Organization

I think most parents struggle with bath toy storage when their kids are little. On one hand, I’m incredibly thankful for the floating trinkets that keep my children occupied long enough to de-grime their little limbs. On the other hand, I’m annoyed by the clutter and totally skeeved out by the idea of trapped moisture and even MOLD that accumulates in the plastic bins that many families use for bath toy storage.

Apparently, it’s National Get Organized Week. I can’t make this stuff up. But I’d like to know who does, because I want their job. I would declare it National Tequila and Donut Week. Every week.

I have three kids under 5, all of whom I help get dressed in the morning. You’ve seen peeks into our kids closet: it’s a busy spot! The big boy dresses himself, but I can’t yet leave the clothing selection up to him…unless I’m cool with a stylish swim trunk and church vest combination.

I’m utterly determined to get our new home organized and keep it that way. There are quite a few boxes I haven’t even touched yet because I don’t have my my organization system here fully fleshed out. I refuse to bring more objects into the home until I know precisely where to put them all! In the meantime, however, bills and paperwork are coming in and just like any household, there’s always an element of general clutter to deal with. I’ve gone ahead and implemented a few of my essential organization tactics to keep everything in line. Here are my top tips for how to organize your home.

When I was a teacher, I had a unique clothespin organization system for keeping track of paperwork. Homework goes through five stages: copying sheets, handing them out, grading, entering grades and passing papers back. I had boxes for each stage, but I found that using clothespins or binder clips to gather the paper made it more portable. Every teacher inevitably winds up taking work home.

Chelsea and I are still sharing the guest bathroom. You remember, the one that requires us to tromp through the living room in our towel. Friends and family who come to visit just love that they get dinner AND a show.

Huzzah, there is progress being made in the craft room! Remember our monumental spring organizing project that we were preparing for a couple weeks back?

Babies can really throw off the whole organizational standards of any household. It sure did for us. As soon as Some Boy came along, our office/guest room turned into an office/nursery/guest room. Yikes. If you’re short on space (or just short on sanity and sleep), there are a few ways to maximize space and minimize stress when you need to find your baby’s gear. Here are our top tips.

I can’t even believe that the school year is starting up again. I want to be in total denial and just keep lounging at the beach, but September is going to hit like a tidal wave and back-to-school organization is key.

I’m basically as big as a house now and in FULL-BLOWN nesting mode as we count down the few weeks left until baby shows up. Every nook and cranny of our home is getting re-organized (our snack station is still going strong) and re-done in preparation. This week’s project? Medicine cabinet organization.

I’ve been holding onto Some Boy’s old glass baby food jars for ages, knowing that one day they would make for a fun craft. And then the other day as I was searching for spice in my cluttered cabinets, it dawned on me: these would make the perfect DIY spice rack! I had an old magnetic Melissa & Doug board and some strong magnets that I bought for another project that all came together nicely for this.