Showing posts with label Home Organization. Show all posts

8 Ways to Help Organize Your Life in 2017

As part of my goal to SIMPLIFY everything in my life, one of the main tasks to complete this goal is to organize all of our STUFF! I've been scouring the internet and Pinterest for the perfect organization ideas for our family, so I thought I'd share some of my ideas. Hopefully, I can post updates of my organization goals as they are completed! 

Here are my top 8 organization tasks/goals for 2017:

1. Organize the pantry. Purchase some different sized glass jars and label them for baking ingredients such as flour, sugar, rice, salt, etc. Also, get different sized baskets to hold different food items, non refrigerated vegetables. How pretty and organized does the pantry below look?! Buy storage jars here, DIY/printable labels here. Or you can buy printable labels here or chalkboard labels here. 


2. Create a cleaning caddy and keep up with weekly cleaning schedule. This is one thing that has been on my to do list for a while! How easy would it be to just get a plastic bin with a handle and fill it with all your necessary cleaning supplies. Then, you can just keep it in your cleaning closet/mud room/etc and bring it out when you're ready to do your cleaning. I use this printable weekly cleaning schedule and I hope to stay consistent with it this year!


3. Create a family command center. Pick a place in the house that is easily visible by everyone, but not so obvious (like the mud room, or small wall of kitchen). Hang a monthly calendar to track family events/important dates, weekly menu board, and hanging bins for mail, important paper work, etc. Maybe add hooks with wire and clothes pins or a magnet board to hang children's art. Also, add hooks for keys! We need this so bad!


4. Organize, label and store all important family documents. We currently have a filing cabinet with hanging folders that I label and stuff with important family documents. I almost love the color coded binders (seen below) better! Maybe with folders and pockets to hold smaller documents (like birth certificates, ss cards, etc). How do you store your important family documents?


5.  Create a child memory box for each boy. Get 2 hanging file folder bins and label folders for each year of life. I currently have plastic bins in each of their rooms that I throw any art work, birthday cards, etc in that I want to keep. It would be nice to organize them by year. 


6. Organize kids toys. I already started this process with the ikea shelving and storage bins, but there are still so many toys that don't have a 'home'. I'd like to maybe create a toy closet with plastic bins and baskets labeled like the one below. 


7. This one is huge!! I love this idea for storing all the family's digital photos! Get different colored key ring thumb drives (I love these mixed metal ones), label them by year and keep them all on one ring. Genius! I also need to get better about purging my phone photos and videos onto my computer weekly. 


8. Last but not least, keep up with my Life Binder! I posted about how I created my Life Binder back in June. Since Bennett was born, I fell off the Life Binder wagon and I'm ready to hop back on! 



How do you plan to get organized this year? Have you implemented any of these organization ideas in your home?

I'm linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts for Thursday!
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Organization | My Life Binder + Daily Planner



Who's ready to get serious about organizing their life?!
The only way I really feel organized is to set goals, make lists and plan, plan, plan!

"Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree, I will spend the first 4 sharpening the axe" - Abraham Lincoln

This is true with everything in life. If you have a goal in mind, you must plan and do your research before attempting to accomplish it. I live by my planner and lists everyday to keep me on task!

Here's what I have set up over the past few weeks that have helped me stay focused on getting tasks done and goals accomplished.

Number one, you will need a good planner. I picked up this Day Designer planner from Target recently and I am loving it! It is a July 2016 - June 2017 calendar, but there are blank weekly and daily pages that you can fill in and start using immediately. 



(sorry these pics are a bit dark... I need to work on my photog skills!)

I love the daily pages because it helps map out your day by the hour. I seriously have to fill this out daily to keep on target with what needs to get done. I have major ADD somedays, so this helps me stay on track and not get distracted. 

On top of keeping a daily planner, I also created what I like to call my Life Binder.

I picked up a 3 ring binder from Target and some pretty dividers, some even from the dollar spot! PS - Target has some really cute office/planner supplies in the dollar spot at the moment! 

The first thing in my Life Binder is a weekly list of all the major aspects of my life that I need to keep on top of. I made this simple sheet in excel and it's something that I update weekly. Every Sunday or Monday I will list tasks, goals, to do's in each category for the week. As I complete the tasks, I check them off. 


Behind my weekly worksheet, I have each category labeled on the dividers. Here I can add any paperwork, lists I've made or anything else I need to keep track of for that category. 


I found some free printables for weekly meal planning, weekly cleaning schedule and blog posts. I try to print these and update them weekly. I use the Emily Ley free blog planner printables for the blog calendar and weekly blog post ideas. 





Towards the back, I keep a page protector full of coupons that I don't want to lose track of. I also keep a page protector to hold any invitations we receive in the mail. I keep extra page protectors in the back if needed. 


After I put this binder together, I've felt so much more organized on a daily basis. Knowing that soon I will be a SAHM with 2 under 2, I'm hoping this will help me stay sane and keep up with my time management. As of right now, we don't have a house cleaner, but that would be the first person I would hire in a heartbeat! It's so hard to keep up with the house cleaning chores!

What do you use to keep you organized? Do you keep a daily planner?


*I'm linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts for Thursday.
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2016 Planners


I can't believe it's already September and the start of #PumpkinSpice everything!

I always know the rest of the year will start to fly by after September. Fall is always so busy with football season, holidays, birthdays (mine and Camden's) and our anniversary! Which means, I better get to ordering my new 2016 planner like yesterday...

Above are all my top picks for 2016 Planners. I just don't know if I want to be girly and floral, clean and classic or fun for next year! Which is your favorite?

Click on the images below to link to the sources:




Leave a comment with your vote!

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How to Clean Out Your Closet (and make some cash!)

Every season I like to clean out my closet. Mostly, in order to make room for new clothes. 

We live in a 3 bedroom ranch style home that was built in the late 60s, so there are no walk-ins. Our master closet is stuffed to the brim and I have taken over the guest room closet as well. It is important that I utilize the space I have. This means getting rid of any old or out of style clothes that I do not wear anymore to make room for new stuff. 

The first thing I do is go through all my hanging shirts and blouses. Then, I will go through my dresses and finally my folded clothes, shoes and accessories. One by one, asking myself "have I worn this in the past year?'

If the answer is no, then that means it is time to part with that item. The next question I ask myself is, can I sell this item or should I donate? If the item is in good condition, purchased in the past 2 - 3 years, then it may be worth trying to sell. Items that are brand name or designer are definitely worthy of trying to sell. Typically, I can make a good $50 - $100 (more if I'm selling designer brands) per season selling my gently used clothing, shoes and accessories.

Here's how it's done:

1 || Sort through all your clothes and make a pile of items you will not be wearing anymore. General rule is if the item has not been worn in the past year (besides special occasion items), then you should get rid of it. Also, if the item no longer or never fit correctly, it should be removed from your closet (that includes your pair of 'skinny jeans' that you've told yourself you may fit into one day...)


2 || From the pile of clothes you are getting rid of, make 3 piles: 1 - items that can be sold; 2 - items to be donated; 3 - items to be thrown out (items with damage that can not be mended, stains that can not be cleaned or generally just too worn). 

Items to be sold should be in good condition with no tears/holes, stains, pilling (sweater material / t-shirt material looks new). Items that are good candidates for selling are designer/brand name items that cost more than $30 and are in good condition. 

Items to be donated should be in good condition with no holes/tears/stains. Underwear, bras, swim suits should not be donated. These should be thrown out unless they have never been worn and are NWT (new with tags).

Items to be trashed are those that are in bad condition/worn that can not be mended.

Here is a chart I put together that will help you sort trough your clothing items:


3 || Once you have gone through your wardrobe and have your 4 piles complete (keep, sell, donate and trash), put the clothes to donate in a large trash bag and label with "donate" and drop off at your local Goodwill or donation drop off site. Don't forget to pick up your donation receipt for your taxes!

The items to trash can go right in your trash bag (this part feels great, we are clearing the clutter!).

You may hang, fold and put back all your items you are keeping.

Go through the items you are hoping to sell and make sure they are cleaned, pressed and mended appropriately.

4 || Selling your items can be done in a few different ways. You may take them to your local second hand store to sell. I typically go this route because it's easy. However, you may not get as much as you think for your gently used clothing. I will take in 2 - 3 trash bags full of clothes and only make about $25 - $50 if I'm lucky. And they don't always take everything you are offering.

I have also had some success with some local buy/sell pages on facebook. It may be worth your while to search on facebook for your neighborhood/city's buy sell page. Here you can post photos of the items and list the specifics and asking price. These pages are great because you do not have to pay shipping to sell the item online. Kind of the same mindset as Craigslist.

You can go the ebay route, but don't forget to factor in shipping to your asking price. There are other fees associated with ebay as well you should be aware of.

If you have a good amount of followers on instagram or twitter, it may be worth your while to try to sell the items on your feed or set up a separate account and post photos of all your items with the price and encourage your followers to visit your "shop". 

Whatever items I am not able to sell, I usually end up donating. I try to resist putting them back in my closet. 

And now you can look at your freshly edited closet and start scheming on what new items to add to it! :)

I'm linking up with Natalie and Annie for Thoughts for Thursday!
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