baskets

Baskets: Five Ways to Use Them in Your Space

home decor

I have a basket obsession. It’s pretty serious. Every single time I go into HomeGoods or any other home decor store, I have to make a stop in the basket aisle. I feel like they not only look so beautiful, but they are so functional. Today I’m going to share with you five ways I have used baskets in my apartment.

Plants: I’m sure you’ve seen this all over Pinterest or Instagram, but this is a really great way to use a basket. I’ve found that larger plant pots are usually pretty pricey and heavy. When I got my bird of paradise, I knew I wanted to place it in a basket. All you have to do is find a basket large enough to house your plant’s pot and buy a saucer to go at the bottom of the basket (I think I got this one). The saucer will protect the basket and your floors from water damage.

Shoes: Using a basket to toss your shoes in next to your entry way is an easy way to keep them all kept together instead of spread out across your floor. For us, we had our cycling shoes next to our Peloton, but I hated seeing them out on the floor all the time. I found this basket and decided to tuck our shoes away in there, which makes the space less cluttered and me more happy.

Blankets: I had a couple of cozy blankets that I wanted to have close to the couch for movie nights and afternoon naps, but i didn’t like having them folded on the couch or tucked away in a closet. I decided to pick up a wider basket to keep a few blankets in. I keep it right by the tv stand, where I can grab one before plopping on the couch for a snooze. I also have another basket in our bedroom that I keep an extra blanket in for super cold nights.

Hiding Clutter: This is arguably my favorite use for baskets. I hate clutter so, so much. Especially when it isn’t intentional or cute. There are some things that are just useful to have nearby, but not pretty at all. For instance, my fiance likes to keep a cloth and some screen cleaner on the end table near our Peloton. Sure, it’s useful… but it’s really ugly. So, I got this set of three baskets from Ikea and used one of them to keep these items out of sight. I especially love baskets with lids to hide clutter. I used the other two baskets in the set for keys and spare change in our entry way.

Bathroom Storage: Like I said before, I love baskets with lids to hide clutter or to store ugly things. I used two of these baskets in our bathroom. One is used to store extra toilet paper and air freshener next to the toilet. The other is used in the cabinet under the sink to organize all of my hair masks, bath goodies, etc. It makes it a lot easier to find what I need instead of sifting through a sea of products.

Do you use baskets in your space? If so, what are your favorite ways to use them? Leave a comment below.

Love Always,

Kathleen

Organizing My Pantry

organize

I’m constantly struggling to keep my pantry nice and neat. No matter how many times I rearrange the shelves, it never seems to function well or stay neat for long. Today, I’m going to try out a few new things that will hopefully end my seemingly constant battle with this pantry. But first, let’s take a look at the current state of the pantry…

I know, it looks a little scary.

Now, let’s discuss my issues are with what’s going on in here:

  • The floor space is a big mess of reusable bags
  • The snack section is overflowing
  • It’s hard to keep things in the right section, and also hard to find some things
Extremely messy snack area
So. Many. Trader. Joe’s. Bags.

So, what are we going to do about it? We’re going to take a trip to HomeGoods, of course. HomeGoods is one of my favorite stores, especially for my organization needs. They have a huge selection of baskets, trays, containers, etc.

Storage baskets found at HomeGoods.

I already had a couple of wire baskets and large mason jars that I had found at HomeGoods a long time ago. On this trip, I found a set of three larger storage baskets, a couple of medium sized baskets, as well as a few small canisters. If you’re on the hunt for kitchen storage solutions, don’t just look in the kitchen area. I found the bigger baskets in the closet/laundry section of the store. These baskets were bigger than the first ones I had found, plus they were a little more affordable, which is a big win in my book.

I pretty much knew how I wanted to separate the items in my pantry:

  • Baking Goods
  • Pasta, Rice, Sauce
  • Smoothie Ingredients
  • Weekend Breakfast Goods
  • Cooking Oils and Canned Goods
  • Tea & Cocoa
  • Crackers & Nut Mixes
  • Healthy Snacks
  • Sneaky Sweets

Right off the bat, I knew that I wanted the Baking Goods and Pasta baskets to go on the higher shelf, because these are things that I don’t need to reach for all the time. Usually, if I need to grab something off of that shelf, I’ll need to use a step stool, especially if the item is all the way in the back. By grouping the items together in baskets, I can easily just pull out the whole basket and have everything I need rather than searching for each item I need.

I knew I wanted the third big basket to go on the same shelf, but I wasn’t sure what I’d use it for. At first I had all my smoothie supplies in the basket, but I changed my mind for two reasons; 1. I make smoothies often and wanted easier access to the ingredients and 2. My excessive tea collection definitely needed a bigger basket. So, I ended up putting the tea that I don’t usually go for too often, or that are extras, in this basket.

So one shelf complete, two to go. I chose to use my two wire baskets for the Weekend Breakfast and Cooking Oil/Canned Goods categories. I really like having the cooking oils front and center, because I use them daily. I also opted to place the smoothie goods on this shelf, for the same reason. I used the small canisters to store my peanut protein powder, raw cacao powder, and chia seeds. The peanut protein powder had been in a huge jar that was less than halfway full. By transferring it to the small canister, I cleared up a lot of space. For the cacao and chia seeds, I had two packages of each, so placing them in the canisters not only saved space, but made it look a lot neater.

The last shelf was dedicated to my favorite teas, some healthy snacks, and some sneaky sweets. My fiancé loves his protein bars, so I always like to keep a basket stocked up with his favorites. And we both have a major sweet tooth problem, so we can’t help but have a section dedicated to our sneaky sweet treats.

And finally, I took on the floor space. I consolidated all of our reusable bags into one small section by folding them down neatly and storing them in a bigger bag. I also ended up folding down a brown paper bag to store my foil, parchment paper, and trash bags.

Now, let’s take a look at the before and after:

Overall, I’m really pleased with how this turned out. I think it’s so much more functional than it was before, and will hopefully be a lot easier to maintain.

What are some of the spaces that you struggle to keep organized in your home? What works for you? I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Love Always,
Kathleen