That’s right — I pulled a Benita Larsson. If you’re not familiar, Benita runs Chez Larsson and I love the simple, functional, and beautiful Scandinavian approach she brings to home life. This quick closet refresh gave me that same clean, organized vibe I admire so much. (Fun aside: Benita and a handful of other guest bloggers make a cameo in our book — more on that another time — and thank you to everyone who was so sweet after our book announcement.)
Anyway, back to the closet. After rearranging furniture in the bedroom, our bed now faces the open, cluttered closet. For some reason those baskets and piles of half-folded clothes never bothered me before, but seeing them every night before bed became annoying fast.
Staring at chaos night after night pushed me to make a change. I wanted something lighter, cleaner, and consistent — the same solution on every shelf. I originally thought about white baskets, but then I spotted a row of simple white bins in Ikea’s organizing section. They’re technically waste-sorting bins, but the shape and size were perfect. The idea hit me instantly and I grabbed six of them.
I turned the bins around so the handle indent faced the back, which creates a cleaner, less busy look. They still slide out easily like drawers, and now hold socks, underwear, pajamas, shirts, and shorts — most of John’s clothes, in fact, since my items live in the dresser.
Once I cleared out some unused items — donating an old shredder and putting a booster seat up in the attic with other outgrown kid gear — the closet went from messy to tidy quickly.
Here’s the bottom of the closet before:
…and after:
Much better, right? We considered labeling the bins with dry-erase markers in a fun script, but for now John can find his things just fine without labels. The uniform white bins give the closet a calm, cohesive look — and I especially enjoy how peaceful it feels from the bed.
Our bedtime routine now goes a little like this:
John: Goodnight Burger, goodnight lady-wife. I love you.
Sherry: Goodnight Burger, goodnight hubs. I love you.
(silence)
Sherry: Goodnight new bins. I love you.
John: (audible eye roll)
At about $6.99 per bin, the project cost around $40. That’s reasonable compared to similarly sized baskets, and these plastic bins are easy to wipe down or soak if needed — a practical advantage over woven solutions. Two twenties bought us a calmer bedroom and a few eye rolls, which I’ll gladly accept.
Have you made any small organizational upgrades that made a big difference? Did rearranging one room change your view and inspire another update? Or have you ever repurposed containers meant for one use into something entirely different?
Psst — if you want more organizing ideas, there are many posts in our cleaning and organizing category to browse.