What’s Working and What’s Not….New Year’s Solutions Part 1
Photo from Real Simple Magazine
Something I always ask my clients is “What is working for you, and what is not working?”. I recently asked myself that same question about twelve different spaces in my own home so I can work on them throughout the twelve months of the new year.
Photo from The Container Store
Since we are currently putting the final touches on my oldest daughter’s bedroom, her room will be my January project. What is working in her room is the 32-Compartment Drawer Organizer from The Container Store. We’ve used it for over a year, and it truly has helped keep my “tweenage” girl’s drawer nice and tidy! I love it because I can easily see when she’s running low on something, and she can quickly put things away on her own. What is not working in her room is the overpopulated zoo of stuffed animals she has accumulated over the years! Even though we recently decluttered before Christmas, there are still more than I would like in there. I need to find a creative way to store them where they are also getting some lovin, and not just covered in dust bunnies under the bed!
My front-runner for her stuffed animal storage can be found at the Dollar Tree! YAY!
In February I’ll focus on my car. I’m very fortunate, and blessed, to be able to stay at home with my kids, and do a job I love on a schedule I create myself. My girls, however, are very busy, and I often feel like a Mommy taxi driver. I know some of you moms must be able to relate! I do a have system that works, however. That system is for the junk in my trunk! :p I use a non-slip rug pad in the trunk area of my SUV, and it works SO well. I LOVE it. I’ve even had other ladies approach me in the parking lot to comment on how smart of an idea it is! tee hee hee!
My vehicle get very messy, VERY fast. I’m outnumbered my little hands dropping little crumbs, crayons, and craziness everywhere! I need to find a garbage can for my car. I saw this idea in Pinterest, and I think I’ll give this a try soon!
My vehicle get very messy, VERY fast. I’m outnumbered my little hands dropping little crumbs, crayons, and craziness everywhere! I need to find a garbage can for my car. I saw this idea in Pinterest, and I think I’ll give this a try soon!
In February I’ll focus on my car. I’m very fortunate, and blessed, to be able to stay at home with my kids, and do a job I love on a schedule I create myself. My girls, however, are very busy, and I often feel like a Mommy taxi driver. I know some of you moms must be able to relate! I do a have system that works, however. That system is for the junk in my trunk! :p I use a non-slip rug pad in the trunk area of my SUV, and it works SO well. I LOVE it. I’ve even had other ladies approach me in the parking lot to comment on how smart of an idea it is! tee hee hee! My vehicle get very messy, VERY fast. I’m outnumbered my little hands dropping little crumbs, crayons, and craziness everywhere! I need to find a garbage can for my car. I saw this idea in Pinterest, and I think I’ll give this a try soon!
Non-Slip Rug Pad for the "junk in my trunk"
Dry cereal container converted into a garbage can on-the-go. Thanks, Pinterest!
The kitchen will get my attention in March. My favorite organizing products that I use in my kitchen can both be found in my pantry. They are the clear handled storage baskets from The Container Store, and my OXO POP Canisters that can be purchased as several stores, such as Container Store, Target, Kohl’s, etc. The area that frustrates me the most, in my kitchen, is what my family refers to as “the Nanny cabinet”. It’s an old metal cabinet that used to belong to my Nanny (my mom’s mom). We use it to store lots of the girls’ art supplies, and it gets messy quickly. I think I need to condense the supplies, assign areas for each daughter to have their supplies in, and that’s that. I might like to move our coffee maker, and cups, over to that counter top space as well if it will all fit!
In April, I’ll be organizing the great outdoors! I’m really not an ourdoorsy girl, thanks to be lovely migraines, so I don’t spend much time working out there. However, I do have these adorable little metal garden markers I use to label my different varieties of lilies. I also keep the seed packets tacked on the wall near my potting bench to help me remember all the little factoids about them. What’s not working for me outside, is that I believe I could organize the outdoor toys better. I would love to get an outdoor storage box/bench. Maybe a sturdy one from Rubbermaid, would do the trick!
Getting all the outdoor toys out of my garage would free up a large amount of valuable space in my garage!
Getting all the outdoor toys out of my garage would free up a large amount of valuable space in my garage!
Speaking of garages, that’s where I plan on working in my house in May. You really don’t want to work in a Georgia garage anytime later than May, or you might melt! My organization tool that works the best, right now, is having the space divided into zones. Everything has a home. There’s a zone for holiday decorations, outdoor tools and supplies, automotive gear, paints and home improvement, tools, etc. The area that needs the most help right now is the tool area. I already have a pegboard, but right now it’s looking like this:
Needs some TLC, right?
June is the birth month of my little mermaid girl, so what better time than that to work in her room? Since she’s such a fashionista, most of my organizing focus has been in her closet. What works best in there is a sweater organizer to sort her outfits out for the days of the week. I also use a similar one in my older daughter’s closet. This has nearly solved the morning drama of what to wear! Nearly. What she still seems to need, in her closet, is MORE space for her dress-up clothes. The small bar on the bottom just isn’t enough for all the glittery dresses she has for all those diva moments she needs to live out in her young life. Should be an easy, and inexpensive, fix. I’ve been outfitting her closet with the NeatKids Closet Organizers from Kohl’s.
