Organizing my First Apartment

This post is sponsored by The Container Store. Thanks so much for following along!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may know I’m about to move into my first apartment for law school! After four years of living in a dorm, I can’t wait. Much like how I did an annual dorm room tour (my freshman through my senior year), I’m planning to write a couple of posts about organizing and decorating my new apartment. Today’s just a sneak peek 🙂

There’s something really fun about moving and sort of “starting from scratch.” I have a couple of simple, attainable goals, like buying stainless steel straws instead of plastic straws to be more sustainable, and using natural cleaning products from the beginning.

Another big goal is doing everything I can to stay organized from the beginning. My room at my parents’ house is often a mess because I don’t have any great organization systems set up, so my goal for my new apartment is to plan a space for everything to minimize clutter.

In fact, this summer has been all about de-cluttering. I’ve donated and sold several giant bags of clothes I never wear, and it feels so good to not have those taking up precious closet space.

Afterward, I headed to The Container Store to purchase some items to help me stay organized, based on areas I know I tend to accumulate a lot of clutter.

Entryway

I’m obsessed with this 3-cubby bench that’ll give me a spot to drop my stuff instead of leaving everything in a pile by the front door. I’m sure my roommate will appreciate that, too. 😉

I got these dark wood bins (large size) to go inside. The style matches the decor I’m planning for the rest of my apartment, too– tons of white, with a few accents of dark wood!I also got this cute white hook to keep my keys and a jacket or two by the front door so I can keep track of them, because I’m forever misplacing my keys.

Kitchen

I’m not done organizing my kitchen yet, but I started with containers because…it’s The Container Store!

I often shop the grocery store’s bulk bins for things like oats, lentils, dried beans, and trail mix. So, I got an assortment of these glass jars to store them instead of having an assortment of brown bags wrapped in rubber bands thrown on a pantry shelf. I love that they’re clear so I can see exactly what and how much I have of each item.

For years, my family had a full cabinet of mismatched plastic Tupperware, and I spent what felt like years of my life rummaging through it to find a matching container and lid.

Now, I really love having matching containers for food, so I got a bunch of these stainless steel U-Konserve containers, which are perfect for serving anything cold or room temperature. I like that they’re as light as plastic, so I can easily pack them in my lunch box, and I can stack them inside of each other to maximize cabinet space.

I also have a lot of these matching glass containers, too, that I can use to heat food, store leftovers, and meal prep.

Jewelry

Keeping my jewelry tidy is a huge struggle for me, so I immediately fell in love with this elegant storage solution. I had a cute monogrammed jewelry tray before this, but I wasted so much time trying to find a matching set of earrings!

Having separate compartments for earrings, bracelets, and necklaces is so helpful, and you can pull the trays out fully to see underneath the top one.

That was just trip #1 to The Container Store, but my organizing definitely isn’t done, so I’ll be back! College students: you can sign up at containerstore.com/college to get 20% off your purchases July 20-August 20!

Question for you: how do you stay organized?