Organizing solutions (my way your way)

Hello hello friends!  I've rounded up some serious organizing eye candy for you today.  Woot woot!  (You know I mean business when I break out with a "woot woot!")  I have been so inspired lately with fun organizing solutions that are similar to methods I already have in place so of course I had to share them all with you!  Enjoy!

You've all seen my craft space several times.  It has been so nice to have a set cupboard for the kids to keep all of their art supplies.  But if a cupboard is nice...

Country Living

how fabulous would a whole armoire be?  I love that most used toys can be stored low for little hands, art work is displayed on the doors, and at the end of the day everything can be closed up and hidden.  Genius!  

Better Homes and Gardens

I also love the idea of keeping an "art tray" nearby stocked full of pencils, scissors, markers, etc. so that supplies are always within reach.  

I've shared how I store my jewelry.  Necklaces hang on hooks on the wall and everything else is crammed into a small jewelry box (so excited to revamp this system after we move!).   

Here are a few other fun ideas...

Better Homes and Gardens

Use simple mini hooks to hold necklaces.

Houzz

Or try multiple jewelry stands!  I love that everything is out on display here.  I think I'd wear my jewelry more if I could see it all!

I've always kept my nail polish in this simple divider.

Speckled Dog

But what a fun idea to use an old spice rack?  Or a new one.  :)  

I love seeing creative organizing solutions. 

A simple book from Hallmark has helped me keep track of birthdays and organize my cards.

I Heart Organizing

But how cool is Jen's solution for organizing cards?  Categorizing just makes me smile!  This way you can stock up on cards and always have one ready to go if you are short on time.  

It's like having your own mini Hallmark right at your fingertips!  :)

In the past I have used a simple trash can to corral wrapping paper.  This was especially handy for me during the holidays when I set up my Christmas wrap station.  

Womans Day

But how simple and fabulous is this solution?  

Cup hooks holding dowels make smart wrapping paper storage!

Labeled Ziploc bags for kids' clothes each day of the week has been a lifesaver for helping us plan and lay out weekly outfits.  Mornings have run much smoother since we implemented this little system!   

But if I had the room...

Better Homes and Gardens

I LOVE this solution too!  Hooks on the closet door with a simple paper label for each day of the week.  You could also add the hooks on a blank wall in your child's room.  So smart!  

In my linen closet I store cleaning supplies in labeled bins.  

Country Living

But I think next time I organize cleaning supplies these lined wire baskets with labels are calling my name.  So stylish!  About as stylish as toilet paper and cleaning supplies can look if you ask me.  :)

And you've all seen our makeshift mudroom on a wall in our garage.  It has worked well for us, but I love the following solution even more...

All you need for this is a shelf with some hooks and a hallway!  A perfect place for kids to drop off shoes and backpacks.  And a happy place for the family calendar to live as well!  

YEA!  So many fun organizing solutions.  

Hope this post made you as happy as it made me.  

:)  

Staying organized during a build/re-model

Hello friends!  I have had a similar question pop up a few times so I thought I'd take a minute to answer it today.  Some of you have e-mailed me asking for suggestions on how to stay organized during a build or home re-model.  Well.  Let me tell you.  This has been my toughest organizing challenge EVER!  It is unbelievable the amount of STUFF you have to keep track of when you build a house.  I'm sure going through a major re-model is the same.  I constantly have books, receipts, sketches, and samples all over my house.  Until just last week we had a bathtub sitting in our garage.   :)  It can be a bit overwhelming keeping it all under control!  I've shared most of these ideas before, but I thought a post with everything in one place might help.  So!  Here are a few things I've done that have helped me stay organized throughout this process...

1) Corral your "inspiration."  A process like this begins with looking at LOTS and LOTS of inspiration photos.  Pinterest is the best way to organize your inspiration pictures on-line.  If you're getting ready to build or re-model and don't have a Pinterest account I would highly recommend getting one!  My architect was amazed at how many photos I had on my computer showing him exactly what I wanted.  It made both of our jobs a lot easier!  My Pinterest boards started out fairly organized (exterior of homes, bathroom, kitchens, etc.) but as the building process became more time consuming I just started dumping all of my pictures onto one happy board titled "Creating my House" which you can see here.  :)

Before I started this process magazines were piling high on every surface!  

I bought this magazine holder from Ballards to keep them all in one place.  I wanted them in a central location that was easy to get to since I was referring to certain pictures so often.  Another alternative is to just buy a big basket to hold all of your magazines.

What to do with all of the pages you are tearing out of magazines?  I went to my happy place (Martha Stewart supply section of Staples) and picked up a binder and a large accordion file.

Then I sorted all of my inspiration pics into piles...

labeled each room...

and filed away!

2)  Use binders and notebooks to organize your sketches and notes.

I bought tabs and organized all of my cabinet and built-in sketches by room. 

 Then I labeled a spot in my time management notepad "new house" so that I have a place to jot down notes and to-do's as they pop up.

3)  Use file folders/boxes to hold important papers that are house related.

We don't have drawers in our current house for files so I just bought a simple crate to organize random house related papers.    

Pick up some file folders.  Fun colors are a must.

Then organize away!  I initially started this file box for papers for the kids but lately have added several folders for new house forms as well.  

4)  Have a set location to hold all of your house related items. 

I have our house and landscaping plans in big baskets hidden behind the living room couch.  Find a location that is easily accessible because you will be pulling these out ten times a day!

Next to our plans I have everything else house related.  Files, binder for sketches, plans, paint swatches, etc.  Oh.  And throw in some diapers and wipes for good measure.  :)    

As far as larger samples go, a closet or specific place to house them all would be lovely.  We don't have room for them.  Or for much of anything which is why we are building.  :)  

For months I had samples all over my living room floor.  

Now that I've picked out all of our tile and counter tops I've moved most of our samples to the garage.

A few other things that might help:

5)  Keep a bag in your car with a tape measure, a notepad and pen, and a pair of shoes that you don't care about for hanging out at the job site.  Every time I visit our new house I have these things handy!

6)  organize e-mail folders in your inbox for specific house related e-mails.
I have separate folders titled: 
- cabinets (all of our cabinet sketches and e-mails regarding cabinets)
- design sketches (all of our random design sketches)
- yard (every e-mail about landscaping that I need to save)
- finish work (e-mails on finish work)
- inspiration pictures (e-mails including pictures I've sent)
- finances (e-mails pertaining to finances) -- although I don't have much in this folder.  Unfortunately I can't give you a lot of advice on how to organize the finance component of building because that is Kenny's job.  He has spreadsheets galore going on to keep track of it all.  While I love the design aspect of this project, the finances are one area I am more than happy to turn over to him!

 Like I said before, this beast has been a hard one to stay on top of.  :)  I hope a few of the things that have helped me stay organized throughout this process helps some of you as well!

Shoe/Coat/Backpack organization

Hi everyone!  Popping in with our third post for re-run week!  I have to say that I'm having fun pulling up past posts.  :)  And I have had such a productive week!  So many new house decisions have been made and I am getting really excited.  So thank you for being supportive of the re-runs.  :)  I'll share a new house update next week with the latest.  Right now I'm sharing a past post on how I organize my shoes in my current house because I spent some time today finalizing the design on my new mudroom.  To say I'm excited about that space would be a huge understatement!  Since I have been thinking a lot about shoe/coat/backpack organization I thought it would be fun to re-visit what is working for us now in our current house.  Which as you know, does not have a mudroom.  :)  I truly believe you can turn just about any little wall, nook or whatever you can come up with into a nice dropping spot for shoes, coats, etc.  I hope this post gives you a few ideas!  

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I dream of having a mudroom.  A big beautiful mudroom complete with lockers and shoe drawers.  And in our next house, I will hopefully have more room than I currently do to make that happen.  But for now, the only place for shoes, coats, and backpacks is in our garage.  I shared how I organize our shoes a while ago when I did a post on garage organization.  That was working ok...but a little something made me decide to re-think things.  And that little something would be the new mini van.  Since I'm now a mini van mom (sad how easily that rolls off my tongue these days) the new ride is taking up more space in the garage than the old one leaving no space between it and the shoes.  Luckily the van beeps like crazy every time I park so I am able to avoid hitting the shoe rack, just not able to avoid the beeping van headache that often follows.

Plus having our shoes this close to the door always resulted in a messy pile of shoes just waiting to be tripped on.

Plus I bought the girls new summer flip flops.  And flip flops this cute just seemed to need a fun new home!  Plus let's face it.  I was just in the mood to organize something.

I didn't do anything major, but just a little rearranging made a huge difference!

Wa-la!  I bought one more shoe rack and moved all of the shoes from the front of the garage to the side under the racks we use to store garage tools, coats and backpacks.  As cute as the mudroom I've designed in my head?  No.  As practical as the mudroom I've designed in my head?  Definitely.

Do you love how our coats are mixed in with yard tools?  Ha!  Lovely I know.  If we were planning on staying in this house longer, I would have put in a new rack and separated things better, but I'm still holding out hope that we'll find a house we love sometime in the near future and this set up works great in the meantime.  

I decided to bring down all of the girls shoes from their bedroom to free up more space in their closets. Most of mine and Kenny's shoes are in our closet other than our "slip on quick and go shoes" (Uggs for three months out of the year and flip flops for the other nine)

 Speaking of flip flops, this fun little basket is a new home for ours!  So easy for the kids to grab and go AND easy for them to keep picked up and put away.

 All boots fit on the top shelf.  Want to see my secret for keeping boots standing up straight and tall?

Floppy boots bother me so I've always just stuffed a few paper towels in them!  When Jen posted on her shoe organization, she mentioned using magazines for her boots.  I loved that I wasn't the only person bothered by floppy boots!  And magazines are another great solution! 

 Want to see my favorite part about my new little shoe system?

When the kids come home from school, the van door opens, kids step out, and immediately put their shoes away on the rack.  They empty backpacks and hang them along with their jackets.  The "after school mess" is taken care of before my kids even enter the house!

No shoes come in the house, no shoes in front of the door to trip on.  I had to snap these pictures so quick to catch Ellie in action!  Luckily she's so used to me taking pictures of every mundane thing we do she didn't even question why I was running around snapping pictures of her taking off her shoes from all angles.  All par for the course around here!  :)

Our Bougainvillea vine, while beautiful on the outside of our garage...

always creates a lovely mess for me on the inside of our garage.  I have to sweep the garage out at least every other week.  So worth it though.  I just love that vine!

 Then I bought a new rug that matches the one in my kitchen to complete my little project. 

Now that my shoes are out of the way it feels like the mini van was made for my garage!

See what I mean...rollin' right off the tongue...