not have to make the bed before I can get in the bed so it looks tidy, but there are some days and times when we were super busy and maybe the decorative pillows don't get back on the bed for a day or two, and it would be nice for them to not just be piled in the corner for me. So I think this is a great um why to have a place for them to go. So yesterday we were talking about this site so that this slide is actually intended to say, keep your accessories on the table really minimum for lack of clutter for that tow, eliminate some of the visual noise, but the other thing that I love to point out about this is yesterday I mentioned creating a skirted table we were talking about if it was a rectangle or square, it could be a place to put like a pet carrier a little dog bits, but in general, if you're creating spaces like this and you're making a table at a fabric, all of the space underneath this is open for storage in this particular room, which was a show house space. So again, that's the reason for the crazy colors and all of that it was one of those regnery run way kind of rooms for me, but there's some great elements in this space that air really functional, and I happen to know a ton of stuff can be stored under that table because it was our hiding place during the whole run of the show house for anything we needed in the space we had, like cleaning products under there and like our hammer and nails and all the little tools and things we used to install the space that we were going to take down from the space, and we had him in plastic totes and ben's like the kind of rubbermaid or tupperware type of bins, and a lot of them would fit underneath this, so if you're needing to hide some things that air you're storing kind of the same idea that we were just talking about, but if they're not pretty enough to really be visible think about using a skirted table to create either an in table or a sofa table like this one, and you can add additional storage underneath. Okay, so let's think about ten things to organize right now that would really add a lot of function to our lives, so thinking about really using all the space, which is kind of what we were just talking about, think about your house and how many places you could do something like the shelving that was around the bed that we love, how many places in your home are really not being used to its full potential, but you're constantly saying were disorganized, and we need more storage, so sometimes it's just a matter of us actually embracing the space we have and turning it into options for getting organized. So if you're feeling like there's, a lot of things to say to store that are that are a lot of clutter are their spaces that come to mind now in your house, that maybe you're not really using that you could add shelving to help with that or cabinets or even, um, vertical space. So, um, being california and always worried about earthquakes, that I'm a little bit hesitant, tio tio put too much into open shelving, but I think maybe even someone close cabinets, upper cabinet and who might work well as faras just using more of the available space, we have been thinking about where our washing machine and dryer are, we have stacked washing machine and dryer, but we have a little bit of wall space next to it where I could put, like more of the laundry detergent stuff, right? And that makes a lot of sense because from the standpoint of it being accessible to you when you need it, you're not walking all the way like the person who said they were storing their extra dishes and the guest dream, it makes so much more sense to create storage near the place you're going to actually use those items. So I think that's probably true for most of us that there's a lot of opportunity for adding clothes storage, whether it's, custom cabinetry or buying pieces of furniture that have doors and clothes storage, and I'd just like close storage a lot of times anyway, does it less busy, it's, much more clean and simple. So any other thoughts with either of you about maximizing that vertical space in your home that you're not using? Um, just on top of my closet, there's the top shelf and then there's a lot of the top shelves really tall and so either stacking tupperware type or robert bateman ends, but things I don't need or using the risers I have actually three tier shoe organizer on the top of my closet wow for shoes that I dont at a season or tear two shoes not your favorite shoes or things that you're gonna leave only wear periodically e I'm so really using every square inch of space so this is where when space isn't as premium as it is here I have clients that come to me and said we need to add on more square footage because that's most people's first initial thought of oh we don't have enough room in her house and again I'm often saying you know let's not go there yet let's take a look at the space you already have and really see if we're even using it to our you know best advantage and a lot of times when we go we have an entire room that's just has a large piano in it or we have lots of spaces that could be used for storage or cabinet tree or other things that can be beautiful so like the living room with the cool grilles on the fronts of those bookcases those could have just been playing walls where art was hanging or nothing was hanging but we took advantage of those spaces that were just, you know, really not functional otherwise because they were part of a traffic flow and let that become that extra storage space which was great, yes, aaron I also like the covers you do have a lot of times they can be really deep yes and you'd be storing spices that are like four inches tall so maybe putting teared like using your cupboards and organizing them better with shelves inside the cupboards to separate out I agree so yesterday I was saying in my last house by previous house I went and spent probably about a thousand dollars which is not a small amount of money but such return on the investment for me and bought all kinds of organizer's for my kitchen cabinetry just like you're saying so um things to hold the spices and risers toeholds other stacks of plates because you could only stack them so high and inserts in the drawers that had dividers and organizer's and it really changed everything for me and even to the point of closets those closet organization systems air actually phenomenal there's a reason that those were designed and when you have those walking closets that are not functioning for you, you should really take a look at some of those systems and the ones even that are for sale like it an kor the container store not as expensive as the ones that you sometimes see in a luxury closet store but have so much function pull out drawers hampers bins that can hold toys, drawers all kinds of things like in my husband's closet we have them and just all of his t shirts and things that are hard to put in a regular dresser drawers or in some of those wire pull out baskets makes such a difference. So think about in that. But by the time you would purchase other pieces of furniture that you might not really have room for in your house, you would probably spend as much money and energy finding those pieces as investing in the closet organization systems. They really do work. Um, okay, and we've talked about using the space underneath the bits of it doesn't mess with your ci and your function way thinking about either having bed that has storage built in or containers underneath so that's a space that sometimes you need to use. I'd like to add storage under my bed so that I can keep izzy my puppy from getting under their. She takes all her toys under there, and I can't reach that far back to get him out. It drives me crazy, so we need to block all the underneath of the bed from the disease in having charging stations in a certain place. To control all of your electronics. I don't know about you guys, but I'm constantly looking for the chargers and my daughter comes in my room and she gets my iphone charger to plug in her eye, her mini ipad, and then I don't know where mine is, and we're constantly buying those things, and it drives me nuts. So the idea of having a zone where you can even make drawers where you have the chargers in side of the drawers, I've also taken, um, little organizer. So I think the one I most recently bought was from pottery barn there's, another one from a company called global views that it's more like a male organizer, and I have my handyman drill holes in the back of it, and I put all of the chords into it for client. So whatever their gadgets are, and they just go run out of the back of this little it's like a little desk organizer that sits on their desk and it stays plugged in all the time. And then I have them buy additional cords for travel when they leave, but those air always right there, and then every time they come home, they can plug everything in, and it all stays in that one station, and they know exactly where it is. It's a little bit difficult to get the cords out and undo him so the kids aren't likely stealing them is a little bit tougher for them to come swipe your cords. Um, and then a lot of people ask about this. How did organize those cords for television's devi? Ours and all those things. Sometimes it's just about consolidating them and using things like colored ties, twist ties and other things just to make them look a little more tidy. So, it's, just not this crumble, you know, clumped up tangled mass of chords. Um, now we talked a little bit yesterday and then again today about having pieces of furniture where you adapted for the chords to run inside of them. That's a great solution. One time I designed in table for a client that specifically was made for sitting by his chair that he was used every single night and we put instead of drawers. It was a round table, and it looked like it had drawers all the way around it, but they were really fold down little drop down sections, you'd open it, and it had plugin outlets on the inside. And so we actually had an extension cord was built into the table and could run out the bottom of the table, and then we had it able to plug into the wall and ran under the rug, but we designed all of this, so it looked really tidy. The lamp sitting on top of the table ran down through the middle of it was a pedestal base, but he could sit there every night, and it was basically an electric table, and he could open the little panel plugging this ipad plug in his laptop and sit there and work on his computer and his wife was so happy because there weren't cords running all over the room and people tripping over them, and it was really, really convenient. So there are things that you can do to almost any piece of furniture to make it have additional options. Um, and then using little containers like we talked about either colored by color coding systems or whatever makes sense to you to help conquer and divide toy clutter, either by child or by type of toy. It just ends up going back to bins for me, and then you have to decide if you're gonna start them in the closet. We're going to store them under a piece of furniture under the skirted table, in the cabinets with the frosted glass or close shelving and whatever is going on. Most likely get you and the children to put them back where they go, so it was a lot of steps. A lot of people won't go through it. I love drawers that you could just pull out and dump things back into so it's really just more about creating that system. Sometimes again, we want the magic answer of some magic product that's going to organize all of that. But it's usually just the systems we create. So what kind of systems might come to mind? Maybe for you, that would help you eliminate or control that you're that you and your kids would actually use a little more. So I think, uh, we have a system right now with an a k, um, bookshelf like the one we saw in the key example, and then I have the pullout baskets that I put onto the shelves and we jumped the toys and there s so now, it's just a matter of that works really well in that zone and figuring out what what will work in other zones in that big space, because I don't want to have the exact same thing repeated everywhere, but I know that works, so so many baskets are over there and then maybe another space you have drawers or something built in another space maybe get the skirted table idea so you could just combine several of his ideas and then you add more texture and warmth and interest to your house but give them container storage and every one of those places yeah, ok, good. Um okay, so a few more ideas for organizing now we just said this used used roy door organizer's inside of every kind of draw or even dresser drawers there's just all of those organizational stores even just plexiglass dividers or plastic ones that air spring loaded that you can put in deep drawers too divided into sections so that's clothing all of those things help every single one of miss thumb are better quality to another. So sometimes we buy those things and they don't really work well and so we don't end up using him. But there are definitely options for organizing any piece in place that you have in your house. And I found that the key is just spending a little bit of extra money to go ahead and have those sections and dividers inside things because for me, even inside of a dresser the drawers were just crazy chaotic inside, you know, the socks all mixed together with the hose with all the other things in there and so having sections for even just your clothing t shirts versus, um you know, sleepwear and other things, it really, really helps to give things a place to be any of you using this within your containers. Yeah, I I use a lot of just little modules in drawers, shelf dividers just to keep sweaters piles on piled. They really do work on it and depends on how you live. But if you fold your jeans or whatever you do with all the different clothing it really does give them a place to be. Nbsp reodica lee, you have to take it all down and re folded and reorganize it. But it's, any kind of delineation you can have just makes it more likely that things were going to go back into the place that they were supposed to be. And when you introduce other people into your life or like me, I'm so busy. So I have helpers in my home. I have a teenage baby sitter in the afternoon. I have my aunt come in and help me sometimes buy groceries and do other things. Justcause I'm traveling and if there's a spot for things, everyone can follow the rules. If there's, not everybody, puts things in a different place and you constantly spend your life looking for them. You're like the ketchup goes in this cabinet and you find it in the refrigerator, but we don't like ours cold or vice that you know, we have all these things that are happening, and we're constantly finding surprises right now in our house now that we're not organized again ago. Well, I wonder where the tester is this week because a different person put it up than the last time since so important. Tohave organizer's and containers and things that you decide and let everybody know that's where they go, and usually when that's the case like in my last time, we could go right to anything I own and know right where it was at any time. Lips we've talked so much about this the clutter on the kitchen counters, but storing those small appliances in containers, in cabinets, even under the sink, possibly if you had to, but there's pull out drawers not just for trash cans under sinks, but other storage under there, and so not my favorite place to put things like appliances because it feels a little knot is clean, but other things like the additional products, I have pullouts underneath my sink, where all have several. Multiples of dish detergent and the dish washing tablets and all of those things on dh. It helps that to me under the kitchen sink is another one of those black holes that things just get cluttered under there and so having the pullout makes it so so much easier to manage and control um and then great containers, beautiful containers for things like magazines now here's the thing that I just get rid of now I'm not a saver, but a lot of people are, and they want to keep tons and tons of magazines and other things newspapers that they love so it's all about having that great container and everybody knowing where these go is well and there's a lot of empty space on the backs of doors. So we saw that office where people were maximizing the use of all those spaces but using it for different kinds of organizer's, using it for mirror, using it for tat lord, these court board anything that you need magnets chalkboard to remind yourself of ideas and notes thinking of every nook and cranny again that you can use, um for organization and then other little hidden space like yesterday we talked about the client. It was actually on my block yesterday in a video client that had so many toys, and so we saw the room that I redesigned for her with sectional and I had a custom made really long console table made behind it specifically to fit really big baskets. They were almost as tall as this desk, big baskets, and I had four of them underneath because she had toddlers and they had things like little ride on scooters and big stuffed animals and things that weren't small and I could they could put them all in those baskets, and the kids need a walk right behind the sofa and get them. But guess never saw there unless they knew it was back there and they were playing with the kids. So it's really out of sight, out of mind, but right there in their play zone. So something like that might also work for you, even for some bigger things, thinking about ways to get them out of sight visually. So let's, look at a few fun ideas on pinterest for some of the ways that people have been really creative with storage ideas. Okay, um, so here's one of those cord storage ideas, this is really great. So how many of us have gotten down under the desk and tried to figure out which thing? The unplug and we end plug something like the tv that's currently everybody's watching and everybody screams, mom, that was the tv, not the printer s oh, I love these little labels that go on each of the chords and they're kind of cute they look like little people hanging on there which is fun magazine but they use the little plastic ties you get on a bread on your breath there's little that you usually throw away and just use those and mark market we marked on it and and I love to use those twist ties like I was saying earlier just to bring several of the chords together. So at least instead of one hundred cords running off the desk, you kind of put him in tow one big section so I love those two um, but this is a really, really clever, good idea what I'm so lots of fun ideas on this board of doing things like this maximizing space is this is in a garage and just the idea that we've started to talk about of really using hooks and containers and systems having a place for everything. And I love this and I really lived like this for the most part of certainly did before I moved, um, where we had a very specific place for the broom. We had a very specific place for all of those things that were using, but this is more of, like a workstation, tools, all of those sorts of things in a garage I loved even the ladder hanging on the wall, because a step stool is also something that you often need in your house. And we never know where that is like, did we put that in? The attic is in the garage. Somebody get the step stool. So I love knowing right where that isthe a few more looks at some really savvy, um, open office spaces. And again, this is kind of like the craft space we were looking at yesterday. It almost becomes artistic in the display itself, the way that things are on the shelves, little containers of things that they're using a few decorative items mixed in a colorful containers. Eso an artistic way to display it makes me want to go work there when my station workstation looks like this it's inspiring to me. So bringing us a great way to bring in color as well. Here's. Another funds that's. Sort of like the one we saw yesterday, but another great little doggie zone for food and water. But I also love thes baskets in this. So this looks like it would just be in a cabinet that has lots of things happening. I have a space in my new home near the back door that I wantto only have about twelve inches. Of death to put a cabinet, but I want to do something like this, where certain things that we always need to store their have a place to go on, and then even I'm thinking that that's, the place where I will above it, put my chalkboard because we need to go backto having that message center in my own home because we're so used to using it. But final ideas for the dogs and other things, um, I would love it if my refrigerator always was this contained, and the refrigerator is a place that totally gets out of control. S oh, I love this idea of using containers within the refrigerator, not just the drawers that come with it. Any of you, if any of you this particular j k or you this particular about the refrigerator? Not really. I mean, I do like things to be in their places, but no, I'd never go that far. I love it was on display. Yes, it makes has to be like this. Just the thought of this makes me sick so happy like that stuff you manage to look like. I want that so bad, that's just the most inspiring thing in the world interest, because I have got friends who they're certainly not messy that's not what I mean, but when you open the covers every single thing is in exactly the right place and it's all color coordinated looks always say that but their spaces quite come well, you know it's not sort of all you've never there but they like everything out of sight to be completely ordered well, the project way I was showing you this morning we looked at all those beautiful rooms of the yellow brecht first room and the beautiful blue bedroom and someone said out on the chat room it's on the cover of traditional home right now that client lives exactly like this and oh, it is so inspiring the first time so my team went with me to her um space and we started measuring and and getting prepared to do the design work and they opened the kitchen pantry and it was so organized and beautiful clear containers with the cereal and the rice and the everything just perfectly organized it just completely inspired me like I want to grow up and be like her and she's younger than me so that's a joke but that's really what I aspire to uh in life isto have that kind of organization then I am a very organized person but I haven't quite made it to this level okay let's look at a few more so another great looking garage a actually do have bike racks mongo horizontal and not vertical but we are pretty tidy in our garage and love the things that normally just lean around the edge of the garage and but it comes cloak cluttered. A lot of people came and pull into their garages because they have so much stuff in there. So really, getting things off the floor and into containers are really great. I love those shelves for the big rubber made, um containers there in the middle, but again, this is a great use of vertical space, and a lot of times we're not using all that vertical space and some of our storage rooms or garages or extra spaces like this. So really, really helpful and tidy. I have used something similar to this in a client's home. This is a great image from house beautiful, but in a kitchen we have a client that we have pull out drawers with, that they were actually baskets, but made like drawers. But I love this idea, um, and a great way to just really use every inch of space it's also good for things for kids to access. So if you want certain kinds of snacks or other things that they're constantly getting into, it could also be used for things like vegetables or bread or depending on what you need to store, but I think this is a great idea. I like the labels to on the baskets and from an aesthetic standpoint, depending on what your style is it's a fun way to break up the cabinetry a little bit at a texture into the space. So really good use of that space here this is these are exactly like the baskets that I had in a client's home, so their baskets and drawers all made in tow one and they pull out and hold um, various kinds of things in the kitchen great for like vegetables and onions and potatoes and that sort of thing. But you can add these they just sit in tow little grooves like a drawer would in the kitchen. So many good organizing ideas. Now, this is the zone that tons and tons of people out on the chat room need and people in this space need I need this too. So how do you create that zone in the entry? Or is that the back door where it still looks beautiful, but it can contain lots of things? So this one looks like it's near a pool or a pool house? Because we've got towels in the bottom and little towels and things hats hanging on the hooks, but this would work for a lot of people are you could also in a lot of my clients we do this and we actually just put doors on them because they don't want to see the clutter so we would take his own like this, and we would make it lockers. And recently, most recent, when I did, we had lockers, and we made it a little bit deeper because we had the space. We actually put a cushion on the base locker's behind, and then the open shelving above baskets that they could pull down. So and within each locker, the front of it was chalkboard paint and magnet metin magnetic, so they could use that for all sorts of things. And then within each locker we had a charging station, so each kid had a plug in within their own locker and at the bottom cubbies for shoes. So we it's a family with four kids is a farmhouse style out on a lot of acreage, really quite and fun, and each child and the parents actually, too have zones for all of their belongings to go into, and you can sit down there and put your shoes on. Um, and if the kids just come in and drop all of their stuff and mom can pick up things and hang them in the lockers, convert the shoes in the cubbies, and then she feels really happy that things are very tidy, but we used these air really, really functional spaces, so any more comments or thoughts out on the web about these kind of zones or lockers? We've had several people asking about that, you know, it's really intriguing different people I mean well, she won't be watching but I'd love to my sister thing that boys are all there but she used to have this issue and in the hallway everything look shoes so she's so cd I hope she's not watching that everything had to be color code and label per child but of course they didn't follow those rules but that would have bean that would've really appealed to her I love this space is I mean, these kinds of ideas really helpful family we're gonna add anything oh no that we've got a lot of people in putting on on various things about multi pepper spices and I'm just looking to see you know they're saying, you know, just echoing they're saying I love this I guess it'd be interesting to hear from you on the other type of entrance so that's a madre I'm assuming that you have has two entries but you know a lot of us or if you're in a department whatever you have one entry so if you have one entry and it's still a dumping ground, what would you be doing? Tio? I mean, I know you've got the bowl, you have that gold ball that was the doctor probably still do something similar to this and just maybe adopted more casual style for my entire house if you only have one way in and one way out just naturally it's probably going to be more casual because that is the dumplings on it's not going to be all polished and just the pretty entry that you could do something still fun with law, paper, paint or color to make it have possessed. But I think at the end of the day you just have to put in the storage solutions whether it's cabinetry or some kind of a great piece of furniture that has lots of drawers or cubbies or cupboards because you know it needs to look pretty for guests. But every day it just needs to function for the family. So again I go function first and then add the decorative pretty element on top of that, maybe not what people wanted to hear so much. But again, if it's the workhorse kind of zone of the house that really needs to have those organizational features it's, whatever that's sort of a kind what people have been saying in the chat room, which is that you know, if you have a beautiful spice business functional, what work? I just have a ringing in my ear, that thing my mom used to say of would you just take three more steps and dump it in your room right here myself signed that to my kids and everybody else just three more steps why do you have to dump it but do not construct something it's serious I can like a conveyor basted and delivers it to their space that would be great, wouldn't it? But the reality is this is how you know it's kind of like that I think lisa was saying are actually melissa was saying maybe one of them about the aspirational you versus the real you and you're really house that you think in a perfect world I'll have you know I'm june cleaver and the kids come in and use their manners and take everything to their room but in reality everything comes off and lands right the minute they step into the door right? Ah and so how do you control that? Um here's another fun space from house beautiful. I love this. So this is a lot of things happening here. It's a two story space. It has a ladder up to a library loft area. So using every vertical square inch and down here um it's a dining space there's built in cat cupboard so cottage style but really another clever use of the vertical storage right and I love that they put this ladder library ladder in so lots of creative things happening that you can find out on pinterest and other beautiful resource is like design magazines and again, I love how they let the book's just be what they are. They're not trying tio sometimes I cover them, which we've talked about for a more serene look and not all the book jackets, but here they just embraced the idea that that's the library and it really makes you want to climb up there and get a book and read so producer lives with her, saying yesterday that she wanted to have a home that has a library and I must say, I do too, but I just think it's aesthetically so amazing I love the way that's above everything there as well. I love that as well, it's just it makes our intellectual, but I know a lot of people have issues with things like this on a swede thiss morning we're looking the valances people see things like this is dust traps and it's a big no no for them, you know, you have all the beautiful suede fabric in so many of your rooms, but, you know so many of our viewers think our dust trap so it's interesting, because that's again, where you have to mess your personality type with the solution that's best for you, so if you know that something like velvet is going first suede, or any of those kinds of materials, were just going to send you over the edge, worrying about them. Or, you know, carpeting that you have to keep all of the footprints from showing. You know, then those aren't the elements that you choose and that's. Ok. And so we try to give a variety of solutions. And then it's sort of like the match matching game, where you connect the list of needs with the personality type with the solution. And you make sure that they all align and sometimes is. Theresa was saying, when she was here yesterday, your personality type in your children's personality, type of your spouse's personality type for art necessarily the same thing. And so you may be imploring, employing some of these ideas in some areas of the house that you don't really go in all the time, because they worked for that person. And then you have different solutions in your spaces, so now I'll see that you know, we've seen quite a few times the beautiful room you did for your daughter for alison. But is she? Does she have a similar design star to you? I mean, did she have input into that? It was that something you has input and she's notices everything. If I change anything in the house, she instantly noticed this where my husband consider in a brand new chair that he'd never seen before and would think it was the same chair had been sitting in for two years coming in a cool new cheer, and he'd be like, oh, we got a new chair. So you know, it's, just not what we've trying tamil he's getting better, I will say, but that was kind of, you know, the norm he's, just not a detail person and she's definitely zones right into any kind of change, aesthetic change color. Um, so she definitely picked up that gift, which bebe passed down to me, and now we're passing it along the ellison, I'm passing it tow us exactly.