Those with organized houses...

[sste]

Go to the Container Store if you have one near you. Make a list of all their cool stuff - - you will get tons of ideas just going through the aisles. You can either then spend your life's savings there, which is generally what I do since its only a mile from my house, or go to target and ikea and buy cheaper versions of what you see.

Also, we found that our organization problems were due in part to not having enough furniture with drawers or cabinets so we bought some which helped enormously.

Organizing closets can be helpful - - rubbermaid sells a pretty affordable kit that is kind of like the Container Store elfa stuff.

Last, just throw stuff out. We removed eight garbage bags of papers/donatables etc last month and I haven't missed a single bit of it . . .

[m448]

oh and it's an ongoing process. I'm constantly looking at areas that because of changing needs become "hot spots" that need to be organized or I need to come up with a solution.

[HIU8]

I cannot function in clutter. It makes me nervous and upset and I actually start to itch. So, needless to say, our house is fairly organized. Everything has a place. We do not have tons of dust collectors around. All toys get put away at night by myself, DH as well as DD and DS. I have bins. I have storage units, cabinets in strategic places, a shed in the backyard etc... I also have a ton of cabinte space in my kitchen (I know of several items that will be leaving my kitchen by the end of this month as a matter of fact b/c we just don't use them anymore). If there is no room for something, it must not be necessary, so it goes. DH is not like me. He comes in and things drop wherever. We have a system worked out that I pick it up and put it in a pile. He has 3 days to go through the pile or it's trashed after I go through it with him. Every 6 months we do a massive emptying of the basement for salvation army (thank you MIL for the constant flow of unwanted furniture. The salvation army and DH and I are helping to make someone a really nice home. We don't need it. We have furniture that is just fine.).

I do projects and keep everything in my office space upstairs. Even with that I have bins/piles etc... to make it all neat and organized for myself.

I have a BIL with a hoarding disorder and a MIL with 40 years of stuff that never left the house. I'm basically the opposite. I find it hard to be in someones house who has a lot of clutter. I am just not comfortable.

[lizajane]

i can't believe i thought i even deserved to open a thread addressed at organized people... i bought a label maker. about 2 years ago. i still haven't put batteries in it.

ha.

[egoldber]

I have spaces for a lot of things, but what about transient things? Mail? School stuff? Art projects?

The mail and school papers are my downfall.

Our problem is DH and I are responsible for separate sections of the mail. He does all the bills and there is no system. So they pile up until he gets to them. And he takes any suggestion of having a system as a personal affront.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I swear I have thought about taking a picture of my dining room table and asking you organizing gurus what you would do with my stuff. The dining room table has become such a catch all that it takes me almost 20 minutes (sometimes more) twice a week to clean it off. It drives me batty.

I'm good with the mail because my paper recycling bin is right under the mail slot so I sort it right away. I take the bills straight over to my computer to be paid that day. Paid bills go into one of those file organizing bins that has 12 slots. I keep the whole year's worth of bills, EOBs from the health insurance and anything else like that in there.

I have a storage box on the built in in my dining room for membership infos, ds activity things, school phone lists and other important school papers (stuff that is pertinent for the whole year- weekly stuff goes on the fridge), reciepts, house stuff... I keep it there because I realized I was using that surface for that sort of thing naturally so I decided to roll with it.

I want my friend to come over and really hel me figure out what to get rid of. They have so much less stuff than we do and I don't know how they do it. Of course, one day I opened her breadbox when I was looking for bread and found tons of random crap in there- and no bread. It made me feel better that she isn't totally perfect.

I just waffle too much on "do I really need this?". I'm trying.

Beth

[MoJo]

I have some of the same questions as the OP that I haven't seen answered yet: How do you establish places for things to begin with?

DH & I both come from disorganized homes, and we're both packrats to some extent. The house is driving us nuts, and with DD very close to becoming mobile, I've GOT to get it cleaned up. DH FINALLY gave me permission & encouragement to do this a couple of weeks ago -- before, he complained when I tried.

I've been doing massive decluttering . . . a bag a day either for trash or donations. But there are whole categories of things that I don't know where to put them. Such as tools (who knows where you're going to use them? And if they are too far away, they won't get used!). Games (there's definitely no extra storage space in the kitchen, which is where we're most likely to play them). "Office" type stuff. . . does it go in my desk, his desk, or the eBay shipping area? Books . . . do cookbooks go in the kitchen (and if so, where?) And what room is most appropriate for bookshelves? (We're both book lovers, and we tend to like books that we can't get at the library) Shoes? (I tend to think they belong in the bedroom closet, but I can't get DH to keep his there)

I know we don't have enough storage furniture, and we can't get any right now.

Also, what do you do with things you're not currently using, but LOOKING FORWARD to using? I've been dreaming of being able to spend time at home with my family for a long time, and buying/saving things for that time (like kitchen supplies for baking cakes and making cookies with DD).

FLYlady.net has been helpful in learning to declutter, but I'm far from being out of what she calls CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)

[nupe]

i can't believe i thought i even deserved to open a thread addressed at organized people... i bought a label maker. about 2 years ago. i still haven't put batteries in it.

ha.

I have a label maker too. And I used to use it. I have nicely labeled tupperware for many pantry staples. (But sometimes the label is too long to fit the item, then I have to reprint in another font, etc. I hate reprinting!) So for pantry items, I now label with PostIt Tabs (red ones from costco.com nowadays)! I had been using them to label EBM for daycare, so they were already in my kitchen. Just write with a ball point pen (someitmes I use an extrafine sharpie from staples if I need it to be darker) and it is ready in a few seconds. No batteries required. I even use them in my fridge to label foods/dates, etc. They stick pretty well and I haven't had trouble with residue yet!

ETA: What I meant to say is POST IT TAPE FLAGS
And thanks again to the poster on this board who recommended using post it tape flags to label EBM bottles (no residue even if label goes through sterilizer/dishwasher by mistake!!).

[LarsMal]

I have some of the same questions as the OP that I haven't seen answered yet: How do you establish places for things to begin with?

Such as tools (who knows where you're going to use them? And if they are too far away, they won't get used!). Games (there's definitely no extra storage space in the kitchen, which is where we're most likely to play them). "Office" type stuff. . . does it go in my desk, his desk, or the eBay shipping area? Books . . . do cookbooks go in the kitchen (and if so, where?) And what room is most appropriate for bookshelves? (We're both book lovers, and we tend to like books that we can't get at the library) Shoes? (I tend to think they belong in the bedroom closet, but I can't get DH to keep his there)

I know we don't have enough storage furniture, and we can't get any right now.

Also, what do you do with things you're not currently using, but LOOKING FORWARD to using? I've been dreaming of being able to spend time at home with my family for a long time, and buying/saving things for that time (like kitchen supplies for baking cakes and making cookies with DD).

FLYlady.net has been helpful in learning to declutter, but I'm far from being out of what she calls CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)

Tools- in the garage. We keep a couple screwdrivers in a small drawer in our armoir in our bedroom, and the hammer/another screwdriver or 2 in a cabinet in the laundry room

Games- We keep ours upstairs in a closet. Do you have any sort of media cabinet? How big is your pantry? You could keep them on a shelf in your pantry if you have room and play most games in your kitchen. In our old house we kept the ones we played more often in our coat closet.

Office stuff- Put it in the desk of the person who will need/use it most. DH keeps all of his stuff in his office, along with our filing cabinet and bills. My desk is upstairs in the playroom- with the computer. It has a small hutch on it with four drawers. I keep anything I may need in those drawers, as well as a few things in the printer table drawer. We have a plastic three drawer thing in a spare closet that we keep all computer-related stuff in (manuals, cords, etc.)

Books- DH is a collector of books, so we have shelves in various rooms of the house. Cookbooks are kept in the kitchen. The ones I use a lot I keep in the cabinet next to the stove. I also have a hutch in my kitchen, Ikea, I think. It is tall and narrow, a cabinet underneath and glass doors up top. I keep some cookbooks in there on display. The others are in the pantry on a shelf I can get to, but kept away when I don't need them.

Shoes- I don't allow shoes to be worn in the house! I got a couple of wood stacking shelves from Target that I put in the floor of our coat closet. Shoes are kept on those shelves. Once seasons change, I change mine out so I have my go-to seasonal shoes right where I need them. Same with the kids.

HTH!

[Octobermommy]

But not everything has a place. How do you actually find a place for everything? I have spaces for a lot of things, but what about transient things? Mail? School stuff? Art projects?

I just bought something that I keep my mail in, it has two slots, I keep one for bills and the other for well other. Our art projects go under the china in the cabinet. School stuff same thing unless it is a notice which goes on the fridge or above the microwave.