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Rain on a Tin Roof

DIY and Home Decor Blog. Fly Your Freak Flag.

You are here: Home >> Cleaning >> 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

August 30, 2016 By Jenna 14 Comments

5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

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5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing: Simple and affordable ideas to maximize storage and organize your home!

Ok, I feel like the title of this post is slightly dramatic. But. These five simple storage and organization ideas have seriously changed and simplified our home.

Whenever we moved into the 70’s Landing Pad, something happened to me.

I got bit by the purge and organize bug. This bug bite though, was a welcome one.

I got rid of so much stuff, y’all. Enough for two huge yard sales and now even more waiting for another yard sale in our garage. (P.S. My best yard sale tips are here.)

I went label and bin crazy. Whatever could fit in a bin, went in one and got a label slapped on top of it.

By no means am I now an organizing pro. Trust me, I still have hot messes in many areas of our house. But after doing these five things, I’m always trying to figure out what else I can better store, organize, purge, etc.

Here are the best five things I’ve done to organize and create storage in our home since we’ve moved in. All of them are pretty simple and most are very budget-friendly. Cheap and easy, baby. My kinda projects. 😉

Simple Storage and Organization Ideas

Affiliate links may be contained in this post.

1. Cleaning Closet

Create a cleaning closet - even more great ideas in the post! 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

If you’ve ever looked for cleaning or organization ideas on Pinterest, no doubt you’ve seen this idea from lots of other people. I’m certainly not trying to steal the credit for it and honestly there are so many people who’ve done this, I’m not sure who the “originator” is. I just wanted to show you my version. We had enough room in our master bedroom closet to move all the coats in there and free up this hall closet to make it the “cleaning closet.” It houses all our cleaning supplies in one central location which has been so handy. All the cleaning bottles are held in an over-the-door shoe organizer.

You’ll have to forgive my poor pictures of this space – it’s in the hallway which isn’t exactly the roomiest place on earth. 

Create a cleaning closet: 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

I also bought a half-size hanging organizer which holds dust rags, wipes and Swiffer refills. I’ve got more details on how I organized this space (and a great tip for easy bathroom cleaning!) in the video below.

2. Entertainment Center turned Storage Central

A.K.A. The Three Boxes of Steel

5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing: Turn an old entertainment unit into a storage center! More great storage ideas in the post!

I picked up this old entertainment unit at a local thrift shop for $100. I knew I would need something bigger than anything I had to go against the long wall that connects the living room and dining room. I sent Grunt Labor and Nicky to get it, but didn’t tell them anything about it’s size. They both came back and thanked me kindly for having them pick up three steel boxes. I haven’t been able to send them on any errands since. Lurking behind those doors though isn’t a television….

5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing: Turn an old entertainment unit into a storage center! More great storage ideas in the post!

It’s storage central for all our china, wine glasses, entertaining items, serving pieces, etc.

5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing: Turn an old entertainment unit into a storage center! More great storage ideas in the post!

I was able to put all the items that had been in two buffets at our old house into this piece with room to spare.

You can watch the video below for more details on our cleaning closet and entertainment unit turned storage central.

3. Vanity Organization

In the master bathroom at the new house, we ran into a slight organization problem with the vanity, it has no drawers – only two large doors. Now that was the look I wanted and it was far cheaper to buy it than one that had drawers, but just having one big open space wasn’t great for organizing items.

Bathroom Organization - more great ideas in the post! 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

I fixed that with bins and baskets from the Dollar Tree.

Use command hooks and Dollar Tree bins for vanity organization. More great ideas in the post! 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

My favorite little trick here was hanging these small baskets with command hooks on the back of the vanity door. The top one has my toothbrush and toothpaste, the middle one has Q-tips and cotton rounds and the bottom one has my hair clips and nail clippers. It is great for keeping all those little items that would normally fall into the deep abyss in one place.

Bathroom Organization - more great storage ideas in the post! 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

Inside the vanity, I just arranged bins and put items in them accordingly. These actually stack, but I’ve found they are better for us just sitting there.

4. More Containers and Bins and Easy Labels

The Dollar Tree container aisle and I have been great friends. Not only did I use them for the bins above, but also for organization in my kitchen drawers.

Great and really simple storage ideas! Pretty cheap too! 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

The baskets in the kitchen drawers help keep cooking utensils from getting pushed to the back of the drawer where I can’t find them.

I also used larger bins and the baskets in my craft closet.

Awesome and really simple ideas! 5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing

All of this stuff used to just be dumped in drawers at our old house. I organized everything and labeled the bins with FrogTape so that if I ever needed to change out the label, there wouldn’t be any sticky residue left behind. Like I said earlier, I certainly still don’t have it all together. You can see that shelf below is a hot mess – it’s where I keep all the random home accessories that haven’t found a home yet and also a troll that was Grunt Labor’s when he was a kid. I know – weird.

5. Maximized Under-Bed Storage

Two of the three beds at the 70’s Landing Pad have SmartBase Foundations.

5 Simple Storage and Organization Ideas that are Life-Changing - how to maximize under-bed storage! More great ideas in the post!

The SmartBase Foundations work as the bed rails and box spring for the bed, but increase the storage underneath. So where you see the top of the foundation that the mattress sits on would normally be the top of the box springs, therefore the base creates more storage under the bed because it doesn’t take up as much room as a traditional box spring would. We were going to have to buy bed rails and a box springs for both our bed and the Circus’ bed. Getting the smart bases instead was cheaper and increased our storage, so it was a no-brainer. It’s been especially handy in the Circus’ room.

Do you have any other simple organizing tips or storage ideas? I am all ears, y’all! Hopefully I was able to help you a little bit and send the organizing bug your way. 😉

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These budget friendly simple storage and organization ideas will have you wishing you had known about them sooner! They will simplify your home and life!

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Filed Under: Cleaning Tagged With: organization, storage

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Comments

  1. Shirley says

    August 30, 2016 at 8:05 am

    Jenna putting plastic baskets on command hooks is a genius idea! I am also going to put a shoe organiser up to put cleaning products in . At the moment I have a large box under the sink. I have to go through the whole box before I find a particular item. It’s always at the bottom!
    Hope your father in law is responding well.

    Reply
    • Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says

      August 31, 2016 at 5:58 am

      Thanks, Shirley – he’s doing really well so far! Thanks for asking.

      Seriously, those little baskets on command hooks have been one of the best things I’ve done – all that little stuff doesn’t get lost anymore!

      Reply
  2. Amy Villicano says

    August 30, 2016 at 11:28 am

    Totes are seriously my best friend. Totes with labels. We live in a travel trailer, so i don’t like to have a ton of stuff out because the space is so small already. So under our bed we have totes that hold extra blankets, extra towels, the cleaning supplies, winter clothes (or summer clothes depending on what season it is). They’re so handy! and because i label them my husband never pulls out the wrong box! haha

    Reply
    • Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says

      August 31, 2016 at 5:57 am

      That’s so smart, Amy! Now that I’ve finally started labeling things, it makes such a world of difference!

      Reply
  3. Patty says

    August 30, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    All great ideas. I have used bins for years to help me organize, don’t know what I would do without them. I have been wanting to use the shoe organizer on the door, but can’t decide what door to use, soon though, real soon. One thing I have done is I put a tension rod across under the sink kitchen cabinet and bathroom vanity, that way I can hang wet wash cloths, dish towels and even hang spray bottles I use daily. This keeps my counters clear and towels and washcloths dry well and are handy to grab if needed or when dry can go into hamper and not worry about mildew.

    Reply
    • Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says

      August 31, 2016 at 5:57 am

      I’ve seen the tension rod under sinks, but never thought to hang wet washcloths over them – that’s a great idea, Patty! Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Pam S says

    August 31, 2016 at 3:13 pm

    I have shoe storage organizers in 4 different places…..one I even use for shoes~ LOL!!

    Reply
    • Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof says

      September 1, 2016 at 5:57 am

      hahahaha!!!! That’s awesome, Pam!

      Reply
  5. Cathy Lawdanski says

    January 15, 2018 at 5:46 am

    Love the idea of a cleaning closet!

    Reply
    • Jenna says

      January 16, 2018 at 9:59 am

      It is so nice having everything in one place!

      Reply
      • Faith says

        February 5, 2021 at 10:23 am

        Thank you so much. I hate my home being dirty or disorganized. I figured out ADD and OCD don’t work well together and never take any time off. I will rearrange something, move the location somewhere completely different ( it’s gotten so my husband can never find anything and I take care of retrieving EVERYTHING he needs.) and when the stars align and an item finds it true home… I find a little peace.. but now I have to move the jackets in the coat closet to the bedroom so I can have a linen closet for just linen. Lol. I am amazed that I never thought of your idea, but I’m really glad you did. Thank you thank you thank you!

        Reply
  6. Linda M. Finn says

    January 16, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    Love the ideas, now to apply them to my house over the next few months !!!
    Linda Marie

    Reply
  7. Jann Olson says

    January 22, 2018 at 12:50 am

    I am on a cleaning frenzy as well. I’ve done the pantry, fridge, drawers in bathroom and kitchen. Even under the sinks. Now I just need to tackle our closet. 🙂 Sure does feel good! Thanks for sharing with SYC. I’m sure it’s not intentional, but I’m not seeing a link back to the party.
    hugs,
    Jann

    Reply
  8. Theresa says

    January 24, 2018 at 7:09 pm

    Love the storage closet. Pinned & sharing. Thanks for joining the Inspiration Spotlight party.

    Reply

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