Organization Porn

by Katy on October 29, 2012 · 26 comments

If you’re like me, nothing gets you hotter than taking a previous organizational disaster and transforming it into a haven of order. Desk drawers, linen cupboards, basements. It’s all good.

Wait, organization does not get you hot? Right . . . I never said that, that would be weird to say. Moving along now . . .

I like to browse Ikea for ideas, and I really like the free coffee that you get when you join their free Ikea Family program. However, the Portland Ikea is nowhere near my house, although it is dab smack next to the airport. So when I drop friends and family at the airport I take it as an opportunity to paw over fabric and drink their rich smooth coffee.

And of course I peruse their As-Is section. I rarely buy anything, but I’ve found the wiring for a globe lamp project, as well as wooden shelves to expand my pantry.

This visit? I found two sets of their Skubb storage boxes. (Seriously, could this word be any more disturbing? It’s skunk + stub + schlub!) I have two sets of these which have been a huge success in organizing our underwear/sock drawers. One set I received as a gift from my sister, the other was from their As-Is department. My Ikea sells these for $9.99 per set, but these floor models were priced at $5.00 apiece, so I snapped them up.

This is what I’m talking about:

I am somehow okay with buying scratch and dent stuff, as they usually come packaging free and their purchase does not trigger the manufacture of a new item.

Can you see why I was unable to resist the siren song of these drawer organizers? However many times we I refold my husband’s T-shirts, they always revert to this configuration:

Better, no? And the best part is that my husband took one look at his freshly organized drawer and spontaneously started talking about he needed to get rid of a few of his shirts.

And that, my dear readers is better than a fine recording of Bolero to my ears. 😉

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Twitter.

Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.

Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Pinterest.

{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }

Megyn October 29, 2012 at 9:02 am

Oh we have those too…and they are the one thing I refuse to get rid of! I’m pretty sure one of my phrases could be, “I could put that in a box!” (note to self: that will be my next vlog) 😉

Reply

Karen October 29, 2012 at 9:18 am

Oh boy, that’s ALL his t-shirts? You would have a field day with Scott. Pretty sure we could outfit the entire 5th grade at Hannah’s school. Shame on us!

Reply

Louise October 29, 2012 at 9:47 am

I love those Ikea drawer organizers. I started with one set, and am now on my third. But, I never thought about my Husbands T-shirt drawers … they overflow. Thanks for the fantastic idea!

Reply

Jenzer October 29, 2012 at 10:01 am

I’ve told my husband more than once that decluttering is a powerful aphrodisiac. :p

Reply

Katy October 29, 2012 at 3:53 pm

😉

Katy

Reply

Reese October 29, 2012 at 10:33 am

Oh, Katy. How many dear readers are going to be getting hot and bothered now, just looking at your husband’s t-shirt drawer? ;p *blush*

Love it. I often find that when I put shirts in the drawer that way, they’re harder to get out. I end up inadvertently messing up more 🙁 Has your husband had any problems with this?

Reply

Megyn October 29, 2012 at 1:45 pm

Another option is folded and stacked up or rolled. Both generally cause us less mess with the typical grab-and-go method 🙂

Reply

Cyndi October 30, 2012 at 7:17 am

You could get rid of enough so that they fit hanging in the closet with the rest of the clothes.

We haven’t quite achieved that, so we have some in a dresser, but the ones currently being worn are hanging.

Reply

Katy October 30, 2012 at 8:37 am

Our closet is not very big and is already full despite us not owning that much clothing.

Yup. 1914 house.

Katy

Reply

Alison Wiley October 29, 2012 at 11:18 am

Your husband sounds so open to your organizational gifts. Um, can we trade husbands?

Kidding.

Seriously, I count myself lucky that my household has found agreement on a sensible, no-waste thing to give trick or treaters come Wednesday night. Come on over to see what we decided.

Reply

Another Katy October 29, 2012 at 2:51 pm

Clicking on your name brought me to:
http://www.diamondcutlife.com/

Probably not your blog!

Reply

Tina October 30, 2012 at 5:52 am

I found it by adding .org instead: http://www.diamondcutlife.org/

Reply

Jo@simplybeingmum October 29, 2012 at 1:03 pm

I’m more of a basket girl myself, but I still have to be dragged away from storage boxes aisles in most stores.
I’ve been using shoe-boxes to organize the kids undies etc… and toys of course. However have been getting slightly carried away and am now upcycling the original packaging the toy came in and decorating the shoeboxes. Box 1 was no problem, but I now have a backlog! I’ve even been found spray painting in the garage to finish and seal them – kinda defeats the object of the low-cost of them!

Reply

Kelly October 29, 2012 at 9:54 pm

THIS! I always save shoeboxes that are excessively pretty but never thought of using them as drawer organizers! Yay for this!

Reply

Laurie October 29, 2012 at 1:32 pm

Hello. I found some similar at the dollar store that come in varioius sizes in the section with hangers, etc….They come in various sizes/colors and are very sturdy and yes, they are only a dollar.
Thank you for your continued thoughtful ideas.

Reply

Ellie October 29, 2012 at 1:51 pm

Hey, wait a sec – dark wood, slightly bowed front, faint goldish line around drawers, round knobs – your husband’s dresser appears to be twin to mine!

Except mine needs some of that organization he’s now got going on!

Reply

Katy October 29, 2012 at 4:00 pm

Husband’s dresser? We share it!

Katy

Reply

Molly October 30, 2012 at 6:06 am

oh, oh, OH!!! organizer porn!

I get that when I see those organized bookshelves. With extra space to grow.

Reply

Molly October 30, 2012 at 6:07 am

(swoon)

Reply

jennifer October 30, 2012 at 7:40 am

So glad to hear I’m not the only one who finds being organized, extremely pleasing ! Great Post.

Reply

Paula in the UP October 30, 2012 at 8:57 am

Nice find, I could use a couple of them!! I have pared my wardrobe down so I no longer have a dresser. There is shelving in my closet and those would be great for my socks and under clothing. Sadly there is NO IKEA anywhere near me or on my way to anywhere.

Reply

Mari October 30, 2012 at 10:08 am

Skubb actually means “to push” in Swedish. Love your word-association 😉

Reply

Katy October 30, 2012 at 10:14 am

How is that related to underwear storage? 😉

Katy

Reply

Shelly October 30, 2012 at 9:40 pm

I had seen these in the Ikea catalog. I wasn’t sure these would work for us. But I think I will check the As-is section the next time I am at Ikea. I will organize the drawers but they never seem to stay nice very long these look like they will work great.

Reply

Ashley November 2, 2012 at 10:16 am

PLEASE tell me you watch 30 Rock! It’s not organizing drawers but after reading this post I couldn’t help but think of this clip from a recent episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qscjtqnp8o4
Genious!

Reply

Erica November 2, 2012 at 12:50 pm

Being Swedish doesn’t really help when it comes to understanding / explaining most of Ikeas names on their stuff :P. The only thing “skubb(a)” means would be slang for “skipping school”…I don’t think that’s what they intended though ;).

Reply

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: