My name is Casey.
I geek out about organizing. I am addicted to aesthetics, small space storage solutions, DIY projects, and all things aqua. I make up silly songs all day long (kinda like that scene from Elf), and I can’t have a conversation if it doesn’t involve funny movie quotes. I don’t know how to put this, but I’m kind of a big deal. (Ok, not really, but I DO own many leather-bound books…;)
I used to be a total mess. Once I started letting go of the idea of “perfect,” I found freedom. I stopped trying to fit the mold, learned how to organize while working with my natural habits, and have been obsessed with creative organizing solutions ever since!
I live in a sweet, tiny little house with my hubby Leif and two fabulous rescue dogs. Between our busy schedules, short attention spans, 5 million hobbies & running several businesses from home full time (as well as his full time job as a college instructor!), we have had to do a LOT of thinking outside of the box when it comes to storage & organization.
When I’m not here, you can catch me sharing wedding & photography inspo over at Leafo Photo, writing about all things beer-tastic on Beer Brave, and contributing more organizing & storage tips over at IHeartOrganizing and A Bowl Full of Lemons!
I hope you enjoy all of our adventures — welcome to Pretty Organized!
Contributors
I am so grateful to have such a fantastic team of contributors chiming in with their humor & brilliance!
Beth
I’m Beth and I’m so excited to be contributing here at Pretty Organized! My husband and I live in England in a farm house that dates back to 13th century, and we are doing our best to make it a 21st century home while maintaining the character of the house. Over at my blog, The Incomplete Guide to Living, I share all kinds of projects and inspiration from my life as a wife, mom, and decorating/DIY enthusiast!
Erin
I believe that a beautiful, organized home can happen on any budget. We keep our projects low-cost by doing most or all of the work ourselves. Whether we’re rehabbing furniture, painting, decorating, or landscaping–we get through it one DIY project after another. I want to share what inspires us and hopefully inspire others.
Check out her blog, Managing the Manor, for more inspiration & awesomeness!
Annie
“Do what you love because how you spend your days becomes how you spend your life.”
I’ve been writing annie hearts in my head for years. Growing up, I was a wanna-be interior designer with grandiose schemes for my parents’ home, much to their dismay. I’ve been doing sewing, painting and refurbishing projects ever since my mom first sat me in front of a sewing machine and my dad taught me to use a paintbrush and a hammer.
I got hooked on DIY blogs right around the time I bought the little house on the river. Seeing the before and afters, the transformations on a dime, I thought, I’d love to do that. DIY blogging had my name—and my house—written all over it.
And so it goes that I’m well on my way to spending my days doing what I love.
About the Logo:
Okay, without going all Zen-master on you, I wanted to quickly explain our yin yang logo. Life is all about balance, right? I have found that it’s easier to stay organized when things are pretty, but I don’t want to give up on enjoying life to tweak and perfect every little detail. Organizing should simplify life, not complicate it! I do what I can to add beauty to my organizing systems because they make me happy, but I also try to stop when I know things are good enough. With every new system or project, it is my goal to make it easier to be organized than disorganized. So, the yin yang represents the many things we balance each day: utility and beauty, overcoming challenges, and, y’know, keeping our stuff together!
So glad I found your awesome blog. Perfect!
good post, added you to my RSS reader.
Thanks!
I’m new to this organizing stuff but realize how important it is to keep things running smoothly at home. I too have a short attention span, which is why I was drawn to your blog.
Can I make a suggestion?? Any ideas on organizing media? Like, CDs, DVDs, Redbox discs, etc.?? Also, I’d like to tackle organizing the files on my computer, like photos. UGH. I don’t know where to start. If you have easy, practical solutions, please tell!
Great ideas! I am actually working on a blog post about how we organize our DVDs & media cabinet right now, and I can definitely start writing some stuff about organizing photos & computer files — that was a struggle for me, too! Thanks so much for your suggestions!
Here’s the blog post about DVD organizing solutions! I also posted about how I organize cables in my tv cabinet.
Your anchorman reference won me over! I feel like I wrote that first paragraph myself, except I prefer lime green!
I can’t wait to start reading your past posts! Glad you’ve been added to the IHeartOrganizing team, that’s how I found your blog!
Haha, thanks so much!! Lime green is awesome — it’s actually the company color for our other business. My desk chair is even lime green!
hi! I just found you through iheartorganizing! I love what you are doing and see that you keep referencing your small home–do you have a home tour? I’d love to check it out!
Thanks so much! I don’t have a house tour up yet, but it is definitely in the works! Our house is a 1 1/2 story cape cod, 2BR 1 BA, about 576 square feet. The downstairs layout is pretty much one big room (minus the stair wall in our entryway), with a small laundry & bathroom off the back. The bedrooms upstairs have slanted ceilings (so it’s regular height for like 1 ft. in the middle and then they angle down to a knee wall that’s about 2 ft high — part of why our liveable square footage is so small). I love our little house, but it can be tricky trying to find storage that fits within all of the quirky little dimensions! Living here has definitely helped us to become more creative when planning for organizing & storage solutions — I guess you could say it’s my muse for this blog!
Is the footprint of the house 576 or is the total square footage 576 including the upstairs? Wowee, you must be super creative. I just looked at your porch makeover and your house is too cute. Nice job! Loving the blog and reading about organization from someone to whom it does not come naturally. Happy Weekend!
Thanks so much, Sandy!! The footprint of the house is about 576 square feet (first floor). The upstairs is around 225 square feet, so I think we can say that our total square footage is about 800. I’m working on a few projects on our 2nd floor right now, so I’ll be able to share more photos & hopefully get a little house tour up here very soon!
Oh my gosh, you sound like my twin, I am always at it with the silly songs and it drives my boyfriend nuts! (Too bad we live together and I never run out of material, lol
) I was also (and kinda still am) a total mess. I love that we have so many things in common. Your blog was already just darling but now I love it even more!
Aww, thank you so much, Sam!! Haha, my poor dogs get the brunt of the made-up singing. I am definitely still a work in progress, but I’m finding new solutions every day!
that’s too funny, i sing to my cat! our poor pets, lol
so glad to have found your blog!