Having a bookcase full of books in your home office or a family room can be a distinguished look in your home, but a bookcase has more utility than just holding books. In fact, bookcases are a great home storage option for various items and can go in any room of your house.

One of the many uses of a bookcase is for holding decoration. Picture frames, trinkets, trophies, and more can be displayed on these shelves without cluttering tabletops and counters. Of course you can mix the decorative items with functional items, like storing books or binders.

Bookcases can also be used for small item storage. By getting baskets that fit well in the shelves, you can store small items in these baskets and place them on the shelves. This keeps your items together and organized but out of view (keeping a cluttered look at bay).

Bookcases are also a good storage for your media collection – DVDs, CDs, and more all stack nicely (and you can see everything you have at once) on a bookcase. This can help you keep your multimedia collection organized.

These storage solutions can also be used in your closet. You can display your shoes (making it easy to find what you need when you need it) on a bookcase in your closet or by your front door. You could also use it as a makeshift dresser inside your closet by folding your clothes and organizing them on the shelves.

Now that you’ve realized all the storage capabilities of your handy bookshelf, you’ll want to clear off those books and use it in another room. So stop by your self storage unit at LifeStorage so you can bring all those books in and explore the different ways to utilize your bookshelf in home organization.

Laundry may not be a fun chore (what chore is anyway?), but it can definitely be made easier. Through organization, laundry can be done faster and more efficiently, making more time for the fun things in life. So check out our top three laundry organization tips below and get ready to have more fun than laundry to do.

1. Set Aside Time For Laundry. Make sure to have enough time when doing laundry to get it all done at one time. If you put in the laundry and then have to go somewhere before you finish, it could take even longer, and you may have to redo some of it. Say you don’t have time to fold it and put it away after it’s done drying, if you just leave it in the dryer it could become wrinkled before you have time to fold it.

2. Prepare Your Laundry. If you prepare your laundry as you go, it’ll be a faster process as you do it on laundry day. So as you put items in the hamper, clean out the pockets, and pre-sort the items so they’re ready to just toss in the washer.

3. Clean Out Your Closet. If you clean out all the items in your closet that you no longer wear, it will mean more room in your closet and therefore less time trying to find a spot to put clothes away after you’ve done laundry. It will also mean you have less clothes to wash. So go through your closet and pitch, donate, or store those clothes you no longer wear.

Once you finish your laundry, don’t forget to stop by your self storage unit to bring in the clothes you no longer wear but aren’t quite ready to get rid of yet.

Who could have guessed that in one of the smallest rooms in your home in just a little cabinet, there could be a large storage predicament? With washes and creams, medicines and aloes, your bathroom vanity is overflowing with all your necessities to make it through the day. This is all stuff you need to keep in your home, so self-storage is not a solution this time, but we can still help you to make your vanity an organized masterpiece.

First things first, you’ll want to make sure there are minimal items left out on the counter. Soap, toothbrush in a holder, maybe some lotion, and that should sum it up. If there are any additional items you keep on your counter for regular use, first verify if it needs to stay out or can it be put into the cabinet, and if the answer is that it needs to stay out, keep those items together in a tray like this glass vanity tray from Crate and Barrel.

Next you should concentrate on what’s in the cabinet. Take the time to go through and toss any old and expired items (yes these items do expire) to make room for the items that are still good. Next you should go through to see if there are any items you don’t need, like those five different face creams you have in there but never use. The items in your cabinet should be categorized so all medicine items are together (and easy to find,) beauty items are together, etc. This will give everything a set place to be, so once you take something out, you’ll know where to put it back when you’re done.

With your vanity organized, you can get ready faster in the morning and may even have time to stop by your storage unit at LifeStorage to switch your winter sweaters for spring friendly clothes!

Kid’s room are the most prone for clutter. With so many toys of different sizes and kids who may not always put them away, these rooms need the most organizational help. See our three favorite fun kid’s storage items below.

1. Toy Boxes- Here’s one staple for a child’s room that has been for years. There are so many different kinds of toy boxes for boys and girls. You are sure to find one that will match your child’s room and they will love. You can get one with their favorite character on it, like this Hello Kitty toy box from Target, or a more decorative one, like this princess bench and toy box.

2. Cubby Storage- This storage is great for separating items and still keeping them stored away and organized. Try a simple one like this white cubby storage from Pottery Barn Kids. There’s also a more colorful and kid-friendly version from Overstock.com.

3. Bookcases- Having a place to book all the kids books in their room will keep them from getting mixed together with the rest of their toys, making them hard to find. Try a simple wire shelf set for the books, like this one at Land of Nod, or a more intricate bookshelf like this Compartment Department Bookcase also from Land of Nod.  One more positive about having a bookshelf in your child’s room is that it can hold more than just books.

With these three fun kid’s room storage items, you’ll keep a better lock on your clutter. Of course, you should also go through your children’s toys often to see what they no longer play with. These items can be donated, or if your kids’ aren’t quite ready to part with them, head over to your storage unit at LifeStorage for safe keeping.

Photo credit: bhg.com

Boxes and baskets and folders are just some of the many great organizational tools for home storage and a storage unit. Organizing with these storage tools is an important task to keeping your items safe and easy to find when you need them, but without labels, all of your boxes would look the same right? Yes, with some labels and organization, finding items you put in storage is as easy as putting it into storage.

How to Label

There are many ways to label items as you put them away. If you have disposable boxes or folders, it’s easy to write what’s in storage right on the container. If it’s a nicer container, a printed label would work well or even a sticker or piece of tape can be written on for a label. Of course, another important storage rule is what you put on the label. It should clearly tell you what kind of items to expect in the box, such as Christmas decorations or children’s books. The clearer you are on the label, the easier it will be to find what you need. For example, if you have ten boxes labeled “books,” it could take you a while to find what you need. Consider breaking it down between genres. We found these stylish labels ready to download from Martha Stewart to help you get started.

How to Organize Once Labeled

Once your storage items are all labeled, put them in an order in your storage. Whether it’s in alphabetical order or order by year, it should make sense for you to figure out later on down the line. Keep like items together, and get the organization going.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to your LifeStorage unit together and make your storage more effective with labeling. With 26 storage facilities in Chicago Land LifeStorage is right around the corner. To reserve a storage unit online go to www.lifestorage.com.

When it comes to organization, smaller items come to mind at first, but when it comes to storage, you may start to think of the larger items that are taking up the space in your home instead. The reality is that organization and storage go hand in hand for items large and small, and large item storage is a crucial element to the organization of your home.

The best place for large item storage, especially if it’s an item you don’t use every day, is a storage unit. With varying sizes, you can find one that fits your needs at LifeStorage and rotate out the items from your home to your storage facility as you need them. This is a great place to store larger items that you’re not sure if you want to get rid of yet, like furniture, and for seasonal items you can rotate in and out as needed.

If you have a large item you use more often than not, storage units may not be the best option for your storage and organization. A basement, garage, and shed can all serve as large item storage on your own property for the items you need to keep at hand, but keep in mind that you should keep these items in a set place out of the way.

Certain outdoor items can also be kept outside instead of being put away in storage for the winter. Invest in patio furniture covers to keep your outdoor items in place but safe from the snow and ice in the cold Chicago winters, and you won’t have to move it back and forth between your storage unit and home.

Stop by your LifeStorage unit today to get started. With 26 storage facilities in Chicago Land LifeStorage is right around the corner.

Are you or someone in the family crafty? If so, you may not think there’s an organizational solution to the crafting chaos, but we have some exceptional organization ideas to keep your craft closet or room in a neat order. Take our top 7 crafting storage tools, and you’ll be ready to decoupage again in no time.

1. Paper Towel Holder - Use this to organize your ribbons and keep them from tangling. You can use one that mounts on the wall or the standup version.

2. Filing Cabinet - Think these are just for important documents? Wrong. Use this to separate your paper by colors or designs, and you’ll be able to find whatever you’re looking for simply and easily.

3. Muffin Tin - Put your baking pans to good use to store small embellishments and keep them separated for easy finds.

4. Binder with Page Protectors - Here is another way to store different paper, as well as paper templates or stencils in an easy to find (and easy to store).

5. Trading Card Binder - Not just for trading cards. You can use these to store stickers so you don’t forget what you have to use.

6. Key Rack - Use this as storage for your different scissors, from crimped cut to waves to just straight cut.

7. Tool Box - Not just for your normal tools, a tool box can keep your crafting tools just as organized. Use to keep your main crafting staples, like rulers, pens/pencils, plain cutting scissors, etc. in a set place.

With organizational tools like these, you’ll be able to keep on crafting without a crafty mess. You can even stop by your storage unit to see if you already have some of these items in just waiting to be used.

With 23 storage facilities in Chicago Land LifeStorage is right around the corner.

It might be the smallest room in your house, but the laundry room still needs some organizational attention. You   may not think there’s a lot to store in the laundry room, but your cleaning supplies can add up and start to clutter the already small room. Stick with our five favorite laundry room storage tools, and you’ll never have to worry about clutter in that room again.

1. It may some obvious, but a hamper is a must. If you have a hamper with separate compartments, like this one at Bed Bath and Beyond, you can keep the laundry sorted by whites, colors, delicates, and whatever else sorts you need to do. This leaves less for you to do on laundry day.

2. You would be surprised how much of a difference some shelving would make. For your detergent, iron, fabric softener, laundry basket, and whatever other smaller items you keep in your laundry room, a small shelving unit can make a big difference.

3. An over the door ironing board hanger can keep your ironing board out of the way, or if you can afford, put in a wall cabinet with a drop down ironing board. This makes taking it out and putting it away a breeze.

4. Even though you have a dryer, there are just some items you need to air dry. For these, keep a folding drying rack, like this one from Target, so you can tuck it neatly away when you don’t need it.

5. An expandable garment rack is one last great item to keep in your laundry room. Whether you keep clothes in there regularly or just use it to hang clothing after you iron them, you can expand it when you need and lower when you don’t.

Once you’ve gone through an organized your laundry room, head over to your storage unit to grab your summer clothing so you can start preparing for warmer weather. With 23 storage facilities in Chicago Land LifeStorage is right around the corner.

Though we may not be able to see it past all this snow, Spring is on its way. The flowers will be blooming, sun will be shining, and your house will need cleaning. Spring cleaning is the time to give your house that deep cleaning and thorough organizing your home will need. It may seem a bit daunting if you don’t break down the task into pieces, but it’s very manageable if you are prepared for it. Here are our five tips for planning for a successful Spring cleaning.

1. Make a to do list- Create a cleaning checklist of everything you need to do and clean during your spring cleaning. Doing this will help you not miss anything and make sure you stay on task as you go along.

2. Stock up on cleaning supplies- Once you know what you need to do, make sure you have the supplies to do it. Go through your cleaning items, and make a list of any items you need to replace or get more of. Then head out to the store and buy them before the day (or days) of your Spring cleaning.

3. Buy your organizational tools- Along with your cleaning supplies, you need to make sure you have the tools you need to organize as you go. Boxes, baskets, shelving and drawers are just the start of the tools you may need.

4. Assign your tasks- Once you know what needs to be done and have what you need to do it, assign the tasks to the different members of the family. There’s no need to do it all yourself.

5. Head over to your storage unit- Make sure to keep your storage unit in mind for any items you come across that no longer need to be kept at the house.

With 23 storage facilities in Chicago Land LifeStorage is right around the corner.

Having large spacious closets in your home can be an organizational heaven but just having the closets is only part of the storage solution. Keeping the closets organized is the other part, and it’s a very important home organization step. Since closets can be closed and messes hidden, they may be the last place in your home that you think to organize, but with our favorite closet organization tools, you’ll love organizing all the closets in your home.

Our absolute, number one favorite closet organization tool is shelving. Whether you build it into your closet or place a shelving unit in there, it lets you put so much more into your closet while still keeping it organized. Shelves work well with larger items, and if you have smaller items, you can put them in baskets on the shelves instead. Using various size boxes (whether normal boxes that are labeled so you know what’s inside or clear Rubbermaid boxes so you can see what’s inside) are great for stacking on shelves.

Bring drawers into your closet. Either a chest of drawers incorporated into a closet or as part of a built in drawers are great to store small things like undergarments, socks or jewelry.

One last organizational tool we’ll mention (or else we could go on and on for days) is the cube organizer. Whether you go with a six or nine cube organizer, like this one from Target, or separate and stackable cubes, like these from Home Depot, you can’t go wrong using these to keep your items separate and organized.

If after all these organizing efforts you sill did not fit everything into your closet, please bring offseason clothes to LifeStorage and store them in one of our climate-controlled storage units. With 23 facilities around Chicagoland LifeStorage is right around the corner.