YEP -- I'M A NEAT FREAK!

I am a self-diagnosed neat freak. I love to clean and I love to organize. (If I could have a container, holder and/or label for EVERYTHING, my life would be complete!) And this is my brand new blog for everything NEAT!
I have a toddler in perpetual motion, a packrat daughter, a dog and a disorganized husband... and I hope to share the challenges, trials, errors, rewards and insights of being a bit "too clean obsessive" in a family that's not so in love with neatness. And I am making a promise to clean, rearrange, organize and simplify my life... and help you along the way! SO stay tuned for my journey toward everything orderly and efficient!



Monday, March 4, 2013

Day 136: Mail Bucket

I don't know about y'all, but the mail in my house has a tendency to spread out... and to migrate... and to take over many "usable" spots and work spaces in my kitchen.  Of course, I have a little system for wrangling bills... I open them immediately and then "file" them in a little holder on the counter... so I don't forget to pay them.  (Out of sight, out of mind... so they day!)  But what about all the OTHER stuff - you know, those letters, fliers, coupons, catalogs and other random odds and ends for my family?

Well, I finally got tired of this "OTHER stuff" being all over my kitchen counter, so I decided to reuse a little item I've had for a while now...  in a closet!  I just took this tin bucket and repurposed it.  Instead of adding flowers and nailing it up on a wall or hanging it outside, I put in a little burlap (which didn't make it to the photo - sorry, afterthought!) and then applied a meaningful, Uppercase Living expression, to give the old bucket some new life and interest!


Now, this fun little holder hangs from a burlap ribbon on the door to our garage, which is in our kitchen, near the counter where the mail used to collect.  I simply stuff the items inside, and we remove, use or toss those items as we get to them.  It's a really pretty - and organized - alternative to those random paper stacks!


Now, THAT's neat!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Day 135: Over or Under?


   
So...
 
This particular household debate has been going on since... uh... the dawn of toilet paper!  And "The Neat Get Neater" would like to know: do you replace the roll so the paper goes OVER... or UNDER!?!?

I'll have to admit it; I'm an over-kind of girl.  I don't want to have to reach for... look for... or fish for the toilet paper.  Ever.  And that's what often happens when the toilet paper roll is loaded UNDER.  I, personally, like when my TP is conveniently located on top of the roll, and that's what happens when you load the paper OVER.

As far as looks... does anyone really look at the toilet paper roll?  And does one re-loading method ] look better than the other?  I seriously contemplated this and nearly decided that it does look a little better when it's loaded UNDER the roll... EEK!  But then I realized that even the fanciest resorts load the toilet paper OVER, and then they fold the ends to a neat, little point.  Now, you won't find my guest bath loaded with pointy TP.  But, hopefully, guests will only notice that the toilet paper is there.  That it's soft.  And that it works.  Enough said...



Now, THAT's neat!