A List of Some of My Organizing Favorites

1. Shoebox. We have a big chest for shoes right by the door. Our shoes don't always make it into the chest, but the POTENTIAL is there and there is always a place to put them when we do clean up.

2. Clear containers. I'm still in the phase of keeping clothes from older kids to save for younger ones. I have big clear containers for this and I love them. I label each container Boy or Girl and add the age. I limit myself to one container per year - that helps me get rid of the grungy stuff. As my kids grow out of clothes, I put the too small clothes in the previous years container and pull out new clothes from the next one.

3. Stuffed animal container. I don't like stuffed animals very much. But every once in awhile, we need stuffed animals, so I can't just get rid of them. From my previous post, you read that I have them hidden in a closet. I also have them hidden inside the closet. I bought a hanging storage container at IKEA for a few dollars. I love it because it is dump proof. To get any of those animals out, you have to reach in a pull them out - one at a time.

4. Camping checklist. A few years ago on a drive home from a camping trip, we decided to make a list of everything we were glad we took and everything we wished we had taken. I typed it up when we got home and now everytime we go camping, I print it out and we pack. It's eliminated tons of planning time. We also update it based on new camping experiences. A checklist could easily be made for anything you do repeatedly, but not often enough to remember what you really need.

5. File folders. If someone needed to find something for you, could they find it? Could they find it if you told them were to look? Could they find it if they couldn't tell you? You need a system that makes sense to you and makes sense to others.

6. Rotaskof. This is my mom's name for a kitchen junk drawer. I'm ok with having a kitchen junk drawer, but make it junk that you use. I use it as a place for the stuff I use all the time, but usually piles on the counter - keys, phone, camera, etc.

7. Library bookshelf. We use the library often and usually come home with more than 50 books. We have cupboard shelf (with doors) close to where we read that is dedicated to library books. If we don't have any library books, the shelf is empty. It saves lots of time we could spend looking for those books!

8. Bulletin boards. Each of my kids have a bulletin board in their room so they can hang their important stuff. I love them.

9. Basket for papers you don't know what to do with yet. I have a basket for papers I don't know what to do with. I might be waiting for something, deciding what to do about it, or just haven't decided where to put it yet. My family loves it too because when we're cleaning up, they put any papers they don't know what to do with, in my basket!

10. Shoeboxes. I love shoeboxes for things that you want to keep, but never use - specifically birds nests, rock collections, fossils, feather, snakeskins, whatever. I put it in a shoebox, label it and put it on a high shelf in the garage. It's there if we ever need it again, but we don't have to see it until then.

Put Everything Somewhere

You don't have to go out and buy a lot of fancy stuff to get organized. But, you do need to have a place to put things and you need a place to put EVERYTHING you want to keep. By that definition, if you can't find a place for something, it might need to go to the "get rid of" pile.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for places to put things:

*You want things accessible - don't pack tight and stack as little as possible - the more layers you have to go through, the less likely you are to use what you have. If you have to stack, stack deep. It's better to have a long thin line of shampoo, canned goods, or paper cups that is the same all the way back, than a grouping of any other kind. Stacking deep helps you see how much you have and makes everything accessible.

*Make it hard to pull everything out at once (like toys) - this is especially if you have kids. Try not to keep all the toys in exactly one spot - especially if you have younger kids. They tend to get dumped more often than they are played with. I have games in 2 different closets, toys in 3 different closets and the stuffed animals hidden in another closet where no one can find them unless they actually think of them. That means that unless all the closets are opened and emptied, I don't have all my toys out at the same time.

*Put things that are the same together. It used to be that whenever I needed a pen or pencil, the only thing I could find was a pencil that needed to be sharpened. So one day I walked around my house, gathered up all the pencils, sharpened them all, stuck them all in a pencil box and put them in a drawer. Now whenever I need a ton of pencils they are ready and waiting. (I also opened a package of pens and restocked my house with them.) There are tons of things that are better when they are put together - craft supplies, scrapbook supplies, food storage, new supplies (pens, crayons, clothes, Christmas presents, etc.). Keeping everything together helps you see what you have and remember where you put it!

*Contain it. Containing stuff doesn't have to be expensive or fancy - you can use apple boxes (free from the grocery store), baggies, and rubberbands. If you have the money and desire for more, you can buy storage containers (but don't overdo it - they can take over your house) or other containers. I really wanted a chest for our dress-ups, but I couldn't rationalize the money for it. So I asked for it for Christmas and got it. Containing your stuff gives you an easy place to put things. I like to save toilet paper tubes, juice can lids, cards that can be cut up, and all kinds of "doodads" like that. I have one container set aside for that kind of stuff. I know I can keep whatever fits in that container. If it gets too full, I have to go through and get rid of some stuff. It gives me an easy place to put things, but also a limit. Another favorite container place is underbed containers. I can fit 4 big (but not the huge ones) under bed containers and 6 small containers under my bed. I love them because they are very accessible, I don't have to dig deep to get to them, and they are utilizing a part of the house that is usually an organizational disaster. Under my bed I have a container for craft supplies, sewing supplies, unused cards, scrapbook supplies, computer supplies, ribbon, cassette tapes, and tons of old pictures. One more important container - binders or file folders - depending on what papers you are saving and where you hope to keep them. We all have papers we have to save and we've got to have a system for it. I think I'll talk about this one later in more detail.

Steps to Getting Organized - First, Remove the Clutter

The first step to getting organized is to remove the clutter. It opens up space for the things that really matter. I'm not a typical organizer who believes you should get rid of anything you haven't used in the last year. I also don't believe you should get rid of things you like, want, or use. But I do believe that we all have tons of stuff filling our houses that we don't like, don't want, and know we'll never use. That's the stuff to get rid of. It might include:
*towels you got at your wedding
*a hand me down table you're done with now
*McDonald's toys
*teacup saucers - my mom didn't like it when I got rid or mine, but I don't drink tea and I've had a real tea party since and I didn't miss them at all! I also haven't missed moving them the 6 times we've moved, storing them, or worrying about if they broke!
*accidently bought low fat peanut butter (we don't like it, but I was just buying peanut butter and didn't stop to read the label).

This list could easily go on forever, but to generalize, this is stuff you don't like, don't want, know you'll never use, . . . but . . .

*You keep it because someone you love gave it to you. It's pretty safe to say that the person who gave it to you didn't give it to you for you to think about how much you don't like it every time you see it. They want you to think good thoughts about them. So if you don't like it, don't want it, or know you'll never use it, don't keep it!

*It's still good. Some of us keep things because they are still good - even if we don't like it, don't want it, and know we'll never use it. Don't keep it! If it's still good, it's still good for someone else. Give it away or sell it. It might be just the thing that someone else really wants!

* Broken toys, furniture, etc. These you may really love. I have a broken tricycle in my garage right now and it can't really be fixed. Every time I look at it, I love it, but I also feel sad EVERY TIME I see it. And I spend time feeling sad it's broken. If I got rid of it, I'd stop seeing it and stop having to revisit the sadness that it's broken.

*You spent money on it. Buying the wrong peanut butter, or buying clothes that just don't fit right also fit into the sadness/guilt category. If you keep it because you spent money on it, you keep feeling guilty every time you see it, but if you get rid of it, it's over and done.

There are things you can do to help you feel better about cleaning out your clutter:

* Put wrong food buys in a box ready for the next food collection event - boy scouts, post office, or food drive. It's still good food - just not exactly what you want and as a bonus, you may already be ready for that event.

* Give it away. I had 2 sister missionaries at my house one day and they happened to mention they didn't have an iron. I had 2 irons so I gave one to to them. I've never missed it and have been happy not to have it cluttering up my laundry area.

* Throw it out. If you have stuff without use, throw it out. McDonald's toys, papers, garbage - just throw it out and be done with it.

* Give it to the DI or a thrift store. You can feel good that someone else can use it. Make a place in your house to collect the stuff to give away so when you find something you want to give away, you have a place to put it until you can drop it off.

* Sell it. Have a garage sale or sell it on ebay.

Whatever you decide, don't keep the stuff you don't like, don't want, or won't use. There is NO reason to keep, store, clean, move, pack, haul, and shuffle around stuff we don't even like.