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 22: Think INSIDE the box

My newborn son got some really neat baby gifts and several fun toys for Christmas. Of course, he was only 3-days old at the time, so I just stuck them all in his room.

On the floor.

I figured I would deal with them later. (I was a bit too tired to worry about that, for some reason!)


Being obsessed with organization, though, I had to tackle this problem. Simple solution: I bought a few chocolate-brown canvas boxes to match the colors in his room.


Then I simply unwrapped all the toys, put them in one box and placed it on the floor, and I put the other miscellaneous items in the other box and placed it on the night table.

Instant organization!



(That's why I love baskets and boxes and use them in just about every room in my house!)

Now, THAT's neat!

Day 13: My Daughter's Desk of Horror!

My 7-year-old daughter is a hoarder of things. LOTS of things: tiny scraps of paper, shiny gum wrappers, beads, balloons, ribbons, cheap plastic toys, candy, books, napkins, stuffed animals, cards, pencils, feathers and various unrecognizable doo-dads.

Well, these things end up in her room... all over her room. So, usually about once a month, I attack her space with a garbage bag -- and a vengeance -- valiantly resolved to rid her room of the ridiculous amount of clutter... without taking away all her fun, of course.

Tough job. Especially for a neat freak.

I would love to turn everything upside down and dump it into a big garbage can. But I won't do that. I've promised myself not to infect her too terribly with my tidying obsession. :)

But since her bedroom is still part of my house, I do have to help her "sort things out" now and again. And, yes, sometimes she helps me, and we go through all the things that we can throw away or donate. At other times, however, I simply tackle the task when she's at school. That way I get more done. (And she never remembers that tiny piece of pink, Mickey-shaped confetti she picked off the ground after a parade at Disney World!) ;)

At any rate, my goal the other day was to give my child some of her desk space back. After Christmas, the toys and gizmos completely took over her desk. It was, simply, an explosion of stuff, with no rhyme or reason. There were game cartridges on the floor, paper scattered all over (and under) the desk and her new magic kit piled up in the center. What a disaster.... and what a completely UNusable desk space!


So, I rearranged her toys in her closet (on the toy shelves... go figure!) and carefully placed all her paper and folders in one drawer; all her craft items in another drawer; and all her electronic gadgets in their own space -- for safe keeping (and so I wouldn't have to dig through random gift bags, tote bags, book bags, purses or otherwise to find them later on). I also placed a cute basket on her desk to "capture" random papers, little notebooks or folders she's using to write stories or draw pictures. I also left her most recent toy/craft out so she could pick up where she left off and finish it before we find a good spot for it to "live."

Here is the result. Still a little girl's desk, no doubt. But now a much more pleasant and usable space. AND, for the record, my daughter likes it, too!

(BTW: to display her various arts and crafts from school, we hung up a "clothesline" over her desk, and we pin up her papers with cute clips and pins. This way she has her own artwork displayed, and it's tidy and also simple to change.)



Now, THAT's neat!

Day 7: Bed-making shortcut

I bought a new Ralph Lauren floral comforter on sale last summer at Macy's.... and I LOVE it! What I don't love is actually making the bed. Of course, there's nothing nicer to crawl into at night than a newly-made, tucked-in bed with fresh sheets. Plus, a made-up bed just looks good, right?!?! It screams order and tidiness! (Just think back to all the sitcoms in which the moms yell for the kiddies to make their beds!)

This is - more or less -- what my bed looks like when I make it up, superfluous throw pillows and all (yep, there are 9 pointless pillows pictured here, not counting the 4 usable ones that are hiding underneath as support)! If I don't change out the sheets, this takes 2:59.7 minutes to accomplish. (Yes, I used a stopwatch and timed myself.... for accuracy!)


But since I don't always have the time, the energy or the motivation to get all that stuff out and organized properly, I've devised a little "cheat" to achieve neatness in only 49.5 seconds! (Yes.... the stopwatch again. I checked!)

I simply skip all the extra pillows and only fluff the ones we actually use. Then I straighten out the sheet and blanket, pull it up tight and fold them both down once. Since the comforter is only for decoration (not for warmth!), it spends its days folded down once and flung over the foot board. So, all I have to do is fling it back up and smooth it out a bit.... and voila: an almost-made bed... in under a minute! (And believe me, it's MUCH better than the alternative!)



Now, THAT's neat!