Sonntag, 30. März 2014

Organizing No.2: The "Closet"

I welcome you again to my series about organizing my stuff! Last time I showed you how I organize my make up and beauty products, today I am showing you what my closet looks like.

Maybe I can give you some inspiration and tips you didn't already know about ;)

Since I am living under the roof, finding the right place for my stuff has been very challenging. There is simply no space for a real closet, so I put up those rolling racks (they're from ikea) and use the place behind them to store bags, jeans, shoes etc. in boxes.Whenever I need something from behind the racks, I just roll them to the side. The laundry basket it also behind the racks.

That's what it looks like:





1. Hangers

One of the most important things when organizing your closet is to find the right hangers. Since my closet is open, I can't just throw my stuff in there - I really need to hang and group everything so it looks tidy! In the following pictures you can see three types of hangers that I use.




 I came to the conclusion that the typical wooden hangers from Ikea are good for jackets and maybe pullovers, but for shirts and blouses they are way too thick and the pieces keep slipping down the hangers. You can save a lot of space and trouble by using thin hangers with a special velvet coating that keeps the pieces in place. I ordered mine from amazon (here on amazon.de, and here on amazon.com)




The second type of hangers are pant hangers. I don't use skirt hangers because pant hangers usually are a little cheaper and do the same thing, practically. If you have certain pieces that really need a skirt hanger because the material will get hanger marks, go for it. :)

The other thing why I like that certain kind of hangers so much is that it is a nice way to store scarfs and neckties. I do not own so many of those because I almost never use them. But the ones I have are being folded and put on those hangers whenever I don't use them (which means all the time during the warmer months... ) - here you can see them on the right side.




The third type of hangers are these normal, wooden hangers from Ikea that I already told you about. those I use for blazers, jackets, gilets, etc... just anything that needs a thicker hanger. (Look at that beautiful flowery blazer on the right - I got that just a few days ago at a really small second hand store, I'm crazy for it!!)

 It is also very advisable to keep some spare hangers somewhere near your closet, in a box maybe, so you never run out of hangers.

 


2. Folding

Okay, I have to be realistic: I can't just put everything on hangers, it really takes too much space. So I have those hanging closet-like thingies... also from Ikea. I must say that I really hate folding. I mean, back in the days when I worked at Hollister, I had no problem with it - at work. But at home, I just don't like it because it gets messed up so easily. Because all the shirt are different materials and sizes and cuts, they become just as messy as in that picture below. I could have just folded everything nicely before taking a pic, but I wanted to show you what my closet really looks like all the time and not just when I prepare it for a post ;)

I guess the most important thing is to sort everything by colours, it helps a lot.





3. Put Some Pieces on Display

The bottoms of the clothing racks can be used for storing shoes and/or bags - but I own too many, so I just put some of my favourite pieces on display there. It makes the whole closet look more decorative and it can be really inspiring. Sometimes I just like to have a pair of shoes in sight that I haven't worn for a long, long time because I never knew how to combine it. But always having it in sight and with most of my clothes hanging just above, many different outfits and styling ideas for that particular "problem"-piece start popping up in my head.






4. Belts

I hardly ever used belts for quite a long time because I never had them close at hand. I kept forgetting that I even own belts because they were hidden in some drawer. No that I had to rearrange, I just found a nice way to store them.  I just roll them up and put them in a long box, so I can always see each and every one of them. I am not a friend of putting belts on hangers because to me that looks messy and uncoordinated, since they are all different lengths.

I usually store this "belt box" on the bottom of the clothing racks.





As I said at the beginning, there are so many different inspirational posts on organizing closets, and here are two of my favourites:

This Chick's Got Style: 10x Perfect Clothing Reacks + Styling Tips

WhoWhatWear: The Best Ways To Keep Your Wardrobe Organized



If you have any other tips or inspiration, please share! I would love to get some more ideas on how to store my clothes properly.









Mittwoch, 19. März 2014

Organizing No.1: Make-up and Beauty Products

I know there have been maybe a hundred posts like this one out there, but after trying really hard I have finally managed to organize my wardrobe, make-up and beauty products properly!

So in this post, I am going to show you how I organize my make up and part of my beauty products. In the next post I am going to show what my closet looks like (it's not a real closet, though, since I am living under the roof and there wood be no space for one) - and hopefully there is going to be another post about storing my jewellery properly, because it's looking quite messy right now!









I finally found a way to display AND store all my make up. Yes, this is all the make up I own, and I really don't need more... for now. I have a few looks that go with almost everything (like black eyeliner with candy pink lipstick, champaign colored metallic eyeshadow with red lipstick, or smokey eyes with nude lipstick... you know, just the classics) which I can pretty much cover up with the make up I own. Also, I figured that when I keep my make up in a drawer, I tend to always use the stuff that I carry in my purse anyway, so disposing all my make up in the bottom part of a wooden box might help to make me use more of the stuff that I had already almost forgotten about.



The thing is, that in the past I really tended to buy cheap stuff just because I may have been looking for a certain color, and then I just took the color closest to the one I wanted and in the end used the product maybe once, or twice, and then it somehow got forgotten in an unorganized, chaotic drawer full of make up.

This, I recently told myself, has to come to an end. At my age, in the middle-twenties, I have to start buying my make-up resonably. So I should start to shop for pricier, but high quality products instead. And I have started doing so, by getting M.A.C lipsticks and Clinique Chubby Sticks and even Chanel nail polish, and it turned out that we are not being tricked there, that stuff really IS high quality. Whatever that means, I just can't explain but the 20€ nail polish really makes a difference. It looks better than the 4€ one, it is easier to apply, and it does not leave your nails all yellow afterwards. Same with lipsticks - M.A.C is actually quite affordable, but there is such a difference concerning lipstick colours, texture and durability.

I can only recommend opting for pricier, but better products.


I must admit that I do own a lot of beauty products, or DID own - since I threw out all the cheap stuff that is rather harming my skin that doing any good. There were of course also a few quality pieces that I had to give away. It happens every now and then that I buy a good beauty product that my skin just doesn't like, but next time it happens, I should really not keep it but maybe give it to someone who might be able to take advatage of it right away!
So I have this little heart shaped box in which I keep my products that I use on a regular basis, like the Clinique Super Defense LSF25 for very dry skin, the Clinique Super Defense Eye Cream LSF 20, a polishing set for my nails, hand creme and Lush's R'n'B Cream for the dry ends of my hair.

I do of course own a lot more products, but I think my body lotion and hair spray lead a good life in a drawer, stored right next to their hair and body beautifier fellows.




The idea of storing nail polish in a jar came up to me as I was looking through my mom's china closet. I found those two pieces that I felt she wouldn't miss - I promise I am going to tell her I took them, just haven't had the chance yet ;)

I like having it in transparent jars because, of course, I want to see the colors in all their beauty so I can decide which one is going to prettify my nails next! I have heard that nail polish should be stored in the fridge, since it lasts longer there, but I am not quite convinced this would be the right way for me. I have had quite some nail polish expired, but they were usually the "used once but never again" - colors. If I really like a certain colour, I use it again and again until it's used up before it could have expired!



So, hope you enjoyed this truly philosophical and mind-blowing post, if you have any tips (like the nailpolish-in-fridge one, but even better! haha), feel free to comment!





Samstag, 1. März 2014

Relaxing Days - Bad Ischl

Last weekend was just so nice! I know that probably to many of you this is normal, but I think I have never been to such a nice hotel before. The food, the way we were being treated and especially the spa - everything was just so beautiful. The perfect weekend getaway at Villa Seilern in Bad Ischl. PLUS it was so sunny outside, we went for little strolls every day.



Look how beautifully they decorated our room. Yes, that's me on the right - my butt looks quite big. Must be because of the wide-angle lens, obviously :D







Sweater (Mango) / Fake Leather Pants (Calzedonia) / Trainers (Nike)
Dress (Zara) / Studded Blazer (Primark) / Scarf (Mango) / Boots (H&M) / Bag (Vintage Second Hand)
















Now that I am back home, I had the idea of startig WhoWhatWear's 30 days wardrobe challenge. The ideas and inspiration they give every day can be really inspiring - or quite difficult sometimes. I'll let you know about it as soon as I start with it :)



























Montag, 24. Februar 2014

Trainers










I've been playing around with my new camera lately. Luckily, the times when I had to take mirror-selfies with my phone are gone :)

Wearing trainers as a fashion statement has come up as a trend during the last few months/years, but I couldn't really identifiy with that trend until just recently. I guess this is because if a trend just sticks around for long enough, it becomes normal to you and suddenly you find yourself wearing a trend that firstly didn't seem to appeal to you at all. Also, the trainers I am wearing are not new, they're actually my trainers that I wear for sports, and I found that with leather pants, a nice top and a blazer, they are even quite suitable when having a drink with some friends. I might even wear these to a club - because to be honest, dancing becomes just so much more fun when your feet aren't stuck in uncomfortable high heels. This brightens up your mood, which automatically makes your appearence fresher and more positive. So, girls, this is my advice. Wanna look good? First rule: Wear comfortable shoes.

Anyways, I am currently staying in a nice hotel in upper austria, getting pampered with massages, sauna and candle-light dinner :) The weather is so nice that it is time for me to get outside now - and, guess what shoes I'll be wearing for a walk in the city? That's right ;)

Have a nice day everyone!