apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have that too, over the bathroom door... clangity clang clang. I hate it. I found cute ones at anthroplogie I plan on buying and hanging there, well, one day. I actually am a little nervous about making a hole in my almost 100 year old doors. Is it ok?

I say go forward with the holes. Just make sure you don't drill all the way through to the other side (bad).

That's one of the few projects I've actually completed in the last year. And I do like the new hooks much better than the over-the-door thing.

My biggest hassle was organizing my spices. I never liked any of the countertop models because I didn't want to display the ugly plastic bottles (and spices prefer dark, dry places). So I designed and manufactered my own spice rack (call the SpiceStack) in conjunction with my dad who is a product designer. I'm currently selling at www.spicestack.com...I don't know if I'm allowed to do plugs in the comments section, but it certainly helped me get organized in one of my kitchen problem spots.

Lauren -- That's a great idea!

I have those over the door things on the insides of three closets and on one bedroom door (although, curiously, not on my bathroom doors since those came pre-hooked).

There is one unique benefit to them: Portability. Normally, I have some spare sweaters/belts which I don't use that often hooked on the door to my second bedroom - which is usually open so the clutter is typically unseen. When guests come to stay, I simply whisk the hooks off that door and put them on my own bedroom door so they won't have to look at them!

One thing I would love to change or improve is how we store plastic bags. I had an IKEA organizer a long time ago, but it got to be too small after awhile. Must think of a more attractive option than a huge Old Navy bag on the door handle holding all the smaller bags.

I am dying to replace the ugly globe light fixtures in the hallway and bedrooms. I just don't know what to do instead so I have tried to not look up at the ceiling for about 4 years.

Even a small change can have a knock-on effect. A few weeks ago I put a hook on the back of my bedroom door. Now my giant fluffy dressing-gown hangs there when it's too warm to wear it, instead of taking up space on a shelf in my built-in wardrobe. So I then I had a free shelf - finally, a place to put my winter blankets! Putting the winter blankets on _that_ shelf freed up a shelf in the laundry cupboard. So I rearranged the laundry cupboard, and now I can open it without having piles of stuff falling on my head :)

MC: I have no idea if these art dco fixtures are available in the US, but they are widely available in the Netherlands and someone must be able to ship them (hmm, shipping big chunks of glass?). See http://www.artdecowebwinkel.nl/index.asp?id=4434 - doubt that they can ship though. They look good, being original older designs, and pricing is reasonable though not as low as Ikea.

Two weeks ago, I took all the tea bags that were in the cabinet out of their random boxes and put them, neatly organized, in a drawer near my hot water dispenser. Note: this only works with teabags that are individually wrapped.

Then I hung a small shelf to hold a couple cups, spoons and a small sugar bowl containing turbinado sugar cubes.

This is in my bathroom off the main bedroom so I can make my tea and enjoy it in my bedroom or on my balcony. I still have to go downstairs to the kitchen to get cream or soy milk if I want it. My husband is drawing the line on a refigerator or chilling drawer in the master bathroom, but I think it would be GREAT. But then it would no longer be a small project.