Most people fall into these categories when it comes to being organized: 1. you’re an OCD super freak organizer, 2. you’re a hot mess when it comes to organizing or 3. you’re somewhere in the middle. I am for sure in the middle. I love easy ways to help me become less cluttered, but if it takes too long or is too complex, forget it. Here are 7 great organization products and ideas to simplify your life.
Office/Craft Room/Kids’ Homework Area
It goes without saying that this space is one of the most used and abused area of my house. Because this space is combined, we have to be extra mindful about keeping things tidy or it can become a disaster in a matter of minutes. These cabinets are from Ballard Designs and they are a life-saver. I love the chalkboard plaque on the front of each bin. Now, there’s no problem finding a ribbon or the glue gun and no question of where it goes when you’re done using it. Take that, messy kids!
This craft station has saved us many headaches over the past few years
Pool Area/Towel Station/Dog Supplies
It’s rare to find a house without a pool in Arizona, so keeping pool necessities organized is a must. My pool and dog storage are both here, so I painstakingly designed this cabinet to maximize the small amount of space we had leading out to the backyard. It has room for 8 rolled towels and bin space for sunscreen, goggles, bug spray and bags (for dog poop) – all easy to identify with the black chalkboard labels. The middle cabinets store the dog’s food, leashes and bowls, and open section is the doggie door. We chose slate floors for this hallway – super durable and can withstand all of the drips, wet towels and bathing suits that the kids throw on it. When organizing your own space, think about why you really need the space and envision where you would put those things. That will help you use any space most efficiently.
Our combined pool/towel/dog station serves us well
Laundry Room/Pantry
This space is connected in my house, so I need to be able to keep the area as clutter-free as possible. It’s important to me that my kids help out around the house, and helping with laundry is one way to ease the burden. This bin on wheels was purchased from Crate & Barrel – I painted the W & D on it so that when the kids bring their laundry down, they sort it into whites & darks. It’s a simple task, but it saves me a lot of time.
W for white clothes and D for dark clothes. Pretty simple. Palmer makes sure the sorting is done properly.
What would the world do without a label maker? It’s the greatest invention. Ever. This took me about 5 minutes to organize and label, but it makes it easy to see when I’m running on low on cleaning supplies.
My label maker gets lots of use in my pantry
If it’s labeled, it’s easy to see when I’m running low on supplies
Stinky kids = Air freshener
Kitchen
How do you make spices look neat and tidy? With this genius product from the Container Store. They’re magnetic spice jars that sit on a magnetic sheet. They never slide when I open the drawer, and could easily be hung on the back of a pantry door and they’d stay put. Now you never have to search thru layers of upright, mismatched spice jars again.
Magnetic spice containers have definitely simplified my life
Bathroom/Closet
If I had a dime for every time my kids ask where the band aids or the cough drops are, I’d be . . . well you know. No excuses with these heavy cardboard bins from Container Store. Most ailments you can think of can be remedied by simply looking in these. Don’t even ask where the travel size toothpaste is. You know where.
Heavy duty cardboard boxes have found their way into my bathroom
I’m all about multi-purpose products, so why not have your laundry bin sorter double as a rolling folding shelf? I love this because I can wheel the 3-section (dry cleaning, whites, darks) sorter into the laundry room, dump laundry into the main bin, fold on top and wheel back into my bedroom in one trip. It’s all about efficiency.
3-bin laundry sorter and folding table all in one!
Don’t try and organize your life in one day. It’s too much to do and you’ll be super frustrated. Pick one project at a time, like your bathroom or the pantry. And buy a label maker. Baby steps.
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