This wood desk organizer is modern, minimal, and surprisingly easy to make (even if your woodworking game is totally weak). Read on for step-by-step instructions on making your own, and getting your desktop all tidied up!
On any given day, if you visit our house you'll find envelopes and papers strewn all over the place because we're not yet ready to file them away. Okay, I'll admit, sometimes we're just being lazy, but for the most...
There's nothing quite like the frustration of trying to find a shirt in a dresser drawer packed full of balled up clothes. There's no order, and everything is kind of just shoved in there. While it may be tempting to just close up your dresser drawers when they start to get chaotic, being able to have everything nicely folded and visible will make getting ready in the morning a million times easier. So, rather than just tossing that tee in the back of the drawer, fold it properly the first time so you can find it when you need it. Keep reading for the best way to fold shirts, pants, socks, even underwear!
Organization: you either love it or hate it. No matter your stance, having a good system of organizing is the key to a clean, calm living space. And who doesn't want that? We've rounded up our favorite organization tips and DIY projects to help turn your home into the oasis it should be.
What are your favorite organization tips? Let us know in the comments!
Occasionally you won't notice how dirty something in your house is until it's that dirt is called out. You drop something under your couch and discover a gang of dust bunnies living underneath. You throw open your curtains and find yourself in a front-row seat to a dust dance-off floating right in front of your face. Since it's spring cleaning season, now is as good a time as any to tackle those forgotten areas of your home. And don't feel...
Pinterest is filled with organizing hacks, promising to help you achieve your wildest organizational dreams. But just how good are they? I set out to test 10 of them, and today I'm sharing the results with you. Click through to compare their versions with mine, and to read my thoughts on the functionality of each one.
If you're anything like me, you have a running list of projects you want to try. Things you save repeatedly on Pinterest, ideas you scribble down in the back of your planner, or maybe you just keep a mental list in your brain. Clothesline baskets have been on my want-to-try list for forever, and this week I took the plunge. After conquering the first one, I want to make a million of these clothesline baskets. A million! Additionally, I'm loving the simple stripe in this basket. We're exploring all things Scandinavian this month, and this basket fills the bill with equal parts monochrome and texture.
If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen my story about adventures in DIY basket land. No lie, it was a little rocky at first. I did have to start over twice, but hopefully my floundering can help you succeed. Here's what I learned: The key to a successful clothesline basket it to not rush. Take your time, and whatever you do, don't be forceful! Just sit back and let the machine do the majority of the work. Okay, let's get started! Watch to see how this basket came together, and follow the full tutorial below.
Materials
Cotton clothesline, which can be found at your local hardware store
To begin, set your sewing machine to a zigzag stitch, and load it with the neutral thread color. You will want a wide enough stitch to join the edges of clothesline together. Next, coil one end of the clothesline in a snail-shape. Keep the coil in place using straight pins.
Using a zigzag stitch, sew around the coil starting from the center, following the snail-shaped path. Your zigzag stitches should reach across the divot between the edges of clothesline. Go slowly as you begin. As needed, leave the needle down and rotate after releasing the pressure foot to make tighter turns.
Step
Continue following the coil shape, stitching the clothesline to the perimeter of your initial coil. Make sure that the zigzag stitch is catching both sides of the clothesline, otherwise you'll end up with holes in your basket. Do not pull or push on the clothesline as you stitch it in place - this will make the shape warp! The dogs of your sewing machine will feed the clothesline through as you go, keeping you at a good pace and tension. All you have to do is feed the clothesline through and keep it on track. Continue sewing until you've reached the desired size for the bottom of your basket.
Step
When you're ready to start working on the sides, rotate the bottom of the basket up, and continue stitching as before. Try to force the bottom of the basket at an angle as you stitch, but again, don't pull or push. Stitch at an angle as you continue, and the basket will begin to curl up and take shape. Once your basket has successfully turned, stitch as before. Keep sewing around and around until your basket is as tall as you want it to be.
Step
If you want to add a little extra detail to your basket, you can wrap the clothesline in floss, thread, or yarn intermittently before stitching it in place. I paused 4-5 rotations from the top to wrap the clothesline in floss, creating a stripe.
After wrapping the clothesline in floss, use matching thread to carry on the zigzag stitch.
Step
When the basket has reached the desired height, it's time to add handles. Carry the clothesline away from the basket in a handle shape and pin in place, as seen above. Continue the zigzag stitch up to the point where the handle starts. Backstitch to tie off, and pick the zigzag stitch back up where the handle ends. Repeat for the other handle.
Stitch around again, and when you meet with the first handle, sew along the top of the handle, carrying your clothesline along the handle. Continue around, and repeat for the second handle. Repeat this type of rotation as many times as desired, depending on how thick you want your handles to be.
Step
When you are finished, cut the end of the clothesline 1-2 inches away from the stitch. Sew the end in place on the inside of the basket.
And voilá! A clothesline basket!
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After getting the hang of the process, I could see marathoning a Netflix show and making a whole slew of these. Once the basket starts to take shape, it's kind of relaxing and cathartic. Basically the perfect rainy day activity. Happy sewing!
It's hard to believe, but a new year (and decade!) are here... which means that it's time for new calendars! There are tons of gorgeous, free printable calendar downloads available online, so we've rounded up our favorites in a variety of different styles. Click through to check them out and download your favorite.
It's the season of organization and purging, and it's high time to get real with ourselves. Let's talk about the junk drawer. You know the one I'm talking about. The drawer that holds everything and anything: takeout menus, a few rubber bands, hardware from that IKEA chair you bought two years ago, and an orange-handled pair of scissors. Maybe you are one of the blessed few who has managed to avoid the never-ending pit that is the junk drawer. Good for you - gold medal in adulting. If you are an actual human being like the rest of us, or just need a place to put all your tools, why not roll'em?
Working from home can be a curse and a blessing. The curse part is that you're at home and home things are always beckoning you away from work, and vice versa. One sure thing is that if you have a room to call your own, you need to make it an attractive and efficient space where you want to spend time. And if you've just blown the budget on a new furnace, don't worry, these tricks cost practically nothing.
After the hustle and bustle of the season, I find myself going into this weird funk. Our home felt like it was going to burst at the seams with all the stuff we had accumulated. The last couple weeks I've been on major purge mode to help get things feeling peaceful once more. Plus it doesn't hurt to be more organized! This simple project is all about making life easier when it comes to rearranging the home. And all it takes is breathing a...
I've always thought of my laundry room as the most troublesome room in our house. Not only is it narrow, but all of one side is taken up by a washing machine, sink and toilet. Add to that the fact that there are 2 doors that open inward, and the space starts to feel very small indeed.
I'd long ago resigned myself to having a difficult laundry room I didn't enjoy being in. Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong!
You've decked the halls, hung the stockings with care, wrapped and unwrapped the presents, and it's no wonder if you're all tired out. Hopefully now that Christmas is over you finally have a bit of time to relax. Maybe you already know exactly how you want to spend the week between Christmas and New Year's, but here are 10 ideas for how to unwind in case you've forgotten how.
I got a text the other day from my mom. She was asking me if I wanted a collection of magazines that she had held onto from my childhood (if you're curious, it was a collection of Cricket magazines from the late 70s). Then I got another text -- my mom had found an old photo that she wanted to share with me. Then four more texts came my way, each containing a picture or memory of something from the past. It was clear that she was doing some deep cleaning.
When I asked her what she was up to, she replied, "Have you heard of Swedish Death Cleaning?" Um, excuse me??
Has this happened to you? You come home and open your front door, only to immediately get hit with a whiff of something nasty? Ick. Chances are, that unpleasant odor was your kitchen trash. It's inevitable. Trash can odors are going to happen, but there are things you can do to fight the stank. Today I'm sharing a quick trick for eliminating trash can odors, plus some other pointers for keeping the smell at bay.
We're lucky enough here at Curbly to have a dedicated office space to work from. Nestled just along the divide between Minneapolis and Saint Paul, our airy studio has hosted many meetings, photo shoots, popups, and has even has doubled as an art gallery for second graders. When Curbly HQ first moved into the building in 2016, the entire space was renovated, from new flooring and lighting to a fresh paint job. Every corner of the studio was considered... well, almost every corner. Our small utility closet has remained untouched until now, and boy oh boy, has it been in need of some TLC.
I'll be the first to say that I adore those earring and necklace holders that are shaped like cacti or little porcelain animals. But they don't always hold a lot of jewelry, which means my vast collection of pendants ends up overflowing onto my dresser. So instead of using a whole bunch of little bowls that take up space, I thought I'd go down a different route and make myself a jewelry organizer that's hidden in plain sight. Best of all, I got a brand new piece of wall art to brighten up my walls in the process!
If you've ever gone on an organizing spree, I probably don't have to tell you that the cost of stuff to organize your stuff can really add up. But if you want to get organized on a budget, your best bet is to create solutions with things you already have. Things that might instead end up in the trash or recycling, so you're saving the planet at the same time. These upcycled organization ideas for every room in the house prove that with a little creativity, you don't have to spend big bucks to create an organized space.
True story: I am a little obsessed with organization. I love my home when it's free of clutter, I do believe heaven is The Container Store, and I get a serious rush when I've folded all my t-shirts just right. Maybe I am a bit on the obsessive side, but I think we all can agree that a clean home is simply an easier one to inhabit. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed by junk, or you're already on a journey towards organizational bliss, this shopping guide is for you. Today I'm sharing a few of my favorite home organization products from Amazon, all of which are affordably priced.
For a while now, I've been trying to figure out how to make the kitchen in my apartment more user-friendly. It's tiny house small. It's a classic galley, only instead of countertops and cupboards flanking both sides of a narrow passage, everything is shoved on one side, facing a blank wall. Because the rental kitchen is so narrow, it hasn't made much sense to put anything on the adjacent wall, save for a trash can and recycling bin. But my kitchen seriously lacks counter space, and I figured if my garbage receptacles were going to take up precious square footage, they might as well do double-duty. Enter this cabinet hack:
Bathrooms can be boring. And they often are. But they don't have to be! A bathroom is a great place to start if you'd like to add some personality to your home. Click through to check out ten easy tips and tricks for adding some serious character to your bathroom.
