The Organizer Lady

Having a family with young kids can be trying when it comes to organizing the home and keeping the home organized. Trying to find storage space can be just as trying.

The number one thing is for the whole family to be involved in helping. Having little children doesn’t mean they can’t help clean up behind themselves. It’s great that the kids help with the chores. It’s important to KEEP cleaning as you go, rather than putting things off. That helps a ton!

For the laundry issue…. every time there is a load of clothes, wash. Get rid of clothes that don’t fit anymore or box them up if they are to be handed down and store them. Towels used for bathing can be hung up to dry and reused. after all after a bath a body is supposed to be clean so the towel used to dry with will be clean.

Having a ton of clothes is really something that’s not necessary. You of course need and want enough to make do with, but having more clothes than you can possibly wear is a waste of closet and drawer space. If you have THAT many clothes, clean out.

Go through things like the clothes, toys, dishes, etc, and clean out what you don’t use or just don’t need. When you make a new purchase, on say sheets for example, throw out the worn out ones or cut them up and use them as dust clothes. When replacing things, get rid of what’s being replaced.

Storage issues can be a real problem for some homes. Get a multi hook rack for bedroom doors for jammies and jackets and such. Get some plastic storage boxes that are made to slide under the beds for extra blankets, freeing up closet space. Get plastic storage containers for the kids toys so they are in one place. Out of season clothes can be stored in these in the closet too, and they stack nicely (but not for the little ones!)

Bills can be organized easily by putting them in a letter stacker or small box, in order of what’s due first or what you intend to pay first and when. When mail comes in, go through it right then and file the bills in the bill paying organizer or toss junk mail.

The main thing is to stress to the entire family that everything has a home, a place it goes. When it’s not being used, it’s put in its proper place, not just put down and let here or there. Clean clothes are kept put up, dirty clothes go in the hamper until there’s a load then washed and dried, then put up. Toys that aren’t being played with are put up. If a mess is made in the bathroom, it’s cleaned up then and there, not left.

The storage issue is one that will usually require spending a few dollars to get some items to store and organize…. storage containers, boxes, chests, drawers, book shelves, CD holders, bill holders, etc.

Once you get into a routine and the family is in a routine, staying organized will become normal and natural.

While some home organization gurus will tell you to start in the kitchen, I’m going to advise beginning in another area. The kitchen will be the third place we attack and this doesn’t make it less important, but I will explain why I’m starting elsewhere.

First, if you look around your home, you probably see lots of clothes. Am I right? You’ve got clothes in closets, you’ve got clothes in piles (meaning to put them away and not having time, eventually just pulling them out of the pile and wearing them), and you’ve got clothes in laundry baskets. You might even have rumpled clothes in the dryer or (heaven forbid!) the washer. If it’s the former, the clothes are only rumpled. If it’s the latter, they’re probably rumpled AND smelly and (potentially) mildew-y. Yuck! Somewhere in this Mt. Vesuvius of laundry, dirty, clean, or otherwise, is your home. And I’m guessing that if you have a laundry room, you keep the door closed, as there are multiple Mt. Vesuvii piling up in there. If you don’t have a laundry room but have a laundry closet (with room for the washer, dryer, and some shelves), I’m betting you haven’t seen the top of your dryer for weeks or even months. It’s covered in rumpled clothes and towels, right?

Have you guessed where we’re starting? That’s right… the laundry area of your home. And here’s why… if you get your laundry room cleaned and organized, you’ll be much more apt to actually DO the laundry that plagues you and helps your home to be disorganized. And because you won’t want to undo the work you’ve done in the laundry room, you’re more likely to fold the laundry when it’s done, and put it away. There’s something that’s a breath of fresh air about a straightened laundry room—sort of like when you walk in to a closet where everything is hanging neatly.

So start with small steps:

1. Can you see the floor? No? Then pick up what’s on the floor and put it in laundry baskets. If you don’t have enough laundry baskets to accomplish this, then just sort the things in to piles outside the laundry room. I make piles of light clothes, whites, darks, and towels/rags.

2. Can you see the top of the dryer? If not, put the excess clothes in the aforementioned piles. Grab one rag to dust and have two plastic grocery bags—one to collect junk, and the other for later. Dust the dryer from the lint-leftovers and use a little window-cleaner if it doesn’t come off readily. Don’t neglect the area where the “start” button is—that can be grimy, too!

3. Can you see the top of the washer? If not, repeat the steps in #2, using the window cleaner if necessary.

Okay - now you’ve got your washer and dryer cleaned off. Congratulations! Let’s continue to take small steps in the laundry room….

4. Now take a critical look at your supply shelf. Do you have empty bottles or boxes lying around from spent detergent and/or fabric softener? Clean those out. Use that grocery bag that you’ve put excess dryer lint in and pitch those empties. Then organize what’s left. If you need to add things to your shopping list, now is the time—now you know what you’ve got and what you need to buy. When you organize your supplies, I recommend putting the detergent and any liquid softener above the (gasp!) washer. Make it easy to reach. Put the dryer sheets over the dryer—why reach more than you have to? If your shelves are higher than you’d like, use the top ledge of your washer & dryer to hold supplies! I’ve never seen a washer and dryer that don’t butt up to a wall for the electrical plugs they need. So use that space to your advantage. Put the detergent box or bottle on the top of the washer, along with whatever other washing supplementals you have. Put the dryer sheets on the top of the dryer so you don’t forget and end up with a load of static cling!

5. If you have wire-shelves above your washer & dryer, you’ve got a built-in place to hang a trash bag. Use that extra grocery-sack and cut one of the handles in half. Then tie those two ends around some of the wire-shelf and use the bag to collect dryer lint and empty containers from your emptied laundry supplies. When it’s full, cut it down and put it in the trash and put up a new one.

6. Now look at your floor. Does it need sweeping? If so, grab a broom and sweep. It won’t take you more than 5 minutes and you’ll feel much better about your room and your work—especially if something you’ve just washed falls on the floor as you’re transferring stuff to the dryer.

Congratulations! You’ve done the preliminary work of organizing your home—you won the battle in your laundry room! Take a 15 minute break and enjoy this victory. Then start the task of doing the excess laundry that you’ve been collecting—one pile at a time. When the first is done, swap it out immediately to your dryer or to hangers, if that’s more appropriate. Take it one pile at a time—in other words, small steps! Soon, you’ll find that it really only takes 5-10 minutes to fold warm clothes from the dryer and put them in laundry baskets, ready to transfer to the appropriate rooms, closets, and drawers. The rewards are huge here.. keep up on it (one load every day) and you’ll win the war against the Mt. Vesuvius of clothes in your home.

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These are tips that the entire family can and should use. All family members living in the home should help take care of the home they live in. Almost everyone can do something, even small children. There is NO reason why Mom should clean up behind herself and everyone else too! After all, if everyone is partaking of the blessings of the home to live in, everyone should help take care of it. While no one will change overnight, incorporating these tips into your daily life will soon make new and neater habits for even the messiest of the messies.

1. If you make a mess, clean it up immediately. Don’t say you will get it after a while, do it now. Once you walk away from it, chances are that you won’t go back to it. Make a habit of cleaning up as you go! This saves time and keeps the home clean and organized. Washing dishes as you cook works great if you don’t want a pile after the meal, fold and put away the laundry as soon as it’s done, and have the kids put away toys they are done with before they take more out.

2. If you use it, put it back where it belongs. Don’t wait until later, do it immediately! Again, once you leave it, chances are you won’t go back to it, and whatever you used will not be put away. Have family members learn to put things where they belong when they are done with the item.

3. Have a place where things live. Everything has a home! Instead of just laying something down anyplace, always put it where it belongs. If you make a habit of putting things up THEN, and having the family do the same, it will become a habit to automatically put things away in the correct place.

4. Never go to bed with a dirty kitchen. Even if you don’t do dishes right after a meal (I don’t), make sure the kitchen is clean before bed. If the kitchen is clean and someone decides on a snack after, have them clean up anything they mess up. Wipe the counters, the stove, and the table, and make sure the sink is empty and clean.

5. Bathrooms should always be clean! Keep Clorox Wipes in the bathroom so that anyone can use them immediately if needed. These are great for cleanups!

6. When you are cleaning out, have a bag or box for items no longer needed or used. Donate them, sell them, but get rid of them! There’s no greater clutter than things we don’t have need for. Clothes that we no longer wear, toys the children are too old for, books we have read and that just sit on shelves…. whatever is in your home that’s not needed, get rid of it as you clean. When you put items no needed or used in that bag or box, make a note to have the items out of your home no later than seven days from the date you packed them. Don’t just move the clutter, get rid of it!

7. If your home is really cluttered, make yourself start the cleaning process by taking at least 15 minutes a day to clean it. It’s a great thought to try and clean the entire house at once, and if you can do that, great! But for the person that cannot do that, make it a goal to start at 15 minutes and work on up to more as you go in the following days. Start with the kitchen and bathroom. These are two rooms that should always be clean and sanitary. Make it a goal to clean those two rooms and keep them clean. Then work on the rest of the home. Once you have a room clean and organized, KEEP it clean and organized!

Each of these tips are attainable! While everyone is different and works at a different pace, at the same time, everyone can do this! It cannot be stressed enough that ALL members living in the home should do their part. There is no excuse for anyone to not help out unless they are physically or mentally unable to do so. Even a baby that crawls at six months can be taught to begin put their toy into the toy box. Get everyone involved and get organized!

The stresses of day to day living can often overwhelm us, leaving us feeling that we have no control over what’s going on around us, even in our own homes. If our homes are disorganized and cluttered, it can easily overwhelm us. Activities as simple as looking for something, trying to decide where to start cleaning, or even where to store something can overwhelm us causes unnecessary stress. Decluttering and organizing the home isn’t difficult and it makes day to day life so much simpler.

When you get organized, you not only have an organized home and a clutter free home, but you have better time management. This gives you more time to do things you want to do or need to do, not to mention the benefits of less stress on the mind and body.

One of the first steps to getting an organized life is to declutter your home. Uncluttering the home gets rid of things that you no longer need or use. This can be clothes that you or the family no longer wear or fit into, books and toys the kids have outgrown, things that you keep that serve no purpose, papers ad magazines that have piled up over the months, etc. It it serves no useful purpose and isn’t being kept for sentimental purposes, it’s probably a good idea to toss it out. Once the clutter is gone, then you can begin to organize your home room by room.

Everyone has a different idea of how to organize their home and belongings. The best way is to organize for how you use things. Items that you use the most obviously need to be more accessible than items that are used less often. So you will want to organize used items in a manner that they can be easily obtained when needed.

Everything in the home should have a place, or its own home. When something is used, return it to its home after being used. Setting it down will often result in the item remaining where you put it down at. Get in the habit of putting things back where they belong immediately after use. This the main factor in getting and keeping an organized home.

Clean as you go. When you mess something up, clean it up. Don’t leave dishes in the sink overnight, don’t leave something spilled, don’t leave clothes in the dryer when they are done, don’t leave dirty clothes laying all over the house. Wash dishes as you go when cooking, clean up spills immediately, fold and hang clothing when dried and put away, and keep dirty clothes in one place in each bedroom or bathroom. Doing as you go keeps your home less cluttered and it saves you time because you’ve already done half the work.

Paper can pile up around the home faster than anything and lead to a clutter problem repeatedly. The best way to avoid your home being cluttered with paper is to go through paper items as they enter the home. Organize or dispose of the paper items. Paper items such as magazines, newspapers, grocery bags, coupons, receipts, notes written to remember things, and mail should be taken care of the same day they come into the home. Taking care of the paper trail is one of the main priorities in keeping the clutter at bay.

Clean out the bedrooms and bathrooms and closets. If you don’t need it or use it, toss it. If it’s seasonal, hide it in the closet behind the things you use all the time. Items in the bathroom that you don’t use should be tossed. Keeping 20 bottles of various shampoos that you bought and didn’t care for only takes up space. If you aren’t going to use them, get rid of them. If you have clothes in the closet that you haven’t worn since your last child was born 27 years ago, chances are it’s safe to let go of them. Boxes of packed items that have hibernated in the corners of your bedroom since you moved in seven years ago need to find a home in the closet or out the door.

Kitchen cabinets should be free of items you don’t use. Having 100 glasses that you never use only takes up space for something that you do use. If Aunt Jane bought you a dinner setting for Christmas ten year ago and you have never used it, it’s properly safe to pass it on. Obviously you don’t want to hurt feelings by giving away something that you received as a gift, but keeping gifts that you just totally hate only takes up space.

Get the entire family involved in keeping the home organized and clutter free. Even young children are able to put their toys in their proper place after playing with them. Everyone in the family should be responsible for cleaning up after themselves. Getting the whole family involved in home organization will ensure an organized life, plus teaching the kids good habits for later in life.

Once you have a clutter free home and an organized home, then you will want to keep it organized and decluttered. Keeping the home organized is fairly easy to do if you do something everyday towards home organization. But to keep it clutter free, it’s important not to bring clutter back into the home to replace what you just got rid of. The best way to solve this problem is to simply not buy what you don’t need. While it’s tempting when you run upon sales or good deals, the rule to remember is that if you don’t need it or have a use for it, don’t bring it home.