Project Recap

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Tidy Nest Featured Press: Contemporary Classic: Transforming a New Canaan Kitchen (Bedford & New Canaan Magazine)

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For the last couple years we’ve enjoyed working with the Nicolet family on a variety of projects in their lovely New Canaan home. Through the many things we’ve worked on together, this project stands out as the showstopper. Their designer Jeanne Collins of JerMar Designs, created centerfold-worthy spaces, and we relished the opportunity to work within the parameters of her functional and stunning designs.

During the project, the Nicolets had to relocate their kitchen into their living room, and after various inventory delays due to covid, their kitchen-living room had become rather overwhelming.

Take a look at the photos below to see the evolution of the spaces — from storage bins to magazine-ready!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Featured Press

Take a look at our press mentions in Bedford & New Canaan Magazine over the years.

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Project Spotlight: A Spice Wall For The Books

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We loved working on this spice jar project. It took us awhile to source the perfect vessels. We ended up using these tall Weck jars and replaced the regular clipped tops with these wood tops (that have a seal gasket) and then we added these sweetest little jars from a great Etsy shop. We had to keep the Coleman’s mustard tin container because it’s just so classic!


It was an absolute pleasure to be able to work in a space designed by the fabulous @scribe.studio. It was like getting to color in the most sophisticated and beautiful coloring book. They design not only for beauty and elegance, but for functionality as well. We’re grateful for the opportunity to work in one of their homes and will share more photos from the project soon!

Want to shop these products?

glass spice jars with acacia tops

Glass Spice Jars with Acacia Wood Lids

The spice jars are airtight and made with food-grade high quality borosilicate glass.

Weck glass jar

Weck 11.5 Oz. Zylinder Glass Canning Jar

These jars have been around since 1900 and there’s a reason. They are classic and versatile. And that Strawberry is the cutest.

Weck tops

Weck wooden lids

Weck wooden lids come with removable silicon gaskets which help keep ingredients fresh.

If you purchase from one of our links, we may earn a small commission.

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Project Recap: Tidy Nest Pantry x mDesign Products

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When we saw this pantry’s metal door detail, we knew mDesign’s graphite wire bins would compliment the aesthetic well. 

This pantry works hard for two very busy professionals and it needed some Tidy Nest attention.

pantry full of items

We pulled everything out, categorized and edited.

Our favorite stage of a project - the space is clean, the product is in, and we can begin to look at the project with fresh eyes.

empty shelves in pantry

We played around with product placement and landed on a few staples from mDesign’s wire collection.

The graphite wire bins were the perfect choice for bags of chips, crackers, pasta and teas. Not only do the graphite bins look great in the space, but they’re functional, versatile, and allow you to see the items without being completely transparent as well. 

mdesign baskets and product on table

The additional products we chose are thoughtfully sized, rust-resistant and in some cases expandable and adjustable. The pullout basket drawers and storage shelves were added to utilize the vertical space.

mdesign metal baskets

The most important piece for this household was to have their supplements visible and easily accessible. Previously they were stored on the kitchen counter and in baskets in the pantry causing the client’s kitchen island to be cluttered and making it challenging to find the correct bottles.

We added an expandable three-tier spice rack and placed the supplements front and center.

Easy access and super visible!

mdesign metal baskets

These are great choices if you’re looking to use less plastic in your home or you simply want a more modern aesthetic.

mdesign metal baskets

Kiddo Centric Garage Project

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More often than not, garages are one of the most cluttered spaces in the homes we visit. It kind of makes sense though, right? With all of the cleaning and organizing to do in your home, why would you spend time perfecting your garage? Well… we’ll tell you why! Read below…!

This garage project was a fun one. There was lots of space so we had options with respect to making homes for everything. The primary goals for this project were to declutter and to introduce organizational systems (mostly for 3 active boys ) into one garage bay.

As many garages do, this one had accumulated lots of old toys, old furniture and garbage from the past several years and moves. With most projects we like to start with big projects first, so in this case, we tore out the old built ins and demolished them. According to Shannon, there was quite a lot of ‘grunting’ noises emitted from the sledgehammer operator, however those remarks were promptly ignored. Afterwards, we emptied the entire garage, inventoried every item and broke them into manageable categories: keep, donate, trash.

From there we assembled and installed all storage solutions and eventually began repopulating the space with all items grouped together. We even created parking spaces for ride-ons.

The photos below tell the story well. What started as an overwhelming, unusable space, was brought back to life over a weekend. So why is it important to spend time getting your garage in order? Because now everyone knows exactly where everything is. There’s no more “MOM!! HAVE YOU SEEN MY SOCCER BALL?”

We’ve since checked in, and the client proudly reported that the space looks just the way it did the day we left. And most importantly, we got three thumbs up from the kids, so we called it a win!

Pro Tip: Bring kids into these projects. They’re not going to have the chance to learn just by seeing the cluttered space in the beginning and the organized space at the end. Instead, engage them and see if they want to help find their old toys a new home.

Project Tally:

🚚 950lbs of trash removed

🔨1 large built-in demolished

🛴10 children’s ride on toys donated

👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏾2 happy parents

Project Recap: Creating Inspiration in a Master Closet 

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Need: Our client’s master closet, while quite large, was overwhelmed with inventory that was no longer being worn. The space was cluttered making it difficult to find items and it made getting dressed a dreaded task. The closet island acted as an unloading station for paperwork, purchases and handbag contents. 

Solution: We reviewed every single item in the closet and with the help of a very participatory client, we quickly made decisions whether to keep, donate, repair or discard.

We then spent some time thinking about what her day-to-day looks like — and you can ask yourself the same questions we asked her.

  • What kinds of clothes do you wear most frequently?

  • What do you have the most trouble keeping organized in your closet?

  • Are there certain areas of your closet that are tough to access?

  • Do you plan your outfits out each night?

After understanding her needs, we mapped out the closet and started adding the inventory! 

  • We implemented new folding systems - rolling and file folding when appropriate. 

  • We created distinct sections throughout her closet - ie. shoe wall - so every category has a home - no more asking “where is that silk blouse?!” 

  • Contents on the open shelves were contained in baskets (custom labeled, of course) to immediately eliminate any sense of clutter when walking into the closet. 

  • We created an “unloading station” for paperwork and handbag contents, wallet, lip gloss, etc. 

  • Finally, we wanted this space to be inspiring so we incorporated our client’s keepsakes and treasures throughout the closet and made sure to display all the pieces that make her happy. 

Pro Tip: This may sound crazy but it is a game changer… Unpack your backpack/purse/tote/briefcase every week. Put the contents in the same place each time, weed out the trash, and relocate the items you don’t need to carry. This forces constant editing and eliminates the annoying problem of having to remember what purse contains that favorite lip gloss...or your car keys. 

Container Store Products:

Grey Montauk Woven Rectangular Storage

Bin Clip Label Holders

Stackers Medium Expandable Jewelry Storage Tray

32-Compartment Drawer Organizer

Premium Non-Slip Velvet Suit Hangers

Poppin Accessory Trays 

4-Sort Wire Dividers

Project Photos

Project Recap: Taming Toys in a Family Room 

 
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Tidy Nest was hired to tackle a mountain of toys and books in this household’s family room.  As with any house with kids, trying to keep toys stored in their intended spaces can feel like a losing battle. Recently we’ve begun including kids in our process a little more, and explaining to them what we’re doing. By the end of our jobs, more often than not, they’re playing ‘home organizer’ in their own rooms, and helping Mom and Dad without even being asked! See below for our most recent example…

Need: The parents wanted to create a tidier family room. While there is a playroom in the house, this space is used most frequently and by all members of the household. The children’s toys, books and dress-up supplies needed to be easily accessible but also contained so the adults wouldn’t feel like they were relaxing in their children’s space. 

Solution: We worked with the family on editing the inventory and relocating infrequently used items to the playroom. Luckily they already had great storage solutions (they just weren’t being used to their full capacity) so we were able to avoid having to buy new products. In addition to repurposing their existing storage solutions, we introduced labels to teach the children that everything has a home! 

Pro Tip: Depending on the ages of the children, get them involved in the editing process. Make it fun - have them try to find 10 items in the room that they’d like to share with another friend or someone in need. 

Try the KonMari method…”does it spark joy?” “Does it make you happy?” 
Take them to the donation center when dropping the items off; it’s a great time to teach them about giving back. 

What’s not helpful is asking the children “when was the last time you played with this?” Inevitably, they’ll say” right now” or tell you “all the time.”

 
 

Products:

The client had some great storage solutions already in place so we did not have to buy any new products. Here are the products that are pictured:

The Container Store: 3 Sprouts Toy Storage Cube

The Container Store: 3 Sprouts Toy Storage Bin

The Container Store: Bin Clip Labels 

The Container Store: Elfa X-Narrow Mesh Drawer

The Container Store: Elfa Drawer Label Holder 

Quick Tidying of a Closet 

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This closet wasn’t in terrible shape per se; it was just a bit chaotic. Dedicating just an hour to the closet (and an hour to the shoe collection) we were able to give this closet a quick facelift. 

The best way to handle this kind of project is to get right into it. We pulled everything out and edited the contents. There were great organizing products already being used, so there was no need to order anything new. Even though this closet is edited seasonally, we still wound up with a few bags of donations, which made a big difference. If we did purchase products, we would have added in shelf dividers to keep the stacks of clothes upright. 

The closet contained different types of hangers - plastic tubular hangers in four styles and three colors and velvet hangers. Instead of buying all new matching hangers, we choose to group the different styles together within the closet. As Shannon’s mom says “like with like.” 

Pro Tip: Grouping like hangers together in a closet is a budget-friendly way of taming the chaotic mismatched hanger situation without investing in new hangers. 

We refolded everything on the shelves using the file folding method and rolling when applicable. Bulkier items were folded flat and denim was folded rather than hung. We contained as much as we could using the Y-Weave baskets from Target. 

We noticed that plastic garment bags (even the nicer ones from The Container Store) attract mold after a few years so we recommend cotton hanging bags for storing formal wear. They come in various sizes for coats, suits, gowns, etc. We used the coat and gown size. 

Finally, we wiped down all the shoe boxes (using Grove All Purpose Cleaner) and relabeled the boxes using chalkboard stickers, leftover scrapbook paper and oil based sharpies. The previous labeling system (post-its) was not working and looked very messy. 

 
 


Products found in this closet:

Amazon: Ultra Thin Velvet Hangers

The Container Store: Tubular Hangers 

The Container Store: Children’s Tubular Hangers

The Container Store: Shoe Box

The Container Store: Natural Cotton Hanging Storage Bag

Target: Y-Weave Storage bins

Project Recap: Unpacking a house in 5 days 

LA testimonial

Need: Our client needed help unpacking from their first move in 30 years. To make things challenging, the client wanted to host Easter dinner just 5 days after the move-in date. 

Solution: We created an aggressive schedule and stuck to it! 

All boxes were housed in the garage. They were brought into the house ONLY when it came time to unpack the box. This way the client was not living amongst boxes and worst case, if there were a few unpacked boxes at the time of the party, they wouldn’t be crowding the living area. 

We started with the bedrooms & bathrooms on the first day – the most important rooms! After a long day of moving, the best feeling is having your bedroom and bathroom ready for you. Two days were dedicated to the kitchen, the third day was dedicated to the living spaces (family room, living room, office) and the final day was dedicated to the seasonal and miscellaneous storage items. We even had time to decorate for Easter. 

Pro Tip: Map out all the cabinets, drawers & closets before you start to unpack. Use post-it notes to label. This will speed up unpacking time and will help the residents learn where all their belongings are housed.

Project Recap: Downsizing after 30 Years 

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Redondo move

Need: Our client wanted to downsize from a 3,000 square foot townhouse, which they lived in for 30 years, to a smaller space. With such busy schedules, they didn’t have time to pack up their belongings and also needed coaching when it came time to edit a lifetime of belongings to fit in their new home.

Solution: We broke the house up into categories, reviewing, editing and packing one category before moving on to the next. We started with the walk-in storage room as we knew this was full of items that were not used frequently. This was an easy editing exercise and gave the client confidence with her decision-making. We then moved on to seasonal

items, gym, office, non-essential kitchen items, followed by clothing and bathroom items. The entire editing and packing project took about a week. 

Pro Tip: Take time to create a staging / work area. Clear out a room or dedicate a space in the garage or hallway for a folding table, packing supplies, donations boxes, etc. You won’t waste time looking for packing tape and you won’t have to pack boxes while sitting on the floor! 

Products: We can’t live without these custom staging signs. There are 12 categories that cover every scenario in the editing process. We clipped these laminated signs to boxes in our staging area which eliminated the dreaded questions “Where should I put Donations / Trash / Etc.” 

 
 
staging
 

Project Recap: Spring Organizing – Kitchen Cabinet Edition

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Need: Even organizers need to take time to edit, edit again, re-sort, and change up their organizing solutions.

Solution: Review all content in cabinets, evaluate current organizing systems and make any necessary changes to the products, placement, and cabinet use.

Method:

  1. Clear out each cabinet

  2. are no longer of use.

  3. Review contents – discard expired items, donate both duplicates and items that are no longer of use.

    We are sticklers about expirations dates (Shannon more than Jared) and even we found spices in our cabinet that had expired. It was a horrifying moment for Shannon, but a good lesson that even the expiration police can miss a date!

  4. Analyze previous placement and make any necessary changes

    We originally had our baking supplies in mismatched jars, and after a few crazy months of non-stop work and travel, our baking cabinet got a little out of control, with no system whatsoever. We decided to forgo the mismatched jars and put all our flours and sugars in the ProKeeper containers from The Container Store. This line has snap-out levelers, dusting spoons & screens and terracotta disk inserts.

  5. Implement new systems and products when needed

    We had an abundance of various teas in a corner of the cabinet. It was hard to identify our inventory and all the labels caused visual overload every time we opened the cabinet. We removed all the teas from the boxes and found a great storage solution. Now the tea nook is super calming… exactly how a tea nook should be.

  6. Label!

    We prefer handwritten labels in our kitchen – we like the homey feel. We replaced all our printed labels with handwritten chalkboard stickers and washi tape labels.

Tidy Tip:
As mentioned earlier, we’re the expiration police - when you’re swapping out containers, remember to write the expiration date on a piece of washi tape. You can conceal the label by hiding it on the bottom of the jar or container.  We think washi tape works best here. We also like to label the inside cabinet door with the inventory for easy reference (see spice cabinet photo).


Products:

·  The Container Store: ProKeeper Baker’s Storage

·  The Container Store: InterDesign Linus Spice Rack

·  The Container Store: Linus Tea Storage Box

·  Target: Threshold Round Glass Spice Jar With Copper Metal Lid

Project Recap: Closet Close-Up  

project recap

Need: Maximize the space in a linen and utility closet and make it accessible for young children

Solution: Install organizing solutions that would utilize the depth of the utility closet and implement streamlined folding techniques in the linen closet. Labels were a necessity!

Method:

1.     Pulled everything out of each closet

2.     Categorized contents

3. Reviewed and edited all categories – discard expired products, stained linens, and items that are no longer used.

4. Identified storage solutions that could be reused (three-tier drawer unit, plastic shoe boxes, bamboo drawer organizers)

5. This household has young children so we needed to take into consideration the products that the children would need access to, like sunscreen, band aids, and towels. These items were put aside for the lower shelving.

6. Installed deep drawers for easy access for the kids while utilizing the depth of the closet. Since this closet contained a lot of products with labels, to cut down on the visual clutter, we chose a drawer with a cloudy façade to subtly conceal the products.

7. We folded linens uniformly and kept the linens stack low for easy retrieval.

8. We chose to print labels on clear tape for a subtle directory.

Pro Tip:  

Utility Closet: Drawer inserts are key when using these drawers. These inserts keep products upright, so your products don’t topple over when you open the drawers.

Linen Closet: We like to stuff a set of bed sheets inside one of the matching pillow cases. Who doesn’t want to open a cute linen package when it’s time to make the bed?

Product Links:

The Container Store: Like-it Modular Drawers

The Container Store: Like-it Modular Drawer Organizers

The Container Store: White Elfa Mesh Drawer

The Container Store: Gray Under Bed Storage Bag

Target: Sterilite Three- Drawer Cart

Linnen Closet Before & Afters

 
 


Supply Closet Before & Afters

 
 

Project Recap: Art Cart

 
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BEFORE

BEFORE

Tidy Nest was hired to create a system for the abundance of art supplies in a playroom. Art and office supplies are Shannon’s all time favorite items so she could not have been been more excited to tackle this project (plus it was for her five-year-old niece).

Need: The parents wanted to create a functional system for their children’s growing art supply collection. This system needed to be child-friendly and encourage creativity. There also needed to be a system for the children’s already-created and work-in-progress projects… a typical problem for parents.

Solution: Introduce containment for all supplies using child-friendly organizational products.

Method:

  1. Removed all contents and sorted the supplies (yes, even the loose pom poms and jem stones)

  2. Edited all supplies - duplicates went into back stock, broken or dried out supplies were discarded

  3. Decanted supplies like paint, markers, crayons, etc.

  4. Installed organizing solutions - we selected plastic and acrylic containment for easy cleanup (plus they are lightweight). Shannon wanted to introduce some more color to the already colorful playroom so she chose Jade Y-weave baskets from Target.

  5. Labeled baskets and shelving for easy clean-up! We went with handwritten chalk labels for the playful look!

  6. Collected all art projects both finished and in the works. finished projects were added to a binder with sheet protectors, works-in-progress were corralled in a basket on a bakers rack.

 
AFTER

AFTER

Pro Tip: Use Artkive Box or the Artkive App:

Artkive will send you a box that you can fill up with your kids’ art, you send back to Artkive, they'll professionally photograph it and turn it into a stunning, keepsake book. If you have time to photograph the art yourself, just download the Artkive app!

Click to learn more about the Box or the App!


Products (Click The Links Below):

Click through for more project photos

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