Image from bhg.com

My daughter Madison has developed a keen interest in sewing, and since two of my sisters are passionate about the art of quilting, her interest has been fueled all the more.

We bought Maddy a sewing machine for Christmas last year and set up an area in her bedroom where she can develop the craft. I can’t count the many times I’ve since passed her open door to witness the humming of the machine steady at work.


A while back we decided to take a trip to my sister Bonnie’s house to check out her sewing space (see Bonnie’s craft room). In addition to the 15’ free arm sewing machine she has tucked away in her basement, Bonnie has a room on the main floor that is every sewer’s dream (except my sister Kathy who has two rooms of her own).

The room is well organized with baskets, shelving, and drawers, but our personal favorites— for both Maddy and I—were the shoe organizers that Bonnie so cleverly used.

Since then, Maddy and I have been dreaming of picking up a few shoe organizers of our own. We’ve also started noticing different ways that other people are using them to organize their home.We even spot them on TV here and there, being used in some of the cutest and clever ways.

We were able to find the cloth ones at Walmart, but have yet to find the wooden ones, which I’m leaning toward. But just last night we were told that Rona carries them here in Canada so we’re planning on picking some up within the next week or two.

In the meantime–while I’m still dreaming about where mine will be placed–I’d like to share a few of the ways they can be used to organize your home:

  1. Put one on top of a table to organize sewing supplies like scissors, pin cushions, measuring tapes, and thread.
  2. Put one on top of a desk to organize office supplies. It’s a great place to keep things within reach, but off of your desk like a stapler, three-hole punch, calculators, address books, post-it notes, and check books.
  3. Stack a couple on top of each other in your mud room and assign each family member a vertical row of cubes, where they can store their mittens, hats, purses (that fit), school notes, and shoes. Assigning vertical rows gives everyone the opportunity to store their shoes on the bottom.
  4. Use a cloth version of the hanging shoe organizer on the back of a bathroom door. Rather than putting shoes in, you can store items like hair spray, shaving cream, hair brushes, shampoo, and conditioner, straightening irons, curling irons, and hair dryers.
  5. Also use one on the back of a door for hanging stuffed toys, as seen below. So cute!
  6. Use them in the workshop to organize tools, putting items that can’t hang on hooks like screw drivers, wire bundles, staple guns, levels, etc.
  7. Use shoe organizers in a craft room to store scissors, hot glue guns, pipe cleaners, button jars, paper glue, crayon boxes, and paint supplies.
  8. Use them in a family room to store CDs, DVDs, and small ornaments.
  9. Last but not least, use them for shoes! We can put them in our closets to keep pairs together, or hang the cloth organizers on the back door of a mudroom to keep shoes off the floor.
Here are just a few of the beautiful and fun ways they are used!!
Used up on the wall to hold ornaments and books
On the back of a door for toys. Image from Parents.com

To store crafts and sewing notions. Image from bgh.com

Have fun organizing your home, ladies! And remember–housework is far more than a chore, it’s an opportunity for us to joyfully serve our family as unto the Lord!

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. ~ Colossians 3:23-24, NIV

Drawn from my archives

You are loved by an almighty God,

Darlene

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