Organizing With Antiques

Now that the holiday season is behind us, many people are focused on their resolutions. One of the most popular resolutions is getting organized. Antiques are a great help in that department. There are several things you can buy in an antiques store, like Country Junque, or a thrift store, like the Barn Thrift Shop, that can help you achieve your organizing goals.

Remember those old gym wire baskets? They are fabulous for storage and work in every room in the house. I keep one on my desk to hold file folders and another one under my kitchen sink for cleaning items. You could use one in a kitchen cabinet to hold your spice bottles or the snacks for the kids. Another basket would work great in the bathroom cabinet to hold extra shampoo bottles, soap bars or tissue boxes. Wire baskets in the garage could be designated to hold things like car washing supplies, cleats or sports gear, flower pots and gardening supplies.

Decorative plates are also a great organizing tool. Using plates inside a drawer or on top of a dresser make organizing jewelry simple and stylish. I use one plate to hold my rings, another my earrings and another my bracelets. Men can use plates on their dressers to hold receipts, a wallet or spare change. If you cannot find ones you like at Country Junque or the thrift stores, you can also find mismatched saucers at practically every garage sale you go to.

Recently I found a white ironstone sugar bowl that was missing its lid. It was only half of a set, so I bought it at a great price. I put it on my dresser so now I have a very pretty place to hold my spare change and my five-dollar bills, which I put aside to spend during my antiquing excursions.

Old muffin tins fit perfectly inside a top drawer of desk or file cabinet, and whether the tin has six openings or twelve, it will make organizing your office supplies simple and quick. Use a different opening for binder clips, paper clips, small sticky notes, a stapler remover, push pins, staples, rubber bands or any other small items that need a home.

Mason jars serve as another trendy, yet useful way to organize small objects like sewing accessories. I do not do a lot of sewing, so I do not want a big sewing kit in my house taking up valuable space. However, I do like to keep a needle and thread around to sew on a button or repair a torn seam, so I keep a few sewing items in an old Mason jar. I also put the extra buttons I get whenever I buy a new shirt in this jar as well so I will be able to find them when I need them.