UHeart Organizing: A Darling Drawer DIY

I am a sucker for inexpensive and easy organizing solutions.  Aren't we all really?  My pal Ashli is a pro at finding inexpensive ways to create darling storage ideas on a budget and today she is here to show us how she added space saving storage to a spot that is often under-utilized; under the bed!

I cannot resist an Ikea As-Is deal! On every trip to Ikea you can find me clutching something random item, with a blank look on my face wondering what I can do with it. Last week it was two BIG DRAWERS. I couldn't figure out what to do with them but for $4 each I couldn't resist.

I eventually landed on re-purposing them as under bed storage. We have a small little bed, for small little guests and instead of storing the extra blankets and pillows in the linen closet, I thought the big drawer would be perfect. 4 wheels later and we had a rolling storage.

Here's how we did it in 2 steps.

Step 1: You'll need to cut two strips of wood. We just used some old baseboard. If you were using a solid wood drawer you wouldn't need this step, but because Ikea drawers aren't solid wood on the bottom, you'll need to add a piece so the wheel screws have something to grip in to.

Step 2: After you've placed the wood into the drawer, attach your wheels on the bottom. You don't need to screw or nail the wood in, the screws from the wheels will pull the wood tight. Screw in all four wheels and you're set!

It was a 5 minute project for a total of $8 per drawer.

I think this project would be great for anything from seasonal clothes, to kids toys, to spare linens.

"I’m Ashli from Mini Manor Blog. I live in Big Beautiful British Columbia with my Husband Lee and our 5 lb yorkie Max.  I have an organizers heart, I am a bin-aholic, and I’ve never met a wicker basket I didn’t love. During the summer I can be found lounging in the garden or at the gym . . . one of those was a lie. And in the last 5 years I’ve made more then 2000 cupcakes. I want to bake, eat and organize. Hand me some eggs, flour and an unorganized kitchen, that’s my idea of a great weekend, okay go ahead throw Ryan Gosling in there too."

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UHeart Organizing: A Little Love for Laundry

I literally drool every single time I see Ashli's laundry room.  It is so clean, simple, well thought out and ORGANIZED!  And what I love most, is that it isn't a huge space!  It is a spot that anyone can take tips from, whether you have a large room or an itty bitty closet.  She has mastered laundry room organization and is here today to share some of her tips!

I'm so excited to be back on iHeart Organizing! This time around I decided that our catch all of a laundry room needed an overhaul!

We recently added some special touches to our teeny tiny laundry room, a counter on top of our front loading machines, and a bar for hanging wet laundry.

Now it was time to get down to the details. First I added a tray {from Ikea}. Next I decanted our detergent into some old milk bottles. You can still buy milk in glass bottles, and they are way less expensive than other glass container, plus you get a bunch of free milk!! ;)

I used another container for vinegar {we use vinegar as a natural fabric softener}. I added a spray bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. We've always used Hydrogen Peroxide as a stain remover and it works really well.

And every laundry room needs a piggy bank. I have no idea why but husbands tend to carry tons of change, our last piggy bank full bought me a new pair of heels for New Years Eve! ;)

Next I moved on to organizing our one and only laundry cabinet. First I added a pocket from Martha Stewart's line at Staples. I keep the manuals for our washer and dryer inside, and in front I keep a stain removal chart {found here}.

On to the cabinet itself. I pared it down to the bare necessities, some borax, washing soda, our hardwood floor cleaner, some bar mops, a couple of baskets for the ugly {things like shoe polish, suede cleaner, etc}. Of course, the iron!

Pretty simple, but very functional. I LOVE an organized laundry room! And somehow knowing where the washing machine manual is, makes me feel like I have my life together and I'm a real live grown-up. ;) haha

And because we all love bullet points so much, to organize our laundry room we:

• Used pretty bottles for detergent and fabric softener
• A spray bottle for stain remover
• A tray to help corral counter clutter, and help catch any detergent run off
• An Adorable piggy bank
• A clear pocket for manuals and stain removal charts
• Some baskets to contain "The Ugly"
• and last but definitely not least . . . a big de-cluttering session!  I made sure that there was nothing in the little laundry cabinet that shouldn't be there! 

"I’m Ashli from Mini Manor Blog. I live in Big Beautiful British Columbia with my Husband Lee and our 5 lb yorkie Max.  I have an organizers heart, I am a bin-aholic, and I’ve never met a wicker basket I didn’t love. During the summer I can be found lounging in the garden or at the gym . . . one of those was a lie. And in the last 5 years I’ve made more then 2000 cupcakes. I want to bake, eat and organize. Hand me some eggs, flour and an unorganized kitchen, that’s my idea of a great weekend, okay go ahead throw Ryan Gosling in there too."

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UHeart Organizing: A Super Solution for Deep Drawer Storage

Today I am excited to extend a warm welcome to my pal Ashli.  Ashli has a love for organizing and an eye to make it lovely, and today she is stopping over from Mini Manor Blog to share with us her genius solution for storing items in those super deep drawers. 

Hi Guys! I'm so excited to be on I Heart Organizing today! I tackled a project that has been bothering me since the day I moved into my home 2 years ago.

You see I have no room in my dining room for a sideboard.

So logically I moved all of our fancy pants dishes and serving trays into the kitchen. I had two drawers to be used as a "sideboard".

The first drawer is a wide shallow drawer perfect for napkins and small side plates.

But it was the larger second drawer that needed some work. Don't get me wrong... big deep pot drawers are great, if you're storing pots in them. But if you're storing spare dishes, there is a lot of wasted space. Since we would also need to store our fancy pants cutlery I thought about sliding cutlery trays!!!

It was really simple to do, a few supplies from home depot and about an hour of time.

1.  You'll need some trim from the molding department. This L shaped edging works really well. We just glued it on to the edges, making sure to keep it clamped overnight!

2.  Spray paint them whatever color you like. We chose Sun Yellow by Rustoleum!

3.  You'll need two boards . . . one for the front of your drawer and one for the back. Cut them to size, paint them white, and screw them to the inside of your drawer.

4.  Your newly sprayed {and hopefully dry} trays should fit right in. I can easily push them to the left or right to reach dishes below!

Everything fit in perfectly. We have room for our plates, chargers, place mats, serving spoons, napkin rings, cutlery and a couple serving platters.

And the best part is no wasted space!

Thank you so much Jen!!!

"I’m Ashli from Mini Manor Blog.  I live in Big Beautiful British Columbia with my Husband Lee and our 5 lb yorkie Max.  I have an organizers heart, I am a bin-aholic, and I’ve never met a wicker basket I didn’t love. During the summer I can be found lounging in the garden or at the gym . . . one of those was a lie. And in the last 5 years I’ve made more than 2000 cupcakes. I want to bake, eat and organize. Hand me some eggs, flour and an unorganized kitchen, that’s my idea of a great weekend, okay go ahead throw Ryan Gosling in there too."

Read More