Thursday, February 27, 2014

Get organized: Simple, frugal home hacks

Two things aggravate me in my home — well, more than two, but these are the ones I plan to focus on today:

  • a messy kitchen silverware drawer
  • a messy pile of shoes and dog leashes
I finally got annoyed enough with these two mini-disaster zones and did something about them. Naturally, I forgot to take before pictures. These were both simple and (mostly) frugal.

For my kitchen drawer, I was not only tired of how messy the drawer was, but I was also annoyed with everything sliding towards the back of the drawer every time I closed it.  Instead of going out and buying all kinds of organizers and containers to hold all my doodads, I looked around my house for boxes or small containers. I found the solution in my recycling bin!

I find the sensation of the juice from apples on my fingers really disturbing (I have a few sensory issues), so I buy them pre-sliced from Costco. They come in a big plastic "clamshell" container. I happened to have one in our recycling bin, and it was quite clean so I pulled it out and cut it into two parts — the top and the bottom. I emptied out the drawer, and organized the stuff into groups. I did the same with a smaller container that formerly held cherry tomatoes. I then put the silverware organizer that I already had back in the drawer and fit the other containers around it. It took a few different configurations before I got them to fit nicely, and I had to trim the edges of the plastic containers a bit, but now I LOVE how my drawer is organized! I haven't had a single irritation with this drawer since I did this. YAY!

The organized drawer.

The large Costco container of apple slices.
My second mini-hack involves two baskets, shoes, and dog leashes. We used to just toss all of our shoes (except for nice work shoes) in a pile by the front door. I couldn't stand the pile! A few weeks ago, I bought a big basket that fit perfectly next to my front door and was deep enough to hold all of our shoes with room to spare. I tossed the shoes in, and tossed in the dog leashes. That solved part of the problem. Unfortunately, it still meant the dog leashes were all jumbled in with the shoes. 

Today, I picked up some tiny zip ties (maybe 4 or 5 inches long) at the local hardware store. I emptied a small basket from my bathroom, and attached it to the big basket. It's the perfect size for the leashes. Most of the stuff I emptied out of the little basket fit nicely inside another basket already in the bathroom. 

Basket in a basket.
These are super simple, but they will make a huge difference in my daily stress level when it comes to keeping an organized, clean home!

What are your simple, frugal home hacks?

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If you liked these simple, frugal organizing hacks, check out my other posts related to organizing:

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