Top 10 Ways To Store Your Shoes!

Shoes are one of those items that tend to defy organization. They are oddly shaped, come in pairs, and can be dirty. Each of those elements complicates matters, resulting in plenty of shoes dumped in the bottom of closets or kicked willy-nilly under the bed. Keeping shoes straight is made even more difficult by the fact that types vary so much in shape and size—a sandal is about as different from a hiking boot as a baseball cap is from a cowboy hat. Here are ten ideas for storing your shoes, from the usual to the exotic. Under-the-bed shoe storage is tried and true, but it’s … [More]

How To Choose a Self-storage Facility

You’re ready to store your stuff but don’t know which facility to store it in. There seem to be so many; how is one to choose? Of course you can always just head to the one closest to your house, but not all storage places are created equal. So before you shove those boxes in the car, you first might want to consider the following questions. Is location important to you? If you’re going to be storing things you’ll need frequently, you’ll want to prioritize the facility’s location. That one closest to home might well be the best. But if you’re planning to stick your stuff in the … [More]

Tips for Working Out in a Small Space

If you only have a small space for your home workouts, be sensible about what sort of equipment you buy and how you use it. You aren’t running a fitness club in your home, so you don’t need a full range of gear. Instead, select a fitness regimen that meets your needs and only buy equipment as you need it, selling or giving away items that are no longer a part of your routine. Avoid Uni-Purpose Equipment Just because something is “seen on TV” doesn’t mean that you ought to buy it. A lot of gimmicky exercise equipment is uni-purpose: It only works out one area of … [More]

Store or Toss: Knowing When to Let Go of Your Belongings

One of the first steps of Spring cleaning is de-cluttering. This is the time to survey your belongings and classifying which items should remain in your household, which should go into storage and which you should sell, donate to charity, recycle, or throw in the trash. While it’s easy enough to make decisions about belongings that you use on a regular basis, making the decision between putting an item into storage or getting rid of it can be a hard one. These items are typically things that you don’t use often, but do have some value. To help you with this conundrum, here are some questions to ask … [More]

5 Storage Containers You Can Make Yourself

Storage can be a dreary business, centered on boring cardboard boxes and garish plastic tubs. Of course you can find more stylish bins and boxes but the prettier they are, they more expensive they get. Luckily, with only a little effort and hardly any cost, you can make your own storage items in exactly the color, pattern, and style that suits your needs best. Here are five projects to brighten up your shelves. Fabric storage bin: Use your sewing skills to put together this cardboard-and-fabric container for all your odds and ends. Cereal box storage bins: Repurpose your old breakfast cereal boxes and add some colorful fabric … [More]

5 Hidden Storage Ideas

With extra stuff comes extra clutter. Overstuffed bookshelves. Bureau drawers bursting with clothes. Cupboards chaotic with spice jars. It’s no wonder that some of the best storage is the kind you don’t see. There are all sorts of inventive ways to declutter using hidden compartments and drawers. Here are a few ideas for making storage a little easier on the eyes. Storage under stairs: Use the space under the stairs to store everything from books to bicycles. Under-bed drawers: Under your bed is prime hidden-storage territory, whether for extra sweaters or your collection of old magazines. Concealed changing table: Designing a changing table that folds away can … [More]

Clever Food Storage Tips

Food storage is the most common and relentless storage task most of us do. It’s more work than it seems at first, since it takes a bit more than just cramming everything in the fridge to make your groceries last as long as they should. If you know how to properly—or in some cases ingeniously—store your food, you’ll be glad you made the extra effort. There are myriad tips to collect regarding wrapping, freezing, and bagging. Here are just a few of the most effective. Keep your salad fresh using a paper towel or bath towels. Use tin foil to keep celery crisp. Freeze wine in … [More]

Organizing Your Storage Unit

People use self-storage units for all manner of reasons, these can range from being between houses to not having time to sort through and weed out the stuff they don’t have room for. Are you storing for the right reasons? Is your storage well organized? To take control of your storage life, follow these guidelines. Decide carefully The first way to get organized in your storage life is to decide what you really, honestly need and want to store. Store pieces that you do use periodically (like your Christmas ornaments and your skis) and sensitive things like art and wine (a climate controlled environment helps keep them … [More]

Repurposed DIY Storage Ideas

I didn’t know what to do with my old books. I rarely read them, they were too tattered for used bookstores, and I couldn’t find anywhere to donate them. What to do? It felt wrong to throw them in the trash. A little online search gave me a stroke of genius: I could build a table out of them. In a happy coincidence, I was in need of a side table to go next to my sofa. With a small amount of effort, I had a new table and a new purpose for those books. There are many more creative ideas where that came from. It turns … [More]

Staying Organized During And After The Holidays

The holidays come with a lot of accoutrements—ornaments, wrapping paper, cards, baking gear. Honestly, it seems like my Christmas lights alone could fill a steamer trunk. And don’t even get me started on the cookie cutters. Here are some organizational tips to keep all your holiday paraphernalia in line so you can spend your mental energy elsewhere—like on wrapping all those presents and preparing the best egg nog you can muster. What to do with all those ornaments Ornaments are challenging to store because they’re so fragile and oddly shaped. Of course you can always stuff them in a box with a bunch of newspaper or buy expensive … [More]

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