Monday, January 31, 2011

Sitting Pretty


I am an organizational freak. I’m a firm believer that everything should have a designated place or you’re destined to end up with unorganized piles of clutter all over the house.  Where most of you probably have tons of space due to basements and attics, Floridians lack both. So I’ve needed to get creative with my storage systems, always with specific functions in mind.

One of our hardworking organizational system areas would have to be this “portable storage” that you can put anywhere. As you can see, it really is meant to be an ottoman. However, in our home, it is a workhorse. We have a cubby like area by the front door where the coat closet is. Now, I am sure many of you are like me and the coat closet is NOT used for coats. Mine is storage and not gotten into often.

So, for a place to hang coats, purses, scarves, a multitude of dog leashes (not sure why one dog the size of a peanut needs so many), and anything else you shed when you come inside, we have created this area by the door. The ottoman functions as a handy place to sit down to remove your shoes (with hidden storage underneath the seat). For additional storage of shoes, gloves, etc, I want to grab some shallow baskets to slide under the ottoman. The ottomans can be found in all price ranges. 

 We picked up our handsome dark brown leather ottoman with hidden storage under the seat (at an inexpensive price of $89)  We also picked up a cute basket, handy for putting mail in. Now, I just have to figure out how I will be hanging it.

As for the coat rack, this will be shown in an upcoming post. I designed and Dave created the coat rack for me but the paint is still tacky and cannot be completed today. I don’t want to give it away and save it for it’s debut, but let’s just say when I saw the “hooks” I squealed and knew just what I would do with them!


For under $100 we are quite pleased with the storage and useful space we created.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love that ottoman! Great find!

Anonymous said...

Hi Denise!
popping in via the blog hop! great blog! clean & simple, easy to read. informative too! {new fan!} great timing for your post for me.. i'm in the middle of organizing home office/hobby space and just spent over two hrs in target {after hitting tj maxx, ross, etc} looking for storage ideas! hope to see ya in my random world sometime! :)
many blessings,
-Tracie

Anonymous said...

totally forgot to leave my critique. it's simple, i'd have your comments open up on the same page as your post! :)

Anna @ IHOD said...

I am with you - I am an organization happy person:)
So happy to find your blog! I can tell I will enjoy following!

Anna

Organize with Sandy said...

Aren't those ottomans great? We have 2 of them now... not as fancy as the one in your picture... but I love them for the blankets. I don't have a place for a place to put one where kids put on shoes etc. But.. we are going to be revamping the garage and I'm going to make a place by the door.
Thanks for linking this up to my Organizing Mission Monday link party!

Organize with Sandy said...

omg I love her site! Thanks.. I am going to go searching for things! lol I appreciate the link.

Sara said...

I keep so much stuff on top of my ottoman that I can't use the storage underneath.

Shopper Gal said...

I LOVE to organize. What a great idea :)

I stumbled your post :)

Shopper Gal
http:///www.shoppergal.com/

Renee Hand said...

I am following your blog. Please check mine out at http://thecryptocapersseries.blogspot.com
www.reneeahand.com
Thanks!
Renee

1grown2togo said...

I love ottoman's going to buy my oldest one for her room this weekend..New email follower from Blog Hop Skip & Jump~Shari

http://www.1grown2togo.blogspot.com

Heather Jones said...

I saw that ottoman at target! It looked great!! Love that you can put stuck in it, like a throw blanket!

I'm following from the Skip and Jump Blog Hop. I actually have a hop on my blog today you might be interested in. Have a great wednesday!

Heather From and Mommy Only Has Two Hands! and Lynhea Designs

ARK said...

LOVE that ottoman!!

Unknown said...

I stumbled this great post from Stumble Tumble Tuesday!!! I'm your newest follower!

I would love for you to stop by and say hello!

Baby's Breath Handmade

Here is my Facebook link also!

http://www.facebook.com/BabysBreathHM

Xo
Joyce

Natalie of TheBusyBudgetingMama.com said...

Thanks for linking up to 'A Day in the Life' on my blog today! love the ottoman..what a great find!!

Quirky Homemaker said...

We have 4 ottomans pretty similar to that. We love them! And sometimes we put 2 together to make a "coffe table". Very useful!
Following from boost my blog hop.
michelle
http://www.heartfeltbalancehandmadelife.blogspot.com