Week 3: Children's School / Art Work

When it comes to your children, everything that they do is precious. Every page that they color is perfect and every straight A report card is the greatest achievment. What happen's when you've got piles of school and art work, but limited space? You've got to sort through it and dwindle those piles down to absolute keepers. There are many ways to store these precious items, the most popular being with a binder or a file box. I prefer the file box because you can store more. I love Jen's templates over at i heart organizing!

The basic concept of this whole project is to have a divided section for each year your child is in school. A great idea is to also put in school pictures with each section along with the teacher's name and year. There are so many different ways to store all of the school work, so choose what works best for you and run with it!

Week 3: Manuals & Warranties

Creating a binder that houses your manuals and warranties may not seem like a task that is absolutely necessary for an organized home. But, you would be surprised how much you might need that junk drawer you've secretly been stashing them in. I've gathered up a few steps and ideas to help you out. You will need a 3 inch binder, sheet protectors and dividers.

1. Sort through all of the manuals and warranties and get rid of the one's you no longer own.
2. Put the remainder into categories... Appliances, Electronics, Children's Toys, Furniture, Etc.
3. Slip the Manuals in to a sheet protector with the matching warranty.
4. If you have receipts for any of these items, staple them to the manual.
5. Place the manual behind the appropriate divider in the binder.

Voila... Easy-peasy. If you want to take this a step further, you can print out a list of your items and the warranty expiration date and put it in the front of the binder. This is a small task and is something that doesn't take up that much of your time. If you do one small project a day, you will have your entire house organized in no time!

Week 2: Laundry Room

Laundry rooms come in all shapes and sizes. In my home it's more of a closet, so there isn't room for much. The laundry room, like the linen closet, is also not a place for you to store miscellaneous items. Function is key when it comes to a place where you want to spend as little time as necessary, ha-ha  There are a few key things that I keep in my laundry closet other than the obvious detergent and bleach.

• A sock bag. I just use a linen bag and hooked it on a hanger to store all of those pesky, unmatched socks.
• An emergency kit. I grabbed a little white basket from the dollar store, threw in a flashlight, some candles, and a lighter, just in case the electricity ever goes out.
• 2 baskets, labeled: To Mend (clothes that need mending) & Hand wash/dry-clean. Some people also put in a donate basket, I however, keep a laundry basket in my coat closet for items to donate (or garage sale).

In the laundry room, shelves and baskets are key players to adding additional storage. If you have a nice sized room to do laundry in, but lac the additional storage place you need for bulk items, I would suggest putting in a shelving system. Ikea has a very basic unit that works great in the larger utility rooms & in the garage. 

What are some key elements in your laundry room?

Week 2: Linen Closet

The Linen Closet.

It has a name that describes exactly what it should be used for, to store your linens. It is not called the "junk closet." My point is.... utilize your linen closet for linens: Sheets. Towels. Drapes. Blankets.

• It's only necessary to have 2 sets of sheets per bed (some people even place the extra sheet set in between the mattress & box spring it belongs with).
• The same goes for towels, 2 per person and an extra 4 for guests.
• Label your sheet size on the tags.
• Fold your sheets and put the matching sheet sets inside the corresponding pillowcase that way there are no straggling pieces.
• If you need to, label your shelves by size or even by room, placing the corresponding items on their matching shelves.

What have you found in your linen closet that doesn't belong?

Week 2: A Place for Everything

"A place for everything, & everything in its place."

One of the biggest issues that I run across are finding a place for everything. If everything in your house has a designated spot to "live" then you will not have a problem organizing.

If you were to stand in the middle of the living room and do a complete 360 degree circle, looking at every aspect of that room.... What do you see? Is everything in its place? Or, do you have items that are constantly stacked on your desk and coffee table. If the latter it the case, then it's very likely that those items do not have a designated place to belong to in your home.

What first comes to mind when picturing my home and an item not having a place is the living room remote controls. Before my remotes had a place, they would always end up on the couch arm rests, jammed down in the couch, or on the kitchen counter top (away from button happy toddlers). I finally got tired of constantly searching for the remote and it getting in the way of food splatters in the kitchen, so I created a spot for them. The remotes are still located in the kitchen. They are now placed in a pencil holder that is hung on the wall right as you leave the living room and enter the kitchen. I know this is not everyone else's ideal place to put TV remotes, but it's what worked for me.

Choose to put your items in places that work for you. Your shoes don't necessarily have to go in your closet. If you have a mud room that you would rather put them in, then go for it! Brush your teeth in the shower?! (ugh,men....) Then hang a toothbrush holder in your shower. It's YOUR HOUSE people! The whole point of being organized is to simplify. If you are constantly putting things where other people want you to, you'll never remember where they are and will spend most of your time searching.

Where are you storing the:

• TV Remotes
• Dog's Collar
• Camera Charger
• Mail

Every single thing in your home needs a spot. What still needs a spot in your home? What is an area that you struggle with?