Living a Happy, Organized Life (Pt. I)
Is your linen closet a disaster? Towels crammed on the shelf and they aren’t even folded. Bottles of body products and other miscellaneous things just thrown in a bin with expiration dates from 2 years ago? You are not alone!
A couple weeks ago I had a super fun morning with Ana Belaval from WGN Morning News and The Container Store. I took viewers around my home and talked all things organization. Being organized is not a chore. It’s a way of life. It’s creating new habits and setting intentions that are realistic and obtainable. Follow along my two part series as I take you into different rooms of my home and give you tips on how you can live a happy, organized life.
THE MEDICINE CABINET
During the week, mornings can get a little crazy at casa di D’Angelo. All four of us (Mike, Luke, Henry and me) can be in our bathroom at once, so you better believe there is a home for everything in the medicine cabinet.
The medicine cabinet can be a tricky place to organize because it’s so narrow. While shopping for your medicine cabinet organizers know exactly what you are putting in it and then measure your space. Then, divide your small, everyday essentials in categories. This will instantly give your small space a tidy look. An added bonus is that with your pieces in plain sight - you will know when you’re running low on product and when to replenish it.
I love these clear organizers. Some are designed specifically for a medicine cabinet. The others I have linked are drawer organizers, but just because they are marketed one way doesn’t mean that’s the only way to use them! I found the depth to be perfect for my medicine cabinet. Be careful not to go over 3 inches in depth. You will not be able to swing the door closed. I have these in my medicine cabinet and love the functionality for them:
THE LINEN CLOSET
For me, the same organizing rules apply in the linen closet as they do in the medicine cabinet: organize in categories. Your linen closet usually contains towels, sheets, back-up products and other essentials that are larger in size and ones that you may not necessarily use everyday.
Give yourself time strategize with this space. There’s a lot in it and the space is larger than the medicine cabinet. Next, go through everything to see what you are going to keep in the linen closet. Medicine may have expired or you may be hoarding travel size lotions that you collected from your vacay’s that you don’t even use. Purge all that shit and start fresh. Once that’s done you can move onto the “real” part of organizing that space.
Spread your things out on the floor and put them into categories. All the medicine goes together, all the bandaids and antibacterial ointments go together, your nail supplies like your file and cuticle cutter go in a pile and your traveling toiletries too.
I use these plastic zipper pouches to store almost all our products in and absolutely love them. If I need medicine for the kids, I grab the medicine pouch and find exactly what I need, easily. If I need to cut my cuticle I know exactly where my nail kit is. Same goes for every other category. For me, its not just about the practicality of this system its the efficiency too. If any liquid spills, it spills inside the plastic pouch and not my cute, linen basket so clean up is a breeze. The larger products that do not fit in the zippered pouches goes in the same basket as the zippered pouch in its category. Here are the zippered pouches and the baskets that I use:
Stay tuned for Part II of Living a Happy, Organized Life, as I share you my #1 tip on how your master closet can look organized and tidy with just one simple trick as well as touch on how it’s never too early to teach your little ones how to be organized.
Xx, Sanem