Young House Love

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Organizing Our Closet Shelves With Bins

That’s right. I pulled a Benita Larsson. For anyone who doesn’t know her, she’s the mastermind organizer over at Chez Larsson and I adore how simple, functional, and beautiful her Swedish home/lifestyle is. So this quick little closet update totally reminds me of her clean/organized/wish-I-was-that-on-top-of-things house that I adore. Benita, among nine other super secret guest bloggers, actually pulls a little cameo appearance in our book, but that’s a whole different story (speaking of which, a million and one thanks to everyone who was insanely sweet and made me happy-cry repeatedly after our little book announcement yesterday). But let’s cut to the chase. This is just a simple tale about some simple white bins. See, thanks to rearranging things in the bedroom, it meant that I now looked directly into our unorganized closet while lying in bed.

Baskets1

Oddly enough, the baskets and various piles of half-folded clothes never bothered me before our furniture shifting spree, but staring at them every night before closing my eyes… well, it got old.

Baskets2

So I decided something lighter, cleaner, and more consistent (aka: the same thing on every shelf) would do the trick. Originally I was thinking white baskets, but when I glanced at these babies on a shelf in the organizing section at Ikea (they’re actually meant to be “waste sorting bins”) the light bulb went on. Literally, I think everyone around me saw something floating above my head go “ding!” and I ran up and grabbed six of them in about ten seconds. Although you’ll notice that I turned them around so the indent for the handle isn’t visible. It just looked cleaner and less busy that way (and they’re still easy enough to grab and slide out like any other drawer full of socks, underwear, pjs, shirts, and shorts – all of which they now contain).

Baskets7

So after a little bit of closet organization (ex: donating that old shredder and putting our old booster seat up in the attic where we store other kid-stuff that Clara has outgrown), things went from looking like this…

Baskets3

… to this…

Baskets5

Here’s the bottom of the closet before…

Baskets4

… and after…

Baskets6

Much better, right? We also thought it could be fun to write on the containers with dry erase markers if we wanted to mark what was in each one – mehaps in a fun scripty font? – but for now John’s been doing just fine locating his stuff without labels (the bulk of the items in these bins are his since my stuff is in the dresser in our room). And we’re definitely loving the clean look. Luh-uv-ing it. Especially me from the bed. Our bedtime chats now go like this:

John: Goodnight Burger, goodnight lady-wife. I love you.

Sherry: Goodnight Burger, goodnight hubs. I love you.

(silence)

Sherry: Goodnight new bins. I love you.

John: (audible eye roll)

Baskets7

At $6.99 per bin, this quick little closet update clocks in at around $40, which isn’t pennies, but could easily have been the cost of about four similarly-sized baskets at most stores (and I love that these can be wiped down/soaked since they’re not woven!). So two twenties is worth the pre-zzzzzzzz serenity. And the audible eye rolls from John. Woot. Have you guys been up to any organizational upgrades? Has your view of a room changed after you rearranged it that snowballed into another upgrade because of that? Or have you found bins or boxes meant for one thing and used them for something else entirely?

Psst- In the whole trying-to-clean-slash-organize vein, here are over 50 other posts on that subject.

Comments

  1. Laura says

    I have these bins and LOVE them!! I want more but every time I have gone back to the Frisco Texas Ikea, they’re OUT!!!

    Reply

  5. Giulia says

    I have the small round version of these to store our coffee and tea things in them. Our cabinet is glass fronted so they look really nice.
    I am planning a front hall closet revamp, these would be great to store the mitts/hats and other tidbits in.
    Isn’t it fitting that I had your blog and Benita’s blog ont he same reading list earlier this summer?

    Reply

  7. Ariane says

    I’m in the mood for some closet organization too ! Bought some 70% off stuff last week to tackle a few of those projects … got to get it done though ah ah ! Take care.

    Reply

  8. Matt says

    Just a quick editing error…

    “mehaps in a fun scripty font?”

    change to….

    “perhaps in a fun scripty font?”

    If going for a script font, I suggest Carrington. I think you might enjoy it.
    -Matt

    Reply

  9. Mariel says

    Love it! We just completed a MAJOR re-organization of our guest room #2/office this week thanks to some Billy bookcases and 2 Expedit 2x4s. I purchased 12 Skubbs that fit perfectly in the Expedit cubbies and LOVE how organized everything is now! The closet before was literally a disaster zone and now when I walk in, I don’t have a mini panic attack!

    Reply

  10. Jenna at Homeslice says

    Ah! You are hilarious Sherry. Mostly because I totally understand (about saying goodnight and loving your bins). After I finish a new project all I want to do is sit and stare at it in happiness. Looks great, you were right. It makes a big difference!

    Reply

  11. Michele Daggar says

    I love Benita too. Everything in her house is so fresh and clean looking!

    The goodnight between you and John sounds so much like my hubby and I. He just loves to tease me about my organizing obsession. I totally relate to you telling your bins goodnight. We are total Lord of The Rings nerds and I will pet any new organizing things I get and call them “my precious” like Gollum. I am aware that I am a total dork.

    I’m waiting on an order from the Container Store any day now. I’m so excited to get our CD’s and DVD’s organized. It just makes me feel happy!

    Congrats on your book birthing! Mine has been pre-ordered for a couple of weeks. Come on November!!!

    Reply

  12. Cynthia says

    You and Benita Larrson are two if my favorites. I am loving the new simple look. I’m always trying to find ways to simplify my life especially with having two boys!

    Reply

  13. Emily says

    Love this!! So sleek and modern. I probably would also tell those bins I loved them nightly :) Nice work- and I’m loving the new wall color. So pretty.

    Reply

  14. Rae says

    I love that you share the little changes/upgrades.

    It helps me remember small changes at a time can make a room “feel” better….and that my dream room doesn’t have to cost a lot and involve a total redo. Little changes in the right direction.

    I am slowly upgrading our house from our collective hand me down, cheap college/dorm room and apartment finds. Our focus is changing from “works for NOW” to finding what “works for US”. Thanks for the inspiration :)

    Reply

  16. Noelle says

    Your blog has totally inspired me to stop just thinking about updating and organizing projects and start DOING! I have been dreaming about the perfect desk/office setup in my bedroom. I have a 2bd house so our desks need to be in our room. I had envisioned doing something like you did with habitat for humanity cabinets, but never found the right ones. Then I saw the wardrobes you had in your basement and one of those was perfect! I have seriously been looking since we bought the house and hadn’t found anything I liked. I went straight to Ikea and bought one that day along with two MICKE desks, and the measurements were perfect for our room. Doing that started this chain of organizing events… once our son saw we had a new desk setup, we had to set him up with an “office” too, so I turned half his large walk in closet into a kid friendly office with one of our old desks. (also inspired by your blog- clara’s reading nook!) I realized I’ve put off projects because I’m afraid to spend money on them and then find I don’t like it. As if it can’t be changed again.. duh… My next project is to work on the closets. Making our son’s office nook (he’s 5) left a lot of items previously hanging out in the closet without a home…

    Reply

  17. Wom-mom Ethne says

    I bought a few bins from Tarjay for $4.99 to use in my car – one for my kids’ books and toys in the back seat between their car seats, and one for the random stuff in my front seat that always seems to accumulate. Seriously, it always seems to be there, so I might as well have it all in one nice-looking spot. I’ve noticed I don’t let it accumulate nearly so much now that the bin is there to catch it all. Score!

    Reply

  18. Bella says

    I keep changing the purpose of my storage baskets whenever I really clean up things just move around. My significant other keeps asking me how the hell I find things, but my system just makes sense to me. But I guess I’ll have to change it when we move in together in a month.
    Oddly enough I just seem to have arrived in a place with my much too small apartment where I say yeah I love my place just the way it is and now I am moving again just like the last 3 times ;) I guess I just get bored when there is nothing left to do (but fix the ceiling light that fell off last night, no cats where harmed ;))

    Reply

  19. The Mrs @ Success Along the Weigh says

    Yeah, I’m totally distracted by the pouf. I instantly thought “I know she doesn’t sit on that to do her makeup because it’s too short to see the mirror.” Then I wondered “maybe she stands on it to do makeup.” Then I pondered “maybe she does Bosu ball squats on them.” I need help.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hahahaha, the real answer is I just like to look at said pouf because it’s cute! Haha. I’m a stand and brush teeth/throw on makeup girl, so it’s just to fill that weird hole with something light and pretty so it’s not a big black hole!

      xo,
      s

  20. Andrea says

    Just had to come back and say I’ve spent the last hour boy where does the time go stalking Chez Larsson, awesome blog so thank you!

    Reply

  21. Maria says

    Thank you for confessing that you can’t sleep or fall asleep well with something in your room in disarray. I’ve gotten up after laying in bed for 30 minutes to fix my curtains, adjust a crooked photo, or put my husbands socks in the hamper. Crazy person indeed. At least now I can say that someone understands. Us crazies need to stick together.

    Reply

  22. Lindsay says

    The fact that you get so excited about beautiful organization makes me so happy. I totally geek-out when I come up with/see beautiful organization in a home. When I so something like that at my place, I just stand ther and stare at it for what is probably longer than socially acceptable.

    Reply

  23. Allison says

    Your last comment cracked me up- have you ever read Clara the book called goodnight gorilla? It is the story of a zookeeper who puts the animals to bed at night. Your play-by-play of your goodnight routine reminds me of that story- it is hysterical:). And congrats on storage!

    Reply

  24. Laura says

    I’ve been on a major organizing bing lately…which for me starts with major loads to Goodwill! Woot!
    And I meant to re-comment yesterday that I pre-ordered, and was very surprised at the great price for your book…very reasonable and a great bargain!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Laura! One of the deciding factors when we were talking to publishers and trying to choose who to go with was price point. Would you believe some of them wanted to sell our book for $50?! We were like “no way, we wouldn’t even spend $50 on our own book!” Haha. We love how much Artisan embraced letting us be us and keeping the price point as low as we could!

      xo,
      s

  25. Stephanie says

    I have a couple of comments and I’m feeling fancy so you get bullet points! Well numbers because I don’t know how to bullet point in a comment.

    1- Lady-wife = cutest thing ever
    2- I LOLed (at work. shhh.) at “audible eye roll”.
    3- Can you come organize my closet please? It’s HUGE and there’s not much going on inside (just bars and a couple shelves.) I’m too intimidated to tackle it. I want to get like a professional California Closets type thingie but it’s mucho expensive.
    4- I got nothing, I just like even numbered lists. :)

    Reply

  27. Meghan, RVA says

    Hi Sherry!

    One note, from someone who has learned the hard way – make sure that if you use dry erase markers that they will actually erase. If those bins are acrylic, dry erase markers will actually set, and not erase.

    I dry-erased the acrylic pane in someone’s office wall as a joke, and dang near had a panic attack when I needed to clean it up later. My marks weren’t coming off, not with an eraser, water, or even dry-erase-board-wipes!! I’ll save you the panic attack, and jump straight to the how-to-fix-it: take your acrylic-board-and-not-so-erasable marks, and go back over what you’ve done with the marker again, and immediately wipe it off. The still-wet alcohol in the second marker swipe will help dissolve and lift off the first marker swipe. If you look closely on the white acrylic wall in my office, there’s still a bit of a blue smear, but at least it wasn’t the whole sarcastic comment thread that had been up there. :-)

    And finally: y’all are adorable.

    -Meghan

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Whew, that’s scary! Thanks for the tip! I think we’ll stay markerless since John has managed to find all of his stuff without dumping it out on the floor. Haha. Progress!

      xo,
      s

  28. Erin says

    I totally know what you mean about changing the feeling of a space. I’ve done a few shifts of things around my house lately and when a cluttered space gets cleaned up and organized, it just feels so calming! I think I’m getting addicted to organizing! (which is a good thing since my house REALLY needs it!)

    Reply

  30. Karen says

    This is eerie! The first two blogs I check every day are yours and Benita’s! I drool over and envy her incredible organizational skills, even love her all-white-with-a-splattering-of-green-and-gray existence, although it’s not my style. You mimicked her perfectly, and “imitation is the highest form of flattery”, so she’ll be proud!

    Reply

  33. Pearl says

    I love reading your blog and especially love all the pictures! Looking at your pictures is like a game of “spot the difference”. I notice in the first picture there is no little pig. Then in the second picture I see his tail end. The third picture shows him is all his glory. Hahaha!

    I LOVE the white bins! They do make the space look more organized and neat. I have a little closet thingy like that and I’m totally stealing your idea and using white bins! Thanks!

    Reply

  36. Deborah says

    The closet looks great & very organized! I am in the process of organizing craft supplies. I bought some plastic bins from Target. I also feel that a closet looks more organized when all the bins/containers match. I was wondering if you keep a notebook in your purse with different measurements, closet, room sizes,etc. Or were you going to IKEA to look for bins to place in that closet so you had measured that space already? Are the bins as deep as the shelf?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I’ve had those old baskets for years (we got them from our wedding registry in 2007) so in my head I knew their approximate size and knew they would fit in the closet, so when I saw these bins I thought “those are about the size of the baskets, I know they’ll fit!” There’s about 5″ of unused space behind them, but nothing we’d want to use since things pushed that far back just get lost anyway:)

      xo,
      s

  37. Tiffany S. says

    If you’re not totally over the chalkboard thing, World Market makes super cute chalkboard stickers that would look cute on the front of these. Or you could use the chalkboard contact paper which is probably removable. Even better.

    I’ve been to the World Market in VA, but I forget where it is. It used to be our closest one when we lived in NY.

    Reply

  38. Katie Rose says

    Two weekends ago I headed to The Container Store to pick up some more hangars (matching my current ones, of course) and those clippy things so you can hang stuff like skirts.

    I had been living months without enough hangars so if stuff was clean and there was no where to put it I just sort of draped it over a chair or my foot-board. It felt SO good to finally have enough hangars for everything! It then motivated me to rearrange my shoes and other things that were been corralled in the closet. Now it is a picture of perfect when I slide the door open :)

    Reply

  39. Melissa says

    You might have mentioned this in a previous post, and if so I apologize. But what color are your walls painted? I absolutely love that gray color and have been searching for a paint for my living room.

    Reply

  40. Koliti says

    It’s a great feeling to uplift a space’s functionality with beautiful organization. By filling your space with items that you use/need/love brings on an instant “ahhhh” sensation. Donating no longer needed items to others also brings an “ahhhhh” response. Spread the love.

    Ok, yeah, sure, whatever, sounds good, easy to type…but what is lurking behind MY 3rd bedroom/spare room door? (Probably worse than your sunroom/playroom.) Thanks for your “dude get on that already” reminders – I think about it more often. Fondly. Then I walk down the hall – haha!

    The rest of my house reflects the “have only what you use, need, love” approach. Hey even my kithen “junk” drawer holds often-reached-for items and is nicely organized :)

    Reply

  44. brett says

    3 reasons why pre-ordering this book is a no-brainer
    1. You guys are an inspiration – you have shown me that it is possible to step outside the traditional grind and do something you love, share it with others and make a living
    2. Your projects are cool enough to I want to do them, practical enough that should do them and easy (or clear) enough that I can do them (except maybe some of John’s increasingly fancy wood work)
    3. burger.

    Reply

  45. Nikki says

    Oh IKEA, how I love thee… I used to live across the street from one and worked there for 4 years! Now I am 2 1/2 hrs from one with an 8 month old. Seriously love their small space storage options and Swedish flair. ::sigh:: Good job thinking outside the box! (pun intended!) I’m loving your blue container on the counter! I am obsessed with that color, where did you get it? Also is that pig a spray painted version of your speaker from West Elm? I somehow doubt that Sherry would turn a white ceramic animal a different color… =)

    Reply

  46. Bernadette @ B3HD says

    Very Benitaish (love her too). Perhaps it was a subliminal connection that I listed her blog and your blog in my top 5 blogs that people must stalk listable life post way back when.

    I actually liked the texture of the woven baskets. But my hubby would also be all over the white bins if that meant we more FUNCTIONALLY kept our clothes folded. Tell me this though…do those white bins magically fold your clothes for you too? If so, I’m SOLD!

    Reply

  47. Crystal says

    The bins look great! I’m also picturing John doing Liz Lemon’s “over the top eye roll.” Hilarious!

    Reply

  49. Ashley says

    I almost never comment, but “Goodnight new bins, I love you” didn’t just hit my funny bone – it punched it in the face. I’m dying over here. Thanks Sherry :)

    Reply

  50. Sherry from BC says

    Oh I love those bins. I think you have just solved two organization dilemmas for me. I have a narrow linen/everything cupboard in there that needs to be redone. I have various baskets to hold odds and sods but this would be so much fresher and as you mentioned, they can be washed unlike the baskets. I also have to organize my craft stuff which is multiplying like crazy. I have some open shelves that would look grand if they held a few of these puppies with script descriptions of the contents. I do see you staining the floor soon. Sorry!

    Reply

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