DIY Organization: It's the little things

Sometimes it's the little things that make a difference in home organization.  I love having things in my home organized with every thing in its place.  Right now, my husband and I rent a house that is over a century old.  The house has an old charm to it right along with its idiosyncrasies from short closets to squeaky floors.  When we looked at the house before renting, I remember thinking that the master bedroom was quite large.  And it is.  But the angled ceilings make it a challenge to arrange and organize.

Our bed is placed in a little nook under the angled ceilings with about six inches of space or so on either side of the bed.

The bed just fits under the eaves.

As lots of people do, my hubby and I, at time, eat in bed while watching a movie.  The problem is that any trash from that eating or drinking ends up on the floor, usually on hubby's side by the window.  Dishes also end up piled on the window sill, but that's an issue for another day.

 

I've been trying to figure out a solution for the trash and clutter problem.  As you can see in the photo, there are a variety of issues with potential solutions, but the biggest one seemed to be the small size of the space.  What could fit in those six inches of space and really provide a storage/trash/clutter solution?  I'd been keeping watch for a narrow trash can or something that would be tall and skinny to fit, but couldn't find anything at the normal retail stores like Walmart or Target.

When I was out last weekend stopping by a few garage sales, I ran across the perfect basket for the space!  I was so excited, and it only cost me 50 cents!  What a deal for the perfect solution to my home organization problem!

The basket fit perfectly, as expected, into the small space between the bed and window.

I decided that trash was the issue that I wanted to address first, plus I definitely do not want to throw dirty dishes into a cute little basket.  That seems like a disaster waiting to happen!  Since trash was my main concern, I put a handy dandy plastic grocery bag into the basket, and tada! trash problem solved.  

I'm thrilled at how this small organization project worked out both in terms of solution and cost.  It really can be the little things that make all the difference.  In this case, it was the little things (space and trash) that caused the issue, but also the little things that solved the issue.