Getting Organized, Step 3: stock up on organizational gear

One of the reasons that our house is a mess, apart from the obvious fact that we have too much stuff, is that we lack built-it closets and other functional furniture to store our things. 

I was talking about our shoe cabinet not meeting my criteria. 
So today I found those before and after pictures. Genius! Just mine would definitely need to have a door!

 

And for those who buy shoes in every color I found the ultimate rack:

But this is only online, and in real life I frankly have no idea where to find storage solutions that help me effectively. 

There is no "Container Store" in Switzerland. And I am not talented enough to custom-make what I need. The only carpenter I know has just moved to Canada. And the inmates who made the wooden rainbow can't come to our house for obvious reasons.

So I am stuck with plastic boxes. Some are sturdier than others.

Yes, there is a whole in the box!

I took a trip to IKEA - for research purposes only, of course. Not that I had any cheesecake there. There is no cheesecake at IKEA, right? 

While I was there, my friend and I were messaging silly comments back and forth and had a blast.

 

    I need that much closet space, then I can be organized!

When I picked Colin up at Småland, a dad just dropped off his daughter. I convinced him to put the sticker on his pants, too. Hahaha, I may not have found a great shoe rack - but I started a new fashion trend!


I found it interesting to see that the sales people at IKEA have the same problem with the shoe racks that I have. And they still have to sell them. 

How are ladies supposed to store boots? 

IKEA is a Swedish Company, and surely Swedish women wear boots?



A couple of days later I went to Pfister, a traditional furniture house. They carry nice shoe cabinets, price range 2,000!?! So the shoe issue remains unsolved for now. 

Let's move on to other areas that need organizational gear. BTW - google that term and you'll find this:

I am happy to show you at least one really useful, organizational thing I have recently bought which I am really happy about. Everybody has electronic devices, right? And even if they work wireless and with batteries they need electricity from time to time. And of course every gadget has a different connection and cord which leads to a wire disorder. Not anymore on my desk - I've got a cable box:

OK, you can still see the cords on the floor :-(

Kitchen time! While I wouldn't mind having a nice pantry with matching containers, I have to prioritize my efforts, so I leave my sugar, flour, cornmeal, etc. in their original packaging where the expiration date is printed on and close them with those fasteners:

Here's an idea I discovered on a parenting forum platform. Sophia who is going on vacation and will be living in a rental apartment, filled her favorite herbs and spices in tic tac containers and decorated them with masking tape. How clever is that?

There's this drawer inserts that are fine for your regular forks and spoons.

But what am I going to do about the grinder, spatula, corkscrew,..? I was pretty sure the cherry pitter was supposed to be in this drawer. I bought a new one today. Not sure if there are any more cherries left this season, though. 

Let's just say I am prepared for summer 2014. How very organized of me ;-)

If anybody has a great idea on how to organize this drawer - please let me know!

Today I used one of the utensils from this drawer - the mini ice cream scooper -  to make Chef John's world's fastest meatballs.

And with that yummy lunch I leave you for today - until next time!