DIY Organizational Ideas

Today I'm sharing what I did to get my armoire organized. I realize that the reality of organization is that everyone's space and needs are different. However, I'm writing this How-To so that [hopefully] you can take these ideas and alter them to meet your specific needs.
First of all, I want to emphasize what I did NOT do: I didn't run off to the organization isle of a department store and spend hundreds of dollars. I used my existing bookcase [free], a hollow core door [$28], a homasote board [$8], a bedsheet [free], an old framed poster that I already had [free]. , and nine baskets [$64]. Look around your house, see what you have and get creative to see how you can use it!
The first thing I did was transform my boring laminate bookcase as described in Transforming a Laminate Bookcase. This step wasn't technically necessary for organizing the space; however, I've discovered that if I don't make my organization pretty, then there's really no hope of keeping it organized. That's just me, though [and I'm guessing it might be true for many of my fabulous & super stylish readers as well!].

Next, I added my Large and In Charge [literally] Dry Erase Calendar. Easy-Peesy DIY Awesomeness.

Then I made my bulletin boards for the doors. Read Making a Chalk and Bulletin Board to learn how make a beautiful, inexpensive and super functional bulletin board. When it was time to hang them on the doors I had a couple issues: I didn't want to put a bunch of holes in my armoire, and I didn't want the boards flopping around when the doors opened/closed. Sooo, I was super excited to find the perfect product: Command [you know, the brand that's known for its removable hooks] Velcro [like] product. It's wonderful. I found them right next to the hooks, and they are super strong... I just put one strip on the top and one on the bottom and those suckers aren't going anywhere!

Then I decided that I wanted a longer shelf area on top of the bookcase, so I used the rest of my handy-dandy hollow core door. I measured what size I needed and cut the door to fit [and painted it... of course].
In order to cover a hole in the back of my armoire [it used to hold our tv back in the day when they were ugly, giant mammoths!] and provide additional support for my [new] top shelf, I cut a piece of scrap MDF to fit in that little area. Once everything was painted it looked great!! [Well, not bad for a totally non-wood working girlie, anyway]
Then I had a tall, narrow space and I wasn't sure what to do with it... until I found these awesome wire baskets [which I'm totally diggn' right now]. They were just the right size to hang in the space.

Once again, I didn't want a bunch of holes, so I used the Command Brand plastic Hooks [I bought the less expensive white plastic ones and used Rub n' Buff to make them silver & purrdy] to hang them. Genious [if I do say so myself].

Finally, I filled and added all of the baskets [which I purchased from a discount store... I looked for  sturdy baskets that looked decent. [Unless money grows on your trees] Please don't spend alot of $$ on fancy baskets... after all, a basket's a basket for goodness sake!].
I also added a little mirror at the last minute so that when I'm grabbing my purse I can check to make sure I look fabulous before running out the door [and by fabulous I mean "at least I don't have broccoli in my teeth"].
And that's it! I hope you can use some of these ideas to transform a space into an affordable organizational bliss too!