Creative Ways to Organize in the New Year

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If you are curious about some creative ways to organize in the new year, then let me help you out! I am showing a few fun ways I organize in my home and I hope they inspire you to get going! 

I always feel like the new year brings a desire for order. After taking down allll the Christmas decor I ALWAYS crave a clean slate. Too much extra weighs on me after a while…am I alone in that? Don’t get me wrong, I adore the festive holiday decor, but it feels so good to take it down and start fresh. 

I also like to get organized, do things better than the year before – you know, tackle the to-do list that has been haunting me over the holidays. In case you are like that, I wanted to round up some ideas that aren’t hard and make organizing look better. I’m not always a huge fan of store-bought organization things, they can look so stuffy and are often quite expensive. Over the years I have used some thrifted items and upcycled some things to work for my home aesthetic and my storage and organizational needs. This house was a particular challenge due to the lack of built-in storage and closets, so I had to get creative to store all my stuff.  Hopefully, these ideas will ignite some inspiration for you to get in order this year in a creative and decorative way! If there is a tutorial for the organizational hack, I will link it in the description, so click the link for details on what you are interested in. ALSO – I did an entire de-clutter/clean out series a while back that might help you with the purge process of organizing! You can get the info and free downloads here.  Here we go:

• Makeover old photo boxes into vintage feeling storage. I have lots of tutorials on different ideas, but this one is a favorite.

• Use furniture in unexpected places for dedicated storage. Make over “new” furniture to feel old and mix with your decor. Paint is a wonder supply! You should see what this cabinet looked like before…

• Vintage vessels add so much more to a countertop than regular store bought storage. Remember to USE your pretty sugar bowl, collect come vintage salt shakers for a pretty touch, use silver to hold your soaps.

• These little touches add up to create a warm lived in feel to your home. 

• Vintage soda crates are perfect for craft organization. Use them as is and hang them or set them on a counter.

• You can also paint soda crates and add to them for an upcycled storage with an elegant feel.

• Instead of plastic or new jars, use canning jars. They just feel a little more cozy and are super affordable. This works for anything from pen and paintbrush holders to kitchen staples. We really got a creative corner organized with them!

• Or try baby food jars for your little craft supplies, spices or junk drawer junk. Paint the lid for a fun change up.

• Organize extra blankets, pillows and throws in vintage crates. 

• Built in storage versus furniture. That is a great question and one only you can answer for your needs, but I have found that searching for large vintage pieces of furniture to use over paying someone to build cabinets or shelves is often a better option financially and definitely adds character and a homey, cozy feel. Like this GIANT piece of furniture I added to the study (and the small one in our entry), it organizes many of my decor pieces and overflow…

• Or this antique cabinet I bought for out living room, it hides our TV when not in use, holds photo albumins and games. Both of these options added a ton of storage and style to our home. I just had to be patient in hunting for them. 

• Hide dryer sheets or other must haves in cigar boxes. I love wooden ones or cardboard ones for a touch of typography and color. 

• Get more mileage out of your kitchen drawers by storing utensils in plain sight. I put all my wooden utensils in a crock on the counter and it frees up drawer space like crazy! 

• Stop the lost remote situation and give them all a place to land in a pretty vintage box.

• Speaking of boxes, you can make a new box fit your cozy style so easy with a little paint and a stencil. Try this raised stencil technique to kick a plain old box up a notch. I use this to store records in – pretty and functional!

• Corral clutter with a pretty bowl. You can even give some vintage beauties a touch of a face lift for added fun. 

• Don’t ignore your wall space as an organization and space saving WIN! You can build a plate rack in any sized space – large or small. This has been one of the best organizational additions to my home ever. It gets my pretties out in the open so they look good and I use them more, plus it serves as an expansion on storage space, which this house is short on! 

• Build your own. Rolling carts are an amazing organizational BFF and creating your own is not hard, plus you can mix some new and old materials for a creative, cozy feel. Like this DIY rolling cart I made for my laundry room. 

• Vintage lockers are amazing storage. These might cost a little bit more than the average thing I am talking about in this list, but they hold a ton of stuff and look amazing doing it. You can use these in a kid’s room, laundry or mud room, porch, garage or playroom to wrangle a ton of things. I actually got mine for free, so there are good deals to be had if you are patient. 

• Baskets are your friend. I use CHEAP baskets from garage sales ALL. THE. TIME. Paint them, stain them or leave them be.

• They are PERFECT for storing your overflow of cook books, magazines, blankets, dog toys, shoes, or whatever it is that tends to spread itself around you house. They add a warm texture and are seriously hard working functional items. 

• Vintage tool boxes can hold a lot of stuff in style. My boys have used this upcylced toolbox in their bathroom for years now to hold toothpaste and hair stuff. 

• Peg boards make me happy. They are a the best for storage and also can serve as a cute place to decorate. That’s a win win in my book! I built my own in the laundry room to hang brooms and such on. 

• Don’t underestimate an old rusty pan to serve as a great countertop organizational ninja! This little pan holds all my daily use spices plus some pretties for hard working kitchen counter organizing. 

• Have you seen a wooden file cabinet? These are what organizing dreams are made of. I got this old wooden file cabinet at a garage sale years ago and it double duties as an end table and storage piece all in one. Anything that looks good while working hard is a decorative win to me. I’ve seen a number of these, in various sizes and they are SO MUCH BETTER than the metal ones. When in need, go wood. 

There are so many opportunities to add creative storage to your home over store bought or the standard fair. Most of all look at items that solve a problem for you and be patient to wait for the items that meant your needs AND design style. Have fun with it and save this post for later, I truly hope it serves you well!