Clutter is everywhere – in our mudrooms, closets, drawers and sometimes in plain sight! Storage is a problem in every house, no matter how big or small. And add a kid or two (or four or five), and a husband, and it’s a recipe for more clutter than you ever thought possible. I am not a clutterbug. I like everything in its place (okay, I’m actually a little OCD) and it drives me crazy not to have stuff in its proper home. The only thing on my kitchen counter is a paper towel holder, and only because my husband insisted after we got married. I don’t want to look at coffee makers, Kitchenaid mixers, and microwaves. Tripping over bins of toys and craft supplies makes me nuts. Because I’m always looking for furniture and accessories for my clients, I’m always thinking of new ways to use things to clear the clutter that inevitably invades my home. Here are a few things I’ve come up with over the years to keep my family’s junk under wraps (and way under budget-mostly!).

Shoes, glorious shoes (and coats)
We have a huge mudroom. Because it’s a big room, my family dumped their shoes and coats everywhere. When we moved in, we had one coat rack for all of our coats, and two boot trays for our shoes. The problem: no one but me put their shoes and coats where they belonged. So after two years of griping at everyone (and picking up after them-and griping about that!), I finally figured out a solution. My mother in law had given me an old cabinet a year before and I put it in my garage unsure of what to do with it. It was a shabby little thing with bowed paneling and stickers on the front. One day I was out in the garage, I saw the cabinet and thought with a coat of paint and some shelves, it might work for all of our shoes. I scrubbed off the stickers, painted several coats of bright red paint (my accent color), painted the existing hardware black, and had hubs add several thick pine shelves. The wood cost $35 but other than that, it didn’t cost me a dime.

I also had several antique iron hooks and had him mill up some beaded boards. I painted the hooks black and did a red and black distressed paint treatment on the boards to make them look old. I hung one row at a kid-friendly height, another at my height, and a third at my husband’s height (on another wall). Another issue was the apparent procreation of our hats, mittens, scarves, plus the toys and garden tools. I had a shelving unit from Pottery Barn that once held my TV and stereo. I put that in my mudroom, filled it with wooden apple crates and designated one crate to each person, plus extras for the toys, helmets, and gardening things. The wooden crates cost me $15 from a local apple orchard. Just today I bought three more to store the inevitable mess that accumulates from thin air (or my family!). The mudroom isn’t perfect, but until we’re ready to rebuild it (it will eventually be torn down and rebuilt as a proper mudroom) it serves its purpose well and is somewhat organized.

Toys, Games, and Legos
If your family is anything like mine, your kids have more toys than 10 kids could ever play with in a lifetime. We’ve cut back buying toys quite a bit in the last couple of years but our boys get so much for their birthdays and Christmas, we were just running out of room to keep it all. We moved from a much smaller house so we didn’t have a lot of furniture when we moved into our current home. For two years, we made do with bins for toy storage. I had bins everywhere – lined up along the wall, stuffed under the coffee table, piled on top of each other in the corners of the room. I really hated them. One year for our anniversary, we decided to buy a large piece of furniture to store all the toys. We looked at new furniture but nothing felt right.  On our anniversary, we got a sitter, headed to Troy (when it had lots of antique shops) and spent the day picking through shops. We finally came across a huge, oak laboratory cabinet that we both fell in love with. We hauled it home and filled it with toys (we call it the world’s most expensive toy box). After that, the rule was if it doesn’t fit in the cabinet, it doesn’t stay in the living room. It definitely wasn’t one of my bargain finds, but that’s okay. I don’t mind splurging every once in a while for something that speaks to me! And it’s really beautiful so we feel like we got double the pleasure from it!

Keep the Desk Clean
Once fall officially set in and I was freezing in my office, I decided to move to the living room for the winter (the woodstove keeps it toasty) and found myself in need of a desk (my kids’ craft table was not cutting it!).  I had my eye on the Printer’s Desk at Pottery Barn for quite a while so I did splurged a bit on the desk. But after that, I was out of money for accessories. I often write about “shopping” your own house to get a new look without spending a penny. So following my own advice, I walked around my house, gathering this and that to stylize my desk. In my home, everything has to be pretty as well as functional. I don’t buy things because they’re practical if they don’t look good too. My kids’ crayons and markers are stored in antique wooden cheese boxes, I use old wire baskets for magazine and paper storage, and keep my pens in pretty vases. I grabbed a stack of Pottery Barn design books, topped it with my boys’ marker box, and filled an antique milk glass dish with my business cards. I added a lamp from my other desk, an antique stapler and an old black phone and my desk was complete. It looks beautiful and the accessories cost me nothing! And, it gave me the opportunity to move some things around in my other rooms, making them feel fresh too! I am going to repaint my lampshade to match my décor and liven up my little corner of the world (when I find the time).

You don’t always have to spend a fortune to have the storage solutions that contain the clutter in your home. Antique dressers are some of my favorite storage solutions as are old wooden bowls and boxes. Have a piece that isn’t great but has the storage space you need? Try a new coat of paint and some new (or repainted) hardware. Look at the things you have and see if you can give them a new life with a little bit of imagination.  And when you’re done, post a picture on my Facebook page! Not sure how to start organizing your clutter? Contact me to schedule your in-person consultation today!