Organizing Your Home and Life
But now I don’t need to spend hours looking for that one thing. I have organized my house and my life. You can start doing this by taking notes of what you do on a regular day from the time you get up to the time you go to bed. This sounds kind of odd but it will help in the end.
What you need to do is jot down what you do on a daily basis that is a routine and where the things are for that thing. Get up and go to the bathroom, where’s the extra TP. Is it down the hall and in the closet or is there a convenient extra roll in the small storage rack in the bathroom.
When you go to work I the morning, where’s the car keys, cell phone and your purse or wallet. Is it the same place every time you come and go anywhere. That’s a good start, just note what you do daily and if the things you note have a routine of placing things you use in the same place.
I have things down on my routine like getting up and using the bathroom, I have these wrist bands that I wear for carpal tunnel and when I get up I put them on the shelf above my bed, they’re there in the evening when I go to bed, so I don’t have to search the bedroom to find them.
I have extra rolls of toilet paper in a small storage cabinet by the bathroom that has a box of tissue paper on the top and then in a door on the front room for three rolls of toilet paper. In the bathroom, there is a shelf next to the shower that has a three drawer plastic cabinet that contains things like extra razors, soap and feminine supplies.
The kids know where to go for all of these and don’t have to bother because they are always supposed to be in their spot. That doesn’t mean they always put things where they belong though.
When I go to leave I have my keys hanging on a shelf with two hooks for keys and such to hang on. My wallet is on the shelf along with my sunglasses and watch. No need to go hunting the couch or the house for my wallet or keys. I have a cell phone with the charger on the desk right by the shelf for my keys and such so when my wife gets home with the cell phone she plugs it in and its right next to her purse and keys on the shelf.
Things like mail have their own shelf and the bills have a spot on my desk where I know they will be when it comes time to write the checks. I have a neat stack of them by my computer so when I do bills I can input them onto my accounting program and it’s all done. Oh, the stamps for those thing to send in the mail. Their next to the bills, and the check deposit slips and other things dealing with bills and mail are on one shelf of my corner computer desk.
You get the idea that not only is putting things in a particular place and having things where everybody knows they will be will save you time inn finding things.
You can buy things to help you like those glorious plastic bins and shoe boxes. Closet organizers and shelves are great for closets basements and odd places to store things. The great construction idea of pegboard is a godsend for organizing tools in basements and garages.
Put one by two’s on the wall behind the pegboard to give you the room for the pegs to bend into the holes and you can buy the pegs for anything like tools, garden tools and other things. I have a pegboard as storage for my workspace of my hobby desk that holds tools and such for modeling.
I build models and have many tools like scissors and clamps, paint brushes and files. These work great with the wide variety of tool holders you can get for pegboard. Some home improvement stores like Home Depot sells scrap wood that people have had cut for a lot less than the regular price. We have bought many pieces of pegboard for use in our home.
Closets can get organized with those metal and wire shelves that you set to however is best for your needs. You can buy the parts separately and use your own design for the best uses of your closet.
Bins and even the larger under bed ones are great for seasonal clothes and shoes. Store those sweaters, winter coats and boots for the summer under your bed or in the basement safely in plastic bins. If the floor gets wet you need not worry about the clothes and such getting wet.
If you have a garage you can organize the yard and garden tools with tool holders on the wall or selves with tool holders. You can even buy small cabinets for yard tools that can be in the garage or even outdoor ones that can be put by the house if you don’t have a garage and they can be locked so your tools don’t grow legs and walk away.
Your yard can be a great place to get organized by addition of a hose spool or reel. It’s so much easier to wind the hose up by cranking the handle and not bothering to unhook the hose and lug it into the garage. We have our hose reel next to our door, and it connects to the faucet around the corner. When we water our plants and flowers, we just turn the faucet on and pull out the hose.
Your list can be the start of your shopping list to find the things you need at the home improvement store or Walmart. You can start with a variety of bins and plastic storage containers and use them to store things you don’t normally use on a day to day basis.
I have a dehydrator and some other kitchen gadgets and devices that are handy and easy to find in the plastic bins that are clearly marked in the basement. My wife is into a wide variety of crafts and we have shelves of craft bins all marked with their contents so she can find what she needs quickly.
The kids have these neat little cabinets for Lego pieces as well as other toys that have lots of little pieces. There are bins of all kinds of shapes and sizes that are just perfect for many of the things kids are into.
We have CD boxes for all the computer games and others for their CD’s. There are files boxes for things like the different printing papers we buy for our computer. The kids have hanging folders that attach to the wall for important papers and other things they need to know where they are for school and other activities.
We have shoe holders in closets for our shoes and even hats but they have one in their closet for their camping equipment. Each pocket filled with the different things for camping and they know where all the stuff is quickly. They have a bin in the closet with the larger things such as sleeping bags and backpacks.
We use a barrel that has a lid with a cushion on it for our hats and gloves for the winter. This is a perfect storage for the winter wear that we can just pick up and put in a corner of the basement during the winter and bring out in the fall.
Do you have large quilts and feather throws that take up so much room when not in use, try these new vacuum bags that are like huge Ziploc bags. They have different sizes and you put the articles in then vacuum out the air. They take a lot less space and are pretty reasonably priced. A set of 8 at Walmart costs $20 for two different sizes designed for luggage, But they are perfect for things like sweaters and jackets. There are larger sizes available, try looking in the luggage, sporting goods and laundry areas.
Organization does not have to stop at home. A business is the prefect place to get organized. My wife’s daycare has several storage areas that are now organized and are better used by the staff thanks to my son’s Eagle Scout Service Project. He organized the closets and set one of them up as a clothes closet that the workers and community can get clothes that are donated to the center.
Your workplace can do things like this to become better organized and the workers will enjoy the benefits. You can talk to your boss or suggest when you see an area or space that could benefit from some of this kind of organization.
There are a lot of neat and innovative storage devices such as the plastic bins, closet organizers and bags for sweaters and blankets that can help you organize your home. When you spend less time looking for things, you have more time for doing the things you want to do.
