Closet Storage

If I told you this mass of crazy mess lived in my house would you believe me? Well if I told you that today, I'd be lying, but if I told you last week I would unfortunately be telling the truth.

Sometimes even organized people have contained messes. It's true. Don't let us fool you too much!

The story behind this mess is simple. Due to lack of motivation and utter laziness this closet became a bottomless pit. I have seen this happen in so many people's homes. It is so easy to let the space fall by the wayside and allow junk to build up and take over. It became a problem in my house right off the bat when I moved in because no shelves were installed and nothing in particular was done to create an organized space. But that is no longer the case in my house! All I needed was a little motivation and a couple of hours.

Here's what I did to fix the problem:

I went on a mission to Target and Lowe's and found some stackable containers and a few shelves and I came back not having spent a whole lot of money, then got to work.

Small items now are housed in stackable containers and clearly labeled. Thank goodness for this shelf! You can also maybe see that I have photo albums and old yearbooks lined up here too. My loose photos are contained in either gift boxes or photo boxes.

I found these shelves at Lowe's - Target has a similar version. They are extremely inexpensive (yes, they look inexpensive too, but they do the job!) and easy to put together. They were just what I was looking for. I used the shelves to neatly store games, candles, magazines, old 3-ring binders and college paperwork that I am just not ready to part with, and wrapping paper/accessories. Hint: I use stackable bins to store ribbon and miscellaneous accessories and I use a gift bag to store other gift bags in. Wrapping paper is happily standing next to the shelf waiting for next Christmas.

These drawers I have had since I was in college, and boy did they come in handy in my dorm room! The top drawer is mostly an organized junk drawer - there is everything from a 3-hole punch to my camera to a box of checks. But! It's organized. In the bottom drawers I keep wires and electronic stuff. The wires are all coiled up individually and secured with a zip tie. If you don't have any zip ties, rubber bands or the twist ties that come on a loaf of bread work just as well!

We still haven't decided on any bookshelves that we can both agree on. So all of those books that were causing the problem in the first place are still here. But now they are neatly stacked in the corner instead of piled on top of each other.

I have high hopes that this new system of organization for the closet will work for me because everything is easily accessible, it's well-displayed and I am able to see everything inside the space to know what's there. No more laziness here! All I needed was a little time and a lot of motivation and the rest is history.

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Organizing with what you’ve got… Free ideas for organizing!

We’ve all got a house or apartment full of stuff, right? I’m sure that if you put your creative cap on and take a gander through the house you can come up with some pretty good stuff to use to assist you in being more organized. This might be a tall order, but let me take you on a tour of my house and show you what I found.

Yes, that is a box. A cardboard box. It is the easiest thing I could think of in terms of organizing so that’s why it comes first. A box is perfect for storing just about anything, and chances are high that you’ve got one somewhere in your abode already.

Do you have what seems like a million half empty travel size shampoo and conditioners? I do! And I have at least 5 toothbrushes that I received from the dentist over the last couple of years. My idea for organizing these and other travel size toiletries was simply to use a gift bag. I keep this under the sink in my guest bathroom.

Another obvious. This is indeed a bag. And it is a bag of bags. Makeup bags to be exact. I love the idea of using a large bag to store makeup bags. Plain and simple.

I’ve blogged here about recipe organization but this is my new file folder for keeping recipes that need to be filed or stored somewhere. File folders have so many uses I could probably write an entire blog post about them and their many uses.

How about this one – I think I got this mesh container in a 5-piece set with a waste paper basket, a business card holder, a pencil cup and a mail file when I was a freshman in college. I still have all 5 parts of the set. This one happens to hold my pens, pencils, rubber bands, kitchen post-its and Costco coupons. It lives in my pantry. I can’t think of anything better to use here.

This one is really genius. This is a cookie tin that I got from my aunt for Christmas one year. Its job now is to hold miscellaneous granola bars and snacks. I really don’t like keeping the entire box of granola bars with one measly bar in it, so when I get down to one or two bars I transfer them to the cookie tin and recycle the box to better utilize the space. This tin also lives in my pantry.

Let’s move to the bathroom. I have all sorts of organizers in my bathroom and they all came from somewhere else in my house. This shot here is below my sink – I used three votive holders to hold various items – cotton swabs, cotton balls and my makeup brushes; randomly one year my “gift with purchase” from Clinique was the organizer I use to keep my bobby pins, headbands, hair binders and other hair gadgets in. I use a big ole’ basket to keep my hair dryer and assorted curling irons and brushes in, and finally I have another simple plastic basket to hold my lotions, hair goo and clips. These were all things that I had in my house.

Last stop is the bedroom. I’ve got shoe boxes and a cigar box hanging out in the bedroom. Shoe boxes can come in handy for so many things – tools, photos, recipes, kids’ school or art supplies, or even your shoes. The cigar box is more of a memento to me than anything, but clearly it could be the perfect home for some cigars, otherwise photos or small memorabilia.

I hope this inspired you to go fishing in your own home for some creative ideas to keep you organized without spending so much as a penny!


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Organizing on a Budget

While the current economic state is still in recovery mode, I am in spring cleaning mode, so I thought that I'd put together a melange of options and ideas for organizing on a budget this spring. It is completely possible with some creativity and time!



Let's start with the kitchen since that's where I started my spring cleaning this year.

Stackable Bamboo Organizers



These are perfect for silverware, utensils or even your junk drawer or office drawer. As low as $2.99 at The Container Store - wow!

Mesh Packet Holder



I have to admit, here, that I had never seen this before! I love this idea and really think I'm going to get one of these. We all have single packets of this that and 12 other things in our pantry, but this is an excellent idea on keeping them together and organized. Nice job Container Store.


Silver Mesh Storage Bin



If only I had more of these! I've got a mesh storage bin like this in my pantry where I keep coupons, pens, pencils and post-it notes.

Cupboard Shelf



I have a couple wire shelves that I stick in my cupboards for extra elevated storage. They are wonderful! The best ones I have are in my bathroom cupboard and under the sink - they maximize space and promote the ease in finding your stuff.

Cabinet Organizers



If you have as many spices as I do - this is a great organizational tool for being able to find spices in the back of the cabinet.

Spice Jars



I love the idea of transferring store-bought spices into cute individual jars. These are adorable. And totally multi-functioning - you could use this easily as a multi-tasker.

Ceiling Pot Rack




This is a fantastic space-saving idea if you have an excess of pots & pans and not much extra storage space to give.

Let's move to closet and storage organization.

Over the door hooks




These are a wonderful space saving option for bathrooms, closets, storage rooms and kids play rooms. $2.99 from The Container Store is a great steal!

Over-the-door shoe organizers



There are tons of options for over-the-door shoe organization currently on the market. Here is Crate & Barrel's take.

Shoe Storage




Keeping your shoes off the floor allows for a clutter-free closet. This is a great solution to storing your shoes on the floor.


Sweater Bag Drawer



Don't have enough room in your closet for your winter and summer clothes? That's ok - grab a few sweater bags or containers and slide them under your bed with your seasonal apparel.


The Container Store is currently in Spring Organizational Sale mode - click here to find the closet location to you.

I happen to enjoy Crate & Barrel and The Container Store; neither company knows who I am or is in any way affiliated to Organized Ali. I write about products I use or would like to use.


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Craft Room Organization

Here is a great organizational blog post from my friends at Etsy. Check it out here. Because Etsy is an artsy craftsy website, the article provides inspiring ideas for craft and scrapbook room and inventory organization. Love.
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Organizing using Microsoft OneNote

I have found my new favorite computer program. Microsoft OneNote. Have you heard of OneNote? No, you say? You’re in luck: if you have Microsoft Office 2003 or later, I believe you will have OneNote.

What in the world is OneNote, you ask?



It is like having a notebook on your computer that you can do anything you would do with a regular old notebook or piece of paper.

Here are some things I have come up with where you could use OneNote:

*Taking notes in class
*Writing notes from a meeting at work
*Making a to-do list
*Creating a shopping list
*Managing a project
*Minimizing paperwork/messy buildup
*Maximizing productivity for work and school by connecting OneNote projects with Outlook (!!!!)

What makes OneNote so special?

If you're familiar with Microsoft Word, you'll probably find a lot of similarities to OneNote; however, there are a lot of things that you can do on OneNote that you can't do on Word. The most important being linking your OneNote notes or lists to your Outlook. If you create a to-do list on OneNote you can link it to your task list on Outlook with the click of a button. Better yet, you can pin a "side note" to your desktop to remind you of something that needs doing.

For those of you who are doodlers, getting bored in class can now be spent doodling in the margins of your electronic notebook just as you would if you were using a piece of paper. Drawings or mathematical formulas can be turned into text or a computer generated symbol.

Best of all: OneNote reduces clutter and saves time by eliminating the use of paper. I don't know about you, but I would much rather sort through a well-organized folder on my desktop than page through a spiral-bound notebook trying to find a to-do list or my notes from Biology 101. You can use OneNote on your PC or on your smartphone. I have not downloaded the app yet, but plan to do so!

My Current OneNote Project:



I am preparing to embark on some new housing projects, mostly filling my house with furniture, adding some organizational features to a couple closets and work on making our outdoor space amazing so we can enjoy every moment of the sunny Seattle summers (I think we’re on day 143 of rain right now). I decided to use OneNote to help organize some of my thoughts and ideas.

By using OneNote I was able to create a page for each room or space that we’re looking at making changes to. Each page lists the items we are planning to purchase or the projects that need to be done. Because of how OneNote allows you to make notes like it’s a piece of paper I can copy and paste pictures, images or swatches to help me keep track of different options. With things like our “Major Projects” I can keep track of bids and estimates we get, as well as the contractors and their contact information. I can highlight different items to note their priority status. I can check things off when I purchase them or complete a task (or I can cross it off).

So far I am really enjoying OneNote. I plan to utilize this program to be more organized at work by linking notes/to-do lists to my Outlook. I haven’t gotten this far yet, but I can tell you I am really looking forward to it. I think that OneNote and Outlook are the two best organizational features you can have on your computer.

For more information about OneNote, check out these websites:

Demo of OneNote

Download a trial

More to come next time: Windows Live SkyDrive and why it deserves a gold star.

Microsoft Corporation has no idea who I am. I am only writing about their products because I use them and love them. Microsoft is no way a sponsor of this blog.


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Moving

One of my absolute least favorite things to do is move. I love change, don’t get me wrong, but the physical act of moving is not something I, or most people, enjoy in the least. Hopefully these tidbits of helpful hints will make moving a little bit more streamlined and as positive of an experience as possible. I must say, once everything is all moved in I do love unpacking the boxes and finding a place for everything and organizing all of my belongings – that’s the fun part. But the stuff you have to do before that is not fun.


I am beginning a mental preparation for moving. We have been house-hunting now for seven long months. We have to be getting closer to the finish line by now, right? I am assuming that we will be packing our own belongings into our own boxes this time around (the last time we moved I sat in the kitchen and watched so gratefully as the movers wrapped and packed all of our boxes for us. That was so blissfully wonderful I can’t even tell you.), so the first step for me will be to go on a man-hunt for boxes and stock up on newspaper, packing tape and permanent markers. The best boxes I have found have come from liquor stores, golf courses, restaurants, grocers, gas stations and any boxes you have received in the mail (say from Amazon or Zappos, etc).

In conjunction with my box hunt, I will ultimately clear out a space in my condo for all of the moving supplies and packed boxes to be stored until moving day. Likely, that space will be our den. It is the most secluded area in our home at this time, and I can avoid looking at the mess, as I would have to do every day if all of this were to be stored in our living room (the only other viable space in our current digs – hence why we’re moving).

I have been employing the philosophy “if I pack, the house will come” – similar to “if you build it, they will come” – you know, from the movie Field of Dreams. So, I have been slowly knocking out a few boxes here and there. My strategy goes like this: start in the storage room and make sure that everything is boxed up and can easily be pulled out come moving day; then move into your kitchen cabinets to pack up the duplicates or the items you infrequently use, such as the china, the extra linens, etc.; then work your way to the bedroom and pack up any out-of-season clothes (this will be a challenge for me, here in Seattle, as it is June 20 and we are still in the thick of winter with no sign of spring ahead) and shoes, as well as jackets and any sporting equipment that is out-of-season. Another day, I would grab some boxes and work on the office – I am not going to be reading my book collection between now and the time of the big move, I don’t think, so that can be packed up and closed off; along with the stuff we store in the office – cords, wires, connect-y things, office supplies – all of this can be packed up in advance, if you ask me.

To keep me sane, I do like to chip away at the task of packing a little bit at a time to avoid a stressful situation just prior to closing on our perspective new home.

In the week or two before the big move, it will be important to determine what the most important belongings you have are – things like the coffee pot, a few place settings (plates, bowls, glasses, flatware, coffee mugs) toiletries, the computer(s), a few outfits to wear, etc. Keep these useable, but at this time, it will be necessary to pack the extras – linens, mixers, pantry items, and so on. I would pack these last-minute items in a box labeled just that – “Last Minute Items” so you know that is a box that needs to be unpacked before everything else, once you’re in your new space. You could also pack your last minute clothes and towels in a duffel bag or suitcase.

A cross-country or International move will require an enormous amount of patience and flexibility. Trust me on this one. I moved from Minnesota out here to Seattle nearly two years ago and it was not the biggest piece of cake, ever. The movers changed the date they would arrive with all of our stuff several times, which made it very frustrating and difficult to plan for. But, we did turn the experience into a mini-vacation – we packed up our suitcases and headed to the lake for a week of fun and relaxation while our moving truck was en-route to Seattle. We flew out to Seattle with those two oversized suitcases, hoping to arrive the day before the moving truck, so that we wouldn’t have to be in our new home without anything to eat on or sleep on in the meantime. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as the moving truck was several days late (how long, really, does it take to drive a truck from the Midwest to the west coast??? I’ve done that drive in 2 days!) That was an experience I do not wish to repeat anytime soon.

Some tips I have for you, as someone who has moved 6 times in 3 years and 8 times in 4 years (so, 14 times in 7 years?):

• Label correctly: when I hired movers who packed – they did an absolutely horrible job at correctly labeling my boxes. My bedding was in a box marked “Kitchen” and my pots and pans were in a box labeled “Office Supplies.” This was very frustrating because there are things that you want to get unpacked before others – bedding is one of those things, especially when it is brand new and you need to wash and dry it before the end of moving day. I also suggest labeling two sides of each box, as well, so that you can see what is in a box if it is in a stack with other boxes.

• Things alike go in the same box: this will simplify and streamline the process, come moving day and unpacking day(s). I suggest labeling every box with the room it is to go into along with an in-depth contents list.

• Don’t over-pack: make sure that you can still lift your box without the bottom bowing out – that would be a horrible experience if the box split open at the bottom (especially if it was filled with something fragile).

• Use high-quality tape and use it well: if your tape doesn’t hold up, your box could break or it could come open and spill everything out.

Summer is usually a fairly busy moving time – be sure to call ahead to rent your moving truck or to hire your movers. They will probably ask you questions about the size of your home, the number of boxes you have and your location to determine the size and quantity of the truck(s). We live in a condo in downtown Seattle, so we have a lot of hoops to jump through here with our HOA – paying a fee, reserving the “moving elevator” and making sure we reserve a parking space for the moving truck(s) since it’s on a busy street. After we move, we’ll have none of that nonsense to worry about anymore!

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Inbox Reduction

A little while back I read a fantastic book that was recommended to me called “Organize Yourself with Office 2007.” One of the focal points of this great text was about how many “inboxes” we have. Thinking about all of the places where we store new information is outrageous. One personal goal I have, since reading this book, is to limit all of the inboxes I have, specifically in my office.

To give you a better idea of what I mean when I say “inbox” here is a short list of inboxes that I have at work:

• E-mail inbox
• Mailbox
• Voicemail box on office phone
• Voicemail box on cell phone
• Paper messages to return a phone call
• Text messages from employees on cell phone
• Six stackable baskets for things that are coming in that I need to deal with, categorized of course
• To-do list on paper to add all of the items coming in that I need to deal with

That’s a lot! And that was just a quick 60 second brainstorm that didn’t even go into personal inboxes.

Honestly, inside that list of work-related inboxes there aren’t many spots where I can trim down and reduce incoming information overload. I can’t just cut out my voicemail on my office phone or cell, nor can I stop receiving e-mail (though I often wish I didn’t get so many e-mails!). But what I can do is manage how I store all of the information in my inboxes.
Six stackable baskets for things that are coming in that I need to deal with is a bit much, eh. I have reduced this substantially. Now, I really have one basket with things that I need to deal with, and the remaining five baskets are for filing things that I’m either working on or need to refer back to. I even turned one of those baskets into an outbox (things I need to mail).

One thing that I used to rely on heavily was little notes ALL OVER MY DESK. Those started cluttering everything and becoming a nuisance and getting lost among each other, so I have discontinued that habit. Instead – I create fewer notes but have a category for the notes. For example, I run an educational program where one of my responsibilities is to put together materials for my staff. Instead of having 17 notes all over my desk saying that Joe needs x, y, z and Jenna needs a, d, t and Hannah needs t, u, v, I have a list of who needs what materials. This sounds so trivial and obvious, but it has made such a big difference in my sanity. Oh, and I got some super cute Anne Taintor sticky notes that say “I dreamed my whole desk was clean.” They make me smile.

It’s the little things that you can do during your workday to make the 8-12 hours you spend there more organized and entertaining. Reducing my inboxes and information intake has been a minor adjustment to a major change.

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Anne Taintor and all her wit

By now, you have to know of my love for sticky notes, notepads, notebooks and anything related to writing a note. I prefer handwritten notes in any capacity, than those written electronically. I have a moderate obsession with notes; however, after a recent discovery of a new notepad designer, that obsession has reached a new level.



After 3M, my favorite note designer is Anne Taintor. Her products are absolutely hysterical. My good friend turned me on to her when she sent me postcards that were designed by Anne Taintor, then she started sending me notepads and my life had taken a turn for the best.
This is the first notepad I received, so eloquently stating “Just file it under “who cares?””:



Some more of my favorites from my good friend, Anne Taintor and her collection titled “Modern Office Revisited”:



The simple pleasures, like witty notepads, that give me a smile on the toughest days are worth every penny.
Anne Taintor’s products can be found on her website: www.annetaintor.com and in specialty stores or boutiques across the country.




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Recipe Organization

I love to cook. I love trying out as many new recipes and ways to prepare a dish as possible. Recently, I subscribed to two new cooking magazines, one of which has at least 100 different recipes in each issue. With great excitement, I rip out the recipes and add them to my pile of recipes to try. Unfortunately, that pile grows faster than I can keep up with it! I decided recently to combat that pile and get some order to its unruliness.




Initially my loose recipe pile was stashed in a bulging manila file folder. Well, three bulging manila file folders, to be exact. It was a mess, at the very least. As if that wasn’t enough, my cookbook cupboards couldn’t fit another darn thing in them (that’s another story…). I had recently seen a recipe book where you can protect recipes in sheet protectors bound together in a 3-ring binder and separated by category. Of course this could be a do-it-yourself project – find a plain old 3-ring binder, buy a ginormous package of sheet protectors and some file dividers and call it a day. I however decided that since this binder would house all of my very best recipes it needed to have a bit of style and class.

I scoured the web. I mean scoured. I needed to find the perfect recipe storage book. One of the most important components to my perspective purchase is the categories of foods that would separate the recipes I was going to store. I wanted something that didn’t just break the sections into “breakfast,” “lunch,” and “dinner;” but had some thought into them – baking is too generic, it needed to be separated into “desserts” and “bread” (I would have liked to have added “pastries” too, but I guess that was too much to ask) and pasta needed its own special place (right up front) – it doesn’t quite fit in the “main course” section with the chicken marsala. I think that I was more dedicated to my quest for the perfect recipe storage book than I was to some of my college research papers!



Finally, after hours of searching and days of pondering, I made my decision: the C.R. Gibson Pocket Page Recipe Book in Paddock Shawl.

And I thought that was going to be the hard part.

The hard part was fitting my recipes in the darn book! Let’s be real here, I have probably 14 cookbooks and several hundred loose recipes (not to mention hundreds of recipes stored in online recipe books) – how likely is it that I am ever going to cook even half of the recipes I have? Probably highly unlikely. I love to try new things, but don’t get me wrong, I do have a staple of “go-to” recipes in my back pocket when nothing else sounds good – I do tend to stick with familiar recipes I can trust. That means I must consolidate my enormous recipe collection and become a little bit more realistic. I really cut down - I probably recycled at least 100 recipes. Now, my recipe book is basically complete and I can actually find everything without sorting through hundreds of loose recipes. Every recipe has its place and I still have a little bit more room to add fun new recipes as I find them.


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Organizing with Reusables

Living in Seattle has made me into more of a recycling fanatic, as well as someone who tries to waste less. I like to put on my "creative thinking cap" and re-use things that I can. This is another cheap and easy way to stay organized on a budget!



Some things you can easily re-use as a storage container:

• Ice Cream tub (gallon size)

• Yogurt container (2 pound size)

• Deli takeout containers

• Margarine/sour cream/large cream cheese tub

• Pickle/jam/spaghetti sauce jar

• Coffee can

• Shoe box

• Any size can (think tomato sauce, soup, canned green beans)



What to do with them:
If you have kids (or if you're a crafty adult) you could turn this into a really cool and unique art project. This blog is about organization, not art, but an idea is wrapping the containers in a paper bag and decorating the outside - glue on sequins, glitter, whatever you have around the house.

Or, if you don't like seeing the manufacturer's design on the container, just wrap it in white paper and write what is inside of it.



I am always in need of more storage for little things like paper clips, other office supplies, jewelry, first aid supplies, hair binders and accessories, nail polish, kids trinkets and just plain junk. It's hard to beat these nifty little containers, especially since most of you probably have several of these in your cabinets or refrigerator at home.

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Organizing Kids' Keepsakes

I do think it is really important, for sentimental reasons, to cherish and keep some of your children's school projects throughout the years, drawings, special baby clothing and photographs of your children's lives. It seems to me with regard to mementos, photographs and artwork/projects would occupy the most space, leading to the most clutter in this area.


The key to keeping the kid's souvenirs organized is to not become a hoarder. As your child grows, throw some of your favorite things into their "keepsake box" but set a limit for yourself. Remember, your child will probably spend at least 18 years living in your house, not to mention if you want to keep college papers, graduation photos, etc. in his keepsake box. I do not include photos in this category - there really shouldn't be a limit on photos, if you ask me, because they can all be stored electronically.

If you're starting from scratch (have really young children), here is my advice to you: Find a large cardboard box or purchase a very large clear plastic tub (I say clear for a reason) for each child you have. This will become his keepsake box. Label the box/decorate it/have the kid decorate it - whatever - it just needs to be identifiable by you and housed in an easily accessible spot. Once you've got your box, you're set. The challenging part now is deciding what makes the keepsake box cut and what goes in the trash. Yes, I said it, I'm giving you permission to throw your children's memories away. As your child progresses you'll probably be tempted to throw everything he does into his keepsake box. Be picky - only the best should make the cut. Regularly go through the box and keep it orderly - again, only the best should make the cut, limiting this to no more than five items per year.

For those of you who already have children and have been saving keepsakes like it's your job, my question to you is: why? What are you saving them for? I wholeheartedly support saving a few really great things - that first book that Hannah read at age 5, Tucker's first division test, Grayson's report cards, Madison's SAT scores and Evan's self-portrait drawing at age 16. If you have gotten too carried away and are running out of room but your kid is only 5, there is a problem. Take everything out of your box or bin or whatever you have been using to store things in and go through it all, limiting the contents to fewer than five objects per year per child. I will allot you one box per child per life. No negotiations.

If you're having trouble getting rid of stuff, ask yourself why you're saving it. If the answer is something along the lines of, "so my kid can see his progress" or "so my kid can save his mementos" or "so when my kid grows up he can look back on all of his old artwork," I understand. However, your child doesn't need to be able to go back to every cherished drawing he did or stuffed animal he has. If you can't bring yourself to throw away the 3,219,084,398 paintings and drawings your child will do prior to 4th grade, consider giving them to a family member or brightening a senior citizen's nursing home room/child's hospital room by giving them a painting. As for saving your children's old toys, there are so many children who can benefit from your toy donation, I seriously don't think your 18-year-old child will care if you save his Thomas the Tank Engine whistle train -- give it away.



Photos from your children's lives can take up an entire storage room by themselves. I love the idea of chronicling each year or so in its own photo book. If you must have a second copy printed of each photo I would highly recommend you stock up on photo boxes. Most shoe boxes work very well, too. Arrange the photos in their boxes chronologically with labels. Here's what I would do: upload my pictures online, print off one copy of the great one's for the photo book and leave the rest online. The kids each have their own photo book for each year and everyone has access to the photos online, assumedly forever. My favorite online photo storage site is: www.snapfish.com - 9 cent prints can't be beat!

Other creative and wonderful ways to cherish your kid's artwork outside the box: frame it and hang it as you would a fine piece of art (seriously!); post pictures/paintings in their bedroom, playroom, closet or family room; display proudly around the house (if it's not a painting/picture - use a clay bowl for change, a wire sculpture as an accent piece); give it to Grandma (or aunts/uncles/other family members/close family friends) - she'll never throw it away; hang it on the refrigerator for a period of time; create an ArtBook for each child (bind several pieces of artwork together into a book); scan it onto your computer and upload it onto your blog/picture website/kid's website and enjoy forever; take a picture of your child with the piece of art and put it in his photo book/online.



Lastly, if you are a very sentimental family, consider doing this together. Get the kids involved with starting and maintaining their keepsake box and ask their opinions about what they want to keep forever and what they can live without.

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The Fundamentals of Organization

I've shared a lot of my personal opinions in this blog so far, and this post is no different. What I believe the fundamentals of organization are may be different from what other professional organizers consider to be the fundamentals. If you're about to do a major mental or physical overhaul with regards to organization I would advise you to read this to make sure you've got the basics down before you get in over your head.




Mindset. The first step to becoming more organized is to develop a positive mindset that is going to motivate you to be organized. This isn't something to take lightly. You must be in it wholeheartedly in order to live a fully organized life. If you don't give it your all you won't see the best possible results.

Willingness. For most people, especially those who organizing doesn't come as a second nature, becoming organized requires a big lifestyle change. This requires the willingness to accept the change and go with it. You must be willing to change your way of thinking and adapt a new mindset to help you live your new and organized life.

Follow through. You've got the new mindset and the willingness to change and pick up new habits. Now you have to follow through and do them. Instead of walking past a pile of papers the "new you" is going to follow through and pick up the papers and put them in their proper place. It's little things that add up to a huge difference. Making a small amount of effort will result in great strides.

These may sound like easy changes to make, and for some people they are, but for most people it's a whole lifestyle change. Many people need to completely alter the way they think and view their daily tasks, personal belongings in their home and how to go about being more organized.

Good luck!

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Your Biggest Organization Dilemma

I'm always curious to learn what people's greatest organizational dilemma is. Please comment here with the answer or send me an e-mail at: acomb@live.com with what your biggest organizational dilemma is.

1. Time Management

2. Home Organization

3. Office Organization

4. Planning Ahead/Being Prepared

5. Clutter Management

6. I'm a Hoarder

7. Need Motivation


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Under the Bed Storage

Those of you who have ample room under your bed to store things should consider yourselves lucky! Especially if you can keep it out of sight with a cute bed skirt. I love that I can store things under my bed - it's easy, accessible and no one knows what's in this storage space. If you're considering purchasing a really nice wood bed frame, you aren't necessarily out in the cold on this one.


I have a lot of scrapbooking supplies/crafty stuff (not enough to warrant a separate scrapbooking table or area), extra office supplies, sewing supplies and a whole bunch of old scrapbooks and photo albums, as well as photo boxes. These go under my bed. They could go in a closet on a shelf, but I don't have any more room where they can be easily accessible.

How I do it: I went out to Target and bought a whole bunch of small clear plastic containers with lids (see picture), one for each type of belonging, and arranged my miscellaneous items inside. Each container has a neatly written label for easy searching, and I only go one box deep under the bed, meaning that just the perimeter of the bed has things under it, again to allow easy access. When I need something from under there it is exceptionally simple to locate it and grab it.

Why under the bed storage is great: the obvious point here, being, that it's hidden, plus it's incredibly easy to find - if your under the bed area is organized well, there's a lot of square footage under a bed which translates into a lot of storage space and it allows you to be creative by using your space creatively.

Other ideas: I personally love the clear plastic containers with lids, but some other ideas are: cute baskets if they fit under your bed, any other type of bucket or bin as long as it slides under your bed and won't tip over and spill, reusable food storage containers, small boxes, shoe boxes and customized under the bed storage systems (mainly for shoes).

For those of you who are considering purchasing a wooden bed frame, think about one that has storage built in. If I was to buy a new wood bed I wouldn't buy one that didn't come with any type of storage. That's not allowing you to maximize your space.

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Time Management

To be a whole-heartedly organized person, one must master the skill of time management. I come from a family where about half of us have that down, and the other half is "still working on it." I have learned that it doesn't make the situation any better when I get irritated when people are late or don't schedule their time adequately. It's up to the other person to change his (or her, of course!) behavior and correct the situation. I firmly believe that for those of you who struggle with managing your time, constant procrastination and tardiness that in order for you to effectively manage your time you need a complete mindset alteration.
A positive mindset is the first step towards becoming more organized with your time. If it's any consolation - think of how much time you'll save yourself by planning efficiently and effectively. This is something you'll have to figure out how to do on your own - all I know is that you need to become more aware of planning ahead and managing your time.
Once you've gotten a new mindset about time management the rest is downhill.

The important parts of managing your time are:
• Planning ahead and thinking ahead
• Scheduling your time - make an outline or a plan if really busy
• Being prepared and factoring in uncontrolled situations, like traffic, forgetting something or just running late one morning

I've written about scheduling your time and making an outline several times, so I'll just touch on that. Use a planner, a regular calendar, Outlook or other computer calendar/scheduler, an application on your PDA/iPhone or something else that you can think of that allows you to adequately plan your days. Use this scheduler to account for meetings, lunches, get-togethers, social activities, and other things you need to get done that don't necessarily have a timeframe - create monthly budget, send e-mail to your staff, sign the kids up for their summer sports, etc. In my Outlook I reserve a huge chunk of the day on Friday for my "catch up" or basic administrative work. I block off a set amount of time to accomplish specific tasks. It works really well - I don't schedule appointments then, it's my time to get things done. It works really well!

Being prepared is really important, not just for the sake of time management, but for the sole purpose of being fully and completely organized. With regards to time management, it's vital to factor in things like traffic, getting lost, an unexpected phone call as you run out the door, etc. - give yourself an extra 5 minutes or so to get somewhere as a buffer to make sure that you're on time. Set your watch 5 or 10 minutes fast and forget that you did. What's the worst that could happen? You arrive early! Your tardiness doesn't just affect you - it makes an impact on whomever you are meeting and their mood, as well as their tardiness later on in the day.

The whole planning ahead and thinking ahead aspect goes back to your mindset. If your mindset isn't there yet, this isn't going to work for you. Know what you need to get done in the future and plan for it, budget, allocate your time appropriately, plan a party or dinner with enough time to get everything ready, don't allow yourself to run out of something at home (toilet paper, dishwasher detergent, tissue, coffee...), be efficient when running errands, print out directions and confirm them the night before... The list goes on - but again, this is all on you. You've either got it or you don't. And if you don't, I think you've at least got it in there somewhere!

This is all about changing your mindset. I wish you well -- be on time today! :) **If you aren't going to be on time, have the decency to call - that's all I ask.

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Neigborhood Swap

I got this idea from the Oprah show a few weeks ago. Oprah's decorator, Nate, did a neighborhood swap. You can do this too! Take it to the full extent that they did, or modify it to a lower scale.

Talk with your neighbors, colleagues and friends and analyze your needs and desires. Figure out what you can swap between the group to help each other out. It's as easy as that! If all Patty wants is a few buckets and baskets - I'm sure someone would be willing to give up some baskets in exchange for the awesome book case that sits empty in her adult son's bedroom.

Before the swap it would be helpful to go through your house and take an inventory. Figure out what you need to get rid of or what you are comfortable swapping in exchange for something else.

Let me know what happens with your swap. I'm anxious to hear what people are more in need of and what people are willing to give up!

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Checklists/Notepads

Checklists, in my opinion, are different from to-do lists. To-do lists, to me, are all-encompassing, but checklists can be for many things like preparing for a babysitter, packing for a vacation, writing out a grocery list, making a list for what goes in your child's diaper bag or creating a specific task list for a gardening project. www.knockknock.biz has great notepads for sale. Check out these great checklists that I found: (click on the image to enlarge it)


All Out Of pad: my absolute favorite notepad! This hangs on my fridge and I can check items off as they're depleted from my kitchen. It seriously doesn't get easier than this!



Menu Planning pad: I LOVE this one! I'm a big time meal planner and this can stick to the fridge for easy planning and memory refreshing. Plus, I can hang it right next to the grocery list for convenience.



Pack This pad: great for packing help. Somehow there's always something as necessary as a toothbrush that seems to escape my mind when I'm packing for a trip.



Don't Kill the Kids pad: helpful handout for the babysitter.



Errand Manager pad: I like this because I seem to always leave my house with the intention of accomplishing my tasks but end up forgetting to go to half of my destinations!



Endless Voicemail pad: this voicemail message pad is superior to its predecessors because of its size. You can see 12 messages without flipping the page! How convenient is that?



Do your Chores pad: this is great for everyone in the house, not just the kiddos.
These are from: www.allbuttonedup.com



Babypack/Kidpack pad: super convenient to have when you've got munchkins and you need to pack their necessities for every little day trip you take. Even just a walk...


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