Printables for download and Fun Friday Update

I have added the Meal Plan/Grocery Shop and Family Chore List as printables on the blog.   Feel free to download and use them in your home.  They are for personal use only.  If you do post online, please reference this blog.  Thanks and enjoy!

Fun Friday Update:  Here is a short update from my sister on the Family Cleaning Plan we created together (see original post here).

I wanted to give you a little update about the chore list you made for me to keep my house a little cleaner and tidier. The past few days we have had some floors sanded, stained, and sealed. Sounds great except it left dust and disaster everywhere! As I walked in the door this morning, I felt myself starting to get overwhelmed. In the past, I would feel frustrated and clean haphazardly. Today, I pulled out my list and just worked away on the "daily" chores. I only had about 20 minutes to clean and it gave me a great way to organize through and do a mini-clean on my house. I am routine type of person and this list will really help me keep track of my cleaning.

Thanks Whitney!

 

Easy Fix

After I got on the organizing bandwagon {read My Story}, I decided to work on our key issue.  We typically would put the keys in a large dish either in the kitchen or by the door.  But pretty quickly the dish would overflow with other items - like sunglasses, chapstick, wallets, headphones.  Even though I loved the dish idea when it was just keys, it didn't stay that way for us.  So, I threw out that idea and started over.

While I was pondering my dilemma, I ran into these Command hooks at Hobby Lobby.  They were just staring at me and begging me to take them. So, I did.  I think I'm on my 8th package now.  L.O.V.E.

Command Products

Since I didn't want to put holes in the wood around our mantle, the clear Command hooks were the perfect solution.  No fuss, no mess.  The other overflow items have their own places to reside.

 

This is the front view of the Command hooks.  They blend right into the fireplace.  I love that.  I didn't want to have a big "key area;" I just need a simple solution.  My, oh my, I love this one.

My Story

I wanted to give you guys a glimpse into my life and to let you in on a secret - just because I have an organizational blog doesn't mean I have my life and home organized perfectly.  Gasp.  Gasp.  I'll give you a minute to catch your breath.  Ready to move on?  Great. 

We live in a 1926 home with lots of character.  Character is so charming and delightful, but hard to organize.  We bought our home back in 2008 with the future intention of renovating the home.  It began as a small 1778 square foot house with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 baths.  Not much closet space, pantry was TINY (literally 4 shelves that were 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep), small bathroom, you get the idea.  We were basically busting at the seams and then we added our first child to the mix.  I repeat: busting at the seams.
 

Our house pre-reno

Charming, right?

So the idea was borne to add a second story and renovate the downstairs.  Our plans started small, as all plans do and grew larger as we put pencil to the paper.  Side note: my husband literally mapped out and drew the addition to the house.  Our architect was pretty impressed.

Our renovation went very smoothly and we can now have our own space and relax and get more stuff and stuff it in new closets and .... you get the idea.  With more space comes the opportunity for more junk.  That can be your life lesson for the day.

Our house post-reno

 Oh-la-la! Love it. 

Personalized Storage Bins

Storage bins are the not the solution for everything.  There I said it.  whew.   Throwing a storage bin at the problem doesn't always solve your problem.  It may be a step in the right direction, but storage bins are not the end-all-be-all for storage problems.

You really need to take a few steps back and think about your issues. Should these things really reside in this room?  Or maybe in another?  Do we need to keep all 100 toys in the family room or could we move them all the kids bedroom?

If you skip this step, then your organizing solution (while very pretty and functional) won't last long term.  It just won't.  It has to fit your family's needs.

This is our family room (I have said it before and I will say it again, I am not a photographer).

Kind of blah.  Nice built-ins, good space, but pretty blah.  I wasn't really using the bins for anything besides taking up space.

Once I made up my organizing plan (after I was prompted by my husband to end the toy disaster), I decided to personalize these bins for each member of the family.  2 per kids and one for each grown-up.

Supplies I used:

• Downloaded font
• Printer to print out initials
• Black Sharpee
• Patience and time

I decided on a kind of swirly font instead of straight block letters.  Whatever your heart desires, go with it.  I printed each letter out (almost as large as it could be on a 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper).  I wanted the initial to take up a good portion of the storage bin.  You could even do a full name, but I just wanted to do initials so they would be nice and large and not quite as busy.

Then, place the letter on the basket and trace it.  I tried to do this with contact paper and then laminating all for waste - just stick it on there and hold it while you trace around it carefully.  Then color it in the color Sharpee you want.  I wanted black so it would stand out against the color of the baskets.

Finished product - the girl side

Laundry Room Makeover

Mondays are my laundry day.  I want to like Mondays.  I try to like Mondays.  But with this as my laundry room, there was no hope. 

Serious potential, but serious yuck.  After discovering Jen at iheartorganizing.blogspot.com, I began to see the potential of the room.  After a few planning sessions, albeit on a Monday laundry day, I decided it was now or never.  I know, dramatic, but that's just how I am.

I decided to use the upper shelves for storage (duh, but I wanted to say it anyway), build a fold station onto of the washer and dryers, add some storage for the detergent/dryer sheets/iron.

My hubbie happily got on board when he realized that folding station would keep the laundry from piling up in other areas of the house.  He purchased a few supplies from Lowe's and got to work.  He used a nice cut of word (real precise here) and then purchased stair banisters that he cut to size.  Have I mentioned he's a keeper? Then I painted a few coats of white paint and voila!

Then I went a bit crazy at Target and purchased about 15 multi-colored bins plus the Martha Stewart label holders.  A few other purchases and I am officially in love.  See for yourself.

Cleaning Plan

I have an identical twin.  I just need to get that out there.  I know I will mention her in future posts and people will think, WAIT A MINUTE, this girl has a twin?!?

 Lauren is my always best friend, confidante, and in general she is my "I-heart-this-person-and-can't-get-enough-of-her" person.  Lauren just bought an older home and renovated it.  She is struggling to figuring out a cleaning plan for her home.  After doing a bit of research and organizing our thoughts, we came up with this chore sheet.  I heart it.  She hearts it.  I think her home will heart it.  Ta-da.

I think this will set up Lauren to be successful.  Putting it all out there and organizing it made the cleaning of her home much more do-able.  Score for everyone!  Plus the fun, bold colors make it oh-la-la!  She is going to laminate this sheet plus the Meal Planning and put them on the inside of her pantry door. 

Bathroom Drawers

So, my bathroom drawers are kind of a disaster zone.  It's true.  I just fish around in there until I find what I need and EACH time I think, "why do I live like this?" 

Please bear with me as I show you the before pictures

True story.  Pretty awful, right?  I mean, they are just crying out to be organized.  So I hopped to it and got a plan.  It must be functional and cute.  So, I looked around for what I had on hand.  A few nice Nordstroms gift boxes and colorful contact paper.  A match made in heaven!

I put contact paper down in the large shallow drawer and added different storage compartments in each area.  Nothing fancy, just functional.

Before, meet after.

Meal Plan Organizing

I heart organizing. I guess that is apparent, but I wanted to re-emphasize this point. I was recently looking for a way to keep my meal planning and grocery list more organized.  After pouring over Pinterest + lots of blogs, I decided on a laminated page that I can write on and then clean and re-use.  I went through a few designs before I created this.  Ta-da.

Mission accomplished!  I printed and laminated this and then hung it on my pantry door.  I use it when I am meal planning and then I snap a picture with my phone to use in the grocery store.

My learning curve suggestions:

• Print on cardstock
• Use Vis-a-vis wet-erase markers (instead of dry erase).  The dry erase stains the laminated page.

I am very happy with this little chart.  It makes meal planning and grocery list/shopping a little brighter:)  Well, until my 1.5 year old son decides to hold my phone at the grocery store and somehow manages to crop the picture... no bueno.