66 Five Super Simple Ways We Organize Our Pet Supplies

Our furry friends complete our family.  We have two lovely pups {you can snag all the current pics on my Instagram}, and therefore, we also have some gear to organize. 

Organizing for pets doesn't have to be complicated.  In fact, we have done some things to keep our puppy things and processes super simple and also seamless to the rest of our home.  Here are my top five pet organizing tips.

1.  Set up a treat station!

I used an old cookie jar and mason jar along with some decorative labels and now the pooches have an instant treat station.  By keeping their treats in a place that is out in the open, we are more likely to reward their oh-so-good behavior more often.  And the labels ensure the whole fam knows to do the same {and not attempt to eat a puppy treat from the cookie jar!}.

Our Weimaraner takes calming chews each day because he has some anxiety if we have to leave him at home alone.  We also jokingly call them his "chill pills", so we labeled his special jar accordingly.

2.  Make Play Time A Breeze!

We keep a small basket on each floor of our home filled with puppy play toys.  The baskets are kept at dog level, small enough for the dogs to use their paws and dump them out and see-through so the dogs have a visual reminder to chew on their toys {vs. my slippers}.  Now, if I could train them to pick up when they are done....

3.  Create a Grooming Caddy

If I can put it in a caddy, I will!  Pet grooming supplies are no exception.  I found this utensil caddy awhile back at Target and it works perfect for transporting all of our pet supplies around the abode.  We clean our dogs in our shower during cold months and outside in a kiddie pool during the summer.  We clip their nails and brush their teeth in the bathroom and I brush our long haired pooch on the front steps.  Just what we do... so keeping all of their supplies in one, easy to tote around caddy wins big for us.

Inside you will find shampoo for each dog, toothpaste, brush, ear cleaner, nail clippers, de-tangling spray and their sweet bandanas!

When not in use, the caddy is stored in a small cabinet in our main bathroom {more on that in an upcoming post}.

4.  The "Take a Walk" Tote

In the past I stored the dog leashes in a drawer in our shoe cabinet.  However, they always ended up taking over the entire drawer and then we added a poopy bag holder and then our Bentley was upgraded to a harness.  Oh, and he gets cold really easily so he also acquired a sweet little sweater as well.

In order to keep all of the supplies near the door yet not visually taking over the entry, I decided a small tote on a hook would do the trick.

I even toss my ear buds in there so I have them for longer walks/runs...

The tote holds all of our dog walking essentials doesn't take up much space, so it was the perfect solution for the growing demands of our doggies.

5.  Feeding Nook

I always would struggle with trying to incorporate our dog bowls and food bins into our kitchen space.  They were always in the way, visually cluttering and constantly being tripped over {our kitchen doesn't have a layout that works well with excess feeding dishes}.

So, I found a new place that made much more sense, and that was a small nook in our laundry room.  By keeping the dishes in there, we can feed and water them in a quiet place, and keep their bowls out on a daily basis.  We have a wash sink in our laundry room, so we can wash their dishes each day and keep their water supply filled.

I added a grippy rubber mat to prevent their bowls from sliding around and to also keep the floor clean of crumbs and slobber.  We store their food in a large tin bin, which holds a labeled pooch scoop inside.

Our dogs are part of our daily life, and so are their things.  These are some of the ways we keep everything super accessible, yet tucked away at the same time.

What tips and tricks to you have to keep your fur babies organized?

54 Our Organized Medication, First Aid and Pet Closet

So you may be noticing that this weekend I went on a little organizing spree.  It was therapeutic for me and I am a happier girl because of it!

I tell you all the time how much you all inspire me.  With your excitement, your stories and your projects.  Today, instead of telling you that I was inspired by last week's guest post on organizing pet supplies, I thought I would actually show you instead.

I found a clear storage box from the Container Store for $4.  I used my Silhouette to cut a piece of vinyl for the front...

I filled it with the supplies Serena recommended, and I had an instant doggie medical kit!

I am so excited that the pups now have that dedicated kit just in case.  They are members of our family after all!

But when it came time to put it away, something happened.  Oh boy, I got to thinking.  Practically.

We had been keeping some of our pet washing and medical stuff down in the lower level laundry linen closet.  But we always tend to the dogs up in our main bathroom.  Things that make you wonder... why didn't I move it sooner?  Why make life harder than it needs to be?

Not to mention, all of our family medications and first aid items were already being housed in an itty bitty linen closet in our hallway...

I needed to make room in there for the pet items.  It just made much more sense.  And it caused me to pull everything out of the closet and rethink how the whole space was being used and how I wanted it to be easier to use.

We had been keeping our medications in small tins, that were over flowing and we never knew which was which.  We never used the rolled towels in this closet, so I moved them to the bathroom where they belonged.  Same with the extra soaps and lotions.  After a couple more magical bins from Target {same ones from yesterday's bathroom post}, things were looking much better.

I printed out some labels on Avery 22817 circles.  They seemed to stick pretty well, hopefully they will hold up over time.

Medications are on the highest of shelves so no little fingers will ever be able to reach {unless they do some serious Spider Man climbing}

All of our first aid items were corralled in one single large basket.  This will be much better than grabbing three bins when it's time to deal with a boo boo.

And the new pet medical kit is tucked with the rest of their grooming supplies in another bin below.

I really love when one organizing project leads to another!  And I love this closet so much more!

Oh, and because I tend to get some questions wondering where the closet is or wanting to see the whole thing, it's in our main hallway, it's narrow and also is the home to our vacuum cleaner.

We keep our main bathroom linens in each bathroom vs. in the hallway.  Plus, knowing that medications are not as effective when stored in heated areas {such as bathrooms and near stoves in the kitchen}, it makes the most sense for us to utilize this closet for all of those goodies.

Anyone else work on a project this weekend, because of inspiration found?  Or how about an unexpected one that happily happened because of the downstream impacts of another?

19 IHeart: DIY Doggie At Home Medical Kit

Today I am excited to welcome Serena Faber Nelson, author of the incredibly adorable blog, "Pretty Fluffy".

Because such a large percentage of the population has a furry pet friend, it's important to keep them in mind when organizing as well.  And because Serena writes a blog dedicated to pooches, I thought she would be the perfect guest to stop by and share with us an organizing pet project she recently completed, along with some other fantastic pet organizing tips.

"One of my favorite things about the New Year is the opportunity to lay foundations for the year ahead.  Feeling secure knowing you've got the big stuff sorted.  Knowing that you have a safety net to catch you when things fall apart.  Because as much as we want life to be perfect - it ain't.  So this month I want to encourage all pet owners out there to go about creating your own DIY Doggie At Home Medical Kit.

What you'll need:

• Storage container with a snap lock lid
• Cotton pads for clean up and topical applications
• Gauze for swabbing, padding or wound cover
• Bandages for compression and dressings
• Cotton buds for topical applications and clean up
• Scissors
• Tweezers
• Flea and tick treatments
• Worming treatments
• Antiseptic for small grazes and wounds
• Sanitizer for your own hands after dealing with wounds

This is merely a starting list for you.  Think about what your dog needs medically day to day and in an emergency.  Check with your vet as to what they would recommend to include, and consider your local area and your dog's lifestyle for any extras - such as doggie sunscreen or tick removal devices.

Package all of the items into the container, and wrap in a bow {for prettiness!}.  Don't forget to label the kit with your vet's emergency contact number.  Should you have an emergency on your hands, this saves time by allowing you to call the vet for help while attending to your dog.

And as much as you may want to, DO NOT use it to dress up as a mummy for Halloween.  Emergencies only people.  {You can, however, pretend to be a doctor from Grey's Anatomy when tending to the thorn in your dog's paw.  You can even use the word 'Stat'}.

 

Here are some more handy hints to get your dog's health and safety sorted for 2012:

Ever gone to find out your dog's registration details and after hours of searching have found them in your toaster's warranty guide?  {Which has, of course, expired.}  It's time to get rid of that clutter.  Streamline your dog's paperwork into one folder - this one from Kikki K does all the hard work for you.  Believe me, often when you're looking for this info, you want it pronto!  You want this file to include the following:

• Your vet's contact details {including emergency after hours numbers}
• Registration and microchip papers
• Vaccination details
• Health records
• Training certificates
• Dietary information

This one goes for you too!  Throughout the year it's easy to build up old tablets, powders, lotions and potions for the family, and your pooch is no exception.  Trouble is these medications go out of date, and using them when they have expired can be ineffective and plain right down dangerous for your dog.  So go through your home medical collection and dispose carefully of anything damaged, or out of date.  Not too sure about something?  Contact your vet or error on the side of caution and get rid of it.  Once the clean out is complete, now is the ideal time to stock up on at home treatments such as worming tablets or flea treatments, to ensure you have your dog's healthiest foot forward.

So your dog hates the vet.  Or maybe they love the vet.  Or maybe they liked the vet but then thought the vet wasn't that into them and then the whole thing got complicated.  Whatever it is, just get your dog to the vet annually to make sure their vaccinations are up to date.  And don't leave it too long - be cool, call the vet, check when your dog is due and get them booked in.

Set digital reminders on your phone or computer that will bring up alarm notifications for annual vaccinations, worming, flea treatments and other medications.  This will ensure you don't forget!

No, I'm not talking about Facebook {that that there is anything wrong with that}.  I'm talking about a one page "Cheat Sheet" for visitors who may come to look after your dog when you are away.  You never know when you may be called away suddenly or unable to return home.  Having a short guide to what your dog eats, where they sleep, how often they exercise and any important medical info, means that practically anyone can step in and care for your pooch when you can't.  This one page document is one less thing for you to worry about, allowing you to focus on more important things. 

Kikki K - Beautiful, practical paperwork solutions for important documents.
Apple 'My Dog' App - Keep all your dog's info in  one handy app.
Dog Help Network - A new online guide providing help & information on a variety of dog health issues.

Thank you so much for having me today Jen!"

Thank YOU to Serena for the great reminder of the importance of being organized pet owners!  So many great tips and tricks and ideas!  For more puppy eye candy, fun products and endless ideas on how to be a fab pet owner, you can check out the Pretty Fluffy blog here.  I can't wait to make up a doggy medical kit for my favorite pups!

How else do you keep your pets organized?

63 Basement Progress: Laundry Land Linen Cabinet

Our laundry room is massive and packs a lot of storage punch!

We are grateful and know how fortunate we are for this, as typical laundry lands are the size of a small closet. 

Of course, I love that I am able to use the space to hold all sorts of home maintenance items, like lower level cleaning supplies, painting products, overflow of bulk household item purchases, light bulbs and vacuum attachments.  And now, it's also the home for our lower level linen cabinet.

Our basement was never finished with a linen closet.  There really wasn't a great place to put one in when we originally finished the lower level, so the first time around we just stashed our extra bedding and bathroom linens in our master bedroom closet.  Now that we have remodeled and opened up the previous walk-in closet into a full dressing room, we lost the linen storage.  We did, however, address the need for a linen cabinet when making tweaks to the laundry room throughout the reno process.  The treadmill moved from the laundry room to the dressing room, and the toy/game cabinet from our old playroom, moved into the laundry room.

Still with me?  Confusing, I know.  Just making what we have work for us.

Now that the basement reno is nearly complete, and we just relocated ourselves and our master bedroom back downstairs, we really needed to evaluate how we were using the cabinet for our extra bedding essentials.

I started out by adding some doors to the front of the cabinet {which is all part of the EFFECTIV line at IKEA}, just to conceal things a bit, since there was already so much open storage in the room.  Plus, I don't really look forward to sleeping on dusty sheets....

The top of the cabinet holds some extra coverlets and puppy bath towels.

The next portion of the cabinet holds our bed sheets, pet supplies, extra cleaning rags, blankets, shower curtains, pillow shams and other household linens.

To fold our bedsheets {which is typically a nightmare}, I turned to my BFF, Martha Stewart, to show me the way.  Once the sheets were folded, I just tucked them into their matching pillow case to keep everything corralled and together.  Now, when we need to change our bedding, I can just grab the entire set and not have to dig for matching pieces!


For the rag and pet supply bins, I just printed out some simple labels on cardstock and clipped them to the bins with cheapo clothes pins that I Mod Podged with scrapbook paper.

The two baskets on the lower shelf is where the random/miscellaneous household linens are folded and contained.

The bottom cabinet holds our extra duvet inserts, since we tend to switch them out based on the current season.

We contain our upper level linens a little differently.  Since we use our technical teeny tiny linen closet to hold our medications and vacuum cleaner, we just use a chest of drawers in the guest room to house all of the upstairs bedding in a very similar manner to here.

My biggest linen closet tip is to only keep 2-3 sets of sheets max, per bed.  That way, if you are washing one set, you can keep the other set on the bed.  We have the same philosophy for towels.  We keep all towels in cabinets right in the bathroom, and each person has two sets of towels, so when one set is being laundered, the other is out on a hook.  This really cuts down on the amount of storage we need for all of our linens in our home, and keeps our cabinets and drawers streamlined.

Now that I am writing up this post and looking at the pictures, I am really wanting to dress up the front of that linen cabinet.  So much so that it just went on the ol' home project list!  Wahoo!

So how do your show your linens some love?  In the laundry room?  A linen closet?  A cabinet?  What other linen closet organizing tips and tricks do you have?

8 Don't Forget the Pets...

When running around to all those holiday gatherings this weekend... don't forget the little furry friends that may be prancing around the abode as well.....

Here is a little something I had put together for the pets that make our lives and our family and friend's lives special:

These jars run around $3 each and when filled up with some treats, and adorned with a bow and label, they make the most thoughtful gesture for a family's best friend.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season!