August Challenge

I hope everyone had a great weekend!


I spent the last four days down in New Orleans helping my stepdaughter, Lauren, move into her new place, which I hope to be sharing with you later this month. 

 But for now....

We should get busy on our August Challenge, which is:

(drum roll)

MASTER BEDROOM CLOSETS

As with most reorganization projects, one of the first things you will want to do is...

wait for it....

                                   wait for it....

                                                                       you guessed it...

PURGE

Don't you just love that word!  As an organizer, it's my numero uno favorite!

Here's how you are going to do it:

You need 4 boxes labeled:

KEEP

DONATE

TRASH

SELL

Remove articles that you know you are never going to use again and place in one of the containers other than "KEEP".

Try on your clothes!  Yup!  Go ahead...you can do it!  You know what to do with them after that, right?

If you share a closet, you may have to twist an arm or two to complete this challenge. 

Once you have gone through everything, you are ready to organize and place things back in the closet.

If this is just a day or week challenge for you, then go ahead and put things back and enjoy the refreshed closet!  

I like to use the "R A  I N B O W" method when organizing my clothes.  It just adds a little sunshine to my closet.

For those of you that are wanting to do a bit more than purging, here are a few other things you might want to consider for this month's challenge.

Remove everything from the closet and clean all areas of the closet.  You may want to repaint or wallpaper the walls.

Maybe add shelves for shoes, purses, etc. that can't seem to stay off the floor.  Another option might be an over the door organizer.  If you are going to purchase new containers for storing consider clear ones.

Becky over at Organizing Made Fun had some great tips on how to use hangers beyond clothes to organize the closet.

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One trick that I like to use when storing boots and purses, is to add paper tissue or bubble wrap to keep the items upright on a shelf or floor.

Your closet is a place that you go to everyday at least once or twice.  Why not add a photo or something that is special to you.  There might be a spot to place an inspirational message to yourself.

And, of course, label, label. label.

Relax...those skinny jeans from last fall just might fit after all!

Happy Organizing!

Kim

May Makeover Challenge

HOME OFFICE SPACE

As I mentioned last week, this month we will be reorganizing home office space.  This is such an important area of our home regardless of whether you have a designated room or little nook of space.  This is where things happen that keep the home running smoothly.  Bills get paid, schedules are made, and important papers get filed in this area.

Here are just a few things you might consider in case you are wondering why you might need to take on this challenge:

• Your office space has become a "catch all" for other household items that don't pertain to home office.

• You can't locate items that you need because of the chaos in the space.

• The filing system that you currently use is not working efficiently for you.

• The overall look of the space makes you wish for something different.

By the way, this is not an all inclusive list and you certainly don't need to have all four to qualify!!

Now that you've established that you are a good candidate for this challenge, let's discuss a process to implement so the end result is a home office space that you wonder how you ever lived without (or at least puts a smile on your face when you see it)!

The Process

First, don't over commit yourself.  Try to devote a certain amount of time each week to completing this challenge.  The last thing you want to do is overwhelm yourself.

Designate your Space

• This may mean that your office space will stay right where it is.  However, you may determine that there is a space somewhere else in your home that will work better.  Look to Pinterest and other websites for inspiration.

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Declutter your Space

• Remove any items that don't pertain to the office.
• Get 3 large containers/boxes and label them as follows:  SHRED, FILE, TRASH
• Go through paperwork!  I know this is not a fun task, but one that is necessary.  Use the boxes to separate the papers.  You will go back to these boxes later.

Clean Your Space

• Now that you have removed all of the items from your workspace and placed into boxes, you will want to clean the space.  Move furniture if possible and sweep and/or vacuum the space.  
• Wipe down work surfaces; desk, shelves, etc.

Create Stations/Work Centers

Mail Station

• I shared in a previous post here how I made the file folders. I wanted something pretty on my credenza because these are files that I go to daily.  My file folders are labeled as:

Calvin

Kim

Incoming Mail

Outgoing Mail

Bills to Pay

Coupons

Reimbursements

Reconcile Receipts

If you have children at home, you may want to make a file for each of them for items that need to be signed and returned to school and/or any other pertinent information.  

Supply Station

• Decide on an area to keep all of your office supplies.  You may want to use items that you currently have around the house like decorative containers and baskets or consider The Dollar Store or Target for inexpensive solutions.

Filing Station

• It may be a file cabinet, box, credenza.  Whatever you decide, make sure its easily accessible.  Filing usually isn't high on the "fun" list, so don't make it more difficult to complete the task.  I previously posted here about Freedom Filer!  Have I mentioned how much I love this system?  Okay, I LOVE this system.

Add Personal Touches

• This is an area that you spend significant time in.  Make it personal by adding family photos, artwork that you have collected and/or from your children.  You may want to include some type of inspirational quote.  Hobby Lobby carries lots of different options for inspiraton.

Other Things to Consider

1. Conceal Cables & Wires - Command has a fairly inexpensive option here.  Additionally, you may want to identify what your cables are for by using a label system.
2. Invest in a shredder or rubber stamp to go back to that box that you have filled with papers in need of proper disposal.
3. Surge protect your computer.
4. Consider some type of magazine file system for those magazines that keep piling up but you aren't ready to recycle.
5. Develop a manuals binder(s) to centrally locate when needed.  

So, are you ready to get started?

Have fun with it!

Get creative!

Take lots of pictures and send them to me!!

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Under the Kitchen Sink – Revisited

The weather was so nice this past weekend that I found myself out on our back porch more than I probably should have been.  You know the feeling when you have that list of things to do that you keep hoping someone will sprinkle magic dust and puff, it’s done!

I would like to say I was productive while sitting on my rump and searching the internet world for new ideas for under my kitchen sink!  But, that would be a real s t r e t c hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I did organize it last October, and for the most part, I would say it has been working well for us.  But, there’s always room for improvement, as “they” say.

Here are some ideas that I came across that I think would work great under the sink but also in other areas in the kitchen:

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 It's a little pricey (just under $43), but sure looks nice!

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 FYI - these are also available in white.

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Great for hanging items on the back of cabinet doors!

I guess I have no excuse now for making some improvements under my sink.  How about you?  What are you working on in your kitchen this week?  Have you found any ideas that you just know we would love to hear about?

Send in your comments, please!!

Happy Organizing!

Kim

March Reader Reveal

I’m super excited to share this reader’s Garage Makeover with you today. Shannon is the wife of my nephew, Drew and the proud owner of the ping pong table I talked about the other day.

She and Drew recently built their first home and being the organized girl that she is, her garage was already in  pretty good shape, so she fell into the “tidy upper” category.

She and Drew are getting ready for a garage sale so most of what you see on the left side will be gone soon!

I love that she is utilizing space going up the walls!

  I asked her how she came up with the set up of her garage and here is what she had to say:

"We didn't realize how much we accumulated in our apartment after just a year of living there.  I became slightly overwhelmed when it came to the organization of the garage but knew that I wanted it in different sections."

What were the sections that you came up with?

"Our garage functions in parts, but works together well. I designated a Sports Section for my husband. It houses the ping pong table and a golf organizer that I purchased from Bed Bath and Beyond."

"This is our Entertainment Storage Section. I am able to free up space in my kitchen by using this part of the garage to store items like beverage canisters, paper products, plastic cups and utensils.  We received a lot of entertaining items when we got married and I love being able to step into the garage and easily access them." 

 She purchased these cabinets from Target to house the bar/entertainment items.

"We purchased these shelving units from Target as well for car washing/cleaning products, beach towels, hurricane kit supplies and extra large kitchen items."

 The bottom shelf is her Hurricane Supply Section.  "Being that we live in South Louisiana, we always want to be prepared in case of an emergency hurricane evacuation."

"I keep items like toilet paper, can goods, first aid kit, masks, and other recommended items in this container."

Her final thoughts:

"I'm really anxious to have a garage sale so that I can clear the left side and have it looking as good as the right."

I think she is well on her way to one heck of a nice garage!

Thanks Shannon for sharing your pictures and comments with us at O is for Organize!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Kim

Linking up to:  Whipperberry Thirty Handmade Days

March Challenge Update

We are at the half-way mark for our March Garage Makeover Challenge! How is everyone doing? Are you, like me, doing a total overhaul, or maybe you only need some tidying up?  Then again, you might have fallen in the category of “lucky ones”.  If so, I hope you are using this time to give your vehicle a good cleaning!

I have been working on a project or two to get our garage overhauled! If you read my post for the last couple of days, you know about my Paint Project. This past Monday in Organizational Tips I shared a trip to Home Depot for a tracking system for the garage wall.

Since I was distracted by the BH&G's Spring issue of Storage magazine, I thought today, I would talk about what we actually went there for.

After searching the store on our own and not really finding what we had in mind for hanging items on the wall, an enthusiastic, sweet saleslady apparently could see the look of “I can’t find what I’m looking for” on our faces and asked us if she could help us find something.

She willingly walked us over to this Rubbermaid Garage Organization System.

Exactly what we had in mind!

Unfortunately, the inventory was looking pretty scarce.

But this saleslady was not going to let that stop us! She jumped on one of those electronic lift things and rode to the top of the aisle and found what we needed.

Here’s a pic of my husband watching and waiting…

I'm pretty sure he was thinking  that he wanted to hop on that lift himself

I will share in a later post all the pieces and parts we left the store with and how I determined what our needs would be to get everything that we wanted up on the wall.  I can say that if you too are looking for a system to hang things in your garage, based on the research that I've done, this looks to be a very sturdy and user-friendly system.  It is a little pricey depending on what your needs are, so try not to be sticker shocked when you see the prices!!

If you have a pleasant experience with a salesperson, handyman, or maybe it’s a family member, take a few extra seconds and let them know how much you appreciate their help. I’m pretty sure it will put a smile on their face!
 

Hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy St. Patty’s Day!

Kim

March Makeover Challenge

Now that our laundry rooms are complete, it's time to move outside! With the weather (HOPEFULLY) starting to get much nicer, I thought it would be a great time to clean up our garages/car ports/storage sheds.

If you fall into the category of wanting to really get your hands dirty and give your garage a complete overhaul, then this plan is for you:

OVERHAUL

Have plenty of storing containers for "KEEP/TOSS/DONATE". Purchase containers/bins or clean the ones you already have for the things that you know you are keeping that will be going back into the garage. Make notes of your items to give you an idea of what type of containers/bins you will need. Place the containers on the driveway or outside of the garage so they are ready for the next step.

Begin the task of going through everything in the garage and assign it to one of the above three categories, and place it in the designated, cooresponding pin. Before things go back inside, clean everything. I know this part will be tedious, but it will be so worth it in the end.

At this point, the garage should be empty and now you will want to give the inside a good cleaning. You can rent pressure washers from the hardware store if you really want to see it sparkle. You may have to call a little in advance to make sure there is one available when you need it.

Place labels on your bins and place them on shelving units or whatever type of storage you have available.

Utilize wall space by installing hooks for bikes, lawn chairs, and lawn equipment. This will keep items in a specific space and off the ground.

Make yourself an iced tea and grab one of those clean lawn chairs and sit back and marvel at all of your hard work!

Now, some of you may decide that is way more than you want or can take on this month. If you fall into this category, you can do more of a "tidying up". Here's a plan for you:

TIDY UPPER

Remove any trash that has collected, things like old cardboard boxes, piles of newspaper, etc.

Give your garage a quick "glance over" and drop off a box of DONATION items.

Put things back in their designated areas that have been taken out.

Sweep the area.

THE LUCKY ONE

If you fall into the category of NO GARAGE/STORAGE SHED/CARPORT, you might want to take the month off or use this month to give your car a good cleaning!

I will be falling under category one! So, just know you aren't alone! Take lots of before and after pictures and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE email them to us at oisfororganize@gmail .com.

As always, I like to include pictures of inspiration and I know for me, I'm going to need lots of that for this challenge!

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Happy Organizing...and don't forget the pics!!