Tuesday
Sep142010
Destination Organization
More from guest post-er Tess! Can you tell she works for Real Simple with this one? Woo!
If I could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Unfortunately, I have no affinity for foreign languages, so my international options are severely limited. And while I do love me some London (Ricky Gervais! Afternoon tea! Madonna!), I’ve always kinda considered it a bizarro-NYC, and I’ve already been there-done that.
But don’t cry for me, dear reader, because the place I would most want to settle down is as inspiring as any worldly locale, yet can be found right here in the domestic U.S. It’s the happiest place on earth for neatniks. It’s a candy-colored Willy Wonka-land for anyone looking to bring order to their home, office, or packaging. It’s The Container Store, and for me, there is just no place like it.
You see, peace, love and understanding are lovely concepts (no offense, Elvis Costello), but I’ve always been of the opinion that what the world really needs now is organization, sweet organization. And if those organization products could double as sleek, stylish, and oh-so-very vibrant conversation pieces…well then the universe would certainly be a more fun (not to mention functional) place.
So yes, just say the word and I’ll pack my bags (I’ll pack up my whole house in fact—easily, starting with this Packing List
in my favorite shade of blue) and I do believe my whole family would live happily ever after in the land of Elfa closets, collapsible laundry bins, and pastel-colored takeout cartons.
But until then, I’ll just have to make do with obsessively checking their website and dodging my UPS man, who might just be suffering a hernia because I’m much more of a mail-order kind of gal. Below, a few of my favorite “souvenirs,” which I hope will transport you to a state of brightly organized bliss.
EXPANDING FILE
This hangable, expandable organizer is one of the happiest spots in my home—not only because it’s so cheery looking (I use multi-colored file folders), but because it is the ultimate clutter killer. Switch the folders for an instant new look, or collapse the whole thing and take your important papers to go.
PIVOTING TRAYS BY UMBRA
I’ve long been a fan of anything Umbra, and this swinging organizer is no exception. I almost feel guilty using it for boring items like jewelry, bobby pins, and hair elastics, but I enjoy imagining all the other ways it could be put to use: desk accessories (naturally), sugar packet-holder (regular, Splenda, or Sweet n Low?), candy dish, change sorter… To have one in every room, while tempting, would kill the impact—but it’s hard to resist.
HANGING MAKEUP ORGANIZER
If you’ve ever had a special milestone go awry due to your husband’s inability to locate just the right cord for the video camera, or experienced the sheer panic of not knowing where the plug-in for your child’s portable DVD player is right before a long road trip, then you’ll agree this guy is a zippity do. This works perfectly well as a makeup organizer (which it actually IS), but I prefer to use the multiple compartments to store the random wires, chargers, camera batteries, and portable gadgets that keep our lives humming along.
If I could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Unfortunately, I have no affinity for foreign languages, so my international options are severely limited. And while I do love me some London (Ricky Gervais! Afternoon tea! Madonna!), I’ve always kinda considered it a bizarro-NYC, and I’ve already been there-done that.
But don’t cry for me, dear reader, because the place I would most want to settle down is as inspiring as any worldly locale, yet can be found right here in the domestic U.S. It’s the happiest place on earth for neatniks. It’s a candy-colored Willy Wonka-land for anyone looking to bring order to their home, office, or packaging. It’s The Container Store, and for me, there is just no place like it.
You see, peace, love and understanding are lovely concepts (no offense, Elvis Costello), but I’ve always been of the opinion that what the world really needs now is organization, sweet organization. And if those organization products could double as sleek, stylish, and oh-so-very vibrant conversation pieces…well then the universe would certainly be a more fun (not to mention functional) place.
So yes, just say the word and I’ll pack my bags (I’ll pack up my whole house in fact—easily, starting with this Packing List
in my favorite shade of blue) and I do believe my whole family would live happily ever after in the land of Elfa closets, collapsible laundry bins, and pastel-colored takeout cartons.
But until then, I’ll just have to make do with obsessively checking their website and dodging my UPS man, who might just be suffering a hernia because I’m much more of a mail-order kind of gal. Below, a few of my favorite “souvenirs,” which I hope will transport you to a state of brightly organized bliss.
EXPANDING FILEThis hangable, expandable organizer is one of the happiest spots in my home—not only because it’s so cheery looking (I use multi-colored file folders), but because it is the ultimate clutter killer. Switch the folders for an instant new look, or collapse the whole thing and take your important papers to go.
PIVOTING TRAYS BY UMBRA
I’ve long been a fan of anything Umbra, and this swinging organizer is no exception. I almost feel guilty using it for boring items like jewelry, bobby pins, and hair elastics, but I enjoy imagining all the other ways it could be put to use: desk accessories (naturally), sugar packet-holder (regular, Splenda, or Sweet n Low?), candy dish, change sorter… To have one in every room, while tempting, would kill the impact—but it’s hard to resist.
HANGING MAKEUP ORGANIZER
If you’ve ever had a special milestone go awry due to your husband’s inability to locate just the right cord for the video camera, or experienced the sheer panic of not knowing where the plug-in for your child’s portable DVD player is right before a long road trip, then you’ll agree this guy is a zippity do. This works perfectly well as a makeup organizer (which it actually IS), but I prefer to use the multiple compartments to store the random wires, chargers, camera batteries, and portable gadgets that keep our lives humming along.
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