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Double-duty organizing: Turn household items into closet solutions

Who says spring is the only season for cleaning and getting organized? With fall on the horizon, it’s time to break out those scarves, boots and sweaters – and find space for them all at the same time. You can easily reuse items you already have around the house and have left over from summer (even pool noodles!) to get organized on the cheap.Jené Luciani, lifestyle expert and author of “Th

Who says spring is the only season for cleaning and getting organized? With fall on the horizon, it’s time to break out those scarves, boots and sweaters – and find space for them all at the same time. You can easily reuse items you already have around the house and have left over from summer (even pool noodles!) to get organized on the cheap.

Jené Luciani, lifestyle expert and author of “The Bra Book”, shares clever tricks that’ll have your closet in great shape:

Pencil pouches
Stock up on those clear pencil pouches while they’re on sale to store medications that typically clutter up a medicine cabinet or linen closet. Organize by “ailment” (like headache meds in one pouch) or by family member! These also work great as travel toiletry bags (for going through airport security) and are as easy to clean as makeup pouches!  

Plastic shower curtain rings
Use plastic shower curtain rings from the $1 Store on your closet bar or hanger to store handbags! When switching from one purse to another, it’s annoying to transfer everything over, so get a Pouchee Ultimate Purse Organizer, which allows you to pull out your neatly organized items and transfer them, all in one swipe! In larger handbags, roll up thin sweaters and put them inside – it’ll help keep the leather in shape and protect your sweaters and turtlenecks from getting stretched out ($38, Pouchee.com).

It’s also time to break out those scarves, which you can organize with cheap plastic shower curtain hooks – or just hang them on a clothes hanger (Scarf hangers, $5.99, Marshalls.com; Scarves, $25, KarmaGifts.com).

Pool noodles
Reuse those old pool noodles by cutting them in half and stuffing them into midi and tall boots to help them keep their shape throughout the season! One liter seltzer bottles also work great for this purpose. 

Kitchen utensils
As a great solution for storing accessories and jewelry (which can so easily become a tangled mess), use old kitchen utensils like rolling pins to creatively store bracelets, and muffin pans to store rings and other trinkets and display on your vanity! For the necklaces and earrings, I found a cool decorative cork board – another multi-purpose item – and used decorative bejeweled push pins ($4.99 a package, Michael’s) to hang and display necklaces and earrings. Stud earrings can just be pushed right in!

Toilet paper rolls
For a tidy way to store tights that also prevents them from tangling, snagging or stretching out, roll them up into toilet paper rolls – yes, toilet paper rolls! – then write what pair they are with sharpie, and store in drawers! 

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