Two good things... very good things!

Here's two of my most recent organizing projects.  I have died and gone to heaven!

In the bedroom... Jewelry.  I have a fishing tackle box, a real jewelry box, a cute earring holder and a large hanging necklace holder.  BUT.  The necklaces were always getting tangled.  A while ago, I was in Carol's daughter, Taylor's bedroom and saw this idea.  I couldn't rest until I tried it myself. While admiring Taylor's cute walls, we discussed this great idea and Jamie, Carol's niece/my friend, commented that her necklaces were always so hard to get to that she rarely wore them.  "I guess if I organized them like this, they'd get worn more!"  And that, my friends, is what inspired me!  There's days that there's no time to untangle or sort through.  With this system, it's just grab and run.  Love, love LOVE it! 

Here's my "how-to" (or should I say, Doug's?):

We bought a 4'x8' pegboard at Lowes.  ($18)  We had the guy at Lowes cut the board into four boards, various sizes for different locations. (free) This one is 32" wide, just  a bit narrower than my bedroom door.  (I don't have a walk in closet, or it would be there.)  We also purchased one eight foot long 1"x2" board and asked the guy to cut it into eight 1' pieces.  (80 cents!) $19 = the makings for four jewelry boards.  Once home with the pre-cut boards, Doug simply measured and found the center of the pegboard,  then, found the center of the 1x2" board, lined them up to match and drilled it into place on the wall with 3" grabber screws...one 1x2"board at the top and one at the bottom of the pegboard, to give the pegs the space needed away from the wall.  DONE. FINI!

Thanks to Lowe's free service of cutting the boards, it took ten minutes total to mount!  And then came the fun part.  I purchased a "Value Pack" of peg hooks at Lowes for $9.  I would not do that again.  Many of the pegs were odd sizes that I would not use.  However, while buying lightbulbs at K-Mart, I happened upon a package of 40 one inch pegs for $2.79!  SWEET!  All the same size and two shapes.  You can place the pegs anywhere you'd like and rearrange them as needed.  Organizing the jewelry was the best part! 

A few random thoughts about the project:

• One of the boards that I cut is for Denise.  She has tons of earrings.  For hers, I'm cutting a piece of heavy gage wire mesh ( with squares that are about 1/2") and will be hanging it from four pegs on the board, so that she can hook her earrings into the mesh.  SIMPLE!  I'd be doing the same if I didn't have my wonderful Rodworks hanger,  I took this photo the day I purchased it, a few years!  Today, it's almost full.  When it is, I'll add the wire mesh to my pegboard, like Denise's.
  
  
• Hanging this pegboard on the back of a door that opens and closes regularly would probably not be a good idea because the jewelry would be swinging with the door and end up closed in the doors or flying off the hooks.
• Painting the pegboard the same color as the wall would be simple, however, I opted for white so that I could see the jewelry better than had it been on my chocolate brown wall.  Taylor's is pink, like her bedroom and looks awesome!   For her, at 16, a jewelry maker, it does double duty as room decor!
• In the "Value Pack", there were a few hooks that had loops for hanging tools, like screwdrivers.  I used those loop hooks to hang my sunglasses and a mini-flashlight.  When the kids have taken all of the other flashlights in the house out to the trailer, I'll still have mine in a place that I could grab it, even in the dark!
• The total cost of one board ~ $5.00 per mounted board, plus 30 hooks for $3.00=$8.00!!  We have enough pegboard for four boards, so Denise, and both of my girls get one too!

My next project was even more simple. This plastic/canvas shoe rack was another Lowes purchase.  (I looked everywhere and liked this one the best.)

This has truly made kitchen organization heavenly.  By removing the odd shaped items, rarely or occasionally used items and larger items from my kitchen drawers, I'm not having to shuffle through all of them to find the basic ladles and spoons.  I purchased this shoe organizer at Lowes for $10.  Doug removed the old mounted Rubbermaid foil and plastic wrap organizer that was very tired from the inside of the pantry door, giving me an entire wall full of space! The items now stored in this organizer are simple to access, no more sorting and in clear view once the pantry door is opened.  Doug asked, "what happens when the plastic tears?"  We buy a new one!  If it lasts only a year, that's less than eighty cents a month to not have to waste time or poke or cut fingers while plundering in search of a chip clip!

A few thoughts about this:

• First, the aluminum foil on the top row drives me insane because I want it at the bottom with the Ziplocs and parchment, but Doug said that the foil would be more sturdy at the top. Men are so smart. ;)  The others boxes remained at the bottom because it was easier access for the kids. who use them as much as I do.
• Storing the cords/plugs for my electric appliances like this just makes me want to do a happy dance in the kitchen!  No more tangled mess or pulling out three before you get the right one! 
• The other items, top to bottom, left to right:
  
  Those awkward shaped tupperware funnels that don't fit anywhere.  (I'm a believer in duplicates of items that you frequently use), Pampered Chef tongs, which I love but they won't lie flat in a drawer because of the little handle poking up (awkward shapes are perfect in this!), all of the accessories to my Hand Mixer and then the beaters. 
  
  Three different types of icecream scoops, PC Melon Baller (btw, this scoops the perfect amount of pizzelle batter!), the PC apple/peeler/corer/slices and then two other apple tools.
  
  PC Pizza Cutters (I have two and they are both always in use for everything!)  candy thermometer, biscuit cutter and chip clips.  (Every kitchen needs about 3 dozen of these.  Most of mine are in use all the time.  Having one place for them, you don't have to waste time searching when the pretzels are left open!
  
  PC Cookie Press tips, the Cookie Press (which I've used for cookies about three times ever, but use for deviled eggs and stuffing cream cheese frosting into strawberries often!) The odd shaped item is my old fashioned southern style chopper.  (I've never seen one in a store in the west but I use it as much as my food processor.) Pampered Chef Garlic Press.
  
  Bottom Row: My canning jar lifter and pickling spice/tea ball.  (Both should have been put away with the canning goods last fall, but somehow ended up in the drawer.  I'll know where they are when I need them next fall, though.  Then the parchment, Ziplock sandwich and gallon size bags.

This system is awesome because my drawers are less cluttered and it's much easier to find spatulas and spoons than ever before!  Love it!  Ten bucks, a little time dejunking and voila!  LOVE LOVE, LOVE it!!! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE an organized home!  Enough said!  Have a great weekend!

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

 

Comments

[cindy]

OK...I'm buying the shoe thing, for organizing, a bit..but the jewelry organization?? that is SOO ugleeee!! No way would I hang that up in my bedroom. maybe in a locked closet! LOL. I also can't wear those earrings without backs on them, so can't hang them up.

[audra]

Dontcha love it when you come up with a great organizing idea?

[Cindy Thomas]

Love this...I am going to do this at my Mom's house...she needs more and more stuff out because she is not able to reach into cabinets anymore, this will free up some space that she needs. I have one of those choppers...love it and would love to have another one...my Mom got it YEARS ago from a fund raiser.

[TrishA]

Love these ideas! I have peg board in my garage just waiting to be used. I just have to figure out where to put it. I am excited to get my current project done so I can start on this!

[Marilyn]

Good job! You get a star on your forehead!