Organization...I crave it. I used to be quasi organized; MOST things had a place. I wasn't obsessed about it but I liked to know where I could find something (and still do). Ever since the Pinheads showed up my life has gotten progressively less organized with each one. No mater how hard I tried there was always a pile of stuff here and a pile of stuff there. Get rid of one pile and *poof* there was another pile. I have come to find how much I hate being disorganized and having piles of stuff but with my Pinheads running around (AHEM-especially the Calvinator; Pinhead #2) my house looks like tornado alley even if I just cleaned.
Enter my New Years Resolution. I am not normally one to resolve for my upcoming year but organization is a part of my life that I really want to take back. I have decided that I have to settle for organized chaos; I think that is the best it will get for a few years.
It all started with this pin:
Mail Center courtesey of The Nest Effect. It's brilliant and one of those things that I can't believe I have never thought of before. How many of you check the mail, leave half of it in the car and then string it across three different counters and a desk in your house? I DO!!! It's horrible and it drives my Hubs and me NUTS. Sometimes I would be in my right mind or have a nano second to sort through it while cooking dinner but generally it would turn into a PILE until I sat down to pay bills. So I bought some ugly hanging folders and *girlified* them (as my Hubs) referred to it. I took some
Modge Podge (one of the must haves for a crafter- infinite possibilities with this miracle glue) and cut some scrapbooking paper down to size and voila!- non-ugly hanging folders. I then bought a little metal folder basket from Target to store them in. I chose metal because I intend to use magnets to stick little reminders to it.
The categories I have so far are:
School Paperwork
Mommy Paperwork
Daddy Paperwork
1st of the Month Bills
15th of the Month Bills
Outgoing Mail
I plan to add another folder for coupons so that I have a place to stick them as they filter in.
Another brilliant idea I nabbed from The Nest Effect was a
Home Management Binder. She was enough nice enough to offer some free printables so it kicked this project off on the right foot. The binder fits nicely in my mail center behind my hanging folders. I still have some categories to go but I need to make up some more printables. The categories I have so far are working out great:
To-do's: crafting, organizing and family fun (I was excited to see the Hubs had added a few suggestions to this list)
Wish Lists: Everyone has their own so that I can jot down something we need or gift requests when one of the kids mentions something.
Loan Repayment Tracking: Even though it's easy to log on to see where you stand on your auto loans or mortgage, it's also great to have it all in one spot.
Weekly Menu
My Baby journal also now lives in the mail center so that it is handy when one of the Pinheads says or does something funny.
I have been doing other little things around the house to slowly gain control again. Most of these things won't seem too exciting to a lot of people but these bunny hops are starting to make a world difference.
1. I re-organized our coat closet after I found our shoe rack in our permanently unpacked boxes. I put a basket on the closet floor for little shoes so that my Pinheads have a place to toss their shoes instead of on the floor.
2. I bought a
label maker-I scored it for $10 so it was an awesome purchase (after debating about it; we are trying really hard not to bring extra *junk* into the house anymore). I am really glad I did, it has turned the Pinhead's closets into something besides a guessing game. I would always hang or put things in different places than the Hubs so it created frustration when we were trying to get them dressed. Not to mention my oldest Pinhead plays in his clothes- GRRRR and I would be justified in just throwing them in a heap on the floor. He is learning how to identify which words start with which letter & sound so his labels were made accordingly for his dresser drawers; ie: "P" is for Pajamas- he was pretty excited about the new system.
3. I weeded out clothes that Pinhead 1 & 2 didn't really wear that much but I was just stashing for no particular reason. Neither of them would wear feetie pajamas so I figured the 3rd Pinhead could do without as well-it freed up half of a plastic tub to store other clothes in.
4. I collected everybody's socks into one basket and spent an hour mating them. I threw a whole heap of *the sock monster stole the other one* socks in the trash- that freed up a drawer in the baby's dresser.
5. I collected all of the coloring books, crayons, markers, stamps, puzzles and small games and put them into a basket/ tub so they had a central place to be stored. They now have a home on the bookcase in my craft room.
6. I try really hard to put something in it's actual home instead of just putting it somewhere else. I am doing pretty good with it so far.
My next mission is to get a bookshelf and square canvas totes to organize toys- AGAIN! Bunny hops right?
One of the best things I read when surfing organization ideas (although I don't remember where I read it) was to make it work for you. If you wont walk in and put your keys on a key rack, put a bowl on the counter where you typically toss them. I knew my Pinheads would never put their shoes neatly on the shoe rack but the basket made a world of difference anyway. Organization can be done, even with Pinheads running around. I hope this inspires you to try too!
Happy organizing!
SAM I AM
