Entryway Essentials with The Container Store

When we bought the house, there was very little in terms of the footprint that we took issue with. The layout of the house is actually what we loved most about to because it was perfectly compartmentalized for the way we wanted to live - walls where we wanted em & no walls where we didn't... well with the exception of the wall separating the kitchen & the dining room. The only thing that proved to be a real problem for us was that there was no mudroom off the garage and no foyer off the front door.

We needed to find a proper place for our outerwear, footwear, and accessories as we would come in & out of the house.

For the garage, since it's not our main entrance point, we purchased a hall tree. The front door was more of a challenge since we use it on a daily basis, multiple times a day.

Design, ShoppingAlbie KnowsNovember 23, 2021the container store, entryway, organization, the hygge ranch

Shop With Me: Garage & Shed Organization

After we moved in last Fall, we spent the next couple of months tackling a number of projects. Aside from a crippling case of creative fatigue, it also shown a light on all the many ways we needed to improve the least designed part of the house: the garage.

ShoppingAlbie KnowsOctober 19, 2021garage, storage solutions, the container store, shopping, shed, the hygge ranch

Design Daydreaming: Getting Our Garage Organized

While renovating the kitchen and doing other projects around the house, we leaned on the garage — A LOT — and in doing so, we realized that the garage had a lot of deficiencies. As a result, hubs and I unanimously agreed that we wouldn't take on any more projects — big or small -- before tackling the garage first. So I've been day dreaming...

DesignAlbie KnowsJuly 13, 2021garage, storage solutions, the container store, the hygge ranch

The Container Store Brand Ambassador

A lifetime of rearranging my spaces + helping other people with theirs taught me that no matter how beautifully designed a space, it's all for naught if not organization. The pretty facade will fade without organized systems in place. I wanted to create designs that my clients could sustain.

I don't do client work anymore but I apply those same principles to the content I create & the how I design my own home... which is also why The Container Store has long been one of my favorite shopping destinations for all things storage & organization for every nook & cranny of our home... and long before buying house.

Needless to say, when I got the email a few weeks ago that I'd been chosen for this year's class of brand ambassadors for The Container Store...I squealed!

ShoppingAlbie KnowsMay 26, 2021organization, the container store, brand ambassador

The Hygge Ranch: Our Kitchen Organization With iDesign & The Container Store

It's no secret that organization is my jam, so when thinking about the kitchen renovation, how it would be organized has always been top of mind — from the design layout to the cabinetry options. But that's only one piece of the puzzle — the perimeter edges of the puzzle — but while the kitchen has been in a holding pattern, awaiting the countertops, I've been working on the middle pieces of my storage puzzle.

What's a dream kitchen without dream storage solutions?

It's no secret — and should come as no surprise — that The Container Store is my go to destination when it comes to storage, even if it's just to window shop. Switching out all the cabinetry, adding brand new cabinetry, and upgrading the existing pantry system meant a chance to optimizing our existing storage while also getting to bring in new products and solutions.

We going shopping y'all!

DesignAlbie KnowsMarch 23, 2021sponsored post, the container store, kitchen, the hygge ranch, renovation, idesign, pantry

Shop With Me: What's In My The Container Store Cart... For The Kitchen?

You guys! I don't what's taken up more of my time these past couple of weeks... renovations or organization. If you don't know this about me yet, I love organization... so much so that I even considered adding organization services to my e-design packages.

The great thing about renovating the kitchen is that it's given me a chance to control nearly every detail of every surface, giving me a sort of clean slate when it comes to organizing. For so long I've had to work around what was already there and now that it was a design of my making, the storage solutions could be just right.

ShoppingAlbie KnowsFebruary 16, 2021the container store, organization, kitchen, shopping

Mood Board Inspiration: June + July 2020

The only thing that inspired me recently is Black people.

Black culture.

Mood Board Inspiration: May 2020

How is it already May?!

And yet here we are…

About halfway through the second quarter of the year and nearly 3 months into a global pandemic that has all but crippled our “normal” way of life. Now for me, I am thankful that COVID-19 and the stay-at-home order hasn’t too much impacted my day to day — changes have happened but nothing drastic — but I also couldn’t think about all the changes happening in nature that we can’t see… and possibly all the changes happening because we aren’t out in the world messing with things.

I remember reading about reports that indicated a decrease in air pollution across the world because factories were closed, cars weren’t on the road, and just overall how our being home was giving Mother Nature a much-needed reset of her home. Imagine that!

I thought about how clear skies and vibrant colors, and my may mood board inspiration came into bloom…

Mood Board Inspiration: April 2020

Living in the Pacific Northwest gave me a newfound appreciation for nature’s beauty, but specifically the colors in nature — I didn’t exactly always get the benefit of seeing a crayola assortment of trees and clear blue skies while living in Hell’s. Kitchen. While I’m sure this is problem the first spring for all of us, where we’re spending most of it in our homes, there is still so much beauty out there in the world to appreciate — and with any luck, that we’ll be able to enjoy before the season changes.

That was my inspiration for this month’s mood board — bringing home the simple beauty around us.

Mood Board Inspiration: March 2020

Design, ShoppingAlbie KnowsMarch 17, 2020mood board, color, hygge, cost plus world market, target, horchow, serena & lily, the container store, shopping