That’s the French Wire Convertible Basket from Willow House.  It’s SO versatile!  It also comes with a center divider, which is removable, so you can use the basket with either one section, or two!

Organizing isn’t about perfection.  It’s about knowing where everything is, and being able to find an item when you need it most!  You don’t need every organizing system offered in the aisles in order to be orderly.  You just need to do what works for you.  Sometimes it won’t make sense to other people, and it doesn’t have to!  So that is why I keep our BEACH TOWELS in the dining room.  Yep.  You heard me.  Not antique lace table clothes, or polished silverware, no no no.  Beach towels.  It just works for us.  The kids grab them and are on their way to the pool.

Of course, it’s also right around where they dump them on the floor when they come back in from the pool!

Just so you know, this is how my dining room looked this morning before I started.  Just keeping it real!  I’m showing the good, the bad, and the dog hair on the floor!!

Once again I’ve been a little quiet lately.  First of all, my office was stripped of all furniture.  I went on a major “big stuff” purge last month and all the office furniture went off to be recycled or reused by someone else.  It wasn’t working in our oddly-shaped room.  Secondly, as always, my migraines interfere with my life.  Honestly, I could JUST blog about migraines.  Le sigh!  I try not to mention them too much, but since it’s a daily, and chronic, issue…it does come up from time to time!  Just a few dayss ago I had my first Botox treatment.

It was 31 injections in my forehead, around the ears, back of the head, neck, and shoulders.  It HURT.  I’m very hopeful that I will have fabulous results.  So far so good.  I mean…no good results yet, but no bad side effects or anything, so that’s a big relief!  As you can see, I can still move my forehead.  It wasn’t used cosmetically.  I can honestly say after feeling how painful those *&%$ing shots are, there is no way I would choose to get those just for vanity sake anyway!  Oh my gosh!  Ouch!  I took that picture the day after.  The day of…was rough (but I also had a migraine and LOTS of pain killers)!

Our office started with me pulling pictures, from everywhere I could find, of anything I would/will need for the space: desk(s), chairs, lamp, boxes, file storage, etc.  I was able to keep all my office ideas neatly organized on Pinterest.  Because of the oddly-shaped ceilings that we have in our office (much like the first picture in this post), I decided it would be better to have one joint desk instead of two.  It would save space, and it would also save us from bonking our heads on the low ceilings at least once a week, and we could spend a little more quality time together even when we’re working since we won’t be in separate corners anymore.

 My future lamp from Target.  There’s a very similar one at Ikea for almost the same price.

Love this carousel caddy for holding pens and pencils and such!

I love the colors of this memo board.

We did choose a giant desk for the both of us to use, and it was delivered last week.  We LOVE it.  We haven’t chosen chairs/stools yet, but we’ll take our time since the ones we’re borrowing from our kitchen are working just fine for now!  Why are stools so expensive anyway?  Good grief!  Right now I have my eyes on these cuties from PB…

Once the desk was set up and some things were put away, I began to see more of what we would need as far as organization goes.  The first priority was to find a place for our printer.  I wanted a piece of furniture that was cute and multifunctional.  That’s a major rule of mine.  I think I found the perfect filing cabinet to use as a table for my printer!  Since I’ve condensed my files down, I will probably only need one drawer for actual files.  The other I will be using to store printer paper, ink, etc.  I ordered it this past weekend, so it hasn’t come in just yet!  Best part-it was on sale AND free shipping!  YAY!!

I also would love to have these little doo dads to keep my cords in place:

Hi, My name is Julie, and I’m a Souther Living-a-holic. I have been one for years now. Specifically, Southern Living at Home, which is now known as Willow House!

I’m posting this on day 25, but it’s better late than never, right?!  As to not bore you with all the details of my grand plan to declutter AND give during this Lenten season, here’s a link to the original post here.

My goal for day 1 was to purge through our dvds and vhs tapes, which my youngest refers to as “rectangle movies”.  She’s 4…she has rarely seen the things!  I was surprised at how many DVDs I was able to part with – 20!  I had multiple, as in THREE, copies of certain Harry Potter movies for goodness sakes!  I was also able to purge 39+ VHS tapes!  Woohoooo!  Out of our collection, there were only kept 3 that I deemed worthy of staying.  While some of my childhood favorites are in the pile, I knew that I could always rent them from netflix, as I haven’t watched my own copy in YEARS.  They were taking up space that I would much rather use for something else…tbd

This time I donated them to Goodwill.  I’m wondering, now, if I could have donated them to a children’s hospital or maybe even to the library.  Either way, I think Day 1 was a success!

This is what I’m giving up for Lent this year.   I want to give 40 bags of “stuff” in the next 40 days (actually it started this past Wednesday, February 22).  I got the idea from a link I saw on Pinterest that originally came from WhiteHouseBlackShutters.  She has an awesome print out to use to plan out your 40 day “game plan” as well!  I used it myself.  I love a good list.

Here’s the thing with Lent.  I typically don’t “give up” something for the 40 days.  To me, Lent is about strengthening your relationship with God and trying to live a life more like His.  I usually choose to actively do something rather than trying to avoid something like chocolate for several weeks and then RUN right back to it on Holy Thursday  I would be running for those Cadburry Mini Eggs, TRUST me.

This year, the 40 bags in 40 days challenge is something I’m not just doing to further declutter my home.  Obviously, as a professional organizer, I’m all about that.  My grand plan is to donate as much as I can to other people.  For example, one of the days I am planning on going through my pantry and filling up a bag (or more) for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at our church.  I also want to show my girls how to give more.  We have a lot more than we need, that’s for sure.  I want to teach them that they do not need 3 baby doll strollers when one is just fine.  Also, our outgrown children’s clothing will be going to a local charity that helps new parents who are in need of different kinds of support.

While this challenge is going to benefit myself and my family, I’m going into this with the hope that I will be able to help others at least as much.

Right before Christmas, I ordered myself this new coupon organization system from Open Sky.  First of all, I LOVE Open Sky.  It’s a newish website with dozens of “tastemakers” that you pick and choose from to “follow” from the Beekman Boys, Julie Morgenstern, Martha Stewart, Org Junkie, and many more.  You then get online deals that are more tailored to your interests and lifestyle that are currently being chosen by those “tastemakers”.  I’m hooked!  Here’s a link to get an invite to join!  (It’s free!)

Join Open Sky!  

Here is my new Qubie Pro Coupon Organizing system that I bought off of Open Sky.  I find that when I’m having more fun doing my coupons, I stick to it.  You can also purchase it from the Qubie website.  I started couponing a year or so ago (you know, before the TLC show “Extreme Couponers” made it the cool thing to do, ha ha) and I did find that I could save up to 50% with a little work.  Oh, and by “a little work”, I actually mean hours a week clipping coupons and searching the internet.  *yawn*  It DOES, literally, pay off though.  I find that clipping and planning during a movie or a favorite tv show really helps.  Also enlisting older kids is a great way to get them clipped!  Although often my 10-yr old will clip coupons for products I have never even heard of, …she means well, right?

I tried organizing them different ways, like keeping the flyers in tact, dating them,  and then only clipping the ones I needed (a method they often use on the TLC show), and it was just too cluttered and too overwhelming for me.  I like the binder method much better!  I have to admit.  I made one myself a year or so ago, but I like this one a lot better.  1. because it has 3 different binders -1 for grocery coupons, 1 more restaurant coupons and gift cards, and one of store cards (like CVS, Costco, etc), and a cute tote bag, and 2. bc it’s very matchy-matchy.  I respond well to match- matchy!

As for the coupons themselves, I get them mainly from the Sunday paper.  I have a few lovely people that give me their coupons they don’t use out of theirs, and then I also grab store coupons from the store flyers when I walk in to shop.  My favorite website to use that helps me know which coupon to use when is Souther Savers.  It’s matches current weekly sales to the coupons that are out right now…in the Southern regions.  Coupon sites are everywhere right now, so even if you’re not in this area, I know you can find one that will work for you if you’re interested!

Have fun clipping, and check out other organizing tips at We Are THAT Family’s Blog!

It’s one of my favorite times of the year!  It’s time to get everything put away and get the house back in order.  Seriously, as much as I love putting up the Christmas tree and hanging the stocking by the chimney with care…I think I love putting my house back together even more!!

As I was wrapping our seemingly endless piles of gifts we were giving, I made a huge mess out of my stash of wrapping papers, tissue paper, gift bags, ribbons, etc.  It got me thinking, once again, about ways to organize gift wrap.  Ideally, I would love to one of these Elfa Gift Wrapping Carts from the Container Store.  They’re actually on sale right now!!  Wooohooo, well…if you have over a hundred dollars to spend on gift wrap organization, which I do NOT.  Another day!

Here are some other options at the Container Store:

I REALLY like this one!

This is the one I actually have. I don't love it, but it works!

Ok, but check this one out.  I saw it on Pinterest….if you’re not on pinterest, you MUST check it out.  I’ll send you an invite if you need one!  Anyways, it’s at Ikea, and it’s $1.99, and you can order it online!  It’s actually a storage doohicky for plastic bags, but it’s great for storing gift wrap!  The only downside is that it’s not portable.  You have to screw it into your wall.  Perhaps in your gift wrapping room?

There’s always some more homespun storage ideas, like converting a hamper or a (cute-ish) trash can.

I also liked this idea from Real Simple (LOVE them) about using skirt hangers for tissue paper, etc.  I might have to use that one!

Are you ready for the grand finale?  Martha Stewart is designing craft room furniture now, which includes a gift wrap cabinet and hutch!  LOVE!!!!!  If I had the space, I would SO want this!!!