It's January--officially that time of year when we all become obsessed with organizing and straightening our homes for these cozy winter months. During a recent shopping trip to IKEA, I told my friend Christy that I had seen enough to do an entire post dedicated to home organization. Today I'll break down the photos with Organizing Ideas by areas of the home, and later this week or next week I'll share some Decorating Inspiration photos. (Forgive the photos...taken with a point and shoot, not the best lighting)
I know I'm not the only one with fetishes for organizing and IKEA...photos like this with examples of a beautiful fresh white slipcover and a sofa table with nice clean lines and bins (bins, I say!!) make us all swoon:
I know, right? So without further ado...
Family and Living Rooms-
Maybe no room for a bookshelf, so they used a shelf mounted to the wall for extra display and/or storage. Check out the hooks for keys, hats, mittens, or small bags. Love that they used the small cabinet for an extra pillow, blanket, and a basket:
This imaginary family has a small art center in their living space for the kids. I love how realistic this is...young children rarely want to color or paint all alone in their rooms. They want to be included with the rest of the family. Check out the art display options with the magnets!
Matching boxes and magazine storage bins!
Mudrooms, Pantries, and Bathrooms-
More hooks in this narrow mudroom space--just like the sign says, "The simplest storage of all." Space them out more for backpacks or briefcases.
Not a fan of the hooks under the glass shelf here, but I do like that they took these bathroom shelves all the way up to the ceiling, providing extra space for toiletries, hand towels, etc:
How cute would this little cart be to store in a large pantry and pull out into the kitchen when you need it?
Kitchens-
Dividers for plates and pots, and lots of plastic food storage options!
The designers use every available space:
Bedrooms and Closets-
Love this unobtrusive rack for hanging quilts or blankets. They don't have to take up tons of extra space!
Love this use of an Expedit bookcase as a room divider, and this one even has drawers!
Clean white bins and drawers in a child's playroom or bedroom can easily be embellished and brightened with homemade labels:
Office or Craft Room-
Lots of nice little carts and drawer units to fit underneath your workspace.
Here, the designers really utilized the desktop space by placing the printer on a small shelf with room underneath for office supplies.
If looking at all the pictures overwhelms you rather than inspires you, I recommend taking a few notes from each room and writing down something that you like or can implement from each one. I've learned that it makes things look much more doable!
Can you see now why I have an entire Organizing Pinterest Board? I have a lot to work on this year, and this particular IKEA trip gave me lots of ideas. I can't wait to show you some more of the rooms Christy and I saw while our kids went wild in the kiddie area downstairs.
Which areas of your home are you looking to organize in 2012?
Linking to Positively Splendid
5 hours ago
I love Ikea. Ikea is great for organizational and storage items and ideas. I have the magnet board in my kitchen. We framed it with molding. It is great to hang pictures and nonsense on. Wish I was organized but I'm not. I try to be but I fail miserably and make more of a mess when I try. lol. My goal this year is to purge!
ReplyDeleteSo many awesome ways to organize! We are in the process of moving Eli into a big boy room which means I will have my very own crafting room soon! I think I may need to head to Ikea to get it organized:)
ReplyDeleteI think it's so funny you posted about Ikea organization today, because I did too! I went to Ikea for the first time last month and got hooked! Too bad it's 4 hours away from Nashville, but I will be going back!!!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing all the stuff for organizing. I need to work on that this year. Seems I say that every year. I guess for me it is a continuous work-in-progress. I did get my husband to build a big shelf in our garage this past week for extra storage so I've accomlished one organizational thing so far :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the great ideas. Ikea is awesome!
Jennifer
I love the first furniture the one that goes behind the couch, how much was it? do you know?
ReplyDeleteGood to know I am non the only one that goes shopping in IKEA with a camera!! I agree, don't like the hooks under a *glass* shelf - who did that must not have kids! Thanks for more great ideas.
ReplyDeleteThere are some great ideas. I think the top tip I took away is to use vertical space - I love having things off the ground and counters, and shelves and other vertical storage is the way to go for this. I love having bins in the bathroom for getting ready, instead of drawers and such. I find it much easier to keep things put away when I have a bin of all my makeup instead of a drawer.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Just finished working on plans for transforming my little guys room from nursery to 'big boy' room and used some of the ideas you have here! WIll be posting on my blog shortly if you want to check them out :). Happy Monday!
ReplyDeleteThere are few stores that can make me believe I can change my entire house and/or life by spending a measly few hundred bucks. I live about 10 minutes from an IKEA and it is the perfect solution to almost all of my decorating needs.
ReplyDeleteGreat post and awesome ideas!
This post was pure eye candy for me since I've only been to Ikea once in my life. Ikea makes me want to be young with an apartment that I could furnish using Ikea things. Now that I'm older, what I'd really like is an Ikea-like closet. An Idea-like craft room would be nice, too!
ReplyDeleteYes! Organizing...please bless I get it right this year!
ReplyDeleteI love the spice drawer. I've been to a house that had one of those and I was trying to figure out how I could possibly make it out of the house undetected, with that thing under my coat!
Great Post Amanda! I need to go! Have you checked out any of their furniture? Curious on the slipcovered couch and chair? I was thinking about for the playroom but have never tried them or even seen them. Have you? Quality ?
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to tell you're organized just by what caught your eye at IKEA! Pretty much every area of my house needs to be organized this year--except for the food preparation part of my kitchen. For some unknown reason I keep those cupboards pretty organized (but don't look in the fridge!). Other parts of my kitchen? Holy moly, those need help. Maybe I'll be able to take some inspiration from this post instead of just feeling intimidated. I need "Organizing for Dummies"!
ReplyDeleteThe guest bedroom, the living room and my studio...sigh! I need an IKEA to browse through! None here!!
ReplyDeleteLoved all the examples you shared.
Hugs
SueAnn
oh to live near an ikea!! i'd go buy that sofa table right now :) thanks for all the great ideas-been thinking of some changes at our house.
ReplyDeleteI love going to Ikea just to look for ideas. I have almost that exact craft corner, it's even in the corner of my living room. But this gave me the idea to hang my used magazine rack there.
ReplyDeleteI feel another Ikea trip coming on.... after we get our mudroom finished, I am determined to get through the mountain of paper on my desk, which has spilled over to my dining room table, which is spilling over to ... everywhere! And then, our bedroom, which becomes a repository for everything that doesn't fit anywhere else!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration!
Wow- those closets are to DIE for! I really love the scarf holder & could definitely use one.
ReplyDeleteThis can definitely be overwhelming. Nice suggestion on considering only certain points that one can apply in the home. There truly are many sources of practical, functional and well designed storage solutions these days. We can purchase from stores like IKEA or consider custom cabinet makers like a closets Bergen service provider that I know. Organizing is such a fun task to do now!
ReplyDeleteSo many awesome ways to organize! We are in the process of moving Eli into a big boy room which means I will have my very own crafting room soon! I think I may need to head to Ikea to get it organized:)
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ReplyDelete