Requirements: No drilling, No Assembly!

I recently asked my daughter to take a look at the clothes she owns. She likes to go shopping and buy fashionable clothes. I wanted her to realize how much she already has. As I was going through my own clothes I similarly put all of my daughter’s clothes in a pile on the floor. She was surprised how big the pile was. I asked her if she is really using everything. She immediately said no and I asked what she was going to do with the stuff she isn’t using. My daughter divided the space into three areas:

• I am currently using this
• I will use, but it is not the season for it now (e.g. summer dresses during winter)
• Doesn’t fit or I don’t use

 

 

The process of organizing her clothes didn’t take much time. I think we had everything done within 30 minutes. I took a black garbage bag where we put the stuff she isn’t using anymore. We put the summer dresses and other off-season clothing in a closet. She wanted to have the clothes she is using now in her own room, but she doesn’t have any kind of closet there. I suggested that she could put the clothes (shirts, pants) on hangers and have a clothes rack in her room. She liked the idea very much and afterwards said it’s easy to look what to wear and put the clothes back on hangers when she’s not using them. I think the clothes rack provides a good overview of all the clothes she owns. I’ve noticed it’s better to have everything in one place rather than having stuff spread all over the apartment in different closets, boxes and drawers. In addition to the clothes rack my daughter has, she uses two drawers where she stores her socks and underwear.

Of course there is a great chance that the clothes will end up dusty if they are stored on a clothes rack and not used for a while. That’s maybe the only downside I can think of. On the positive side the clothes rack doesn’t need any drilling and it can be easily moved from one place to another. Additionally, the clothes are in front of you every day and it’s not possible to “hide and forget them” somewhere in a closet. The clothes rack shouldn’t be too wide, as then it’s collecting much of extra clothing that’s not really being used. I have my own clothes in a wardrobe at the moment, but this was a good insight into a different alternative. And it’s really easy to put the clothes on hangers and back on the rack. As I don’t like to drill and have holes in the walls, the clothes rack is an easy solution, not requiring any extra effort.

Storage Idea for Shoes: An Old Bookcase

I like the idea of trying different alternatives and reusing stuff for other purposes. Shoes are usually a problem and there doesn’t seem to be any proper way of storing them. I have searched for all kinds of alternatives until I came up with an idea: for shoes an old bookcase could be handy. As people are nowadays reading more on the internet, using tablets or phones, more and more bookcases are empty or are only used for decoration. If you don’t own a bookcase, it’s possible buy a used one for a good price. I’m already using a bookcase for shoes, to store a laundry basket and the kids’ toys, and the next time I’m rearranging stuff I will extend this concept to have the shoes neatly stored in one place. One important thing about the bookcase is that the places of the shelves should be possible to adjust depending on the size of the shoes.

Cleaning is easy if it’s possible to vacuum under the bookcase. If the shoes are sandy or dirty you can cover the shelf with some material that’s easy to clean. There are all kinds of bookcases available and even if it’s a small place there is certainly some alternative that will fit and that doesn’t require any drilling or other complicated assembly or tools.