Organizational/Apartment Therapy

This morning I noticed that the views in my shop had a bump, and after a little investigating I figured out why. My vintage wooden organizer was featured in Apartment Therapy, Getting Organized The Vintage Way. Being featured in Apartment Therapy is a thrill, and to be alongside shops like 26olivestreet and ethanollie (Etsy's current featured seller) gives me palpitations.

Other items featured include the above organizer tray from 26olivestreet.

This slotted organizer from alittleVintageShop was also featured. If you're interested in any of these items, be quick, because they've been going fast.

What's funny is that I had also started collecting vintage pieces to do another post on creative storage. It being January and all. And some of my picks were also in the Apartment Therapy article, like this vintage metal egg box from bellalulu. Wouldn't this be fantastic as we're all putting away Christmas ornaments and other breakables?

I'll show you my other vintage finds for storage solutions. I had to include another piece from bellalulu, because this metal bakery box was just too cool. You can put things in the top, and take them out the bottom! How cool is that? Plus its patina is perfect.

Sometimes good organization is all about labeling things well. These enameled number plates from dana1912 just may do the trick.

doodlebirdie has this lovely little sugar and spice tin, which would work equally well as a corral for hens and chicks as it would for pens and pencils.

I nearly stole a bread tin like this from my mother-in-law over Christmas. Instead I should buy this one from fadedprairie. Can't you see all your tags/cards/buttons lined up in them?

The usefulness of Ball jars cannot be overstated. I probably have 25 in my studio alone. You can buy them at your local grocery store if you want them new, or if you want them with some more personality, they range in size and color and run the spectrum from common to rare (and valuable). This trio of ball jars from findingfabulous would make a great start.

findingfabulous also has these killer milk glass apothecary jars with designs on them. Just try to tell me you wouldn't be happier with these housing your supplies.

This teal blue treasure box from happydayvintage would be the perfect solution to so many storage problems. I have three similar boxes in my studio; they mostly house tools (okay, and my grandfather's fishing tackle). But you can let your imagination run crazy with ideas for utilizing this pretty box.

I am in dire medical need of these old barn drawers from HelloVictory. All of them. Would it help if I get a doctor's note? Seriously. Infinite uses. And I love that the knobs don't all match, but they're obviously all related.

This wood butter box is deliciously handsome enough to store just about anything and still look good in your home. It's big enough to accommodate paper - I might use it for magazines or a similar "big" job.

I have something very similar to this metal box with drawers from industricalrelic. It sits in my studio and keeps paperclips, twisty ties, bits of string, broken zippers, you get the idea. I like this one better than mine, though.

Wouldn't your desk be so much more dapper with this wooden desk organizer? It's at jherrmann. Pencils, pens, scissors, letter openers, even a bundle of sticks look they would fit in there.

More fun desktop organization! This ceramic organizer from LaBellaVitaBoutique has holes to fill all of your needs. Would work double duty as a vase with a built-in frog, too.

We all know by now that I can hardly resist text, especially when it's silly words like Vrooman, and especially when it's at luckylittledot. So this wooden crate would be right at home with me.

Think of all the secret, magical things you could store in this safety deposit box from magark. I have one of these in my study, though it's hidden away to enhance the security feature.

Neatcurios has this incredible 19th century painters box with compartments. Imagine finally having a place to line up your tubes of oil paints, brushes, and scrapey implements. I use one in my studio to keep track of all those pesky things.

Hello vintage muffin tin! You would be so useful for sorting little things! And for displaying and storing! You can find it at reginasstudio.

Not having any chickens, I would definitely use this vintage chicken waterer from SarahAnntiques for a new purpose. I think its design would still have practical application in dispensing small items or liquid, don't you?

Don't you want to start up a home business with this vintage office file box from solsticehome? Set it near your desk and all your clients (or neighbors, or children, or visiting handymen) will think you are the consummate professional.

If you need to start remembering to take things with you when you leave the house, this may be the solution. StoneSchoolVintage offers this Victorian cast iron door messenger. Your keys and gift return receipts will never be lost again.

I love the warmth of copper, especially in the kitchen. I would use TheVintageSquirrel's vintage copper canisters on my kitchen counter or desk area in the kitchen, but I wouldn't count on the labels to be accurate on their contents... there could be bottle caps, rubber bands, or cheese spreaders inside.

These antique tea tins from twoangelsinparis are so amazing I had to share two pictures (above and below). First, check out the patina and rust in the first picture, and the fantastic numbers.

And look what perfect little moss planters they are! I'm sure succulents would be just as happy.

VintageO has this slide/negative storage box for those of us with slides to organize, or those of us with small things to line up. I'm thinking my handmade gift tags would be very well organized...

Last but not least, can't you see putting a variety of things in these aluminum cups? Colored pencils, crayons, grease markers, pipe cleaners, even a plant in one to shake it up? WhiteWillowVintage suggests using this dressing/condiment server as organizational storage, and I couldn't agree more. I'll take it another step further - I know exactly what my mom would do with the ladles. She would hang them and let air plants, little bunnies, and any other seasonally appropriate item perch in them until it was time to rotate the display.

But let's not get too down about not having the money to spend on all of these lovely storage devices. I bet you have similarly useful and decorative items in your home. Maybe they're in the basement, the shed, the garage, the attic, or shoved in the back of the closet behind the bowling balls. Everyone has "stuff" they aren't using, at least not for its intended purpose. Have a few tea cups inherited from a great aunt? Pull them out and let them display your pebble collection. The milk crate in the garage can hold junk mail near the door. An old flower pot can be the utensil holder in the kitchen. It's easy to shop online for things you love, but you may find that you already have practical (even lovely) things at home. You may have to step outside yourself and pretend to be wearing the hat of a designer or buyer for a vintage shop. I'm signing off to go root around to find what's hiding in my house.

Take Your Vitamins

I've wanted to keep vitamins on the kitchen table so that I might actually remember to take them. But I really haven't wanted to look at big ugly plastic bottles. Yesterday I had the idea to put the vitamins in glass bottles, and to put those in a masher basket my mom made. Masher basket? Yeah. You know, a basket made around a potato masher. See?

I am also happy to report that Flax Plus is actually quite delicious. I was prepared to choke it down for Team Healthy, but after having it at breakfast yesterday, I found myself thinking about it for the rest of the day. And for the record, the vitamins aren't Resolution Related, they're Wouldn't-It-Be-Nice-To-See-The-Kitchen-Table-Related.

Wooden Cubbies

One of my very favorite things is finding useful things to put things in. Winnie the Pooh's gift to Eeyore on his birthday would have gone over even better with me. "Pooh tells Eeyore that he has brought him a Useful Pot, with A Very Happy Birthday with Love from Pooh written on the side, and that Eeyore can use it to put things in. And he gives Eeyore the pot. At this point Eeyore become quite excited, because has just spotted something very interesting indeed. He tells Pooh that his balloon will fit into the pot! Pooh says no, and explains that balloons are much too big to go into pots, and what Eeyore should do with a balloon is hold it and...But Eeyore says that his balloon is different, and he picks it up with his teeth, and puts it into the pot - and it fits beautifully! So he takes it out again, and puts it in again, and takes it out again, and puts it in again. "So it does!" said Pooh. "It goes in!" "So it does!" said Piglet. "And it comes out!" "Doesn't it?" said Eeyore. "It goes in and out like anything." I have a special fondness for vintage wooden boxes, crates, and cubbies. Happily, there are plenty of opportunities to find useful things to put things in. I have acquired several wooden tool caddies similar to the one above by cottagefarm. I keep tools organized in my studio in the compartments. I'm proud to be giving them a new life, doing what they were meant to do.

On the other hand, you don't need to feel restrained by an item's previous life when considering its usefulness to you. The divided wooden box above by funkeyfinds demonstrates how vintage wooden boxes function just as comfortably as display shelves.

Vintage wooden egg crates can also lend a hand in keeping things organized. This egg crate by prairieantiques (above) still has the cardboard inserts to compartmentalize your eggs, spools, jars, or balls of yarn.

I have an egg crate very similar to the one above at sevenbc. I use it to corrale the countless catalogs and magazines that I haven't gone through yet. It sits by the end of the couch.

DakorahDesigns offers another version of the egg crate, this one with a wire to hang it and cardboard inserts for organization. I think egg crates would be fantastic for storing Christmas ornaments...

Old drawers present a world of possibilities as well. The little box above by littlebyrdvintage reminds me of a drawer, since there are finger grooves on each side, as if to pull it from the wooden counter at the general store. Or maybe it belonged to a desk that has long since departed. Either way, I am sure the box would be up to the duty of storing your greeting cards or paper clip collection.

These miniature drawers may have also come from a desk, and would be perfect for storing hard candy for the mid-day drop in blood sugar. I could also see them being used to display business cards on the edge of a desk. Scoop them up at cabinwindows.

Sewing machines used to come attached to a table with drawers for all your bits and bobbins. This was in the days before computerized embroidery settings - I still remember when my brother fixed a "broken" sewing machine that was stuck on the "puppy setting." Having traded sewing tables for puppy settings, there are now volumes of sewing drawers in antique shops, or as above from rhinestonesnrust, perfect for organizing your life with a little vintage style.

Maybe you're so far from computerized embroidery that you actually still do sewing yourself. In that case you'll need a safe spot to store your needles. Txalteredart2 has these wooden boxes that would also be great for beads or any other small bits you don't want to get away from you.

If you're less of a tailor and more of a cubicle dweller, perhals this wood and metal card file is more up your alley. FromGraytoGold demonstrates that this drawer is equally good for storage and display. You can even label the contents!

Keeping in the office theme, this vintage wooden paper sorter at ShabbyNChic shows it's up to the challenge on more than one level. I wouldn't know whether to put paper in it, fill it with sand and rocks for a zen garden, or let the kittens hide in it peering out the window.

As Freud said, sometimes a wooden box is just a wooden box. At least that's what I have heard he said. VintageCabinet has this great primitive wooden box. Its former life was as... a wooden box, and it's just as functional now as it was then.

I love the knotty holes in this vintage wooden box with a sliding top. I could see storing candles, matches, or playing cards in this box by MaterialExcess.

This wooden box has a handy latch to keep contents safely inside, and is constructed from a fruit crate. Find it at lemontreefarm.

Luncheonettevintage has this wooden artist's case, complete with paint spatters on the inside. All you have to tell me is that this is for storing art materials and I'm sold. I have a similar wooden artist's case at home. It keeps track of my brushes, paints, and other painting tools.

This vintage typewriter case lid was altered to serve as a display cabinet or desk organizer. I love how polkadotHOME photographed it with bits of bark. And how many curio cabinets have bonus leather handles, anyway?

I have a vintage shoe polish box similar to this one. I use it to store all those extra candles I wind up with but don't want out and about just yet. The beauty of these vintage boxes is that you can secretly store useful items in them, but use their exterior as interesting home accents. Find this shoe polish box (complete with shoe polish and brushes) at valnorthwoods.

Dairy crates like this one from ingenuityondisplay are sturdy enough for some of the heavy lifting in home storage. I have one from a local dairy farm that keeps extra slate from taking over my studio.

(A wall in my studio with printers block trays, bulletin boards and a vintage T square - see more on my flickr photostream.)

As charming as they are ubiquitous, printers block trays (or letterpress trays) make perfect curios for small objects you want to display. imwishfulthinking has this one with great varied compartment sizes.

Smart and organized doesn't mean you can't also be beautiful, demonstrated by this letterpress drawer from luckylittledot. Sadly, their last drawer has sold, putting me in a very Eeyore mood today.

Letterpress drawers are also great for organizing small items, like buttons or beads. All those little compartments to fill! elizabethwrenvintage shows us how with this listing.

Today's grand finale is this letterpress furniture cabinet from DeFrance. Furniture in letterpress speak means the blank stamps without the letters or images used in printing. Just imagine all the things you could put in those cubbies... I think even Eeyore would smile.