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    Giving a Room In My Home a New Purpose

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    Do you have a room in your home that you find you don’t use anymore or one that you no longer need because grown children are out on their own?

    Or perhaps you no longer need the function a room provided for you in the past or the space no longer serves you best? If your spaces aren’t working for the way you live now, it might be time for a change. I just made such a change.

    A few years ago I wrote a post about when you go about decorating your home to make sure you are using the room exactly for what you need and will inspire you to live your best life.

    Many of us get hung up on the fact that in the builder’s blueprint layout of the house the room are marked, dining room, bedroom, or living room. Just because a builder thinks you need all these functional spaces, there is no reason to have to use them for those needs.

    The only rooms that usually have to stay to the plan are kitchens and bathrooms as it would be too expensive to change these once a home is built.

    But the other rooms, you should feel free to make and use them in whatever your lifestyle calls for.

    Over the years I have changed the way we used a few rooms. When my daughters moved out of the house after college, one of their bedrooms became a fitness room.

    When I started my blog and needed an office, I set up what the formal living room on the builder’s plans stated into my craft room/studioffice. When we moved to South Carolina, I made the dining room my office.

    I found over the last few years that my studioffice was no longer serving my needs. I found I like to work out on the kitchen table where there is a great view of the lake.

    Since I didn’t use the studioffice much anymore for the intended purpose I set it up for, I had to figure out what it could become instead of becoming a place for junk and postponed decisions about what to do with all that stuff that was starting to clutter-up the room.

    The space I was really craving for in the house was a bigger kitchen, but specifically more storage for the kitchen and a larger pantry like the one we had in our Pennsylvania house.

    So over the last year I have been thinking of budget-friendly ways to make the room become more of a pantry. Then after thinking it over for some time, I found that the room could be a little bit of everything we needed – a place for my craft/decor creating, a pantry, as well as an extension of the kitchen.

    When thinking about what furnishings to use to set up this new use for the room, I knew we had to stay within a budget and I didn’t want to add built-ins that would would be hard to remove if we ever want to sell the house in the future. The function of the room should go back to a basic space like a dining room or family room.

    Meet My Multi-Purpose Room

    I truly enjoyed the room as my studioffice for years, but since it was no longer serving me, it was time to change it to fit my life now and going forward.

    Here is what you see as you enter the newly created multi-purpose room.

    I kept the desk as a surface to set up my sewing machine when I want to make something. I have two of the pom-pom slipcovered ottomans, one is in the living room. I keep the second one under the desk when it is not needed in the living room for more seating.

    IKEA PAX Storage Units

    The biggest change in the room was the removal of my creative tool wall and worktable. In its place are two tall IKEA PAX storage units in white. They are almost 8 feet tall and hold quite a bit.

    After looking at many tall storage units, I found using IKEA PAX units would give me a more built-in look.

    One of the great things about the PAX units is that they come in various widths and heights and they can be customized in many ways, both inside with closet rods, shelves and drawers.

    If you want doors for the unit, IKEA makes quite a few different styles of PAX doors from modern, classic with recessed panels to glass. You can choose doors that swing out like we added, but you can also choose sliding doors. On the IKEA site, you can go to the IKEA PAZ planner and design the unit you want.

    I am still adding what will be stored in each unit. One will hold small decor items and accessories that are now up in my attic.

    The second PAX unit will be for food and pantry staples that I buy in bulk at Costco.

    Creating Labels for the Shelves

    If you have been reading my blog for years then you know I like to label what I store and organize. I find labels help keep a space organized as anyone putting things away or looking for something knows exactly where it should go.

    When creating the small pantry closet in the kitchen a few years ago, I found these clear shelf label holders that snap right over the edge of a shelf.

    The clear label holders come in especially handy on the drawers where I can’t see what is in each. With a label, I do. 🙂

    The Craft Supply Armoire

    The large antique armoire where I store craft supplies stayed. I plan on painting this to look like it is lightly stained wood. What did change on this back wall of the room is where I hung my gift wrap organizer and ribbon organizer that used to be on the wall where the IKEA cabinets now are.

    On the shelves as soon as you enter the room, I store the small appliances I use the most often on the shelves as soon as you enter the room. That clears clutter from my small kitchen.

    The wicker magazine holders are from IKEA.

    This is the view of the room from the kitchen and foyer. I like that it is pretty and not cluttered looking.

    And if you haven’t noticed in any of the previous photos in this post, the popcorn ceiling is GONE!!! Having a normal white ceiling makes the room so much brighter.

    (Looking closer at the photo above I see when the drapes were hung back up, I forgot to clip the last drapery hook to the wall to hide the rod. Just did it. 🙂 To see what I am talking about, see this post: Tips for Hanging Drapes and Curtains.)

    I still have more to add to the PAX units, but am very happy with how this new multi-purpose room has turned out.

    If you have lived in your home for any amount of time, do a check to make sure your rooms and spaces are working for the way you live now, it might be time for a change.

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    Decorating & Organizing with Baskets (A Place for Everything!)

    This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

    Sources: Wicker trunk // White Lamp by Bed // Rug / Blue and White Chinoiserie Lamp by Teal Chair // Ruffle Striped Pillow on Chair // Similar Teal Chair
    This post is in partnership with Wayfair
    For the last few years I’ve set aside the month of January to focus on making small updates to our bedroom. This month, inspired by my phrase for the year “a place for everything and everything in its place” I decided to work on beautifying and organizing our room (along with other areas of our home). When I saw this wicker trunk at Wayfair, I knew it would be a charming solution for one of our bedroom storage issues.
    Today I’ll share more about my basket and why it’s solved this problem beautifully for us!
    I love organizing with baskets and have added several other new pretty ones to our home, too. Here’s a peek of a few of my other favorites which I’ll share about in a future post!
    Click here for above sources

    We don’t have a large room, nor a lot of closet space, so I wanted to come up with some creative options to store things we use often.
    One source of storage frustration for us in this house has been a pile of blankets.
    Blankets can take up a lot of room.
    Where do you keep extra blankets when you don’t have a linen closet or extra space?

    I decided I didn’t want blankets to continue to take up precious space in our closet, so I’m thrilled to have found this basket! It is lined with a removable liner, so it’s perfect for storing blankets, sheets, mattress pads or even bed pillows. It could really hold anything from books to linens to hobbies and more!

    A trunk with a lid is ideal because it keeps the room looking tidier than an open basket and the blankets are still easy to access. The size of this one is so nice for the end of our bed, or even to tuck in a corner or against a wall. Unlike a large storage piece or wider trunk, the basket is tall enough to hold a lot but takes up very little floor space and is shallow enough to go just about anywhere.

    The rattan is a pleasant mix of warm browns and soft grays along with rope accents. The convenient handles make it easier to transport it. I love the personality and texture it adds to the room, too!

    I use all kinds of baskets and trunks for storing so many things around the house, including to:
    stash (useful) clutterkeep dog itemsorganize seasonal flowers and branchesstore paperwork hold tableclothsorganize gameshold cords and electronicsfold blankets and pillow covershide bathroom essentialshold remotes and keysand so much more!
    Are you organizing your home this month, too?

    Bedroom Sources:
    Wicker Trunk
    Rug
    White Lamp by Bed
    Blue and White Chinoiserie Lamp by Teal Chair
    Ruffle Striped Pillow on Chair
    Similar Teal Chair
    White Woven Planter on Deck
    Click the images below for more pretty Wayfair finds (+ some of my bedroom sources): More

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    A Phrase to Inspire You and Your Home in the New Year

    This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

    Do you ever choose a word (or words) of the year to inspire you? This year I decided a word isn’t enough, I need an entire phrase.
    “A place for everything and everything in its place” is a very motivating and inspiring phrase for me right now! It’s not just motivating me to simplify or organize (although it certainly does that!) but to thoughtfully consider how each place in my home could be intentionally designed to contribute to a more peaceful rhythm and experience in my day. 
    An inspiring place to get dressed for the day. An peaceful spot to put on makeup. A lovely place for my jewelry. 
    On Sunday I repeated the phrase of the year as I began making some adjustments to the arrangement of our our bedroom, bathroom and closet.
    While I still have a ways to go to bring it all together together, without buying a single thing, I’ve already improved our bedroom and how I feel in it.
    I’m always delighted with how rewarding it is to slow down long enough to put your mind and heart into creating a sanctuary.
    If you’re craving a meaningful transformation in your home this year, come join us for Home Therapy sessions and the all new step by step Room Recipe method, now in HomeBody Gathering Place! More

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    My Quick & Easy Organized Gift Wrapping Closet

    This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

    Today I wanted to show you my “use what I have” quick & easy organized gift wrapping closet.
    I’ve been working on organizing and fixing up small spaces in my home little by little this year. I’ve been sharing behind the scenes and progress in our HomeBody Gathering Place community (and these projects will continue even more in 2025 — come join us!). Since October in the HGP I’ve shared before photos and progress updates in my mudroom, pantry cabinets/closet and coffee station! It feels great to be making steady progress on decluttering, simplifying and beautifying spaces.
    This guest room closet really was getting out of control so something had to be done.
    In a smaller home, you can’t afford to lose any space to clutter or disorganization, especially a much needed closet.
    My dream and eventual goal was to wallpaper this closet and repaint the dresser, but I decided in order to quickly get some sense of organization and function before Christmas, I would leave the more creative or time consuming ideas for another season! My goal was to declutter and use what I have rather than get sidetracked on any grand ideas.
    I finally got a lot of the random stuff out that had piled up there (thanks to the motivation of our HGP Bag A Day challenge which we held this fall. We’ll be doing another community challenge and focus on simplifying our homes in the HGP in January, so I’ll be working another closet or room then!).
    If you could use a dose of weekly Home Therapy to inspire you to action in the new year, come join us.
    Sources: Gift Wrap, Ribbon, Floral Box, and Cards
    Once the clutter was out, I started to think about how I could better use this space.
    When a closet or cabinet has a distinct function or organizational system, it won’t be as likely to get cluttered again. I had just bought some new gift wrap so I was inspired to focus on using this closet mostly gift wrapping and packing supplies. But also decided to use the upper shelf for guest sheets (I had bought these containers a year or two ago, they work great for organizing our lesser used guest sheets) as well as hung some out of season clothing to one side.

    Recently I shared my over the door organizer in this post: 10 Organizers We Use in Our Home. I bought this for a different purpose but now I love the organizer in here as it can hold all of the small gift wrapping items that had previously filled up one of the drawers in this dresser.
    I will probably organize the cubbies of this organizer even more, but it was simple to just toss items in and instantly have an empty drawer to use!
    This is a Restoration Hardware dresser that was here in the house when we moved in. It’s good quality and I never like to let a dresser go to waste so we moved it in the closet to make best use of space.
    Now it’s the perfect spot for gift wrapping and the drawers are a handy place for rolls of gift wrap, small boxes and bags, and a spot to stash gifts, too.

    Then I got an idea for what to do with the rolls of ribbon we’ll use when I wrap Christmas gifts this year. Some of them are in the door organizer, but I thought it would be fun to keep some of the new holiday ribbon I got from Rifle Paper Co. separate to use for Christmas.
    Since I only wanted to use what I had to organize this closet, I found I had an extra tension curtain rod to use for the Christmas ribbon. The tension rod fit perfectly on one side of the closet. Now this ribbon is organized and very convenient for use in this season. Plus there is a lot more room on the rod so I can add more ribbon!
    By the way, the trick to making ribbon functional on a rod like this is taping the edge of the ribbon when not in use. Otherwise it will unroll and land on the floor :).

    Our closet doesn’t have a wired in light so for now I used this set of two rechargeable lamps (on Black Friday sale right now!).
    I bought these earlier this year and have already found so many places for them around the house, but I decided the lamps in this spot will make gift wrapping extra cozy in these dark evenings!

    I’ve had the linen boards since my navy office two homes ago.
    I loved that office so much, I think I might want to paint this whole room navy in honor of it. 🙂
    The printable gift tags and Hygge art on the linen boards (which I bought at HomeGoods years ago) are free gifts for members of HomeBody Gathering Place! If you are an HGP member, you can find them in your dashboard.
    I got all of these adorable wrapping supplies from Rifle this year … including the cards, gift wrap, ribbon etc! I love them all!
    Now that I have a cozy spot to be, I can’t wait to make a hot drink, turn on some tunes and wrap gifts!
    Gift Wrap Left to Right: Penguin Village // Nativity // Christmastide
    Click here for all above sources More

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    10 Organizers We Use in Our Home

    This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

    1. Back of door organizers.
    I have this one in a gray color, and also a beige color. This is our guest room and we use this organizer for gift wrapping supplies like ribbons, small boxes, bags, tags, cards, tape, scissors, etc.

    2. Bedsheet organizers.
    These neat organizers have become so handy for storing our lesser used guest and seasonal linens. Now we’re able to efficiently organize and maximize space on the upper shelf of the closet. Plus this allowed us to make more room in other areas of our home.

    The cases are hard — you wrap the sheets inside so they stand up like a box.

    3. Under bed organizers.
    I love these attractive linen toned under bed organizers (we use them in our guest room for extra pillows!).

    I also love these under bed organizers for under our daybed (pictured above). I talked more about them in this post: No Linen Closet? No Worries! 3 Reasons These Shallow Underbed Storage Bags Can Help!
    Lidded Trunk
    4. Lidded trunks.
    Click here for all above trunks
    I have two of this one! I use them for extra blankets.
    Cabinet Riser and Mug Source
    5. Cabinet risers.
    These cabinet risers come in a set of two — they are very handy to organize in cabinets!

    6. In-drawer knife organizer.

    7. Kitchen drawer organizer.
    I have several types:

    8. Kitchen wrap organizers.
    Foil, Plastic Wrap and Wax Paper Organizer with Cutter
    Similar Sandwich Bag Organizers

    9. In-drawer spice organizers.

    10. Lazy Susans.
    I have these wood lazy Susans above, and these black and white lazy Susans in my pantry.

    Find my Prime Big Deals blog post here with photos and mood boards of my finds on sale! Only one day left of this sale — there are so many good deals.
    Here is The Inspired Room Amazon Storefront — bookmark it to return to all of my faves and deals from Amazon.

    Shoe Storage Solutions
    7 Home Organizing Tips + Organizers That Changed Our Lives
    Small Space Hacks: Collapsible Laundry Bags (7 Ways They Can Simplify Your Life)
    The Secret to Decluttering, Organizing, Decorating and Homekeeping Success that No One Tells You About!
    Click here for more Organization inspiration posts on The Inspired Room. More

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    A Bag A Day Keeps the Clutter Away (Join our Fall Decluttering Challenge)

    This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

    A Bag a Day Challenge Fall 2024
    Clutter is a thief of joy and a distraction from the peaceful, welcoming home we long to have. For many people, including me, clutter can feel so stressful and overwhelming. I’m not referring to the manageable amount of every day things you need or want to have around you, but the accumulation so much stuff that it causes anxiety or frustration.
    I got inspired by the Bag A Day method many years ago because it is so simple, doable and effective. 
    Often people feel overwhelmed because they overthink clutter or procrastinate dealing with it.
    If you are eager to make progress on a decluttered home this fall, you’re invited to join us for our Bag A Day September challenge in our HomeBody Gathering Place community.
    No need to overthink or over prep for the Bag A Day Challenge, just fill one bag of clutter every day and out the door it goes! 
    It’s that easy. You can do this challenge on your own, but you’ll find invaluable community encouragement and support in the HGP to finally turn your home into the sanctuary you’ve always wanted.
    After 30 days, 30 bags of clutter will have been removed from your home!
    Basket / Photo Source
    The Bag A Day method is addictive in healthy ways! Once you get started, I promise going through the Bag A Day Challenge in the HGP will change the way you feel about your home.
    Of course you can also modify this simple method to your own schedule or needs. 
    Go on a clutter finding frenzy somewhere in your home every day or once a week— put your findings in bags. 
    Set a bag or a box by the door or a corner of the room and toss clutter in it every day.  
    Set a goal to fill a few bags every weekend. 
    However you choose to use the Bag A Day Challenge, we’ll do it together in the HGP!
    Homebody Mug
    If you are not yet a member of the HGP, sign up for your subscription here so you’ll be ready to go in September! The yearly membership is the best deal and you get additional freebies and perks, so I recommend being an annual member!
    There is so much more in the HGP to learn and be inspired by. We can’t wait to begin fall nesting and prepping our home for hospitality and holidays, too! This season we’re focusing on telling a story with our home. It all starts this September.
    Think of the HGP as your home therapy group.
    Together we decorate, putter and declutter all year round.
    Every week and every season in the HGP we learn, overcome challenges and change mindsets. We fall more in love with our homes — and I’m there to answer questions and help you every step of the way.
    Participants in the Bag a Day HGP challenge this September will also be entered into a giveaway to win one of our exclusive HomeBody Boxes! It’ll be a fun and productive challenge!
    Ready to get started? Let’s go! Our fall nesting session starts September 2. The Bag A Day Challenge begins September 5. More

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    Basket Storage Trunks

    This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy here

    It’s that time of year when we start turning our thoughts to making life feel cozier in our homes. I’m a big fan of baskets for adding texture and warmth to a room, but I also love to use them for storage and organization. Basket storage trunks can be used to hold anything from games to seasonal items to extra bedding (we use ours for blankets, sheets and pillows), too. I’ve even used our basket trunk as a small space coffee table!
    Click here for above sources (I have two of the bottom right one!)
    See more basket trunks in this folder of my Amazon storefront.
    Get inspired by organization posts on The Inspired Room here. More

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    Shoe Storage Solutions

    A friend recently asked us for ideas for shoe storage so we went on a quest for the most attractive solutions. Since we found such great ideas we thought we’d share them with you, too.
    Here are our favorite ideas and sources!
    Cabinets:
    Click here for all above sources
    Racks:
    Click here for above sources
    Cubbies:
    Shoe Cubbies
    Benches:
    Click here for above sources
    Bench

    Seagrass bench source above

    Wood bench source above
    More Ideas:
    Click here for above sources
    Space saving shoe rack for a closet like these
    Under bed shoe storage like this
    Shoe organizers closet bins like this
    A rolling cart like this
    Fabric stackable shoe bins with clear window like these
    Clear stackable shoe boxes like these or…these similar ones with magnetic doors
    Over door organizer like this
    Hanging organizer for closet like these
    More sources – click the images below for details:

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    7 Home Organizing Tips + Organizers That Changed Our Lives
    The Secret to Decluttering, Organizing, Decorating and Homekeeping Success that No One Tells You About!
    Small Space Hacks: Collapsible Laundry Bags (7 Ways They Can Simplify Your Life)
    Six Simple Secrets for a Less Cluttered Home
    All Organizing Posts on The Inspired Room

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