Monday, April 14, 2008

Organizing fever

I have a bad case of this right now. It actually started a couple months ago; but between a family vacation, and several holidays, I was able to hold it at bay.

Well it's back now- and not to be denied.

I told hubby last week: anything that can't be organized, will either go to Goodwill or to the dump...don't worry, I told him he could still stay around, Lol.

A couple of reasons I love having things organized:

1) It saves so much time and energy when you know where something is, and can get to it quickly.

2) An organized space is so...well, orderly. And there is no wrong way to do it, it's really whatever works best for you. Along with the fact that you can give it your own personal touch.

And there are so many different organizing tools, containers, bins, ect. to choose from. I really do love those bins...

So I thought I would post a few pictures of some things that have helped me keep organized in a specific area.

This is definitely one of the best organizing tools I've put into action. It's an over-the-door shoe bag...but I don't use it for shoes. I was having such a hard time keeping track of little odds and ends; those kinds of things that you rarely need, but when you do it's really crucial to be able to find them. Because the pockets are clear you can see what you need right away, without having to rummage around and make a general mess of things (I have a few drawers like that). This usually is on the side of the door facing my closet, but for this pic I put it facing out.


Because I homeschool, I print up a huge amount of worksheets, charts, and other helpful items from different websites...sometimes running into hundreds of copies in a weeks time. And because I often didn't have the time to sort through them all right away, they used to stack up on our printer. To remedy this, hubby brought home this great...I'm not sure what it's called:) They were throwing it away at his workplace, so their trash became my treasure. I just go through my stack quickly, and then leave the copies here til I can file them away later in the big file cabinet.
Thinking it would be handy to have another one of these, I searched for one at my local Goodwill. They had 2 of them;
both priced at $8 each... So I told hubby to just keep an eye out for another one in the junkpile at work, Lol.

My kids love to do crafts, so I'm always looking for any odds and ends that I can pick up in that area. But you have to have containers to store all those beads, buttons, gems, ect. And many of the storage containers you can buy for these are so small that my kids ended up emptying out the whole container to get to the one they wanted. So imagine how happy I was to find a link at Niki's Organizing blog where a smart mom had thought of using empty peanut butter containers for this very purpose.

I filled one with our craft feathers and it was a perfect fit, with the opening being big enough for even my oldest to reach in and pick out what he needed. When I think of all the peanut butter containers that have slipped through my fingers... Why don't I ever think of these things?

9 comments:

Marva said...

Those are great storage solutions! Thanks for the ideas!

How about when you get finished with your projects you come over to our house. I need some assistance!;) just let me know when you get the time!

Blessings!!!!

Mrs. Darling said...

Because I can my own food and have about 500 jars I use glass jars like that for organizing. Love the shoe holder over the door. Great idea.

Nikki said...

One good thing about moving (besides the lovely new house!) is being able to organize everything when you move in. Of course, keeping it organized is another story....

Kaye said...

I personally had thought of the jars before, but never the shoe organizer. That's brilliant! I'm all about organizing (to the degree that it could be a mild case of OCD). Always looking for some way to make things neater!

MyKidsMom said...

Mrs.Nespy: so are you saying perhaps I don't think of the simple things because I'm thinking of the brilliant ones? LoL- I know, that's pushing it too far.

And I've been know to be a little OCD myself;)

Little Natural Cottage said...

I'm an organizing junkie too- love your ideas!!

~Kristy @ Homemaker's Cottage

Nikki said...

Love those ideas. I lose so many things because I don't have a specific place for them. I need to implement some of your ideas. They're great.

Laura said...

Great ideas!! You've inspired me. :) Thanks for visiting my blog.

Unknown said...

Hey, great job on getting organized. The thing I find is that something that works for me may not work for others. I love the shoe organizers and may think of a door to use that on. It would work really well for scrapbookers. Unfortunately my scrapbook stuff is in my hall closet that has a small door and stuff alreading hanging on it. Maybe my sons room. Thanks for the link