December Break

I am going to take a break from this blog through December and start up again in January...trying to stay organized through the holidays!

Toys

As we're quickly approaching the Holiday season, it's a good time to go through the toys in your home. This is such a great time to help those in need by giving away the toys your children don't use any more and make room for new things that might be coming in. If you can, involve the children in the process of giving away their toys to those in need. It's a great character building experience for them to think of the needs of others and helps them look outward instead of inward.

Depending on what stage of life you are in, this may take a little bit more time for some and not quite so much time for others. If you are in the middle of a life with lots of toys, plan on a couple of days as you probably have toys in lots of areas in your home. If you have older children and can condense things, this assignment might not take as long.

The following is a simple way to organize and de-clutter the toys in your home:

1. Pick one area or closest or room where the toys are.
2. Group the toys in one of three categories:

• Keep - Toys that are quality made, still working and have all the parts.
• Throw away - Toys that are broken or are missing pieces.
• Give away - Toys that still have all the parts, are not broken but which do not get played.

3. With the keep pile, group like toys together i.e. stuffed animals, puzzles, games, little pieces, big toys.

4. Buy bins to hold toys that do not have their own containers. These bins should be able to fit in a closet or on a shelf. I did a search for "toy storage" and found that most of the children's toy storage items, seem to me to add to the clutter. I think I prefer plastic bins or baskets or collapsible boxes that are not kid specific but that are the same size and shape and color to add to a closet or shelf.

look here for some examples: organize.com and containerstore.com

5. Try not to use the floor for storage of toys. Some toys are just too big to fit in a closet, but for the most part, the toys should be tucked away and off the floor.

Book Shelves

I love to read. One of my favorite things to do is lock myself in the bathroom and soak in a hot tub while reading a great book. I can't imagine having a Kindle just because I also love the feel of books. I love how they smell, how they feel when you hold them and how they look when they are on display. I love walking around a bookstore and thumbing through books. There are always more books I want to read then I have time to read.

Having said that, I think bookshelves can get really cluttered and it's usually because there are too many books in them. If you're like me though, it's hard to de-clutter my books. It was only about six years ago that I finally gave away my college text books even though I hadn't cracked them in 25 years and most of them were obsolete. I guess I always think that someday I will read them again but there are just too many other books I want to read.
So here is what I have done and I hope it will help you.

1. Take all of your books and accessories off of your book shelf.
2. Wipe down the shelves.
3. Go through each of your books and decide which ones you can keep and which ones could be donated to the library or to a local charity.

The following are some things I have used to help me decide which books to keep and which ones to donate:

• Is this a book I have read more then once? Will I realistically read it again? If not, donate it.
• Is it a classic? Keep the classics
• I keep the hardbound children's picture books.
• I try to have some books for every level of reading so there is always something for anyone to read.
• Is this book obsolete? Is it a current reference book or has the information become outdated?
• Is it a good book? Sometimes you get a book and it is not what you think and you don't love it so there is no reason to keep it.
• Could I find this book at the Library? I have learned to love how I can place a hold on books online from the library. It's wonderful. It's free. I don't have to go search it out at the library. They let me know through email when it's ready for me to pick up. If my library doesn't have it, they get it sent to my library for me.

4. Put back the books you want to keep. You may have different places in your home where you store books. Here are some ideas for arranging bookshelves in family or living room

• From Martha Stewart. http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/bookshelf-picture-displays
• From Zimbio.com http://www.zimbio.com/Bookshelf+Ideas
• From Potterybarn http://www.potterybarn.com/products/benchwright-bookcase/?pkey=cbookcases-shelves

Have fun and be creative.

Catch up

Today, I'm going to catch up on the printable check list.  I will post another assignment on Tuesday.

More Linen Closet

One thing that is cheap and easy is to put a dryer sheet in the linen closet.  That helps things to stay smelling fresh.


I have also found these scented shelf liners from The Container Store.


There is always the timeless sashet to put on shelfs and in drawers.

What to do next? Linen closets

I am finding myself wondering what to post next.  The rest of the bedrooms in the house can be de-cluttered by using the master bedroom posts and the same with the bathrooms.  I think I'll tackle the linen closets next but be thinking of what else you would like to de-clutter.  Some suggestions are: toy closets, basements, garage and office or there may be something else you would like to see on a post.  Please feel free to comment and/or make a suggestion.

For now lets start with the linen closets.

These are relatively easy to de-clutter and not so time comsuming as the other rooms.  When my linen closets are un-cluttered and organized, I find myself opening up the door just to look and enjoy it; crazy, I know, but so satisfying.

1. Take everything out of the linen closet.
2. wipe down and clean the shelves.
3. separate the things in the closet into one of three groups:

• Keep - anything that you use regulary (within a year).
• Give away - anything that is still in relatively good condition but that you have not used in a year (pay it forward).
• Throw Away - anything that you haven't used in a year and is not in good enough condition to give away.

4.  Put the thing in the keep pile back in your closet by organizing like items together. 

• I have said before that I really like to fold bath towels into thirds the long way, but when you are folding them to put them in a closet, I fold them first into thirds the long way and then in half and then half again.  This is how they have them in the stores and it leaves no raw edges and a nice fold in the front.
• Keep all the same color towels together.
• I used to keep all the flat sheets together and all the fitted sheets together, but now I keep the sets together by size and have labeled the shelves for twin, queen, king, pillow cases etc.  I don't have to do any searching at all.
•  Keep the extra blankets and extra pillows on the top shelf because that is usally the biggest shelf.
• A laundry basket or a basket that hold smaller items will fit on the floor under the first shelf.

Stand back and see if it looks more organized and un-cluttered.  Is there space for the things in your closet to breathe?  Can you see clearly everything you use? 

Printable checklist

I was just wondering if anyone used the printable checklists?  It would be great to know. 


Thanks,