Vanity Organizing Pinterest Style

A while back I did a post on organizing my linen closet and it's gotten a number of repins on Pinterest so I decided to do a second post on the topic organizing since it seems popular!  Here goes...I don't have a master bathroom so my space to get ready each day is limited.  I bought this small vanity that I keep in my office so I can get ready without someone climbing over me to get in the bathroom!  The problem is it is always messy so I decided to organize it a bit.  Here's what I started with:

Here's my inspiration for cleaning up this mess!

Originally found at Liz Marie Blog

I know it doesn't seem like a lot but I took a few of the things I did in previous organizing posts and used them here as well.  First, I bought a craft organizing box from the Dollar Tree to clean up my bobbie pins, q-tips, etc.  Like in previous posts, I used bins to organize stuff in my drawers, then used this smaller storage for further organize the bins themselves.   

Then I added a Command hook to the side of my vanity to hang my blow dryer up.  It was annoying being on the floor all the time.  You see Command hooks used a lot in various ways on Pinterest.  

Last, I got a glass jar from the Dollar Tree and filled it with flat decorative marbles I had laying around my house.  I didn't quite as fancy as the original poster did with decorating her jar.  I just didn't have the time and needed it function rather than look fancy!  Maybe I'll spruce it up one day.

Here's my end result...a cleaned up, organized vanity!

Overall I spent $2 on this project!!! Which is totally great, so this gets a PIN.  I hope you enjoyed my ideas for vanity organization and it gave you some ideas to get your own vanity or makeup area in order!  

Links to previous organizing posts in case you missed them!

Home Organization Part 1 of 2

Home Organization Part 2 of 2

Solving All Life's Problems One Pin at a Time

I've found some really great household solutions on Pinterest.  This week's post is dedicated to a few small pins I've tried that are worth sharing but don't need full posts to themselves...first up, cleaning those laminate floors!

Homemade Floor Cleaner

I have wood laminate floors throughout a good portion of my first floor.  Yes, they are easy to clean but depending on what cleaner you use, it can be tough to restore their original shine.  I've found that a lot of cleaners leave streaks and/or water marks even when using a microfiber damp mop.  With that said, this pin was a must try!

Originally found on Nature's Nuture, I followed the instructions that came with the original pin.  Here is her recipe and instructions:

Homemade Cleaners

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup alcohol
• 2-3 drops dish soap (Castile, Dawn, etc.)
• 5 drops lavender essential oil
• 5 drops orange essential oil
• 3 drops peppermint essential oil
• Fine-mist spray bottle – 24oz

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to spray bottle and shake to combine.
2. Sweep/vacuum the floor.
3. Spray cleaner on the floor.
4. Wipe up with a microfiber cloth.
5. As with all cleaners, please do a spot test to make sure this will work on your floors!

The only modification I made was cutting the first three ingredients down to a 1/4 cup of each and that was enough to do my kitchen, dinning room, half bath and hall.  I make a new batch each cleaning because I like to use hot water.  Instead of using a spray bottle, I bought a Colorox mop that had a microfiber washable pad and a bottle that you could fill with your own cleaner.

I went to Walmart and bought two oils, a vanilla scented and an orange scented. I use these very sparingly maybe two or three drops of each at the most.  I mainly use it to mask the smell of the vinegar.  I bought vinegar and alcohol from the dollar store.

I didn't post my photos because my camera didn't capture the results the way hers did, I had a lot of sunlight in the room when I took them but I will tell you that her before and after is dead on the same results I got!  Awesome right?

I spent about $30 total when I first did this because I purchased the mop that was over $20 and the oils which where a few dollars each, but now that I have all the stuff, it's pennies to clean the floor each time.  This gets a PIN!

Battery Organization

Anyone with kids knows that it requires a million batteries to power all of their toys.  I was sick of batteries floating all over my "junk drawer", so I tried this pin.  Originally found on Better Homes and Gardens, this is a great way to organize your batteries.

I bought a container like this from JoAnn Fabrics and with my coupon is was about $5.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I typically "go big or go home" and so unfortunately I bought a container that is a little too big. Once I find another use for it I will buy a smaller one, but otherwise, this is a great idea and worked well for me.  PIN!

Other Problem Solving Pins for the Home

I've done several other posts about pins that solve problems in the home.  In case you missed them, here are links to the others I have tried.

How to Clean a Microfiber Couch

Using Shower Curtain Hooks to Organize Scarves

How to Keep Throw Rugs in Place

Also, feel free to visit my board "Pins I've Tried."  I have done everything on there and would be happy to tell you more if there is something on there you are interested in but I haven't posted about yet.

Up next...another summary post like this one but about few kid pins I've tried.

Home Organization - Part 2

Every body has that place in their kitchen that becomes the dumping ground for paperwork "stuff."  You know what I am talking about...invitations to upcoming events, book club order forms, paperwork for school, etc.  Ours was typically attached to the side of our fridge with magnets.  It always looked messy and it would end up so overloaded that the magnets wouldn't be able to hold them up.  My solution...our central communication center as I like to call it!

The Pins that Provided Inspiration
Inspired by several pins, including these two from A Diamond In the Stuff and Whipperberry (pictured from left to right respectively), I wanted a place to hang random pictures, documents that needed attention and a place to put our weekly menu and grocery list. I also liked this idea from Crate Paper, using cookie sheets to hang things with magnets but I wasn't quite sure how to incorporate it in my plan at first.

My Final Product
Here's what I came up with:

I bought a white board that also had a cork border around it.  I bought two cork tiles to go on each side and a cookie tray from the dollar store to use for pictures.  I used letters from the scrapbook section at the craft store to spelling out "shopping list" and "menu."

PIN or PASS?
If I had to do over again, I probably wouldn't use the cookie sheet or cork tiles. The cookie sheet can't fit much so it's kind of useless.  I've basically just used it for random pictures and for that it's fine.  The cork tiles are nice but they aren't very thick so the thumb tacks go through the tile and hit the wall.  If I ever take them down, I'll have tiny holes all over the wall.  So using these items in this capacity gets a PASS.

Over all I spent about $20 on this project and I gotta tell you, it's been working out great!  We have a place for all that "stuff" now that used to junk of up the fridge and it's semi organized.  The idea of a central communication place is a PIN.

Home Organization - Pinterest Style - Part 1

I love bins, totes and baskets. When I see them in a store, I just can't help myself.  Some (my husband), may say I am "bin crazy" but I don't care, they provide great home organization.  Pinterest always has some great home organization ideas but I really focused on closets and cupboards with this project.  So with the beautiful weather we have today, Spring cleaning may be on your mind so I thought I'd share how my home organization project turned out!

My inspiration came from many different places, so I'll just give you my top few.  First of all, I came across several different blogs where the authors used dollar store items to do home organization.  While I love the look of baskets, like in this picture from Everything Etsy, they can get expensive.  Since no one really sees the areas I am organizing, I didn't want to spend a ton on nice baskets so I knew doing something like this, which I found on the crazycraftlady.com, with plastic baskets and bins from Dollar Tree would be more in line with my budget.  I also went to Ikea and got some inexpensive bins for my linen closet which needed storage for larger items.

tThere were two areas that needed attention ASAP...my upstairs linen closet and one of my kitchen cabinets.  The kitchen cabinet was by far the worst.  I used it to hold all my spices, some baking stuff, seasonings, etc.  Everytime you'd open the cabinet something would fall out on you. And forget about finding anything.  If it wasn't right in front, I'd have to get my stool and pull everything out just to find the one thing I needed.  It made me INSANE!

So I went to work and here's my end result:

Linen Closet  - Home Organization Using Ikea Bins

Kitchen Cabinet - Home Organization Using Dollar Tree Bins

I know mine don't look as "pretty" as the ones in the original pins but they function the way I need them to and that's what was important to me.  Overall these two projects get a PIN, they were relatively inexpensive, easy to do and functioned the way I needed them to by providing some nice home organization.

Up next...part 2 of home organization, our communication center!