JOIN ME IN A QUEST TO GET ORGANIZED!
We will take BABY STEPS, one small project
at a time!
Are you tired of your home being unorganized?
Do you feel overwhelmed by chores or “stuck” in your
housekeeping? Worried that
people may stop by unexpectedly and see your messes?
Do you want a
cleaner and more organized house but you aren’t sure where to start?
LET ME BE YOUR ORGANIZING GUIDE!
Along with keeping up on the daily housekeeping, I will regularly
organize something. By the
end of this year, I will have a more organized and smoother running
household. You can do it
too! Join me in these
projects – you can do them at your own pace, depending on your schedule
and
pace of life. Perhaps
you could do one a day, maybe one a week, or perhaps you could do a few
on the weekends. Check in
with what I’m up to when you need some direction regarding what to do
next. There will regularly be a “featured project” on the main page of
the website, along with archived projects.
Pick a project and get started doing baby-steps-to-organization
today! I look forward to
hearing your comments, questions, and stories about how you are doing
getting organized!
You’ve heard “A place for everything and everything in it’s place,” and
now it’s time to actually find those places to put things and put them
there! Remember when your
Mom used to tell you to go clean your room?
You probably didn’t like it then, but now wouldn’t it be nice to
have someone tell you to go work on a specific project?
Just one project?
That is do-able and motivating!
It is much better to have ONE thing to focus on rather than
looking at the entire house and thinking…..I can never get it all done,
so why even try?!? That’s
where I come in! I’ll be your
Get-Organized-Coach by featuring one project at a time, as we take baby
steps toward our goal of getting organized!
You and your family will be less stressed and more joyful when
your home helps you run your life more smoothly!
Our children’s closets need to be organized so they can get dressed
easily (or so we parents can help little ones get dressed easily)
without being frustrated.
The clothing items in the closet need to be the correct size and for the
current season. It is also
helpful if they are arranged in a manner that helps children find
coordinating outfits so they can get dressed quickly (and so the outfits
they choose meet our approval)!
Children grow so fast and go through clothes quickly.
We parents can sometimes get behind on organizing the clothing so
that just current items are in the closets and drawers.
Items that no longer fit, or which are not appropriate for the
current season do not need to be in there
causing
clutter!
When you have a block of time free from young children (unless they are
able to help), get the closets organized!
Step 1: Take everything out. Yes, I know that’s a lot to ask. But trust me – it is easier to start with a “blank slate” of an empty closet. It will be worth it!
Step 2:
Gather all the items that are too small.
If you are donating them to charity, simply put them in a large
bag, label it, and put it in the garage or somewhere where you will
remember to donate it soon.
If you are saving items for another child, sort them into size
categories as well as season categories.
Put the items you are keeping into boxes or containers.
I like the containers which are see-through and that have
attached lids which open down the middle.
Those are safer for young children (if you have babies/toddlers –
don’t have plastic storage containers with lids around UNLESS there are
holes in the lids, just in case a child gets put into one while playing
with siblings/friends - possible suffocation hazard).
Step 3:
Label the clothes
container(s). Use a marker
or computer printer to write in large letters: Gender, Size of clothing,
and Seasons (if applicable)
Example:
Boys Size 4 Clothes (Spring
& Summer)
If your container(s) have see-through sides, simply put the paper inside
the container so it shows through the side that you’ll see when storing
it. If the box is not
see-through, tape the paper label to the outside.
Step 4:
Put the storage containers/boxes away.
Perhaps there is room on a shelf of the child’s closet, or room
on the floor of the closet, or maybe you have another storage area
elsewhere in the house.
Place them so the label is facing out.
Step 5:
Hang up clothes in
sections of like items or things that go well together.
When hanging items, have all the clothes face the same direction
so they look tidy. You
could hang outfits together for easy coordinating.
Or you could hang similar items together such as short sleeve
shirts, long sleeve shirts, dresses, etc.
Step 6:
Fold other clothing
items that go into drawers or on a shelf.
Make them easily accessible for the child and easy for them to
get dressed quickly. Match
all the socks and fold them together (if you have many “missing socks” –
consider tossing the ones that have not had a match in a long time
and/or put the single ones into a separate basket somewhere in the house
just in case you find the match soon).
Step 7: Organize the remaining closet items. If the closet holds items such as toys, tidy them up into neat sections. If there are too many items to be stored neatly, consider down-sizing or putting some things elsewhere in the house. It is nice when there aren’t too many toys or other clutter items in a bedroom so that it can be a restful place. If the closet holds shoes, organize them. There are shoe organizing bags that can be helpful, or a basket can hold them as well. Instead of keeping my children’s shoes in the bedroom closets, I tend to keep them in the entryway coat closet baskets so they are right by the door when it is time to leave the house. The closet shelves can be useful for holding items such as the child’s sleeping bag, extra blanket(s), suitcase, special items they want out of reach of younger children, etc. Just don’t keep so many items in there that it seems too full or hard to keep tidy.
Enjoy knowing that the next time you need to put laundered linens away, it will be an easy task! And next time you need to open the door to find something, it will not be frustrating!
Step 8:
Make sure the closet has a dirty laundry container.
This could be a basket, hamper, laundry bag, or anything that
will hold the laundry which is easy to carry to the Laundry Room.
Step 9:
Show your family the newly organized closet.
Tell them where things are in the closet and explain how they can
use it to get dressed easily (give examples of outfits that go
together). Show where items
are to be put away after use and give instructions about laundry (where
the dirty laundry goes, when it is to be carried to the laundry room,
where clean laundry is to be placed or hung, etc.)
Enjoy having a tidy
closet! Recognize ways it
makes life easier!