Thursday, October 2, 2008

Help Me Get Organized

You guys were so much help with my photography dilemna, I thought I should ask your advice more often. But this time, I thought I'd make it more interesting. I'm having a contest!

Leave a comment with your best organization tips. If you send me a picture of your organization idea, you'll double your chances of winning. (I really, really want pictures!)

The winner's idea will be published here, with pictures, and will win a gift card to The Container Store.

So let's have it guys! How do you stay organized?

8 comments:

MommaofMany said...

We keep organized by schooling 6 weeks on, 1 week off. I can do all the jobs I can't get to during school weeks.

Once every six weeks we do Big Chores.

We might do a toy sort...that is sort toys back into the tubs they belong to and throw out all the trash and broken toys. We also find many socks. :) We do a deep clean of each bedroom at the same time.

I shampoo the carpets on Big Chores week about twice a year.

We may clean the garage, wash outside windows, re organized the school closet and library or redo flowerbeds.

Twice a year, Big Chores Week is used for The Great Clothes Sort. All the tubs come down from the attic, clothes are tried on, swapped out and thrown away, if needed. Laundry is done and the kids have 'new' clothes.

I haven't any pictures to send with this, since we're too busy working to take pictures. :)

I hope one of my ideas works for you!

Shell said...

My organizational tip would be a laundry tip that we use in our house.

We have 4 tall hamper baskets. The dirty laundry comes in and is sorted in each color hamper. Whites, colors, darks, towels.

After the laundry comes out of the dryer. It is folded and put in each persons basket. I have a small square basket for each person labled with their name. When the basket needs emptyed. Each person gets their basket and puts away their own clothes.

No more wrinkled clothes either.

Shell

heartchild said...

Each of our kids has one large basket that slides under their beds and one treasure box in their closet. When they get full it's time to give away some things.

My linen closet has 3 large fabric crates that hold sheets. One for queen, one for full (hideabed) and one for twin. My kids can easily find sheets when helping change beds or putting away.

In the school we use lots of those standing magazine organizers. I use them for magazines for collages, the kids have them at their spots for their own journals and books and I also use them for me for homeschool curriculum catalogs and other catalogs.

I am going to borrow an idea from a friend. She tossed all of their DVD cases in a small box and stores it in the garage. She bought a binder with CD sleeves and they have all of their DVD's in it in one tidy book.

In our car we have a caddy between to the two front seats. In it I have bandaids, ibuprofen, napkins, wipes, pens and pencils.

We have two baskets in the living that only house library items so they don't get mixed in with our owned items.

In my front closet I have 2 small baskets that have scarves and gloves in them. In the winter they are stored on the floor of the closet for easy access and when it gets nicer they go up on the top shelf.

ASHTON said...

1.A binder for each child w/plastic sleeves inside. Any special schoolwork or artwork goes in those immediately so it's not lying around.
2. A big dry erase board in my kitchen that lists chores, dinner, to-do, shopping list, prayer requests and weekly schedule. I change it weekly. I have a pic of this if you are interested.
3. Doing laundry by person. Boy's laundry monday, adult laundry tuesday, sheets and towels wed., big boy's thursday, as needed friday.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm not Born Organized, nor do I tend that way, but...

For the pantry, I have a shelf dedicated, from the bottom up, to Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks-help yourself, Treats-Do not touch.

Right now, on weekdays, my younger son makes breakfast alone or with my help, so he gets the easiest to reach shelf, my teenager makes lunch, I make dinner. My 3 yr old can't reach the treats, but with a chair she inevitably reaches the snacks--and so does everyone else...hmm...maybe I should put them somewhere else... :)

I use a lable-maker to keep things clear.

Cheers,
Angela

dkt said...

I put my bed on cinder blocks. I love how old tall beds feel anyway --it's one of my southernisms that I can't seem to get away from. And while I wish my bed was tall with an nice big four post bed frame--i.e. real furniture...it's not....the real reason we do it, is because it gives plenty o' storage. I put the dustruffle under the metal frame and have a long quilt hiding the matress and box spring. I use big bins to store all my gift bags and wrapping paper in, other big bins for photos and memorabilia that I don't want in the garage and then on the end of the bed, I keep plastic drawers for all sorts of things. :-)

My other organizational bug is that ALL of my kids school books get put into three ring binders. I spend quite a bit of time before school starts ripping off bindings and punching holes to get them into binders. Then I can take out todays work--they do it (handwriting is better because it lays flat on the table)--then it goes right back in. I could take my books to a print shop to have them take them off the bindings and have them punch holes, but I'm too cheap. :-)

Anonymous said...

How do I post pics in my comments? If I have more than one tip to share do you want them in one posts or seperate ones?

Ginger said...

You don't. :)
Check the post again. There's a link to email me the pics. You can email all your tips & pics together.