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!

Day 133: Clever containers for the pantry

Like many households, we have lots of little, random things floating around in our pantry.  Actually, they don't float at all, but they do fall down between the wire shelves, get stuck behind (or under) other stored food items or get completely lost and forgotten somewhere in the spaces we can never see - or reach.  For those pesky little things, little things like seasoning mixes, soup packets, drink mixes and other pouches, snacks or small bags of things, I have found that Clever Container's containers are quite a clever solution!

I recently purchased 2 of these little cabinet organizers and put them to immediate use.  Now my pesky pouches and packets are well behaved... and easy to find.  AND... since they are all rounded up and in clear view, it makes it easier for me to see what I have... and what quick meal or snack I can whip up for kids or company!

 

  

Now, THAT's neat!

 

Day 132: The Dreaded Kitchen Drop-Off

You know that little space in your kitchen... the one that gets trashed by everything as soon as anyone comes home?!?!  Yes, THAT one.  No matter what you do to keep it clean, neat and orderly, somehow, candy wrappers, school papers, junk mail, bills, magazines, socks, jackets, toys and other odds and ends end up here.  Well... one solution is to just trash everything!  And believe me, I have been tempted to do this, MANY times! :)

The other option is to create a little "command center."  If you have time (and energy... and gumption), you can purchase a nice, organizational wall hanger or box... hey, even a file holder works to sort through papers, and they have some decorative ones or fun ones to fit your decor!

Another simple, quick method to get those papers to cooperate is to get some clothespins, write some helpful labels on them, and just pinch all that stuff together until you have a moment to look through and sort everything!

AND... of course, y'all know I love baskets and bins.  But a few, and throw things in there so they are out of site but still easily accessible!

Finally, purchase some fun, useful dry erase or chalk panels so you can keep track of menus, phone numbers, to-do lists, appointments and events and still have room to write down a motivational quote or an "I love you because..."  Uppercase Living offers so many wonderful options.  Click HERE to see them, and order anytime, online!

Now, THAT's neat!

Day 130: Bread ties - who knew??!

Plastic things.  You know, the ones you find on bread bags?  Some people call them "bread ties;" most people call them annoying!  Every time you take one off to get a slice of bread, it disappears, and you end up just twisting the end of the bread bag and tucking it in on itself instead!  I'm sure we have all misplaced many of these plastic bread ties or have just thrown them in the trash without a second thought.  Until now....

Anyone else ever get mad at the tape roll (and at whoever used it last without folding a piece down)?  Sometimes you turn that sticky roll over and over and over again for who knows how long, not able to locate that darn end.  And when you finally do find the end, you can't get the tape to unstick from itself, or the tape rips off into little shreds, and you end up wasting about 2 feet in the struggle!

Well... think back to the aforementioned bread ties.  Yep; those little plastic annoyances can become useful tools... in a whole new way!  Ready for this little tip from the neat freak cheat sheet? Just stick one of these bread ties (or two, if the tape is wide) on the end of the tape roll, and you have an automatic saver... and an instant starter for next time!

BRILLIANT!

Now, THAT's neat!

Day 129: Jewelry Jumble... no more!

You may remember a while back when I posted about a truly unusual - and VERY neat - little black dress.... a little black dress that's actually an organizer for jewelry! Well... I couldn't resist this adorable doo-dad.  I put it on my "wish list," and my wonderful hubby bought it for my birthday!

Following is the saga of getting all my jewelry - and the jumbled, annoying heap of boxes and bags it had become - into tip-top shape and ready for my new, little black dress!

First and foremost, here is the jewelry holder I was using.  I was on the right track, with a convenient, hanging organizer on the back of my closet door... BUT this two-sided, pocket-loaded item did not have specific places for bracelets or necklaces.  So, most of those bulkier items stayed in their boxes... and ended up in my sweater organizer!

I don't have a jewelry box, so the sweater organizer was the next best place.  Everything was together... but everything was a mess.  Any time I got any new jewelry, I just piled it on top of the other stuff!  So, it looked like THIS!. :(

The next step was to take everything out of the sweater organizer and spread it out on the bed.  Here is the mass of boxes and bags.  Goodness!  What a disaster!  (And quite an embarrassment for a neat freak!) There was stuff in there that I hadn't seen in years... it was just too buried underneath all the other jewelry boxes!

I sorted through everything and tried to put items in places where they would be convenient and neat and where they would make sense to me... with "popular" earrings and necklaces near the top and less-often-used or larger items near the bottom. 

I worked this method the same way on the flip side of the dress for all my necklaces and bracelets, and I tried to keep sets close together, as well!  Everything looks super cute and super organized now!  I just need to put it in my closet.  (BTW: I did keep the other organizer with some other jewelry items in it; I just placed the organizer behind my clothes instead of on the door!)


I only had a few boxes and random items left over from the massive clean-up, and those went back into the sweater organizer.  And one important item I kept here, mostly for convenience, is my watch.  You can see it there on the bottom left.  I wear it every day, and it was just easier to have it here!  I can slip it on while I gaze at my lovely, little black dress of bobbles and bangles! ;)



Now, THAT's neat!

Day 123: I'm Dreaming of a Custom Closet...

I think that most of us neat freaks (or nor-so-neat freaks) can admit that we secretly (or not-so-secretly) dream of a place for everything... and everything in its place... and even a color-coded label for everything, too!   And one thing that I've always dreamed of is an organized and beautiful bedroom closet.  Ok, actually I've dreamed of all my closet spaces, storage areas and the garage being organized and beautiful.  But until I strike it rich - in the area of money AND time - I guess I can just keep collecting ideas for what my perfect storage spaces would entail!

Of course, I've already got some things working in my favor in my bedroom closet.  As y'all know, I love boxes and baskets for gathering, categorizing, sorting AND decorating items.  These work perfectly - even in the smallest spaces - for managing everything from shoes and socks to scarves and jewelry.  I also store all my clothes items with "like" items.  For instance, t-shirts all go together, followed by sleveless shirts and other dress shirts on one bar.  Below, all my jeans, dress pants and capris hang next to long-sleeve dress shirts and sweaters.  (And, no, I don't color code!)

But even with a plan in place, I do find myself limited by my closet's overall design... or lack thereof!  That's why I drool at photos like THIS, showing a perfectly ordered and lovely space from closet organizers like California Closets!

(Photo courtesy of California Closets.)
Or THIS.... which, of course, might be about the size of my entire bedroom!  Ha-ha!

(Photo courtesy of California Closets.)
But even smaller spaces (like those "reach-in" closets) can be functional and beautiful.  For example, I would absolutely LOVE to have a guest bedroom closet like THIS that was worthy of being displayed - sans doors! Amazing!

(Photo courtesy of California Closets.)
If you want to get started on the closet of your choice and make it the closet of your dreams, incorporate those little organizational pieces, like shoe storage and hanging "shelves," and make your closet make sense for you.  If color coding is your thing, then by all means - arrange by hue!  Just be sure to purge unused or unwanted items along the way (donation boxes are ready and waiting!). OR... you can go for the gusto, and get a custom-designed closet!  Yep.  A professional closet designer from California Closets can help you see your storage nightmares as hidden potential!  Then perhaps YOUR closet photo will be the next to go in my growing file of storage solution designs and ideas!

Now, THAT's neat!




NOTE: This is a sponsored post.  But all thoughts and opinions are the author's!

Day 114: Forget-me-not

"Wallet? Keys? Phone?"

I find myself asking my husband these three little questions just about EVERY time we walk out the door. And most of the time, at least one of these three little items is "missing."

This not-knowing-where-VERY-important-items-are thing confuses the heck out of me. I am one of those "a place for everything, and everything in its place" kind of gals. I KNOW where my wallet, my keys and my phone are - at all times! (Of course, sometimes my 2-year old likes to try to manipulate that for me, but so far, so good. Mommy - 18. Baby boy - 1.)

I have tried to convince my husband to put his wallet, keys and phone in the same place, every time. With items in the same place every time, they tend to NOT get lost so often. (Am I right?!?!) But he just doesn't quite "get" it. I still find his wallet on the counter by the bread basket, his keys under the chair and his phone in my baby boy's toy bucket. ACK. So maybe it's time for one of THESE babies:



I love this idea. It's simple. It's easy. It's self-explanatory! I figure I can hang one of these clever doo-dads on the basement door, and we are GOOD TO GO... literally! Of course, that sneaky, mischievous son of mine can reach the door knobs, so, I may have to find a better location. For now. But I sure would love to leave the nagging "Wallet? Keys? Phone?" questions to a door hanger!


Now, THAT's neat!

Day 101: The Room of S.I.N.

As a neat freak who loves neatness and who spends most of my "free" moments cleaning, straightening and organizing, it's very difficult for me to admit this. BUT, I'm going to choose to confide in y'all: I have a room of S.I.N.

That's right. A room of S.I.N! And I bet you, too, have somewhere in your home where S.I.N. takes place... on a daily basis! ;)

What I am talking about here could be considered a dirty, little secret, but it's probably not as bad as you might be thinking! The S.I.N. I'm referring to is that room, drawer, cabinet, closet or ANY place you use to "Stash It Now!"

Whatever and wherever that is in your home... that is YOUR place of S.I.N! :) When things don't quite go anywhere else in the house, you stash it there. When company is coming over unexpectedly, this is your go-to place (AKA "dumping grounds") for the mail, homework, coats, shoes and toys that have mysteriously taken up residence all over the house. This is where random odds and ends and other junky bits and pieces end up when they just don't have a spot of their own, when you don't have time to put them in the correct place... OR, when you just don't really know what in the world to do with it!

And, believe it or not, this neat freak uses our laundry room for all of our S.I.N. stuff! And for the longest time (perhaps 3 years or so?!?!) the laundry room has been the bane of my existence, with its stacks of boxes and non-matching piles of everything, everywhere!

Don't believe it?!?! Well, here is photo proof:


In addition to the clothing (that has every right to be in there), you can also find mailing boxes, bags, crafting tools, photo albums, business supplies, catalogs... and things that would go perfectly (and preferably) in an office or in a "craft room," if we had those!

Of course, this is not a TERRIBLE, unusable space. And I have made many attempts to corral some of this stuff. As the pictures show, there are some baskets and bins and even a little dresser in there! And there is an overflowing -- but still handy -- laundry caddy (which currently serves as my baby boy's "closet," since it's SO much easier to get his clothes from the laundry room than to go upstairs to his room!) It just wasn't working. And it was making me crazy. So my wonderful, handy hubby put up some simple, floor to ceiling shelving for me all along the small wall right by the door!

Here is the NEW, improved space!


The washer and dryer stayed put, obviously, but we moved everything around a bit, and I was able to put items in more logical places -- and get them out of the middle of the floor!

Granted, it's not perfect. My son's clothes are still taking up the caddy. I will probably reorganize the shelves and move things around here and there. And I will still need an emergency "S.I.N." space at times. But, that will probably end up being a cabinet. (And I will ONLY use it for the temporary stashing of items!)

For now, I'm quite happy to be able to put things in their place. And I'm very pleased that I can actually open the laundry room door without making excuses... or cringing in disgust -- even when company is around! ;)


Now, THAT's neat!

Day 61: Removable chalkboards!

I don't know why I did not think of this before.... after all, I AM a neat freak, and I LOVE being organized.... (This includes enjoying some predictability in life. Hence, a schedule of all the important events happening in our family right now (AKA: baby feeding times and nap times, mostly!).)

At any rate, I feel kind of dumb for not writing about this before. So forgive me. I may have kept y'all from a WONDERFUL, HELPFUL and ADORABLE neat freak tool: flat, vinyl, removable chalkboards (and dry erase boards)!

For those of you who need to write down schedules, messages to other family members, notes to babysitters and all those important numbers (less we forget, since we typically depend on our cell phones to "remember" all that stuff nowadays), THIS is the tool for you!

I absolutely LOVE my "chalkboard" in our kitchen, the hub of the home. It's the perfect place to display our family's "need-to-knows." And this product (from Uppercase Living) works just like a regular old chalkboard: Write on it with chalk. Wipe it off with an eraser or cloth. Write some more! And because it's completely flat and sticks to the wall, you don't have to worry about adding more nails to your sheetrock or possibly knocking it down when you walk by. So it's ideal to put in those smaller nooks and crannies where things just won't fir right!

Mine happens to be right by the pantry, above some of the main light switches and the alarm keypad. It's a perfect place! You can't see it from anywhere else in the house, so it's not distracting. Of course, you could also put these on the refrigerator, a window, a mirror, a door or just about any other smooth surface in your home! There are lots of options, too. You don't have to go with the "traditional" look, like the "home organization kit" I have displayed. Just try these on for size (hearts and flowers and peace signs, oh my!):



AND.... if you just don't like chalk (or you want to add a little more color and variety), you can choose the same shapes, sizes and designs in DRY ERASE BOARD! LOVE it!

Want some for yourself -- or as a gift for the neat freak who has it all? Click HERE for more details, or just e-mail or message me for details!


Now, THAT's neat!