50 Ideas to Organize Your Home

"Organize" is a familiar word heard on many of today's popular decorating shows. Every family has its struggles with some type of clutter whether it is stacks of papers or a cluttered and cramped bathroom. In fact, the National Association of Professional Organizers reports that 80% of what we keep we never use, we wear 20% of the clothes we own while the other 80% hangs there just in case, and 25% of adults say they pay bills late because they lost them.

If you have stacks of papers, frazzled mornings, or lost car keys, use the following ideas to help you organize your family and home.

Evenings/Mornings:

1. If you have rushed mornings, make lunches, set out clothes, and put everything you need for the next day in a designated area the night before. Have kids pack homework and books in their backpack so they will be ready for the next day.

2. Place your purse, briefcase and keys in a designated area every day so you always know where they are.

3. Decide the night before what is on the menu for breakfast the next morning. If the family is to have cereal, set out the cereal boxes, bowls, and spoons.

4. Make a "to do" list for the next day and organize it according to what task needs to be completed first.

5. Fill the gas tank the day before so you won't have to worry about getting gas if you are running late the next morning.

Bathrooms:

6. To organize countertop clutter, purchase a plastic tub with a handle on top. Place all of your accessories such as hair spray and lotion, in the tub and place under the counter. Take the tub out when you are ready to use it and then put it back under the counter when you are finished with it.

7. To organize your shower, buy shower caddies to place your soaps and shampoos in. There are numerous styles available in many discount and fine department stores.

8. To help keep your shower doors clean, buy a water squeegee (like you use on your windows) and place it in the shower. When you are done taking a shower just wipe down the doors with the squeegee and you'll have a clean and dry shower door. Many of the squeegees come with a whole in the handle, which is convenient for hanging it up in the shower with a suction cup.

9. Install a straight magnet in your medicine cabinet for tweezers, nail clippers, and scissors.

10. Store reading material in a decorative magazine rack. As you add new magazines, throw away the older ones to keep the magazine rack from overflowing.

11. Throw away items in your bathroom that are old or you don't use anymore, such as make-up, lotions, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, old razors, sunscreen, and perfume.

12. If you are out of space in your bathroom cabinets for towels, roll them up and display them in a decorative basket next to the shower or bath tub.

13. Install hooks on the back of your bathroom door or wall space for towels and robes.

14. Use drawer organizers for makeup, jewelry, ponytail holders, and other loose items.

15. Place a shelving unit above the toilet for storing extra towels, washcloths, and other accessories.

16. Put a clock in each bathroom so everyone can be on time.

Closet:

17. Place baskets in your closet for laundry and dry cleaning.

18. Sort through your clothes and anything you don't wear anymore, bag and donate to a local charity. This includes clothes that are no longer in fashion, no longer fit, or clothes you haven't worn in a year. Also, get rid of those worn out and/or uncomfortable shoes you no longer wear.

19. Separate your clothes by season. If you have a tall closet with several rows of rods, place current seasons clothes on the lowest level and move out of season clothes on the tallest rods.

20. Categorize your clothes by purpose, such as work, casual, and formal.

21. Gather all unused wire hangers and take them to the dry cleaners to recycle.

22. Hang scarves on a hanger or scarf rack. Also, hang belts and ties on hangers or racks.

23. Use a shoe rack to keep shoes organized and throw out shoe boxes that clutter the floor.

24. Install hooks on the closet wall to hang up hats and purses.

25. Store clothes that you want to save in a vacuum sealed plastic bag. These bags pack down for storing under the bed or in a closet. Remember to save only the clothes that you think will be worn!

Kitchen:

26. Organize your cabinets into several categories such as plates, glasses, Tupperware, kid's plates and sippy cups. Place the plates on one shelf, the glasses on another shelf, and so on. This way when you empty the dishwasher, you or other family members will always know where everything goes.

27. Group your foods together in the pantry for easy access and to help you identify when inventory is getting low. For example, group together your canned goods, cereals, pasta, etc.

28. Place all packets (gravy, Jell-O, sauces) in a basket and place on shelf.

29. Purchase a spice rack that works best for your cabinet. Alphabetize your spices and place frequently used spices on the front of the rack and all others towards the back of the rack.

30. For all of those plastic containers and Tupperware items, dedicate one cabinet or drawer for those items and try to purchase stackable containers to maximize your space.

31. Save your countertop space for items you use daily. Only display cookbooks that you really use and if possible store your canister set in your pantry instead of on the counter.

32. If you have a collection of clipped recipes that are filling drawers and countertop space, purchase a three-ring binder in a color that matches your decor, a box of plastic sheet protectors (to protect your recipes), paper, and a set of dividers with tabs. Glue each recipe onto a piece of paper (use front and back of each piece of paper) and then place into a sheet protector. Categorize recipes (breakfast, desert, etc.), label the tabs, and place recipes in binder. Additional tip, if you purchase a binder that has pockets, store clipped recipes that you want to try in the pockets before adding them to your collection.

33. Do you have mounds of plastic bags from the grocery store? Place about 10 bags inside of 1 bag and throw the rest away. You can always get more the next time you go to the grocery store.

34. Get in a habit of cleaning out your refrigerator every time you bring home groceries. Dispose of any food that is no longer edible or your family is not going to eat.

Kid's Room:

35. In a boy's room, put a basketball hoop over a laundry basket for slam-dunking dirty clothes.

36. Place a two-compartment hamper in your kid's room so he or she can sort light clothes from dark clothes as they undress.

37. String a clothesline in your child's room and have your child clothespin his or her favorite artwork.

38. Hang a fish net from the ceiling to store stuffed animals, dolls, or action figures.

39. Add a bookshelf and help your child organize their books.

40. Buy the kids their own alarm clocks and teach them how to get up on time.

Misc.

41. Make sure everything in your house has a home. Teach all family members to mind their own messes. For example, if you take it out, put it back; if you open it, close it; if you throw it down, pick it up; if you make a mess, clean it up; and so on.

42. Put wastebaskets in every room and place several unused trash bags in the bottom of each one. This will eliminate countless trips to retrieve new trash bags and give all family members a place to throw away their trash.

43. Place a decorative basket on the coffee table to keep remote controls in.

44. Use a plastic caddy (instead of shelf space) to store cleaning supplies in and tote it from room to room.

45. Keep baskets or tubs for toys in every room for fast pickup and play time.

46. For kids' outdoor toys, purchase a weatherproof, bench-style storage box and store toys inside. Also, gather all outdoor balls and place into a large, mesh drawstring bag and store in garage.

47. Each night before bedtime, have all family members pick up clutter for 15 minutes. Make a game out of it and see who can pick up the most things in the shortest amount of time.

48. Create a family message center on the refrigerator or other prominent place and use it for shopping lists, reminders, calendars, and phone messages.

49. Make a master grocery list on your computer from a spreadsheet or Word document. Categorize the groceries into sections such as frozen, dairy, and so on. In each category, list the most frequent items that you buy. Organize the grocery list according to the way your favorite grocery store's isles are set up. Print copies and keep one copy handy for the current week. When you see you are low on a product or you're preparing your grocery list for the week, simply highlight whatever items you need. Keep the document current by adding new items and/or deleting items you no longer buy. Also, create a space on the document for Misc. items where your family members can write down what they need that is not on your list.

50. Create an in box on your desk for papers (bills, permission slips, etc.) that need your attention.

The goal of organizing isn't to make your home pristine but rather to make your life more calm and functional. Work with the above ideas and you will end up having less clutter, a simplified home, more quality time for yourself and your family, and improved productivity.

Lesley Dietschy is a freelance writer and the founder of http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com - The Home Decor Exchange is a valuable website full of information and resources about home and garden decorating.

In addition to editing the Home Decor Exchange website, Lesley is a crochet pattern designer and needle fiber artist. You can view her crochet patterns and needle fiber designs at: http://www.ErinOliviaDesigns.Etsy.com

The Three Big Food Storage Mistakes Most People Make

If you are storing food long term for disaster, survival, or job loss, there are three very common mistakes that most people make. Look at your food storage habits and be sure you aren't doing one of these.

The first big mistake is storing food that you don't like. While it's not realistic to store months of food from your favorite recipes and dishes, you can't have food stored up that you really don't like eating at all. Put things into your storage supplies that you actually look forward to and enjoy eating. Be sure there are plenty of things like salt, sugar, and spices to make the food taste good.

Another mistake is not rotating your supplies. If you go to the store and buy a new jar of peanut butter, put that into your food storage containers. Take the old one out and use that one for day to day use. This keeps everything that is stored on a constant rotation making sure things stay fresher. This also helps with problem one where you are actually used to eating the food you are storing.

The third mistake is storing all your food in the same place. This is a huge mistake made by many. If there is a fire or tornado and takes out the part of your home where all that food is stored, you now have none. If you are doing long term storage consider putting it in different places around the home. As an additional step consider storing some food at a different location as well.

Do you have a plan for natural disasters or pandemics?

Shop Hard to Find the Best Home Organizing Stores So it Doesn't Cost You an Arm and a Leg

If you are thinking about decluttering your home, think about visiting a selection of home organizing stores to buy some new organizational systems. It doesn't have to cost you an arm or a leg if you do a comparison shop.


Comparison shopping is really important if you are on a budget and want to get the best value for your dollar. There are an abundance of home organizing stores both on the internet and physical shops. Here are some things you need to look out for when you are deciding which shop to buy home organization items from.

What are you buying

Decide what you are buying first. In fact, to be brutally frank, the easy bit about reorganizing our home is the shopping bit. We have to admit that shopping and buying stuff certainly has much greater appeal than staying home and exhausting ourselves with the actual task of tidying up and throwing stuff away. So before you even head out the door to do a spot of shopping, do yourself a favor and declutter your home first.

Set some goals

Set yourself some home organization goals. Make it a reward that if you clean up your living room, then this will entitle you to do one hour of shopping at a home organization store of your choice. If you do a really good job of clearing up your living room, the sad thing is that you may find that you no longer need to visit a home organization shop. What a disappointment. I am sure if we persist we will definitely find something good to buy at the shops. Think about any extra storage that you require, or any new storage solutions that would suit a particular room.

Get rid of surplus stuff

If you plan on buying stuff from your homeware shop, try to get rid of any excess junk in your house, before you embark on your shopping spree. These homeware shops are very tempting and offer all sorts of solutions to get your organized. Some interesting items that they sell include bag holders, utility carts, cap and hat racks, shelf organizers, and storage cubes. So don't get tempted to buy everything under the sun till you have done your own homework.

Look for Sales

Once you have decided what items you need to buy, look for the specialty shops that sell that particular item. We are now getting into the crux of smart comparison shopping. For each shop where you can source that item, create a simple spreadsheet and list the price of that product at each shop. So you will know which shop offers the best bargain without engaging in any guesswork.

Don't forgot to reduce clutter in your house first. Then treat yourself to a spot of shopping at a home organizing store. You deserve it now that you have done some decluttering.

DEBRA CARLTON is a home organization and declutter enthusiast. For a free mini course on how to declutter and create a well organized home, visit http://www.declutterdaytips.com.

Six Secrets of Organized Moms

A mom often wears many hats, taxi driver, cook, housekeeper, bread-winner, shoulder to cry on, and more. So, how does mom juggle it all? The following are six secrets of organized moms to help make things easier:

1. Routines. Organized moms serve dinner at the same time each night, have strict bed times, have after school routines with homework and socializing. If you want to be an organized mom, you have to have a routine you stick to. This might mean that you get your child up at the same time each day, and expect them to get dressed and make their bed before they come in to breakfast. You may have a few different routines, such as your morning routine, your after school and evening routine, and your weekend routine. A routine helps you, the mom, keep things on track, and helps your children to know what to expect, and what is expected of them.

2. Meal plans. Organized moms do not spend extra time in the grocery store, or standing in front of the refrigerator trying to determine what to prepare that night. Organized moms take a few minutes once a week to create a meal plan for the week. Monday: Soup, Tuesday: Chicken, Wednesday: Pizza, Thursday: Hamburgers, and the list goes on. The idea is that if you know what you are going to make you can be prepared throughout the day. For example, if you are going to roast a chicken for dinner, you will need to get it out of the freezer in the morning in order for it to be defrosted by dinner time.

3. Rules. Organized moms have rules or guidelines for their families. They may be simple like dinner is at 5:30. Or they may be more complex like, no friends, television, or snacking until your homework is completed. A mom can't keep the whole family organized without some participation, so rules, and guidelines are helpful. Make them clear, and enforce them.

4. Time off. An organized mom does not let herself get overly stressed, or overwhelmed because she knows when to say no, when to de-stress, and when to take a break. She knows that when she is starting to lose her cool, that letting dad take the kids to McDonald's rather than fixing a nice meal, is sometimes better, even if it is not the healthiest option. The organized mom knows when she needs a break, and figures out how to take one.

5. Organized home. The organized mom has an organized home. She creates a place for everything so that school mornings are not spent hastily trying to find shoes, backpacks, pens that work, etc. Instead, everything has a place, and the kids know where things go, and contribute by being sure to put their backpack on the hook, in the cubby, or whatever the case may be, the night before.

6. Back-up plans. Organized moms always plan ahead, and prepare for the worst. They carry a spare outfit, some cash, and phone numbers of friends and family, just in case. They take things in stride. So, for example, if your tire goes flat while driving, and it is your day to do carpool, the organized mom has the numbers of the other carpool moms on hand, and knows which ones can typically swap days. So, have a back up plan.

Beverly Frank is a stay-at-home mom and writer. For more parenting tips, visit http://www.surfnetparents.com.

How To Organize Your Scrapbook Supplies

Once you start getting any amount of supplies together for scrapbooking, you will realize that you have to have some way to keep everything organized. Things can quickly get out of hand and more time will be spent just trying to find what you need than actually putting scrap book page layouts together! Since scrapping time is precious and often hard to come by, I have come up with 5 inexpensive tips to keep everything in order!

1. Invest in a good paper storage system. I have been using an accordion file system for all my papers. I have them separated by colors and by type, so all the red cardstock is in one file and all the red patterned paper is in another file. This helps reduce the amount of time I spend looking through paper! I also have a smaller accordion file for all the scraps I have and organize them by colors, too!

2. Eyelets and brads can be some of the most troublesome scrap book supplies to keep in order. They often come in little plastic bags that can’t be reused, so unless you like them spilling all over everything, you have to get some containers to organize them. Most craft stores sell small boxes with dividers inside that make keeping colors and shapes apart very simple. I also like some of the plastic screw top containers. Or, if you are on a really tight budget, you can take small baby food jars, spray paint the lids and use them to keep everything nice and neat!

3. Ribbons, fibers and yarns can be such a pain in the neck to keep from becoming one big tangled mess! Ribbon spools can be thread onto small dowels or even pant hangers. These methods are nice because you can see each ribbon and cut from the spools easily. I know many people like to put short pieces of fibers and ribbons in large canning jars. Not only is this a good way to keep colors together, but it makes for a nice display. One way I have used to store yarn on the skein is by unwinding a small piece and putting the skein in a zipper plastic bag with the unwound piece hanging out. This makes finding the end to cut from much easier than trying to fish it out every time.

4. Stamps can be a challenge, especially if they aren’t the new acrylic stamps that can easily fit in binders and other small spaces. Again, using storage boxes for wood mounted rubber stamps and organizing by themes is a good way to keep them organized. To make the process of finding a specific stamp easier, just stamp each image on a piece of paper and adhere it to the outside of the box.

5. If stickers have got you stuck, I have the best suggestion I’ve found: the Crop in Style Paper Sticker Binder. Not only does the binder keep all the stickers in a zipped up unit, but it has divided pages and dividers to keep different sizes and themes apart. Once I started using it, it not only helped keep everything neat, but it makes it so much easier to actually use the stickers I have! It saves you money by not buying more of the same kinds of stickers!

I hope that these five tips can help you get a good handle on all your supplies. All these tips are inexpensive tricks, but I have also really enjoyed having large totes and bags to take with me to crops. These products often have organizational pieces integrated into themselves like bags, pen and scissor organizers, etc.

Want a secret?? If you search some of the tool departments of your local discount stores, you might just find a rolling hardware tool box that will work beautifully for your scrap book supplies. I found a great one for under $25 several years ago and have loved it! It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that the ones specifically made for scrap booking do, but it serves its purpose and I had some money left over to invest in more scrap book supplies!

Just find a system that works well for you. You might go through a couple systems before you find one that really works for you, but don’t give up! The time you will save by keeping all of your scrap book supplies in order will be worth all the effort!

Susan Whitehead has been scrapbooking since the birth of her first child in 1998. Her love for the craft has grown exponentially since then and has resulted in her becoming a scrapbook instructor with her own online scrapbook business. Her website is http://www.BarefootMemories.net and her blog is http://www.scrapbookbarefoot.blogspot.com