Tuesday, March 31, 2009

To Organize . . .

To Organize seems to always be on the top of my To Do list. Well, I suppose it's number two on the list after Declutter.

I was just having a conversation with my favourite Jessica about this. I shared with her my most recent organizing tool, and I hope that by sharing it with you, my three readers, that you will share a tip of your own with me.

I bought a narrow, yet long over-the-door canvas shoe organizer. It is narrow enough to fit on the tiny door of my minuscule coat closet. In it I have placed all my many scarves/gloves/hats, as well as Brent's scarves/gloves/hats, and his flags. No more do I have them all tumbling down upon me from the shelf. No more are they getting snagged and stretched out by hanging around the shoulders of a coat, smashed up against another coat. No more do I have to go through all of them to find the one I want.

I've also thought that next winter it will be helpful with Jenny. It is long enough that Jenny will be able to reach into the bottom row of pouches. I'm thinking that when she has wet mittens I'll use a clothes pin to hang them on the outside of her pocket until they dry, rather than having them shoved back in wet or laying around the house.

That's one bit of mess tamed.

Any suggestions for my bathroom drawer that has oodles of little tiny items?
How about for my many charging cords (cellphone, laptop, etc. etc.)?

Any tips for how to train a husband who is put-it-away-handicapped?

What is your "Duh! What didn't I think of that before?" organization tool or household hint?

7 comments:

shelley said...

I got my "duh" moment from Martha Stewart: fold your sheets and one pillow case to fit inside the other pillow case. Stack pillow cases full of sheets on top of each other. (They stack better than the stupid fitted sheets that don't fold well).

I've used the shoe organizer for mittens, hats, belts etc. for a couple years now and I love it.

Jennifer said...

Oh, I love my shoe-holder-coat-organizer-thingy! I saw a flash of this plastic genius as Melissa Campbell opened her pantry door and knew I had to have one.

I use small plastic baskets for my bathroom drawers and Nathan bought some really great Velcro bands for the cords. Or empty toilet paper rolls work great as well.

I can't help you with the husband...I'm pretty sure Nathan is desperately blogging for suggestions on how to get his wife to pick up. Picking up is not fun, but organizing is another story-I love to organize.

My friend had a great idea...she bought plastic rain gutters and attached them to her walls like shelves. She keeps her kids books facing forward. It's remarkably cute.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. See you tomorrow!

Susan said...

Give up on Brent and get used to picking up after him. He's probably not going to change. You'll feel so much better when you give up hope.

Jaclyn said...

Hey chicky, I'm in the same boat. Something that I did with the plethora of cords in our pathetic, technologically-dependent household is I got a a shoe-box sized container and wrapped up all the cords, and stashed the box in our office. Viola....and zere you go.

Cammy said...

We had an enrichment night on organizing about a month ago and sadly I haven't pulled out my page of notes since that night. Having said that, I have always dreamed of being an organized person. One day perhaps I will arrive but for now I will just have to be happy with the little successes here and there. Here are a few things I have tried.

I use a plastic bead organizer for all of Abby's hair accessories in the bathroom. My mom used a silverware divider when we were growing up to separate out all the brushes and combs (5 girls). I guess it just depends on what you are trying to organize.

I bought plastic baskets at the dollar store to help organize my fridge. It really helps keep things from getting shoved to the back and forgotten about. I put labels on the front so I know what goes where. It also helps keep things from falling on you when you open the door.

One thing I will say is not only are husbands difficult when it comes to putting things in their place but kids are really hard too. Even when it is down where they can reach it, it still takes a lot of prodding to get them to put things away. Persistence is key, right?

I love this post and hope to hear some other great ideas.

Just what is a Clair? said...

I heard this HI-larious story about a woman whose husband wouldn't use the dirty clothes hamper, but would just leave his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor. This super irritated the wife, so she came up with a paln. She put the clothes hamper in the bathroom. The husband used it, since it was there. GRadually day by day she moved the hamper back to the closet, where she wanted it, and amazingly the husband kept putting his clothes in the hamper. I think this is HI-larious.

Kate said...

Look at all these readers you have! It's because you are brilliant. I read this tip on a friend's blog--use ice cube trays to organize tiny things like earrings and the like. Me, I just throw all my stuff in the drawer because I think it's fun to dig and dig and then suddenly find the item you were after. It's like winning the lottery!

Oh we had a little mini reunion and I should have told you to tell your brother about it. Crap. It was planned via facebook. We'll have another one soon.