Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Our Favorite Daily Organizing Solutions
I am a believer that there needs to be a mixture of fun and crafty projects and super practical sanity saving projects. I always try to integrate the two of course, but as we all know, some of the things I do around here are just as much for aesthetics as they are for function. A storage box would function just the same if it were regular ol' cardboard as it would if it were painted and embellished. So although I have a slew of favorite "pretty projects", today I am going to talk about the ones that truly make our lives easier each and every day. The ones that we celebrate and love and that I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat, no glue gun required.
An Organized Kitchen
I am starting off in the kitchen because it is really where we spend a crazy amount of time. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner are prepared here and it is also where everyone naturally gathers. A few of our favorite organizational systems reside in the kitchen area, and the first tip I have is be smart about kitchen storage accessibility.
A few years ago I went on a kitchen overhaul and removed everything from our cabinets and started with a blank slate. I thought about how we use our kitchen each day and where it made the most sense for things to be stored. I also really questioned how we were using our existing storage solutions. We placed everything back where it would be quick and easy to access in frequent scenarios. Silverware near the dishwasher, pots and pans near the stove, utensils near the stove, leftover storage containers near the fridge, less used items up high, etc... We had been previously stacking all of our pots and pans in a deep cabinet, and moving them to a lazy susan near the stove was earth shattering for us. Sometimes it is the little things that make the biggest impact in our days, and keeping things as easy to access during busy meal times and clean ups is a huge plus.
{see our entire kitchen cabinet tour here}
Fridge Bins
Speaking of little things, a couple of dollars spent on a few basics bins has rocked my fridge storage world. I LOVE these things!
I am convinced we are better about eating our entire grocery shopping supply because we have an organized fridge. And these tall, narrow, clear bins are amazing. They pull out like drawers and allow you to combine like items. Lunches? Check, pull out the bin with the lunch meat, sliced cheese and dressings. Obsessed doesn't begin to describe my feelings and how easy they make meal time prep and how space saving they are. Oh, and of course we use them in the freezer as well!
{see more of our fridge/freezer here and here}
Meal Planning
This process has continued to get easier and evolve over the years, but the concept stays the same. I know I have touched on it quite a bit in the past, and everyone and their mom in blogland has as well, but that is because it works!
By taking time each week to plan our our meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we prevent ourselves from going out to eat, we have stocked groceries, we plan our meals based on our current grocery inventory, we waste less food, we spend less money, we watch for savings and plan around ingredients on sale. We even try new recipes, which is my favorite part. Although it may seem time consuming in the moment, just think of how much time is spent gazing into a cabinet wondering what to prepare for dinner. And think about those busy nights with after school sports, certainly a huge family dinner won't happen, but with some prior planning you can be stocked with supplies to make quick grilled chicken wraps. The art of slowing down and coming together as a family for dinner doesn't have to be lost just yet.
{more about our meal planning process here}
Calendar Management
I am a paper planner girl, but I know many of you love the digital calendars and planners as well. The type of calendar isn't the key, it is how you use it!
In all honesty, I have time management issues. I can easily get overwhelmed when I look at my work to do list as well as my home to do list compared to our busy schedules with school events and activities and even squeezing in social activities from time to time. If I don't have a plan, nothing gets done and the lists just grow and grow, right along with the sinking feeling in my stomach. I haven't mastered the problem by any means, however, I would be lost without my planner and my Sunday afternoon planning session. Each Sunday I sit down and look at my week at a glance {I do this while meal planning so that our meals follow our schedules}. I write in days I am going to blog, I write in time to work on projects with my husband, I write in time to check emails and which days I am going to allocate to working on my Etsy shop or contributing work outside of my daily blog duties, I write in birthday parties and sleepovers and volunteer time. I determine who is taking which boy to which sport and how we can divide and conquer tasks throughout the week. I don't always stick to the schedule, but having some sort of guidance going into the week vs. trying to tackle it blindly is HUGE for me.
{more about my daily planner here}
Paper Management
I can't stand filing but I also can't stand paper piles and clutter. So a good compromise for us has been to hang mail bins in our kitchen.
By keeping these wall pockets in a central location, each family member has a one stop spot for current paperwork, bills, catalogs, correspondence and information. When we bring in the mail or empty back-packs, everything is either recycled or quickly sorted down to these bins. And everyone knows right where to look when for their specific documents, and I love that everyone can easily access them without help. The key is to take time once or twice a month to empty the bins and file away anything that is worth saving.
{read more about our filing system here}
Budget Binder
As well as managing a calendar, we also have to be organized about managing a budget.
We set up a binder awhile back, and we really consider it to be our budget bible. Everything lives in the binder throughout the year, from current statements, planned expenses and a checklist of bills paid each month. It also allows my husband and I to stay on the same page, and is a great reminder of which bills are paid at which time of the month {as well as a check box to be sure each bill has been paid}. We also use this to manage our checkbook register and our cash budget, and so far both of us continue to give this little book a thumbs up.
{read more about our budget binder here}
School Cubbies
Our home didn't come with a dedicated entryway or coat closet, so we were required to get creative with the space we have. Our entryway solution was a combination of some coat hooks for guests, a shoe cabinet for all of our footwear and a credenza cabinet for our boy's school/personal belongings.
Each boy received a cabinet, and it is equipped with a shelf for their school study boxes and a place to charge their electronic devices, as well as a spot to tuck away their boots/winter gear, backpacks and lunch boxes. It is amazing how much can fit into one of these little cabinets, and I love that there is no visual clutter all over the floor or taking up valuable space on the small wall behind the door.
After a few days of consistent use, the process of putting things away was a simple addition to their after school routine because the cabinets are right at their level.
{read more about our school cubbies here}
Playroom Benches/Baskets
Speaking of right at their level, that is my next time saving tip. When we organized our boy's playroom, the majority of our storage solutions were down at floor level.
Our playroom doesn't always look like this, in fact, most often there are train tracks and Lego cities sprawling from one end of the room to the other. However, when it is time to pick up, our boys have no trouble {other than distractions}, putting their belongings away. Having everything easily labeled with picture labels and color identification as well as keeping the storage low and easy for them to quickly access, has really changed how we organize for our kids in many other situations as well. The easier it is for them, the more likely they are to be helpful.
{read more about our playroom here}
Laundry Helpers
Laundry is a curse word around here from time to time. Anyone who knows us also knows we have been known to have an out of control laundry system, with no ability to even open our laundry room door. It was EMBARRASSING! I finally decided to spend an entire weekend dedicated to catching up on laundry, and put a system into place immediately.
Now, we sort less {only delicates, linens and whites} and toss most of our clothing directly into the washing machine each day. Once the washer is full, we run it. The kids agree that putting away a few pieces from one load is far better than putting away a few weeks worth at a time. Heck, I agree as well! And to help them with their process, I put their items directly onto hangers straight out of the washer, and sort their pieces into individual bins. The bins get placed in their room and they are responsible for putting away the contents. Win win!
{read more about our laundry sorting process here}
Clean Happy!
OK, I know that seems like an oxymoron, but there are ways to make the process much easier.
For me, my biggest cleaning wins are:
- Creating a portable cleaning caddy. By having caddy that I can tote around my home, I can cut my cleaning time in half. I keep it stocked with my favorite rags, scrubbers and homemade cleaning products.
- Storing daily cleaners under each sink. Again, quick access is the key to success. By keeping cleaners under the sink in the rooms that need daily disinfecting {bathrooms and kitchen}, I can clean up right after using the space. By not having to leave each area to go find cleaners, these key spaces are much more likely to cleaned frequently.
- Focusing on four cleaning tasks per day and doing the rest on the weekend. I love a clean house, but there is no way I am going to scrub it top to bottom in between working and heading off to the next baseball game. To keep our home presentable during the week, we keep our focus on four main things: cleaning the kitchen after each meal, wiping down the bathrooms each evening, picking up any piles before they turn into monsters and doing/putting away any laundry. The rest can wait.
- Using less products. Vinegar cleans just about everything and simplifying our cleaners has been a convenient and money saving option that we have learned to love.
Now I would love to hear from you! What organizing systems and solutions have you put in place that are your daily sanity savers? Any other time and money saving tips to share?
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