Grab a Towel

Making messes is a part of life.  So grab a towel, wipe it up and keep on moving.

My friend, Landis, has accomplished the ginormous task of living this past year entirely without paper towels.  She used a variety of dish towels to wipe up her small messes; this and this were her favorite and most effective towels.  Check out her great tips on how she made it work.

I, on the other hand, while not completely banishing Bounty from my life, have made an effort to cut back on the paper products.  I don't have a washer/dryer in my small, pre-war apartment so keeping up with the wash is a little difficult.  Instead, I limit my paper towel use to cleaning dirt or sticky messes and use the washable towels for spills that can easily be wiped up.

I'm not sure I could quit 'cold turkey' for a whole year but I'll admit- no more paper towels would, in turn, eliminate some paper waste.  And I'm all about cutting down on waste.

Tell me, Appleshiners, could you make it a whole year without paper towels?

Scarf Storage

Hi friends!  How was your weekend?  I had such a lovely time enjoying our first warm-weathered weekend of the season.  I had dinner with an out-of-town bestie on Friday night, spent St. Patty's Day at the beer garden and enjoyed a museum, a movie and some shopping on Sunday.  Hel-lo springtime!

I even brought out my summertime scarves (well, I did end up wearing my brother's new scarf for most of Saturday).  I usually keep all my scarves in a bin on my closet shelf but I was thinking- maybe it's time for  a new scarf solution.  So I found a few options to consider:

I have these Ikea racks in my kitchen but using them for accessories is a cute idea.

If I had the right wall space, I could use a few tension rods to create some scarf art.

 

Oooh, I like this!  With a little string and a few clothespins, I could display all my scarves.  I'd probably do an ombre colored theme.  Or maybe I have enough for a rainbow.

I'm not positive that wall art is the way to go, though.  Keeping my scarves inside my closet might be best and this hanger gives a better visual than the bins I'm using now.

Tell me, Appleshiners, which style storage do you prefer?

PS- If you're having a little scarf-love right now, too, check out this blog dedicated entirely to scarves!

Wet Shoes on Rainy Days

Well, isn't this just a great idea?!  Instead of laying out extra doormats or newspapers (they just get soggy), you can set a boot tray by your door.  Set your wet or muddy shoes on the rocks and let them drip dry.  Then give the rocks a soapy rinse every now and again when you wipe down the inside of the tray.  I really like this nifty tip and here are some others to choose from:

A wall-mounted shoe rack, like this one, keeps your bulky boots up and outta the way.

This rug is easy to roll out when you need it and roll up when you don't.  And you can toss it in the wash when it gets too dirty.

An inverted pegboard is a simply, functional design for holding soggy Wellies.

I'm hoping my weekend will stay (mostly) dry...especially cause I tossed out my rainboots in my last closet raid and have yet to get a new pair!  Or maybe I'll use that as an excuse to go shopping.  Either way, I plan on enjoying my weekend (and the start of March Madness!) and I hope you are, too.


Tell me, Appleshiners, how do you store your wet shoes?

Good Finds

Oh, the weather in NYC is just gorgeous!!  I've been soaking up some springtime sun this week with a few afternoon walks.  Yesterday, I wandered into Gracious Home, a New-Yorker's staple for home furnishings.  I did some snooping for good Appleshine recommendations and here are a few products I really liked:

A folding colander from Joseph Joseph.  It deconstructs to lie flat while stored in a cabinet.  The entire line features ergonomic designs; helpful space savers for apartment living.  I like this cutting board and salad bowl (with serving utensils build into the bowl!)

I was just wishing for these!  Shelf dividers are great for adding more structure to cabinet shelves, especially when you're renting and can't make permanent changes.  You can find them here since they aren't listed on the website.

Why don't you toss your old stand-up towel holder and use this one instead?  Hanging your towels from underneath your cabinet saves counter space.

It was a fun little outing...warm weather, sunshine and organizing.  If only I could find a way to do all that at the beach, it'd be my nirvana ;)  

Tell me, Appleshiners, what good finds have you seen lately?

Appleshine: Unpacking a Kitchen (Part 2)

In yesterday's post, I started unpacking my client's kitchen.  She'd just moved from her small apartment to a more spacious loft and had no idea how to layout her kitchen.  

I unpacked all her boxes, displaying her belongings on the floor so I could see all that I had to work with.  Taking into consideration the design of the kitchen, I approached the storage with a logical and realistic sense of efficiency.  Take a look at the before/after pictures:

While it was tempting to put food in the cabinet closest to the fridge, I appreciated the simplicity of being able to unload the dishwasher and put the dishware directly in the cabinets above.  If the plates had been over the sink instead (note the Before photo), it would've required reaching around an open cabinet door in order to put a clean dish away.  Eliminating extra steps like that keep a kitchen running efficiently.

Many of her appliances and gadgets were a bright cherry red.  Instead of hiding them in cabinets, I chose the most suitable ones to display on her countertop.  When placing such items, keep the paper towels close to the sink (preferably on the right side as most are right-handed), the cooking utensils by the stove and larger electrical items accessible to an outlet.

These are 4 of her...wait for it...8 drawers!!  I know that may not seem so impressive to anyone outside of NYC but most of us deal with only one kitchen drawer.  (I wish I were exaggerating but I swear I'm not!)  I'd already filled her 4 stacked drawers with utensils, gadgets, tupperware and linens (respectively).  And since these were on the extended side of her prep area, I used them for extra smaller items, keeping like with like.

While it would've been more logical to keep pots and pans in the inner cabinet, closer to the stove, the design didn't lend itself to that idea.  The inner cabinet had a deep pocket, causing the top shelf to cut back.  So I kept more of her prep items (strainers, mixing bowls, measuring cups) there instead.  Notice that when storing the pots and pans, I kept the lids on top.  Sometimes it helps save space if you turn the lids upside down, creating a smooth surface to stack other items on.  However, unless you have a lid rack in your kitchen, it always saves time having the matching lid at hand rather than searching through loose ones.

It was a long day but in the end, I had a LOT of fun unpacking this kitchen. Starting from scratch with any organization project is a great time to implement good systems that work with the design of the space as well as the functioning needs.

Tell me, Appleshiners, what tips do you have on determining a layout for your kitchen supplies?

PS- Here are some great kitchen organizing tips from real cooks- twitter style.

Appleshine: Unpacking a Kitchen (Part 1)

Last week, I helped a client unpack her kitchen.  Their move from a small apartment to a loft brought more cabinet space.  But thanks to their innovative storage in their previous apartment (she kept her baking supplies in the hall closet and the ice cream maker under their bed), they had more than enough cookware to fill it. 

The first step was to unpack everything.  Laying it all out in the open allowed me a visual survey of what I'd have work with.  

They'd already unpacked some of the basics (since they moved in a few days ago) yet had no ideas on where to place them.  

I peeked in all the cabinets, drawers and checked out the counter space, considering the most logical and efficient arrangement for their belongings.  They had a wide array of cookware, servingware, daily dishes, fine china, drinking glasses, wine glasses, linens- a full hostess' kitchen.

It was a long day of Appleshining but if you check back tomorrow, I'll show you how it ended up!


Tell me, Appleshiners, do you have any tips for unpacking a kitchen?

Time Management

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  I had a lovely time at my friend's baby shower, hanging with girlfriends while the boys entertained themselves with boats, cigars and future man-room ideas.  We let the day get away from us and ended up eating homemade pizza and rootbeer floats while watching a made-for-tv movie.  It was that kind of day.

Now the week's upon us and my schedule's looking a little full.  Staying on top of my calendar is my number one trick to time management.  You have to know the 'when, what and where' before anything else.  Here are a few other helpful tips for time management:

1) Make time for your priorities and make them consistent.  Exercise is high on my list, especially pilates classes and run club.  I keep those appointments on a re-occurring timeline so when something else comes up, I won't forget to schedule around them.

2) Be realistic about the time needed for an appointment.  Trying to cram too much to do into too little time will leave you in a frustrated frenzy.

3) Discuss your calendar with your partner: business, loved-one, children or others.  If your schedule tends to interact with someone else's schedule on a frequent basis, then keep each other up-to-date to eliminate confusion.  Create a joint Google calendar with your partner to keep track of eachother's events.

4) Know when your downtime is and use it wisely.  Sometimes I actually mark-off 'Downtime' on my calendar to remind me to run a few errands, catch up on my reading or just have some decomp time to myself.

5) Recognize the difference between a priority and a wish-list.  Priorities are things you are willing to make time for.  Wish-list items are things that you'd love to get done IF you have extra time.


Tell me, Appleshiners, what tips do you have for time management?

Also, here's a great article in the Wall Street Journal about being too busy (or so we think).