Organization Ideas
Happy Monday!
I was visiting my older daughter last weekend. She moved into a new, but very small, apartment in October and had rejected my offer to help at that time. “How hard can it be? I’ve moved into several apartments and I’ve got this.” Let’s just say, it was a job for a reality TV show. In her defense, she moved from a larger place into a smaller place and she works very full-time. It’s hard to tackle mountains by yourself. So, as soon as I walked in, I understood the assignment.
They don’t call it “spring cleaning” for nothing. Spring is nature’s new year and the perfect time to start fresh, rid yourself of things from the past that no longer serve you, and make space for new opportunities and new (positive) energy. I wanted to share a few things that I noticed helped her make the most of her space in case you or one of your kin is dealing with space challenges.
We ordered this coat/hack rack so she didn’t have to nail hooks into walls and have an easy place to hang hats.
Foldable step stools are so helpful for shorties like me and necessary to access high shelves which we had to make use of.
Both my daughters have the Staub stackable set which is pretty enough to leave out on the stove or on a shelf.
I turned everyone in my family onto thin velvet hangers. They are easy on your clothing and take up less space. We use these for tops and blouses and even skirts with inside loops, these for pants and jackets.
My daughter had this rollable dry rack for the sink that I thought was genius. Perfect for 1-2 people in a kitchen where you can’t afford to give up precious counter space for a drying rack.
She also had this dish soap and hand soap set which was very pretty and clean-looking.
We added a few turnstiles to her pantry area. I am obsessed with turnstiles/lazy susans.
She surprised me with uniform spice jars with printed labels. Has nothing to do with saving space, but it sure looked pretty.
We talked a lot about having just what you need and not accumulating unnecessary items. We are bombarded all day with ads and messaging about all the things we “have to have!” I am not here to tell anyone how to spend his/her money. We all have different priorities and resources. But there will always be more to want. In fact, I have a theory that the more you buy, the more you buy.
This has nothing to do with small spaces, but I was at Un Caffe Altamura, my favorite restaurant in Manhattan Beach, over the weekend and we asked the owner Alexa what type of coffee beans she uses because it’s just the best coffee anywhere! Caffe Vergnano 1882 Arabica 100% for all you coffee connoisseurs out there.
Viral Trend that I Tried: Cottage cheese ice cream. You blend it with sweetener (and whatever else you want to flavor it) and freeze it for a couple hours and it becomes scoopable and creamy like ice cream. Except it is so salty and tastes like sweet cottage cheese and not ice cream. PASS!
xxPamela