5 Things for an Organized Bedroom:

Hello Folks,

Hope you are all doing Good.

Our bedrooms are the best description of our personality. If you want to know about yourself, take a lazy look at the surroundings of your bedroom secretly without changing a thing. What did you observe? Did your eyes come back surprised? Probably not! Because you saw, what you are and you know yourself for years.

Now take a paper and write down first five words that came to your mind during this lazy eye trip. First five words that came to your mind without struggling hard are probably the best ones to define who you are, the best things about you, and the weaker areas where you need bit tweaking. Let me help you with the few words: Is your room:

•               Boring or an eye Treat

•               Maintained or clumsy

•               Cluttered or Organized

•               Chic or blatant

•               Nicely put together or Lacks style

•              Can’t Live Without or Better off without

Sad it is but still my room lacks glamor and though it may be organized it lacks style and accessories that could put everything together. Anyways, recently, I started making a list of things that really put a bedroom together, make it look organized with no effort and can make room ready to welcome an unexpected guest. Let’s Start.

1# CARPET: 

You believe it or not a carpeted bedroom looks many times better than a non-carpeted one unless the floor is worth dying for. It dresses up the room elegantly. Though, it might be difficult to keep it clean, it’s worth it. My sister recently started her married life. Living in another city, she shared the picture of her bedroom before it got carpeted and it looked horrific. I wished her good luck. After a month, I gave her a visit and voila room looked so different with a carpeted floor and additions of curtains (furniture was still the same).

If you are not in favor of covering the entire flooring area, you might use a large rug that could do the function of a carpet while still allowing you to say hello to the bare floor. 

2# CURTAINS: 

Ah! I always underestimated the power of curtains. But no more! In a bedroom, curtains might not be the show stopper but without them nothing can be. The new home (we shifted last year in June), there is a nearly a wall sized window in every room that lets you look at the greenery, a rising sun, and every Tom and Harry passing by. If you don’t put covers on such a window that basically opens up half of the wall, your bedroom becomes extension of the view outside and the room fails to offer you the privacy & coziness of a bedroom. By putting curtains, you start defining the limit by claiming a world of your own. Choose a good style and an elegant pattern for curtains and drapes, and it will change the mood of the entire room secretly. 

3# A MADE BED:

It doesn’t matter if you have a Queen-sized bed or a King-sized, a double bed or a single bed; thing that matters is if it’s made or not. I can’t stress enough. Even if your mornings are too busy to pick up the stuff, take out the time to make your bed. Not only it will instantly make the room look more presentable, it would also give you something to land on when you retire from the day.

My mother is so particular about this that whenever she used to wake us up, she reminded us that we should not start getting ready before we had made our beds. In the beginning, it felt like armoring up for a battle but soon it became habit and I give you my words, it makes a huge difference.

 

4# A STATEMENT WALL:

The purpose of the statement wall is to steal the attention. Even if your room is somewhat cluttered, a good statement wall will make it look otherwise. Because, it will shift the focus from an unpleasing sight to more well thought out pieces of art.  

5# PROPER LIGHTING: 

Proper lighting brightens up the room and accentuates its key features by adding a dramatic effect. Lamps, candles, chandelier, and twinkling lights, all can make a room look more serene and lavish. 

 

How are the things at your end? Do keep me posted. With Love,

 

Photo Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

 

5 Simple Tips To Organize Your Makeup Today:

Hello My Lovely Friends!

It’s often said, “You need natural looks to look beautiful; but, you need makeup to look natural.” When I was doing my MBA, it’s only then that I started using makeup. Before that, a moisturizer, lip gloss, and an eye liner were all that I used at max even on any special occasion. As I grew up, however, I familiarized myself with somewhat more striking beauty “instruments”. Struggle of using them properly on my face came along with the challenge of organizing them. I won’t say I was successful the very first time. Rather, I had to experiment with different solutions to finally pick out one that is now serving me well.

How would you know, if your make up is organized or not? Simple! I’m going to ask you few questions and if your answers to most of them are yes, then don’t worry my friend, you got it just right. Otherwise, Spare one hour on THIS WEEKEND to organize your makeup.

1)    If I ask to pick your favorite eye shadow, will you find it for me with in 1 minute?

2)    Is your makeup arranged in a way that you can get ready within 10 minutes?

3)     Have you gotten rid of all expired/broken makeup items?

These three simple questions are enough to assess whether or not you are organized when it comes to your makeup. Even if you are somewhat organized, today’s post will give you some more ideas, love, energy and motivation to get everything straight.

 

TIP 1: CLOSE PROXIMITY

I always suggest storing makeup in close proximity to the place where you get ready. For example, if you get ready in the bathroom, try organizing your makeup on/near the bathroom counter. If you use your modish vanity table to get ready, sort everything in its drawers or position a chest of drawers near it to have everything easily accessible.

It’s important because you don’t have to pick one or two items from makeup cabinet and run all the way to bathroom to apply them and then return to pick some more. It’s a very high maintenance system – leaving many items on the bathroom countertop thinking you’ll put them back when free or at night. It’s a big NO.

If for some reason, it’s not possible consider having a makeup caddy instead so that you could carry it to the place where you do your makeup. Everything is nearby and so easy to put back.

TIP 2: COFFEE BEANS FOR BRUSHES

Brush bristles are very delicate and demand regular upkeep and caution for longer life. Take a clear glass vase and put coffee beans in it to make a home for brushes. It was sad to see my favorite brushes “dead” after two months of usage as I was storing them incorrectly. Clear vase full of beans, rice, or artificial grains keep them intact.  

TIP 3: MOST USED, MOST HANDY

No matter how strongly I snub my desire to collect more makeup, I often end up buying just another shade (but a different one). Of course, I don’t use them all every single day. So, there’s no point storing them all together. I have a very set routine when it comes to makeup. I have little to no variation to the steps and shades of makeup I use on daily basis for office. For that matter, I have had my makeup divided into categories: Daily Use and special events & occasions.

Daily use items are kept together regardless of type in one container. For example, one particular BB cream, eye shadows kit, blush, one blush-on brush, three four lipsticks are conveniently stored in one box and over the vanity table. It has simplified my morning routine thousand times. I can now get ready within ten minutes.

TIP 4: DETERMINE WHAT YOU HAVE & WHAT YOU NEED

I am convinced, unless you know what you need to organize how you would get it organized. Take whatever you have collected so far and place it on a clear surface (I like to do it on my bed). First things first, set aside broken and expired items and happily throw them NOW.

Also, if you haven’t used an item for last six months chances are you’ll not use it in the future. It’s better to gift them to those who are most likely to use these items. May be you have five shades of same color, may be one particular brand looks best on your skin. Think of these questions and keep only those items that you use and/or will use in the future.

It will also enable you to figure out things that you don’t have. For example, I was obsessed with collecting foundations and had God knows how many. Still, I often found myself borrowing other things from my sister as I never thought of buying them ( I never thought of buying any eye makeup product myself). After making a list of what I have and what I need, I came to a conclusive list that helped to turn my attention to other important items required to look pretty.

TIP 5: DIVIDE & CONQUER

Divide & conquer rule is so effective in the world of organizing that right compartmentalization gives neat effect to everything. Don’t stack eye shadows on top of each other praying that they’ll stay together for life time. You need a fool proof system. Using boxes, baskets, containers, jars, and drawer dividers keep your items from getting jumbled up. I believe the art of staying organized is hidden in the power and ease of your organizing system. If your system is difficult to maintain, chances are low that you’ll.

 

You all are beautiful, just keep reminding yourself that. No amount of makeup can make you confident, if you yourself are not sure about your loveliness. Hope you find these tips helpful on your way to a beautiful world.

Image Credits: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8

 

How to Organize Linen Closet:

The thing I love more than a nicely made bed is an organized linen closet that contains neatly folded sheets. Why I love it more than the made bed? Because an organized closet makes it much easier to find everything speedily that is required to make bed. Finding one pillow case missing is so frustrating.

Normally, at many homes, I have noticed, linen closet is a place to dump everything that doesn’t find any other home. So, today, I’m going to share some inspiring ideas to organize an overflowing linen closet.

 

WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE IN IT?

Unless you are crystal clear what functions you want your linen closet to serve, it will be a mess. You know why? Because, whenever you’ll want to hide clutter, you’ll always look to this poor closet. Be honest with yourself. Take your time and list down what you want to store in this cupboard. You might want to consider storing beddings, folded sheets, towels, extra tissue roles, medicines, first aid kit, and/or blankets etc. these are merely suggestions as only you can decide how big or small your closet is. If you have space, you can also store extra beauty and hygiene supplies as well.

COMPARTMENTALIZE:

Once you agree on the items that you want to store, think of the ways to compartmentalize them. Not always we have a linen closet with built in dividers; nonetheless, we can use shelve dividers and baskets to segregate everything. Compartmentalizing and creating distinctive zones is important to force yourself to put things back to their designated places. And I feel, once a thing has an “official home” it is more likely to stay organized.

CONSIDER FREE STANDING LINEN CLOSET:

I know how bad it feels to not have enough built in closets to make one dedicated to linens and beddings. But, so what! I don’t have one either. And, I find free standing linen closets nearly as perfect as a built-in one. Rather, they facilitate more compartmentalization, offer more drawers and are easier to move around.

LABEL BASKETS:

Having labeled baskets is such an amazing way to keep everything out of sight and not out of mind. On reading a label, you can easily discern what to expect in that individual basket without even pulling it out. And labeling is so much fun. Literally, you can have your personality and creativity illustrated through customized labels. I looooove making customized labels. In DIY week, I have one post dedicated to label making. Hope, you’ll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Fingers Crossed!

You can optimize the utilization of closet space by adding made-up shelves.

FOLD IT TO HOLD IT:

I swear I can spare as long as it takes to fold sheets nicely than to throw them In closet jumbled up. Not because I love folding (I know nobody does); but, I know folded sheets stay put and are stress free to work with. Little time spent to fold sheets pays off big time. And personally, I like to stack folded sheets vertically in a basket. That supports me to look at every option available without ruining the entire arrangement.

I hope you find these ideas helpful. And,

                                      

Picture Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Room By Room Organizing With Pegboards:

It wasn’t a long ago when I absolutely fell in love with nicely painted pegboards to organize just about everything. Now, garage is not the only place where you’ll find this amazing organizing tool doing wonders. Reason why I fell in love with pegboards was their ability to make organizing easy and visually pleasing. Just imagine, before pegboards, our garage used to look a sheer mess. This post is a celebration of pegboards’ existence and a way to organize every room using them.

KITCHEN:

Cooking gears are hard to handle. When I’m cooking, I like to find everything quickly. Pegboards are like hangers for me. Just as I can see my hanged clothes better; hanged kitchen tools are easier to find. And, looking at them is no less than a cookie treat for me.

 

CRAFT ROOM:

Okay, now if you are crafty, you know how quickly those laces and ribbons get tangled. And those beads start rolling under the furniture secretly. Using pegboards in craft room is a guaranteed way to give yourself a huge favor.

KIDS ROOM:

I’m still single; but, when I was a kid I knew an organized station used to make me so productive. Pegboard is ideal not just for holding stationery cans but also the art work. With little efforts, it can be turned into a display board, stationery organizer, calendar, and a bulletin board.

BEDROOM:

Sometimes, when bedroom is small, finding storage space around the bed is little difficult. Why not use behind the bed space to store small items. It’s like a headboard with loads of storage space and everything will stay within reach.

JEWELRY:

I have always found it hard to organize necklaces in a scrambled free manner. Little hooks attached to pegboards let you organize necklaces, smaller tops, sun glasses and other accessory items with style. Other earrings organizing ideas can be found here.

HOME OFFICE:

Good three four years back, I watched Alejandra’s home office video and it was absolutely stunning. The way she used the combination of kebab sticks, hooks and a colored pegboard was simply amazing. Since then, I have adored using pegboard to keep my little home office desk organized. There’s so much you can do with it.

GARAGE:

Can you think of organizing garage without pegboard? At least I can’t. With so many tools, heavy gears, and small screws garage becomes a challenging place to keep organized.

LAUNDRY ROOM:

Since last month, Me and my younger sister are doing laundry. I didn’t find washing difficult more than keeping cleaning bottles, iron stand, and other things in control. Finding right bottle of surf, soaps and starch in itself was a challenge. This idea of organizing laundry room with pegboard has definitely made me interested in giving it a go.

YOUR SAY!

Did you find these ideas helpful? Have you used this wonderful tool anywhere in your house for organizing purposes? Share your ideas with us.

Photos Credit:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12