Organizing a Small Apartment Bathroom - Without any DIY or Damage

It always amazes me that it is said that the bathroom and the kitchen are the heart of any home, yet in apartments these seem to be the tiniest rooms!

If you are trying to figure out small apartment bathroom storage ideas, then check out some of these ideas that will hopefully get your creativity going! It all depends on how much storage you need, but there is always a way!


Since most small apartment bathrooms use a pedestal sink to save space, this cabinet can give you instant storage.  Click on the above picture to see just how it is used.  There is no DIY, no destruction of rental property, no screws or nails.  You simply slide this in under your present pedestal sink and you have instant storage for all your bathroom supplies without taking up room.

✅Like This Idea??  Check out this Full Page of Pedestal Sink Cabinets for Different Styles

This should take care of many things like toilet paper, cleaning supplies etc. You could purchase clear stack-able tubs from the dollar store to even utilize the space behind the cabinet doors even more for smaller items. But at least you can keep the toilet paper in the bathroom out of sight rather than down the hall! Not very helpful in emergencies!  Stack your towels too!

Try Utilizing the Bathroom Door for More Storage

This unit actually fits right into the hinges.  There is no screws or nails into the wall.  It becomes the back part of your door, but it can hold a lot of supplies.  Integrate this unit with the above pedestal sink storage and you have already found room in your small apartment bathroom.



This one needs to be integrated into the hinges of the bathroom door, but this will not cause destruction. You could easily take it with you when you move.

If you are not a fan of messing with the hinges, for the above cabinet idea, you can go for a more soft pocket storage by simply using over the door storage such as the one below:  This does not affect the door closing at all, you can have it hooked on the door instantly.




These are softer pocket storage, but would be awesome for different things you would need in the shower, or at the sink or even for storing your hairdryer and supplies.



What I love about this makeup organizer is that it is rotating, so you have tons of storage at your finger tips. This will not take up much room but actually utilizing height instead of width. No DIY, just instant storage for your tiny bathroom storage ideas. This will take all those loose things off the vanity and make it easier to clean too.



If nothing else, there should be some room above the toilet. As long as you don't have a window in this space, as most small apartments do not have windows in the bathroom, you can totally take advantage of this vertical space for storage.

✅Check Out Different Styles of Over the Toilet Storage HERE!

This cause no damage and can be taken with you when you move. Keeping things portable in rental spaces makes it easier to personalize it, and not cause grief for your landlord. As a landlord I have dealt with many tenants who have hammered all kinds of things to my bathroom walls, I usually urge them to use portable ideas.




Using a tension rod causes no damage to the ceiling or tub corner.  This is also portable and holds a lot of products.  They don't rust and it has 4 shelves making it easy to find your product.

✅Check out this page of Shower Storage Ideas!


This corner unit is free standing and would work also in the bathroom itself, possible behind the door or near the shower or actually in the shower stall.  Below is another great idea if you are really having trouble with product storage.



Everything fits in the pockets on the inside of this shower curtain. This is an awesome idea as once you get in your shower and close the curtain everything becomes available to you. If you simple don't have the room for shower shelves, this is one way of taking advantage of the room you do have.

Organizing a Small Apartment Bathroom and Making it More Personalized for You without DIY!

If you use even a couple of these ideas you should be able to put things in order even in your tiny space without and DIY, nail holes, or screws.  If your landlord has given you strict instructions not to attach anything to the bathroom walls of your apartment, then get creative with portable storage that you can take with you when you move.

It will make a huge difference to the look of this tiny apartment bathroom too.  More personal.

I personally love the idea of the pedestal sink cabinets that simply slide in, or the over the toilet storage too.  If you do have a tiny vanity, get some tiny stacking tubs from the dollar store and use the vertical space in these cabinets.  There is always a way!

Try to keep bathroom supplies in the bathroom, this will make the bathroom lean and mean and ready for action at any time.

Organizing a Small Art Studio - How to Create Your Own Oasis in a Small Space Art Studio

I love to create art, and had use of an entire basement until the day we downsized!

I was now delegated a part of our bedroom for all my art projects and supplies.  I had to get rid of a lot of stuff and then figure out just what I wanted in this small space art studio.

It all depends of course on your particular type of art, but mine is painting with acrylics or watercolor.  So here are a few ideas to get you started.

Measure the Space

Whether it is a corner of the kitchen or a tiny nook in the garage, you can make it work.  This will be your creative corner and there are ways to keep it all organized.  I invested in a few pieces and got good prices online.

Small Space Art Studio Table

Make every piece you purchase count.  This piece is the perfect example of a surface to work on that is also counter height, which can come in handy if you prefer to stand or need to package items to sell.  But it can also be for your crafting or artwork with the right height stool or chair.



Lots of arts and crafts are easier at counter height, and the best part is because you are using vertical space you get extra storage under and at the sides of this desk. So all you need to do is purchase a few baskets at the dollar tree, and label them with all your supplies. This especially useful for all those smaller supplies that get lost. Just make sure and label your baskets or containers.

Desktop Art Easel

If you like the idea of this counter height craft table but maybe already have a desk or table you can use, you can then add a table top art easel to be able to paint your canvas or paper.  You can place it at the right angle you need to save your back.  This way you do not need to purchase a separate easel and this will save room in your small space art studio.


For under 20 bucks, you can have this desk easel which also includes a storage drawer. This is what I mean about making everything count when it comes to storage in a small art studio.  You could use this on the craft table above with the right chair or on your present table or even the kitchen table.  It can easily be put away when finished.  Plus you can take it with you for plein air painting!

Wall Rack for Paints

If you have tons of those little 2 ounce bottles of artist acrylics or craft paints, they can quickly take up room.  If it is at all possible that you have wall space in your tiny art studio, this would be the perfect addition.




This can be hung on the wall and will house 81 little paints. If you have more get two of them and hang them side by side.

TIP: As you put your paints away in this rack, make sure and paint a little dot of the color on the lid so you can find the right paint quickly.



Using wall space is the perfect way to organize a small art studio.

It is amazing just how many things you can store on the wall besides using traditional shelves. I used shelves, but then it became harder and harder to find the right color of paints.

Make it Easier to Put Things Away At the end of your crafting or art session 

You need storage that is easy to use. If you have to climb ladders or empty entire shelves to find what you need, you probably won't put them away.

But maybe you already have a desk and a few shelves that you can use, but need more storage.  By using vertical space you can always store more, especially with carts on wheels.




This organizer takes up very little floor space, but has 10 drawers you can use for paints, papers, scrapbooking supplies and more. You can roll it into a corner when not in use. This actually will hold enough that maybe this is all you need?

Once a Month Have a Good Clean Out

I had to do this when we moved, so I knew the size of the space I was going into, and then donated many things that I simply was not using and many things that had been given to me for those "one day maybe sometime" projects.

Stick to Your Core Interests to Save Space


I decided to stick to my core art interests which is painting and kept anything to do with painting and donated the rest.

Once I got moved in, I took a look at my space under the window in my bedroom, and opened my boxes to decide how to store them.

My hubby was convinced I would not be able to store all these supplies and still maintain a clean room, but I did! By using wall space, the right art/craft table, and storage on wheels, I was able to put everything away. I wanted a desk that could be altered instead of an easel, so I went with this model above.

It has some storage, but was perfect for my paintings.  I used the drawers on wheels and some wall space for the rest and I fit everything into this space.

If Your Budget is Pretty Much Zero - Don't Give Up


The kitchen table works.  Find a few containers or bins around your home to use for art supplies.  Like the coke bottle in this picture.

If you want a simple desk without spending much money, you can use stacked tubs that you may be storing in the basement or closet and place an old door or wood across to create a desk.  If you happen to have file cabinets they work too.

There are creative ways to turn the corner of a room into a small space art studio.  I sell my art online with my own website and at Etsy and I only have a small space in our bedroom under the window for my natural light and for all my creating!

Small Art Studio Organization

Yes it can be done.  You have to look at all you want to use and store and think how can I store these so I have easy access?  It is amazing just how much space is on a wall, even the back of a door.

Over Door Organizers



Don't forget the back of doors!! This can also become a very creative space for storage of arts and craft supplies.

I found online to be the best prices and ideas, but I also use the dollar store for lots of storage ideas.  Spend a day and get creative.  Make your little art oasis as inviting as possible so you can literally dive right into a project.

ENJOY!

How to Make Car Mirror Charms - Using a Wine Cork - Personalize Your Car

Car charms have become quite popular and personalize your car mirror.  As always, you don't want to make them too large or you may obstruct some windshield vision, but little charms can make you smile when you get in your car and remind you of events or people.

You don't have to only use them in the car they can be hung anywhere, even lamp shades, curtains, anywhere you could use some personalizing or a smile.

Things you will need:

Wine cork or corks (just in case you want to make a few for friends)

Charms (you can get bags of them online here)

✅Beads - optional

Findings (jump rings etc)

Tim Holtz Straight Pins (to go through the cork)

E-6000 glue

Instructional Video: Just Add a Chain for a Car Charm




You may get addicted to this project.  I did!  I love using wine corks for crafts, in fact here is a page of cork crafts to give you some ideas.  You can purchase them online, but you can also ask local restaurants that you visit to see if they collect them.  I managed to get a bag full from a local fine dining restaurant and made an awesome trivet as they take heat from hot pots very well.

Necklace Charm

These can also be threaded onto a necklace for an original piece of jewelry, or make a wonderful key chain that can be personalized.  There is so much you can do with corks, findings and a few of your favourite charms.

Broken Jewelry?

Do you have an earring missing and are stuck with the other one?  Do you have broken necklaces or charm bracelets?  Instead of leaving them in a drawer never to be seen again, why not create one of these cork car charms, or create an awesome piece of jewelry from your broken pieces and create a one of a kind necklace that will have meaning to you.

Ultimate recycling project for broken bits and pieces.  Would also make great Christmas ornaments.  You could create your very own Guardian Angel charm or purchase the one below for your car to remind you of the precious cargo you carry.

Guardian Angel Car Charms

Hopefully this video inspires you to get started.

But back to the car charm.  Thread it onto a chain or leather or old necklace, and then hang around your mirror so that it hangs just below it.

If you are not a fan of making your own car charms and would prefer something with meaning or a quote, you can get them online such as this one:




Have fun and get creative. Create a personalized car charm from wine corks that everyone who gets in your car will enjoy, or purchase a Guardian Angel to watch over your car and it's occupents. Have fun!

Best DIY Bird Bath Fountain - Turn Your Present Bird Bath into a Solar Bird Bath for Under 20 Bucks!

Get cash for your iPhone!

We all know that standing water can attract mosquitoes and slime.  This is not good for you or the birds.   But when I went to look at bird bath fountains, I saw how expensive they were and the entire thing had to come inside in the winter.  Not a Fan.

I have a perfectly good concrete bird bath that can stay out all year round.  I do not have electricity any where in my yard but for a outlet on the back of my house.  I didn't want to run electrical cords as I have in the past for decorative fountains.  I found this affordable option.

Under 20 bucks!!


Not sure why I hadn't gone down this route before, but I don't recall seeing any of these in my local garden center. They only sold the complete bird bath with integrated fountain that needed to be plugged in or a fancy solar one that was all one piece.

I had been given one of these one year for my birthday, and forget to take it in in the winter and it didn't work the next year.  This unit would be easy to simply take out of the bath and bring inside until the next season.
Solar Bird Bath Fountain

Portability

I love that it is a solar unit, which is also the number one best seller with over 2000 reviews by the way, and I don't need to do anything but sit it in my present bird bath and enjoy!. But you could also use it in small ponds.  Simply grab it at summers end and bring inside.  No more hauling the entire thing inside.

Solar Means Great Things for your Yard 

As long as you can get some sun in the yard, you can now get super creative, especially if like me, electricity was the main issue. I am also going to dig a small pond in the back corner of my yard and use this instead of running conduit. I just need to move the water around, and this unit comes with different heads.

Under 20 Bucks! - No Tools!

This means lots of fun in my garden this summer.  I couldn't find this type of pricing or product in my local garden center, simply because they wanted me to buy an entire bird bath, which is fine if you need a new one or want to switch it up a bit, but I didn't.  So this is the perfect addition to mine.  Instantly create a solar bird bath fountain as long as you have sunshine!

How to Organize a Yard Sale - Are You Drowning in Clutter?

Whether you are downsizing, the kids moved out, or simply trying to de-stress your house and yourself, a yard sale or a garage sale is the perfect way to get started.

But if you want to be successful in your clear out of clutter, just remember.....

WHAT GOES OUT IN THE YARD DOES NOT COME BACK INDOORS!

Follow these steps for a successful yard sale or garage sale (The only difference is whether you have a garage or not)

Step 1 - Start Early.  Come up with a Date at least a month away.  This gives you time to go through your house room by room and decide what is going.  Don't forget the basement and the outside garden shed.

Step 2 - Get Totes or boxes from the grocery store for each room and start by place a few in each room.



Step 3 - Pick the first room and stay in that room and throw everything into the boxes, totes or bags that you have decided will go for sale.  If furniture is going to be for sale, empty it and quickly clean it and make it easy to be pulled from that room.  Don't go from room to room you will get frustrated, stick with one room at a time.

Step 4 - Try to do a room per day if possible and get your family involved unless you think that is way more stressful!

Step 5 - Get the signs out and the ad in the paper if it is in the budget at least a week before.  If you
live on a popular street it would be worth placing the ad in the paper, as many professional yard saler's use the newspaper ads to plan their routes.  Get out some street signs as well.  You can get these at dollar stores or get the sale kit online with all the price tags etc.  Make sure the address is large on the signs.

Step 6 - Find a room in your home to congregate all the boxes, bags and furniture you have decided will be for sale as close to the door as possible to make it easier that morning. Do this at least the week before if you can.  Yes it means its all in the way, but this is only temporary.

Step 7- Display Tables - Take a look at your items and decide the best way to display them.  Clothes could go on a portable clothes rack if you have one, or string up rope between trees, get creative, just don't leave them laying flat.  Card tables work good and so do lawn chairs, or place an old piece of wood or a door across chairs for an instant table.


Step 8 - Pricing.  If you have a lot of items that you just want gone, it is best to price "like with like" in a box, such as a box of books, or craft supplies, or baby toys etc.  This is a very attractive way to sell and they have to take the entire box for 5, or 10 bucks, or whatever you want.  Don't price too high if you want the items sold fast.

NOTE:  Selling lots of smaller "like with like" things in boxes for one price works very well.  You get rid of so much stuff and get a few dollars for it.  This was the best way for me.

Put the price tags on your items ahead of time, but be open to suggestions if you want it gone!

Step 9 - Watch the weather.  If at all possible have a gazebo or tent or shelter you can have outside, or have a rain date, meaning another date for the sale and have this in the ad or on the signs.

Step 10 - Get up super early.  Most professional yard saler's get started at 7am.  Organize a much as you can in the house into the boxes or into similar piles to make it easier to get them out in the morning.


Step 11 - Place all your display tables in the yard and driveway and move your cars.  This will also stop others from parking right in the driveway which you want to keep open for walkers.

Step 12 - Have an extension cord ready and plugged in for any small appliances you may be selling to confirm they are in working order.

Step 13 - Make sure you have lots of small change and keep it close to you.

Step 14 - Make sure only things for sale are in the yard.  Move any other important items away.  It can get pretty busy in these sales and someone may give your hubby or kids 10 bucks for garden knome you didn't plan on selling!

Step 15 - Enjoy selling your junk to someone who thinks it is treasure.  You are doing your part for recycling and keeping it out of the landfill.

Step 16 - When it gets close to your decided closing time, you can start to place things at the end of the driveway to give away.  Remember don't take them back inside once you decided they were going out unless they are valuable antiques.  From experience I find expensive items do not sell at yard sales, stick to smaller easy to carry items the best you can.

Step 17 - Enjoy your now clean house!

You can find many supplies online for a great price too.  If you don't have much in the way of shade in your yard and the sun is burning hot, this will keep people away.  If you can put up a shelter this would help especially if you are having a larger yard sale.

Check out this page of party shelters to get more ideas.

Organizing for a yard sale or a garage sale just takes a bit of planning ahead of time.  You want maximum people for maximum sales, so get the ads out, don't overprice, and be open to negotiations.  Decide if you want this item out of your life.

We now have a rule in our house which is:  

If something comes in, then something must leave!

This keeps the clutter down, and when we move next time we will not be paying for clutter to move with us.







How to Make Homemade Ant Traps for Hummingbird Feeders



 I absolutely love it when it is time to hang the hummingbird feeders out for the season.




Where I live, we only get to see them for a few months, and I want to enjoy every minute, but ants try to ruin the party and get on your hands and into the house when changing out the food.

They climb down the hook and into the feeder and block the holes, and put off the birds.  So I found this perfect way to make your own ant moats or ant traps for hummingbird feeders that works!

Homemade Ant Traps for Hummingbird Feeder


Here is what you will need:


  • Long Cork

  • 2 x cup holder screws or similar

  • paint tin cap or something of similar size

  • Check out this video for the method:



Ants and Hummingbirds


Ants can really put off these tiny little birds.  Can you imagine how big an ant is to a hummingbird?  Not only that, they somehow manage to get into the feeder and drown and then foul the mixture, which then requires you to make more.  I have a great hummingbird food recipe that the birds absolutely love, by the way!

By adding an ant trap, you can simply unhook your feeder from the mote to take inside for cleaning without dragging ants in with you.  That has to be my biggest pet peeve when it comes to sugar feeders such as with hummingbirds but orioles too.  If you want to keep 99% of the ants off the food then make a mote.  It is totally worth it.

How the Ant Moats for Hummingbird Feeders Work



The ant will usually climb down the supporting hook to the feeder.  But if part way up there is a cap full of water they simply can't get past the water.  Ants can't jump, and so they will either turn back or drown in the moat before they get to your feeder.  Make sure to keep it filled.

Ready to Go Hummingbird Moats

If you prefer not to get into DIY, you can purchase them to simply add to your present setup online.  If you want something a little friendlier on the eye in your garden, this might be a good option too.  This one is made from copper and looks good.

Make sure to keep the moats filled with water, don't just depend on the rain. The minute the moat dries out or evaporates, ants will get by. They are determined little critters!

Another Option....

Window mounted hummingbird feeder.

Ants don't tend to walk across the glass window, they are more likely to stay on the frame.  This is not totally ant proof, but is another option to deal with those pesky critters.

Place the feeder in the center of the window, not too close to the framework, and they will have a harder time getting to their sweet treat, plus you get to watch the birds up close and personal!

Now enjoy those beautiful little hummingbirds without the interruption of ants.  When too many ants get on the feeder, I noticed my little birds hovering and not landing, so this is an important issue if you enjoy watching them feed.

Make Your Own Ant Moat for Hummingbird Feeder or Purchase one


Either way you are making a small investment of time or money to safe guard the food you place in these feeders with love to keep it unspoiled.  This is especially important if you have numerous feeders.  You don't want to be bringing ants into the house when it it time to clean them and refill.

If you Don't Like the idea of making your own, and you are not a fan of the copper ant trap, then here is an entire page of ant moats that should work with your decor.

Now that you have your ant problem figured out, you can find some of the cutest hummingbird feeders around.  I have found that shopping online for these items will give you the best assortment and some of the best prices.

Cute Hummingbird Feeder Page

There is a lot of variety online I have personally found.  Plus you get it delivered to your door.  Hummingbirds are not always a social group so having a few of them around your yard is a great way to make sure they get fed, and for you to enjoy!

They should be away from regular bird feeders as it doesn't take much to put them off and leave your yard.

Also plant lots of bright red and orange flowers around or have a hanging pot or two nearby on hooks, this will attract them to your yard.

How to Clean Yellowed Pillows

 When changing my bedding, I started to notice the "yellowing" on my pillows when I took off the pillow cases. It turns out it is ...