Nail polish organization!!

I'm so excited for this post!!
Ryan and I went on an intense cleaning spree Sunday, and then the pile of my nail polish in the corner & all of my makeup on the windowsill (our bathroom has terrible light for makeup!) was just unbearable. We had looked into getting a helmer when he ordered a new desk from IKEA, but the shipping for a $40 set of drawers was $55!! Insane. So we went on a journey to Michael's & finally bought a Melmer!
Sidenote: Why does Michael's have their storage all over the store? 2 or 3 of them were in 3 or 4 different areas. We made a complete circle of the store before we finally found the right one!
I have to say: the melmer is AWESOME. I like that it's not as big as a helmer, I like that it's stackable/expandable, and I love that it feels really solid. From looking at posts about it, I was under the impression that it was thin metal, but it's wood with a really nice heft. I really love it!

So first, here's my polish before:

I have 140 polishes. There are about 120 here, and then another 20 (glitter topcoats, sinful colors, confetti) hiding in my closet. This is just hanging out on the floor next to one of our bookshelves in the dining room.

I'd run out of room in the boxes, so this little baggie had been getting more & more full over the last couple weeks.

These boxes hold whole collections -- OPI Muppets & CG Hunger Games -- and then the two smaller boxes have base/top coats.

Two tupperwares full of polish! Zoya, Essie, Orly, random stuff in the first; Milani, SH CSM, CH, & OPI in the second.

This is what I built! Ryan helped a little, but it was really not complicated at all.

Ta-da! All built! Polishes in the melmer, makeup in the pink shelves, polish remover, polishes for giveaway, and the complete collections are up top.

Here's the top shelf. At the very front are all of my base & top coats. A base coat for every brand, 3 quick dry (SV, poshe, & out the door), and a couple glittery top coats. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure & Sinful Colors live here. This drawer also has the random small groups like Pure Ice, Del Sol, NYC, & Confetti.

The second & third drawers I've organized very differently from normal. I really really really like it, but as you can see there isn't a whole lot of room to grow. That means at some point I'll have to go back to the normal, boring way, but for now...

I haven't decided which of these works better yet, so there's a picture of both set ups.  I ADORE being able to see all of the polish. Honestly, I'd almost rather have 2 Melmers set up like this than 1 Melmer set up the normal way. Although, if this is how I plan on storing all of my polishes, I could probably get a drawer set with shallower drawers? Something to consider in the future.
Clearly, this drawer holds mainly Zoya, Essie,  Orly. It also has a couple Hard Candy, since they're square bottles, and a few of the nicer polishes that I only own a couple of.

Here's drawer #3! OPI & CG. Isn't it just way more beautiful this way? Even if it does hold less than half as many as normal...

So here's what it looks like as you pull the drawers out:

Really beautiful. And really easy to decide on a mani color! Or at least, easier. Sometimes I'm just really indecisive...

And now, onto the makeup! I know I haven't blogged makeup here, and that's for a good reason: I'm not really into it. A lot of the time, I'm too lazy to wear any!! But you ladies are influencing me, so I've been trying to do it more often, and to step out of my comfort zone a little. Ryan has even commented a several times in the last few weeks on how good he thinks I look, so apparently it's working!

 I bought this at Target my freshman year of college. They also had them in blue & clear. I'm sure they're still around, especially late summer/early fall when college kids are moving.

The top drawer. I love Everyday Minerals -- I actually just got new foundation & concealer, as well as some samples, if anyone is interested in a review? -- so that's a lot of this! Original Glo foundation, concealer, and a  few of their mini eyeshadows. Sephora brand eyeshadow primer. A few eyeshadow palettes -- I love the shit out of this Revlon palette for an easy natural eye; the Hip duo is a really pretty shimmery nude + a great dark purple, and the 8-pan WnW palette is seriously my favorite and I really want to buy the others.

2nd drawer is tools -- tweezer, brushes, etc -- plus eyeliner & mascara.

3rd drawer is odds & ends. Safety pins & a brooch; the aforementioned EM samples, some Aveda perfumes, a couple lip sticks, a mini CND solar oil, & some argan oil.
As far as makeup goes, I'm seriously low-key. No blush, only one eyeliner & mascara, lipsticks I rarely wear... But it's good to have, and I love that it's all in one place. I also have a kit full of bits & pieces in the bathroom that I will probably switch in and out, but this is my base zero for now.

Yay! Organization! Makeup & polish all in one place, both looking pretty and being clean!

Let me know if there's anything in here you want to see!