ASK SANTA TO BRING A CARPENTER (and where to take him shopping)

As a former closet designer, it is my duty to tell you a lot of clothes closets could use a kitchen designer, but a very experienced, truly innovative kitchen designer.  Maybe even better is shopping in a kitchen store.

Kitchen stores are a wonderland of gadgets and especially places to put things.  My last design department job was in a such a store.  There were interesting cabinets and shelves and gadgets that I could imagine in a wardrobe closet.

For example, I once did an attic wardrobe closet that had loads of floor space and not quite enough wall space for the shelves people had pictured.   But if I had worked in the kitchen design store first, I could have solved this with at least one of these . . .

Kitchen cabinet manufacturers now feature a magic "drawer" that is the world's tallest and skinniest.  It pulls out to reveal about six feet by three feet of shallow shelves on a backboard,  for skinny grinders or skillets too heavy to stack or platters or trays or whatever needs shallow, vertical space.

Think how many flats and loafers and driving shoes you could put in pockets on such a thing!  How many sandals!   Think how many scarves or belts (or neckties for Santa) would be easy to see and never get dusty!  Imagine never standing foolishly on a chair to reach the shoe boxes on the top shelf.  Never snagging a blouse as you reach to the back of a regular closet.

And where pull-out cutting boards are available, you could install one in a wardrobe cabinet to keep things neat as you choose the bottom sweater in the stack.  Or as a folding shelf.

You'll get some good ideas yourself.  The tough part is not spending your holiday money on a new kitchen instead of your wardrobe closet.

DESK STUFF - you'll never guess these organizers

My desk is tiny, and full.  I have a basket for the little stuff, since there is no drawer.  In the little basket are two things that help organize it all.

One is - an empty plastic glass from a Starbucks tall iced coffee.  Pencils, pens, a plastic sleeve of stamps, and a tiny ruler all stand at attention.

I also use these empty plastic glasses in my "portable bathroom" basket to keep toothbrushes standing, and keep floss from disappearing.  (Why didn't I save that for a bathroom post. . .)

The other wonderful helper is a tall,skinny plastic envelope with a snap top.  Maybe pens came in this; if so, you can find one.  It SAVES me because only my latest flash drive goes in it.  Ever.  The snap top makes it easy to find among all the pens, markers and whatever.

The moral?  Neither one costs money, unless you buy pens you don't even like, just to get one of those envelopes to promote to Flash Drive Holder.