Mission: Organization - Sidetracked

Closets

As any homeowner can tell you, home improvement projects really take on a life of their own. Our basement organization project is no different. We started out on our organization journey three months ago determined to "clear the clutter". The basement is really coming along and is nearly complete, but along the way we have gotten a little sidetracked and organized a few other areas of the house. This includes the kids craft cabinet, our bedroom and, as previously mentioned, our living room. With momentum on our side, I decided to tackle our three hall closets. So while the kids were both at school, our organizer came by to help me sort & purge. By the time the Eagle came home from work, I had three surprises ready and waiting. (My apologies that there are no "before" pictures, I had the closets halfway emptied before I remembered!)

Closet #1 - Cleaning Supplies
This closet had previously held much of my office supplies, which had already been given a new home in the basement. We had already started putting the brooms & vacuum in it, but now it is all of the cleaning supplies.


Closet #2 - Bedroom Linens
This closet was holding a whole bunch of stuff that we moved in with and never really unpacked. We hardly ever had a reason to open it, yet it is a prime location. We relocated items that needed to be stored and donated the ones we no longer needed and - voila! - we had space for all of our sheets & blankets!


Closet #3 - Bathroom Linens
This had been our "linen closet". It was crammed with all of the sheets, towels, kitchen linens and other miscellaneous items. It was so full that things had started being shoved in wherever they fit, rather than being put away where they belonged. With the sheets & blankets in their new home, there was plenty of space for the towels!


We are close to wrapping up the basement project, so check back for the big reveal!

Mission: Organization - Phase 4, cont.

Mud Room

Many of our organizing goals have been centered around making life easier "by the time the kids go back to school". So since it is now officially "Back-to-School" I thought it was a good time to reveal our "Mud Room Drop Zone". This is the area that we frequently "dumped" things as we came in the door from the car (it was also home to the pantry).


It is now set up to house the kids things...


There are two units, one for each kid. Starting at the top, we have hung up some artwork that was laying around the basement. Next is a little information center with an inbox for important paperwork and a mini bulletin board to post calendars and notices. The kids each have 6 cubbies. We are still working on officially assigning these spaces, some are for extra totebags we pack in for little trips, but I have found it helpful when I unload the car to put each kids' things in bins and when they fill I ask them to take them upstairs and put their things away. On the left side they each have two hooks for coats and on the right one larger hook for their school bag, and on the bottom shoes.

We have been working with these cubbies for over a month now, and I must say, the first couple weeks were a little discouraging as the kids seemed to feel the need to empty the bins several times a day and leave everything on the floor. After a while the novelty wore off and they learned that they would have to clean up what ever they dumped out. I think I am really going to like having all of their school things in one place!

Mission: Organization - Phase 4

Ta-da!

It has taken lots of time and effort, but I finally have a true "before and after" to share. When we first set out on our organizing mission, we wanted to get the basement in order. Over the last two months we have sorted, cleared and rearranged our basement space and in the process it has also taken us to other parts of the house. So, even thought there are still a few finishing touches to put on the basement (sorry, no basement reveal just yet), I can share the progress we made in the living room during our latest organizing night.

I must admit, I didn't officially take a before picture. I know, but I realized it after we had already finished most of the organizing. After much searching, I was able to dig up an old (May 2008) picture that I think illustrates the problem pretty well (every other picture I have of the living room was carefully angled to not include the "problem areas").


So, now you see why there are no pictures. Want to see what it looks like right now?

Ta-da!


This is the former computer desk converted into a homework desk for the soon-to-be first grader to do her homework.

I don't know if the pictures do it justice, because I have seen the transformation in person, but the whole family thinks it looks pretty awesome.

Back to finishing the basement...

Mission: Organization - Phase 3

System Reset

Last night was our third appointment with our organizer. Before she came we were supposed to sort through the boxes of paperwork that had come from our desks, the mail pile, old files and from the numerous boxes of old paperwork that were in the basement. Supposed to. This was a bigger task than either of us had thought. We put lots of hours of work into sorting & shredding, but we did not entirely complete our homework.

But, that did not stop us from getting lots done during her visit. To begin with we cleared the remaining surfaces, and sorted the "left over" items into a few categories, including: items to return to stores/friends and keepsakes. As it turns out, there were lots of little things in our desks & files that could really be categorized as "keepsakes" that we aren't ready to part with and derive some enjoyment from, but that didn't really need to take up our "everyday space". By putting these items in a designated box, we are able to hold on to a manageable amount and keep our everyday space clear of things we do not use on a regular basis.

Once the surface clearing was done, we now had room to set up our new "Mail Center". After much discussion, it was decided that the mail center should be in the new office space, which is nearby the door we regularly enter and just before the stairs. This is to be the "landing zone" for all things paper that come in the house. We re-purposed some furniture that was in the space and stole the bulletin board from the Tumbleweed's room for the main set up. On the bulletin board we have space for important "action items" and envelopes for the little things (like coupons & Box Tops) that often get lost in a pile. We also have paper trays for bills and "To Do". And, most importantly the trash can, paper recycling bin and shredder are all within reach as the mail is sorted.

Our Mail Center

Shared Office Supplies

After we had set up a mail center, we tackled the other big reason our paperwork gets out of hand - the filing system. Our files were so outdated and stuffed that there was no where to put the new stuff, which was causing it to pile up. We started with a clean slate and emptied everything, and only added back in the items we currently need. Additionally, we now have a monthly filing system for past 'action items', paid bills and receipts. This should keep the mail area clear of "old" stuff, and eliminate the piles that usually appear on my desk.

It feels pretty good to have a such clear spaces then I look around! There are still several boxes of items that need to be sorted and/or returned to their homes upstairs. And there is still some reshuffling of the items that belong with my desk/computer but are still upstairs near it's former location. But even though we still have some homework, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Mission: Organization - Phase 2, cont.

The Good Stuff

We had our second visit from our professional organizer this week. We had done lots of homework, including sorting through numerous piles, donating unused items, and moving furniture. We had come a long way since the first visit, if I do say so myself. We are making our way down the path to an organized life, but we are not there yet.

During this visit we discussed some of the redefined spaces and elaborated on how we would use them on a daily basis. Would the items need to be in the reach of the kids, or out of their reach? Would we be using them daily or occasionally? How many items do we have space for?

In the organizing process, that last question is the big one. How many items do we have space for? Quite often it lead to more purging. For example, my shopping bag collection has out grown the reasonable amount of space to store them. Sure, all the bags were useful. They weren't broken, they were varied in size and they save then environment from plastic bags. But, we don't have room for all of them. In the end, we selected 7 grocery bags and about 7 "shopping" bags (of varying sizes) to keep. That left about a dozen in the donate pile.

That is a simple illustration of the latest part of the process. Getting to "The Good Stuff". Our initial sorting had gotten us close, but once we had redefined the spaces we could see that some of the things that had seemed good the first time around might not really be worthy of a piece of real estate in our new plan. With each new system we set up there is a finite amount of space and we have to choose the things that are most important to us to keep in that space. That's "The Good Stuff".

Sure we still have more work to do (much of it mundane filing), but even as I look around now I am starting to see "The Good Stuff" where there were once piles and misplaced items. We are starting to see the real benefits of all of our hard work, which makes it easier to keep moving towards the finish line.


The kids play with Play-Doh in our new "Messy Craft Area" (formerly where the Eagle's music desk lived)

Mission: Organization - Phase 2

Redefined Spaces

Part of our "organizing homework" was to make some decisions about what functions we wanted our spaces to have. Over time spaces that we had originally assigned a certain function to had taken on one or more other functions. For instance, our basement "guest room" had our pull out sofa and pillows as we had intended, but had more recently taken on the additional role of the Eagle's home office. On the other hand, my computer was in our living room with a single chair (our time-out chair) and basically nothing else. It took our organizer pointing out that it made more sense to have our computers in an "office" downstairs where we could share resources and the infrequently used sofa bed in the living room so people could actually sit down.

Hmmmm... why didn't we think of that? Well, I guess that is because when you see it every day it doesn't occur to you to change it. So after two weeks of contemplating and measuring, we started moving things around. We called in reinforcements to move the couch (which I think will only be moved again by movers) up to the living room. And after a week of adjusting to that, the Eagle assembled a new desk for my computer in the basement.


I think it is going to take a little adjusting to not having the computer in the living room where I pass by it every two minutes, but it is nice working in the basement where it is much cooler in the summertime.

Our visions for the rest of the basement are somewhat clearer than they were now that we have cleared out the spaces more, but for all of the work we have done I still feel like there is so much more to do! We only have a couple days left to get the rest of our homework done, which is no small task. We are plugging away, but it really does take time to do it right!

Back to work...

The Wall Comes Down

The last major child proofing barrier in our house has been the gate at the top of the stairs. We've had it there for about 3 years now, and I think that there are still only a handful of people who know how to open it. The kids never figured out how to open it, but have learned how to go over it (although they only did that 2-3 times). Lately we have only been using it occasionally, generally when the adult in the house needs to do something that takes their attention away from the kids temporarily and we need to know where they are (like taking a shower).

But this week the tide has turned and we have truly shifted away from "baby mode". We took the gate down. Actually it came down because we were moving the couch up from the basement (part of our organization homework), but for now we have decided to leave it down since the Dandelion handles himself just fine on the stairs these days.

So far so good. We actually used the basement a lot this week, due to the sweltering heat on the main floor of the house. The kids were able to go up and down whenever they needed to and I didn't have to check to see if the gate was open if they wanted to go up and down.

Now the only thing we need to work on is not going out the front door with out a grown up, as both kids have shown the ability to unlock the deadbolt on the front door. This is extra aggravating because back in the winter the lock was so sticky it took 5-10 minutes of wiggling to let in a guest. Is it possible to un-WD40 something?

Mission: Organization - Phase 1

Out with the Old


Once again we are attempting to create more order in our house. It seems as though, despite my ability to create minute by minute spreadsheets for trips to Disney World, I have a mental block when it comes to organizing the things that come into the house on a daily basis. With mail and duffel bags from a weekend trip and school art projects, our basement is being taken over and turned into "The Drop Zone" (perhaps this is the reason Target puts bullseyes on their bags?).

Since we have spent four years in this house and never managed to figure out this issue, we have decided to bring in a professional. Over the weekend we had our first visit and it was pretty much like I had expected (fortunately I have had much experience watching organizational shows on TV).

Just like the "initial sort" from a television show, we held up item after item and decided its fate - keep, donate, or trash/recycling. All the way, laughing at the ridiculous things we had kept for no reason or jumping for joy when unearthing a forgotten treasure. In between there was, of course, an analysis of our daily habits and discussion of ways to reconfigure the furniture.

By the end of the night we had 5 boxes of paper recycling, 3 huge trash bags, and about 7 small trash bags of things to donate. Pretty good for one night. We also were left with several options for ways to rearrange the spaces to mull over. And then there is homework. We certainly have a lot to get done in the next three weeks! But having a deadline is good motivation for both of us and we are already making good progress on our own. Three weeks & counting until our next session...

Bag Lady: A Confession

When did I become a bag lady?

I probably should have seen it sooner, but the recycled bag craze has gotten out of hand. I think we have at least 20, probably more. Every time I turn around there are new styles, pretty colors, & free giveaways. Compound that with my inability to unpack in a timely fashion and it seems as though all of my possessions are "in a bag somewhere". With all of the bags already full of stuff, what do I do if I go to the store? I buy a new bag of course!

Here is a snapshot of the bags I collected from the living room & kitchen this evening. (Keep in mind that I also have numerous bags elsewhere)



After putting them together, I decided to do a little self analysis of the contents to try to get some perspective on the problem...

Back Row:

Yellow Bicycle - remnants of things I took with me on 5/8, including a ribbon, card, the Dandelion's socks.
Backpack - my clothes from an overnight last weekend
Blue - papers & a book from the Tumbleweed's school field day on 5/17

Middle Row:

Paisley - the Tumbleweed's dress-up clothes, toys & trinkets that she packed on 5/9 but we did not allow her to take with her
Pink Vera - clothes & supplies I took to my sister's wedding shower on 5/2
Green Target - paper, markers & ribbon from 5/22
polka dot - paperwork from Kindergarten Screening on 5/26
brown Vera - kids clothes from overnight last weekend
Toy Story - birthday presents for Dandelion purchased today at the Disney Store

Front Row:

Pink Elephant - kids gear play date & zoo trip on 5/22
Target Plastic - birthday paper products & goodies from 5/25
Dance Bag - the Tumbleweed's tap & ballet shoes
Home Depot Plastic - Off! Clip-on, key chains from 5/31
Horton - 4 library books from 6/1

From that I concluded...

1- I need to unpack clothes after a trip or the next time I want to take a trip I will have to wear dirty clothes.

2- I don't need any more birthday presents for the Dandelion

But the main message is that I suffer from "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" syndrome. And knowing is half the battle. Change is the other, more difficult, half.

Organizing Week

Last week we had a great guest speaker at our MOMS Club Monthly Social. She came and spoke to us about organizing, specifically tips for toys and mail. She was quick to point out that if you organize a little every day, it doesn't take a lot of time. Guilty. As life has gotten busier & busier, something had to get cut from the day and around here the "paper jungle" has taken over.

Another key message from the presentation was that the kids need to learn about organizing. I asked the Tumbleweed if she could think of something we could organize and we would do a project this weekend. I thought she would suggest something like "books" or "my doll clothes" or something like that. Nope. She said, "I can think of a lot of things, I think we need a whole week!"

To kick off "Organizing Week", I thought we should tackle a project that would easily illustrate the process for her. We decided on the "girly things" in her desk drawers. We spent about a half hour sorting pony tail holders, headbands, bracelets, necklaces, etc. It probably would have been faster, but the Dandelion ran the stroller through the piles as we were almost done. After assessing what we might need, we went to Walmart and found organizers that would hold the items. She was excited to put everything back in the drawers with a special place for each thing. Tomorrow we will make labels so she doesn't forget where everything goes!




So with renewed motivation, I am ready to tackle the clutter. Baby Step #1 - I cleaned off my desk and sorted everything. Well, the stuff that actually belonged on the desk - which was about 25% of what was actually on the desk. Baby Step # 2 is going to be using my new system for the rest of the week. After that I will decide the next step ;)

For more about our guest speaker, check out Love Your Space Organizing

Meal Planning

When you are always on the go with two little kids, and life in general, it is easy to get in a food rut, particularly at dinnertime.

Last year I challenged myself to try some new recipes - see the "Adventures in Cooking" tagged posts - and periodically I would look through some cookbooks & magazines, pick a recipe and make something new. But 95% of the year we remained in our food rut rotating between about 10 proven favorites, a few "once a month" special meals, and kid-pleasing "fast dinners".

This year I am attempting to do even better. Inspired by a new grocery list pad I found at Target, I am sitting down every weekend, picking 6-7 meals, making a list and going to the grocery store. I know shopping with a list is not a novel concept, but when you are in a food rut, you don't need a list to go grocery shopping and buy the same thing every week!



This is the second week, and so far it is going really well. It is hard to believe how much stress has been reduced at dinnertime. Now that I have a list with exactly what we are eating for dinner, and which night we are having it, I don't have a mid-afternoon "What do I take out for dinner?" crisis. Or a 5:00 "I just got home and don't have anything thawed" crisis.

We have had several new recipes, some crock-pot recipes, some "Fun Food" kid recipes, and some old standbys. The kids have had a few moments of "What is that?!?" or "I don't like [insert food here]!" but overall all the foods have eventually been consumed by both kids.

I have also started a new shopping routine. I have been going without the kids between 9-11pm. I will probably get back in the routine of taking the kids with me, because they like going and I like including them in some of the choices, but while I adjust to my new plan I have decided to simplify the process. The grocery store is actually quite peaceful at night.

So far, so good. I still have to get better at adjusting the recipes to the quantity of food that we need, but we have been doing pretty well with eating the leftovers :)

Accomplish It 2010

Another year begins and New Year's resolutions are everywhere. For years I have sat down the first weekend of the month and made my "Ultimate To Do List" for the year. As I look back on past years lists it is interesting to see how some things seem to be on the list every year and some things are not, either because they were accomplished or priorities have changed.

A couple of big ones on the 2009 list that I accomplished were...

~make time to exercise on a regular basis (I must say I lapsed on this one around Sept, but I did lose 15 lbs this year)
~teach scrapbooking classes
~live more "green" - planted a garden, joined a CSA, went to the farmer's market
~go on a vacation without kids

A couple that will go back on the list in 2010...

~organize papers, mail, filing, etc better
~use internet banking more
~get more rest
~send Christmas cards out on time

Even though my 2009 list was a mile long and no where close to everything was completed (some not even attempted), I do like to look back at it. It helps define who I was at the time that I wrote it. It also motivates me to do more in 2010, which is why I have decided that my motto for this year is "Accomplish it".

I plan to work hard this year to accomplish the things that I have been meaning to for years, the new things that I want to try this year, and all the things that I haven't even thought of yet that come up through out the year. From the little things, like getting out the door smoothly in the morning, to the bigger things, like organizing the basement.

Off to make my 2010 list!