The Versatile (and Plastic-Free!) IKEA Baskets a Pro Organizer Swears By
And more tips from a book that takes you inside the homes of experts.
Published Oct 24, 2023 1:15 AM
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Touring a celebrity’s home, be it through a “73 Questions” Vogue video or real-estate listing, is cool, but have you ever seen inside a professional organizer’s house? It’s 10 times more satisfying: The ideas you’ll walk away with will stay with you for life. Shira Gill, longtime organizer and second-time author, fulfilled our cravings when she released her latest book, Organized Living: Solutions and Inspiration for Your Home. Within its pages, Gill takes us inside the homes of 25 experts across the world and, at the very end of each chapter, asks them rapid-fire questions like “What’s your actual morning routine?” and “What’s your most treasured possession?” Here’s a peek at some of the genius tips, hacks, and product recommendations they shared with Gill.
“Organized Living: Solutions and Inspiration for Your Home” by Shira Gill, Amazon ($30)
Their Favorite Tips and Ideas
My five rules of organizing are: make it categorized, visible, accessible, contained, and vertical. —Marie Quéru
Creating a home-management center. A place where you can easily grab those essentials such as a tape measure, flashlight, and scissors and easily put them back. Basically, anything that you are always looking to grab. —Nikki Boyd
Organizing by color (for clothes), organizing by dates (for papers), organizing by categories (for kitchen). —Julien Febvre
Their Favorite Hacks
Museum gel to stop a product from sliding in a drawer. —Ashley Murphy
Invest in beautiful glass candles so you can repurpose the vessels for storing makeup brushes, lip glosses, and small tools in the bathroom. —Laura Cattano
Using S-hooks to hang jeans. —Jean Gordon
Using pouches to organize the contents in my handbag. —Jen Du Bois
Turning my hanging jewelry travel bag into my tech and cord organizer. —Jen Robin
Their “Can’t Live Without” Products
Black velvet hangers. —Fiona Nurse
Sharpies and sticky notes (because I am supervisual and have to write everything out), IKEA Risatorp wire and wood baskets (because they are cute and versatile, with no plastic), and new or repurposed boxes or bins (because they help divide up storage spaces into manageable zones). —Sachiko Kiyooka
In my opinion the greatest impact products are labels. Having elements organized is one thing, but maintaining the system is another, and labels are the key to that maintenance. —Rachel Rosenthal
