apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I love those blue storage boxes. Does anyone know where they're from?

Shoes! I need help organizing shoes. We've got 15 pairs of them and limited space to store them. When I say limited I mean, no closet or floor space. . .just about 12 inches x 12 inches, however high. We've been looking all over, but all the vertical solutions seem cheaply made and/or visually displeasing.

Those blue storage boxes look like Container Store to me:
http://www.containerstore.com/browse/index.jhtml?CATID=74541

Rs

I believe that they're See Jane Work boxes.

--Laure

I'm a graphic designer, which means I have everything from stationary, to posters to envelopes, prints, magazines etc. .that I keep on hand as reference, or have produced myself. . .besides the elusive cheap flat file (really>? has no one come up with a cheaper way to make flat file?) how can I keep my piles of paper clean, dust free, and organized? small apartment=small workplace!

Cheers.

West Elm also has nice canvas-covered storage boxes. They're also the only place I could find matching CD binders.

Art supplies! I sew a lot and make jewelry. My biggest problem is storing finished pieces (mostly historical costumes and belly dance costumes) and organizing in-progress projects so I can access things easily, but not having them cover every bit of open space when people come over.

I also have a riddiculous amount of books and although I currently have enough shelf space for them it's not incredibly attractive. Nice looking bookshelves typically have a certain amount of free space for more decorative objects to break up the monotony of 100s of paperbacks... but I need every available inch.

I sew (=tons of fabric) and have some odds and ends for crafts (spray paint, scrapbooking, etc) and some tools and utility items. All of these items have to fit into containers and then onto shelves and be easily accesible (ie, no furniture items like special cabinets to store them). Any ideas?

I also don't have room for a formal sideboard but I would also like to store items for entertaining in such a fashion (napkin rings, cloth napkins, serving platters, serving utensils, etc.). I have my nice china in canvas china storage containers...does anyone know if they are ok being stored on a shelf? I would like to use them more...

Ivegots--just keep looking. I scored a 15 drawer flat file on Craigslist for $35. Seriously. I paid another $50 to get it home, but it's still a deal.

1. staying on top of things so that they don't become miscellaneous clutter

and 2. because I don't stay on top of things, how to turn a mountain of clutter into something more manageable/less overwhelming

Gaming paraphenalia. We have almost every console from the SNES onward, and though we don't have a billion games we do have quite a few, not to mention controllers, DDR dance pads, guitar hero guitars...

(Shush. I know we're nerds.)

~Q

I have a clutter problem. My husband and I are way too tolerant of our clutter, but I desperately want to get organized and eliminate (or at least minimize) the extraneous junk. The two things that prevent me from decluttering are 1) lack of time and 2) lack of energy (I'm a stay-at-home mom of a one year old and a 4 year old.) I also have what I call Mommy ADD, where I get side-tracked really easily in the middle of a project, no matter how small - nothing ever gets completed. I'd love some tips on how to conquer my seemingly insurmountable "stuff" problem.

This prompt inspired me to post for the first time out of sheer desperation! I am writing my dissertation in a loft space in our one bedroom rental. My office space is cluttered, unorganized, piled, and surrounded by a web of cords. (I admit, part of the problem is that i just need to keep it tidier - but the space in general lacks inspiration, and I have never needed inspiration more!)

Any suggestions from affordable products to repositioning or ??? Picture posted in the group
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/2468873634_3b4558a5b9.jpg

paper clutter * fabric/quilting supplies * hair accessories

kids' stuff (toys less of an issue than art supplies and books), research stuff (another phd here, with too much dissertation stuff to see beyond), general all purpose stuff...any and all ideas interesting to us!

I'm such a clutterer. Probably my biggest problem is walking in the door. On a typical day, I am definitely carrying:
- keys
- work bag
- gym bag
- jacket
- mail
And probably also:
- lunch bag
- groceries or other stuff from the day's errands
- misc junk from car
And oh look here comes my kid right behind me, carrying:
- jacket
- today's artwork (5-10 pages of it)
- whatever "treasures" - sticks, pebbles, daisies, etc - he found between the car and the door - misc junk from car

I've made myself a great landing strip (a ladder-style bookshelf) which includes places for keys, sunglasses, bags, shoes, mail, and spare change. There are coat hooks right there of course and a recycling bin for the junk mail. The boy knows he must put his "treasures" in his treasure tray immediately or else leave them outside. And yet still the above list of crap ends up strewn all over the house. Why???

My other problem is my kid's "activities" as he calls them. He's pretty good about picking up his toys but, bless his creative little head, every time I turn around he has scrounged up some assortment of scrap paper, styrofoam packing, envelopes, string, tape, rubber bands, staples, dental floss, paper clips, stickers, etc etc and is making a mouse trap or a rocket ship or a puppet. It's awesome, but results in piles of what *looks* like garbage all over the living room and kitchen. It's not garbage, he shrieks if I touch it. Ok, this really sounds like more of a parenting problem than an organizational problem, but how do I encourage his creative nature without having to wade through shredded paper and scraps of twine?

-Shoes: absolutely! I have so many, especially flip flops
-Kitchen: I don't even know where to start, but organizing food items (my lettuce always goes bad and I hate finding forgotten food)

I'd love to get more ideas for inexpensive storage solutions or materials (boxes, folders, etc.)

mjoe, Steven Spielberg's mom used to let him create sets in her kitchen for his Super-8 film epics, including dripping fake blood all over her cabinets. Hey, you never know what your son's rubber band piles will lead to.

I need help wrangling paper. I dealt with it okay when I was single but now that I do paperwork/bills for the whole family, I'm drowining in unfiled paper. I don't want photos of pretty file cabinets, I want ideas on how to organize what goes into the file cabinets.

What is that little tote/case in the photo with Girard fabric?!

Boxes similar to the blue ones in the photo are at the Container Store, in the Stockholm series:

http://www.containerstore.com/browse/index.jhtml?CATID=71230&howMany=999&viewAll=true

I paint. I have big canvases, millions of sketch pads, tracing pads, etc, tins and tubes of paint and various mediums, paintbrushes, palettes, the list goes on and on. I have no idea how to store all this stuff while still letting me get to it easily, without having to dig through several boxes or containers. At the moment my large canvases are stored behind the headboard of my bed (the bedroom is also the studio) and there are tins of paint lining every niche. All this stuff is also in constant combat with my books lol. I need help, please.

Answers are coming! We'll answer these as the month goes on. feel free to post more dilemnas as we'll continue to check this post!

--Laure

My bathroom. There two women in this house and we are both product junkies. I've for limited space and i hate all these bottles laying around! It looks like a drug store in here.