My new IKEA Storage

Today I headed to IKEA with my boyfriend as we've been meaning to make a few purchases recently. We decided instead of wasting money on silly Christmas gifts this year, we'd just spend our allotted budget for improving our home and buy a few larger things that we've wanted for a while now. One of the items I desperately needed was additional makeup storage, so my original plan was to get the Helmer cabinet. But upon seeing how tiny (and ugly) that one was, I realized that wasn't going to cut it, so I decided to go for the large, 9-drawer Alex unit. It was on sale too for about $100, down from $150. This drawer unit is absolutely perfect for beauty product storage as the drawers aren't too wide or deep, making it perfect for lots of smaller items on the top 5 smaller drawers, and some bulkier items on the larger bottom 4 drawers. I would recommend the large Alex unit for the serious makeup junky or collector, as it offers a lot of space. The Helmer unit would probably suffice if you have a smaller collection, and it's also a favorite among nailpolish junkies as it fits the bottles perfectly.

Alex was a bit of a pain to assemble...but instead of asking my boyfriend to do it, I decided to "man up" and do it myself for a change. Girls can do this stuff too! And with my shorter nails, I didn't even have to worry about breaking them either - hah!

Looking a bit worse for wear after a long, long day. I haz a hammer!

Whoopee! One drawer screwed and assembled, 8 to go. *sigh*

Finished!! Isn't Alex handsome??

Standing next to my vanity - excuse the untidiness! I also got a beautiful orchid at IKEA - my fav flower.

My previous plastic storage set - begone ugliness! Hiding the hideousness beneath my vanity. My old traincase seen on the far right. Can you believe that all my makeup used to once fit in that thing??!!! LOL!

Top drawer: Nail care supplies and Sally Hansen backups - plastic insert also from IKEA.

All my nailpolishes fit in one drawer - omg! It looks like so much less, but there's over 100 bottles in here I believe. I definitely prefer this over a polish rack, less dust and more space. I decided to organize them in rows by brand as I can easily find the color I'm looking for that way.

Random stuff and some things for giveaways.

All brand new stuff to give away in a contest.

I found a better home for my butterflies...

My new orchid plant - so pretty. And so much cheaper at IKEA!

Some of the other drawers just have some random bulky things in but most of them are still empty. Which is what I like - more room to grow. I'll probably do some more re-organizing tomorrow and dedicate one drawer to hair tools and my GHD flat iron and other hair things. This is definitely the best purchase I made since my Malm vanity table!

What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for looking :) Toodaloo!

xo,

Jules