Day 75: Messy Kitchen? Win big!

Have a messy kitchen? I say, "Who doesn't after the holidays?!?!"

After baking special treats, shopping, going on vacation, serving planned and pop-in guests and just getting behind on the ole' cleaning routines, the heart of the home can certainly become a bit of a disaster at Christmastime! BUT... this is GOOD news for you! My friends over at SonicScrubbers are holding a "messy kitchen" contest! (Perfect timing, right?!?!?!) The messiest kitchen will win the grand prize of a FREE professional cleaning service! And other not-so-neat rooms will walk away with SonicSrubbers' awesome power cleaning tools, which I have personally used.... and personally recommend!

To enter, just send in your messiest messy kitchen photo. Click HERE for more details. (You can see photo entries on FaceBook. WOAH! What a mess!)

Good luck. Hope you can benefit from your mess! (The cleaning-up part can come later!)


Now, THAT's neat!

Day 74: Yes you CAN!

When I was in elementary school and junior high, we had to sell stuff from catalogs of 100's of random things to raise money for our choir, band, sports teams, etc., etc. One of those catalogs came out at Christmastime, and I distinctly remember ordering silver snowflake wrapping paper, chocolate caramel apple candies... and a soda can holder.

It's such a simple little device, but it truly can save time... space... and frustration, if you enjoy canned drinks! Just roll a whole case (or 12 cans, total) of your aluminum-encased beverages into the holder...

...and place the whole thing in your fridge! The cans should just roll right down to the bottom as you need them!



Now, THAT's neat!

Day 73: When in doubt... HIDE the clutter!

As in most households these days, we have a ton of remote controls, game controllers and other electronic gadgets that go with our game consoles, TV, Blu-ray player, etc., etc. And I just HATE when these items are scattered all over the coffee table... on the floor... on the couch... and IN the couch, buried under blankets or pillows or cushions.

So, most of the controllers are relegated to the drawer in the coffee table. Lined up. Side by side. Easy enough, right?!?! BUT... the other stuff (i.e. Wii remotes, game "guns" and other random zappers and such) are also nearby.... but cleverly hidden.


That's right! Here in plain sight lie a tangled mess of doo-dads! Where?!?! Why, in the decorative chest on the table. Ta-da!


This way, my family is happy because they don't have to go too far to get their stuff... and I am happy because I can just close the lid and not see the mess! :)


Now, THAT's neat!

Day 72: Neat Guest Tips

This is the time of year when families are a-visiting... and that guest bedroom/office/storage area/music room/whatever-you-use-it-for room is possibly getting some overnight guests!

While you can't force your company to be super clean and well organized during their visit, you can offer them a sample of your own neat habits! So, here are a few simple tips!

1. Set up a clock/alarm clock on a side table near the bed. I know most phones nowadays have alarms built it, but a clock is a simple, helpful touch for your out-of-town visitors.
2. Keep empty hangers in the closet for your guests to use to hang up some of their items during their stay! This is VERY easy to do... and it's MUCH neater than your guests throwing their items around the room or hanging them on chairs or over doors! EEK! :)
3. Put baskets of soaps, shampoos and other bath necessities in your guest bathroom, along with some clean towels. THIS is your chance to use all those extra hotel freebies you've been stashing in your suitcase! I save just about every unused bottle of mouthwash, lotion, conditioner, etc. and I even snag the shower caps or other items and keep them in the guest bathroom... just in case my visitor left an important item behind. (I've displayed all the "prettiest" items I've collected on this cute, little shelf!)

4. Place a basket of "samples" in the bathroom or in the closet. I have small packs of toothpaste and deodorant along with headache medicine, floss and stain remover in my basket! I also put all the extra hotel freebies in here. This little basket of helpful items can save you - and your guest - a lot of time and stress!

5. Set out a few bottles of water. You could also put out a basket of snacks (i.e. peanut butter crackers, gum, hard candies, etc.) and even some fresh flowers in the room, but a few bottles of water make for a nice, simple welcoming gesture!

Now, THAT's neat!

Day 71: The Organized Party

I don't have all the answers when it comes to planning, organizing, hosting and cleaning up after parties... but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve!

AND... since I just hosted the 6th annual Christmas cookie swap at my home last night, I figured I'd share just a couple of my most popular - and hopefully useful - party tips!

I may make a few lists when I'm preparing for a party, but I am not an ultra-organized party planner. When it comes to throwing a fun get-together in my home, I plan out foods, beverages, favors, games, etc., etc., but I don't have any whiz-bang theories about it! :)

However, I do like to prep in stages. For instance, if you're planning a party for Sunday afternoon, and it's Friday night, go ahead and get some things done! Clean the party area(s). Bake or prep some of the food items (i.e. cheesecakes taste better a few days after baking, so I always bake those in advance of any gathering!). And start "staging" your party area(s). Move furniture to accommodate additional chairs or tables. Get table decor ready. And as soon as you can, plan out your food areas!

I like to organize and decorate my food table the day before (or at the very least, hours before) the party. In the photo, you can see that I have plates, napkins, serving plates, bowls and utensils in their places, ready to go! All that's missing is the food! (NOTE: If you'd like, use post-it notes to remind yourself what goes where.) This is SUCH a great time saver and a relief to get out of the way!


Of course, you can also see that I've placed a few different bags of chips in some tins. This way, they are ready to go! And if I have a helper, he/she will know what goes where! (Neat freak cheat sheet: I use tins or baskets lined with napkins for chips. This way, they are uniformly and neatly displayed; the chips look good and are easy to get to; and they clean up super fast! Just throw away the napkins... and rinse and dry the tins, if needed!)

AND... if you noticed, I have my plastic forks in another small tin on the table. This is an easy and fun way to incorporate utensils in your "partyscape!" You can also use glasses or vases... and if the utensils are a bit top heavy, try using marbles, beans or rice in the bottom of the container for some stability (and possibly a splash of color!).



Now, THAT's neat!

Day 70: For the Love of Books (PART 2)

Ok, as promised, here is the second part of my post about books! As I mentioned earlier in part 1, I LOVE books... and I have a LOT of them! This leads to a problem on where to store these books. I mean, I am a neat freak, after all, so I can't live in a house with haphazard book crazies all over the place! So, I've come up with a few different ways to display my books so they are organized, easy to use... and lovely to view!

Here, in my daughter's room, books are neatly displayed (by height order) in a doll-house-style bookcase that my husband made. She pulls books out and reads them, and then she and I later figure out where/how to put them back! (That's why her books are leaning over right now.... there are several just-read books you can't see that are sitting nearby on the floor!)


In my baby boy's room, we have a cute little canvas sling bookshelf. I LOVE this thing! It's a perfect size for him to pull out books he wants to chew on... uh, enjoy... and since all the books are displayed face out, it's easy to find which one you want! The different levels are different depths, so you can place little books in the bottom sling and bigger books in the top sling. It's quite fun and easy to use! (I think we got ours for about $50. So, they are not too pricey, either! You can even get colorful ones and ones with names or monograms. But we decided on plain and simple!)


Our guest bedroom serves, in part, as office space. Hence the desk. This is also where many of my teaching reference/resource books are. They are just neatly stacked and organized in various patterns, again, mostly based on size.


This unit in our family room was built by my husband, on my request. I really love the ladder bookshelves, and I was so thrilled to have one of my own! I think they are such a fun style and just compact enough for smaller spaces. As you can see, this bookshelf is covered in books! But I have mixed in some decorative items, like greenery and pictures, even a candle or two. This unit also holds one of our speakers. Another stands nearby. And the sub woofer sits on the floor (to the left)t. I stacked up some books here, too, and finished it off with a family photo. If it HAD to be there, I figured it could be more a part of the decor! :)


Also in the family room are two large standing bookshelves. Some of our electronic equipment is housed here, but intermixed are books and photos and some other decorative items (can't go wrong with a little greenery here and there!). Just so you know, the books here in the family room are some of our most read/enjoyed books (so, no resource and reference books here). I keep them in order (or grouped) by author or by topic, but they are not alphabetical! For instance, the books behind the clock (that my father-in-law made) are all John Grisham books! The books next to the swirly green vase are all about Disney. This makes for a nice "look," but it's also purposeful, and I can find THAT book that I am searching for... to reread or to pass along for someone to borrow. (ON a side note: I am VERY picky about my books. Some would say obsessive, actually. I hate dogeared pages, and I don't like creases in the seams of my paperbacks. So, if you ever borrow a book from me, use caution... and kid gloves!)


Finally, the last book storage area in the family room is yet another piece of furniture that my crafty, talented hubby made. It ,also, was a special request. I wanted a "bookshelf you can sit on," and this is what I got! Right now, the top is a bit covered up with stuff, but that's because we have Christmas decorations up, and I've had to move things around. But you get the idea! It's a handy, beautiful, useful bookshelf. And it has TONS of room. There are actually two levels deep. The books you can't see (in the back of the books on display) are the ones that I don't use or need as much. (But I know they are there!)




Now, THAT's neat!

Day 69: For the Love of Books (PART 1)

I have a lot of books. And by "a lot," I mean, way more books than I care to count right now!

I have some books packed away in boxes and in clear, plastic storage bins in my attic (mostly text books -- from both my student days and my teaching days), but then there are the "other" books... the reference books, the just-for-fun books, the classic books, the silly books, the I'd-read-them-over-and-over books, and the really-big-books-that-I-might-not-ever-read-but-they-look-cool-and-I-keep-them-around-anyway books! ;)

However you look at it, there has to be a place for all these books. And as a neat freak, I MUST have a good place for them. That means a place that LOOKS good and a place that WORKS well! Oh, and consider these two other things: books don't have to be in a specific order (the Dewey decimal system is not mandatory) AND books don't have to be standing up to be displayed.

That being said, I guess there' a bit of an art to storing/displaying THAT many books... all around the office and all around the house. So, I am starting here in my office, to show you what I've done with the books that I believe might be most helpful here (as reference or as inspiration)!

Here on my desk, within arm's reach, I keep dictionaries, reference tools and books that might be of immediate help for grammar conundrums or punctuation puzzlers. I have a few stacked underneath my desk lamp and others in height order right beside it. Cute. And useful!


If you look over my cabinets, you'll see the remainder of my books. Some I have lined up neatly in between my bookends, using the tallest books toward the middle and the smaller ones toward the ends.


And the books on the other side are arranged with some books laying flat and stacked up next to the ones standing up, also in height order. I've also thrown in few odds and ends (storage boxes, a basket with greenery and some plush friends) to finish the look.


Maybe this helps inspire you on how to create a useful and aesthetically pleasing arrangement for your books!

(Come back later to read about neat book arrangements around your home!)



Now, THAT's neat!