Baskets, Containers and Bins, oh my!

The Organizing Junkie blog lady is having a Basket Carnival on her blog. I didn't realize HOW many baskets I have scattered around my house until I read her post! You know you're a little neurotic when people (yes, that's plural) tell you that your pantry looks like a grocery store or your cousin calls everyone in the family over during the Easter dinner preparations to look inside your hall closet.

So here we go...first, my bedroom closet. I found these baskets on sale at Joann's a few months ago and decided to "dress up" my closet. I figured I could be efficient and relocate my bras, sports bras, underwear and socks to these baskets on the unused shelf between the top and bottom clothes racks. Because seriously, there's not really enough room there to put anything useful! So it collected clutter and lots of dust bunnies. No more! This picture is dark and hard to see, but here are the 4 baskets that separate each item:

I also have baskets in my pantry. Only a handful, holding odds and ends like "grab-on-the-go" snacks, baking stuff, nuts and raisins and other random snacks.

And this is my hall closet. On the left are our coats and a hanging shoe rack with rarely-worn shoes stuffed inside, then there's the used shoe shelves on the ground, with a big crate for the kids to toss their shoes so the pairs stay together and don't get lost. On the right side of the closet are shelves with bins holding batteries, outside play stuff, sunscreen, stuff like that. The bins on the top hold all of the stray cords and cables, light bulbs, sewing stuff, party decorations, and other household items that you need occasionally, but never know where they are. About a year ago, I got sick of not knowing where the extension cords or extra mouse pads were, so I waited for the storage bins to go on sale, stocked up, grouped all of the items by logical category, labeled everything and within an afternoon, this closet was flawlessly organized.

I also have baskets under each coffee table in our family room. One holds stray toys (makes picking up a breeze) and the other has diapers and wipes (so I don't have to bring Kaylin up and down the stairs throughout the day).

And last, I have this wonderful item that I bought while I was pregnant with Ryan. The baskets above the changing table have been a lifesaver. One has Tylenol, a thermometer, the syringe and like items, another has bath stuff (when I bathed the kids at the kitchen sink, it was so easy to grab and had everything I needed, minus a towel), and the other basket currently has headbands and bows that aren't on the ribbons hanging from the pegs. I'm not sure what I had in there when it was Ryan's. -?- Anyway, this was probably my first basket-type organizational purchase years ago and it got me hooked on containerizing.