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As we hunker down at home and adapt to unfamiliar routines, objects we never considered all that important and rooms we never walked in are, suddenly, our main sources of respite. Is your dining room now the office? Have you used your kitchen more in the past month than you did in the past year? It’s time our spaces adapted to our new needs.
Shifting things around seems like a heavy lift, but a little reorganization will save you a big headache in the weeks to come. Whatever your priorities may be (setting up a crafts zone for kids, a bar station for adults, a reading nook for nighttime), here are a few easy tweaks you can make to your home that will help the time fly by.
Baking Supplies and Breakfast Staples
Finding yourself in front of the stovetop a lot? Keep your spices at the ready by storing them in fabric pouches and suspending them from S-hooks on a wall-mounted rod. This is how baker Ashley Illchuk has set up her kitchen. Along with bags of dried herbs, she even hangs up coffee cups and scissors there.
Whether you’re getting in the baking groove or are now big on early-morning granola, gather all the supplies you need in one place. Professional organizer Corrie Jackson recently created a smoothie-making station in her pantry by lining an over-the-door rack with all her powders and nuts.
Self-Care Essentials
Carve out a nook that’s solely dedicated to winding down. Justina Blakeney did this in one corner of her bedroom by taking a vanity, mirror, and stool and displaying her favorite creams, masks, oils, and makeup, but you could easily elevate the bathroom by keeping dried citrus on hand to create the ultimate bubble bath. Ojai, California–based blogger Christine Rose fills her tub with orange and lemon slices and lines it with candles and flowers when she wants to zen out.
Kid Stuff
If your kitchen table has transformed into a full-on arts and crafts zone, control the chaos by labeling every bin by category (the easier it is for children to find things and put them back, the less you’ll be left with to clean up). This goes for toys in the playroom, too. And if your little ones have turned into bookworms, congratulations! Consider lining up their of-the-moment reads in a front-facing fashion à la London-based creative director Alex Eagle, so they can look forward to what’s up next.
Cocktail Concoctions
You don’t have to own a bar cart to curate your booze. All you need is a flat surface (a floating shelf, a side table, a chest) and a tool to corral the necessities (a tray works best), and you’ll feel a lot more prepared for the next Zoom happy hour.
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