Posted in Organization

 

Hooks can be used for a wide variety of organizational ideas. Just recently, I spoke about using them to hold an art bar to display and change up all the art & school work your kids are constantly producing. But hooks can be used in other ways to keep your home organized. They are especially good for organizing those things we just don’t know what to do with. Try some of these tips to help get your clutter under control.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

When it comes to storage, I don’t know a single person who doesn’t wish she had more space. I am one of those people. It is the nature of the beast, I suppose. Why do we need more space? Of course to put our ever growing stash of stuff! Why do we need more stuff? That’s a topic for another post. It isn’t always what we have, but it is how we store it that can make all the difference. Here is a fantastic idea for storing those items such as sewing mats, posters, bulletin boards, project display boards, poster board, maps, mats, foam boards, etc.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

We are working the Total Home Overhaul and I noticed something that I am not sure I have touched on here. Organization isn’t just about having a place for everything, it is about having the right place for everything. You can declutter and re-organize a room and it will look fine and dandy. But the proof of your labors will come three weeks later. Does the organization you set up work for you and your family?

Read More...

Posted in Organization

Likely you have taken down your Christmas decorations and are in full swing of getting your kids to get their new items put away. This is always a good way to get the year started. If you are finding it hard to find space for those items, consider joining the Total Home Overhaul which will be unveiled today! But here is an essential way to help keep those new gifts fun and entertaining!

Read More...

Posted in Organization

Many of you are in the midst of a very cold winter and likely cocoa is becoming a steadfast friend. Even for our family, who is having a mild and most beautiful Florida winter have taken to regular cocoa drinking. There is just something about cocoa that calms everyone. So today I am going to give you my favorite new cocoa recipe that is sure to comfort and please.

But before I get to that, I want to share a little something with you. It’s 2009. Does it seem like a new year is upon you? Are you still pondering how to quickly squish in accomplishing goals from 2008? Have you wanted to get your home organized in such a way that it is a pleasure to go into any room? Are you desiring a schedule that will allow you to spend more time living and less time being overwhelmed by your To Do list? Me too.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Organized Christmas Decorations

Now is the time to make a plan to organize those Christmas decorations. It may seem like you just put them up, but before you know it, the time will come to store them away again. You can organize these items simply with a little pre-planning. Best of all, by pre-planning for your Christmas décor organizational needs you can save big money!

Read More...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Organize Your Shopping for Giving

Every year millions of people donate food items of all types to food banks to help supply delicious and abundant boxes of food for the holidays for those in need. This is a crucial and wonderful charity. We have done it ourselves. We have even organized our teen group to work at a food bank to help prepare the boxes and distribute food. This time of year things are extra chaotic for food banks. It is easy for even those on the tightest of budgets to help others in need by shopping wisely by using savvy shopping methods, tracking sales, and using a price book. All you need to do is purchase one or two extra of those non-perishable items that you find at rock bottom prices. This is the one time of year that I actually splurge and pick up some convenient non-perishable items such as biscuit mix, cake & brownie mixes, stuffing, potatoes, & other yummy items that I would not normally purchase for my family. I keep these stored in a box designated for donations. This is also a great way to help your kids organize their charitable giving. Even a small child can afford to purchase canned and convenience products when they are only 25-50 cents per can! But there is something even more important you should know about organizing your charitable food donations.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

 

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Keep Your House Organized

I know the days are filled with extra activities that you do not have at other times of the year. It’s cold outside for many of us. Inclement weather can mean extra clutter on a regular basis with added outer wear. It can seem impossible to keep your house together! The mere thought of having unexpected company dropping by has you closing your shades, locking your doors, and running for cover! No need for that, my friends. You CAN keep your house organized and ready to receive company at all times with a few simple tips.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Organize Holiday CDs & DVDs

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas Season is ready for full swing! I know some of you have already begun celebrating the Christmas Season, but in our family we reserve the celebrations until after Thanksgiving. Just the other day the Beaner and I were in Wal-Mart and she noticed all the Christmas decorations. She admired the decorations and then made a comment that expressed my sentiments, “Don’t they know we haven’t done Thanksgiving yet? Did they forget about Thanksgiving?” Of course, coming from a 4 year old, it does make you wonder why adults don’t get it. Oh that’s right, littletons aren’t concerned with the profit margins. Silly Me! But, I digress…it IS now time for breaking out ALL our favorite Christmas music and movies!!! YIpPEe!!!

Read More...

Posted in Organization

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Organized Closets for Christmas

Closet organization can be one of the most rewarding organizational tasks that we perform within our homes. Not only can it be one of the most rewarding, but it truly  helps us to de-clutter our lives in a way that other daily tasks don’t. When you de-clutter a closet do you notice how different you feel when you enter the closet? The very first time you have to look for something in that closet, there is just something different about how you see things. You think to yourself how much better you function when things are organized. You promise yourself that you won’t allow it to get out of control again. You make every effort to do that, yet somehow over time, the closet becomes…well let’s just say some habits may return. The fact remains that you can set some check points in place to help keep up on a regular basis. Now, is the perfect time of year to get this started with one simple method that can keep you on the path to an organized closet, while incorporating those wonderful new items that may be in need of a place in your closets over the next few weeks.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Organize Your Make-up

Organizing your make-up can be easy, but it can also be complex, depending on what you have available in your bathroom for storage. Many have a shallow and narrow drawer in which they have to store their make-up. Some may just throw it in the drawer. Others may have several drawers in the bathroom vanity to separate make-up from hair brushes, hair accessories, etc. Still other bathrooms don’t have any drawers, but are equipped with a closet only. You can see how this can affect how to organize your make-up in an efficient way. But it isn’t just the organization we need to deal with. We also need to consider the forethought of how to keep up with the organization and the periodic cleaning of the space. PHEW! What seemed so simple became complex very quickly. Here’s an idea that is adaptable, quick, easy, and best of all…it’s FREE!

READ MORE...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Organize Your Linen Closet

I don’t know what happens at your house, but here at the Valeska Chateau, the linen closet can be a challenge to keep organized. I have always organized the shelves by item type, i.e. table cloths, sheets, towels, etc. There is nothing wrong with organizing your linens if it works for you, but with a family it can wreak havoc, to say the least. Once your children become old enough to train for certain tasks, it is almost as though it is their job to be helpful and disorganize the linen closet at the same time, thus causing mom an internal conflict as to whether or not to praise or chastise. It’s one of those little things that God has put in place for Mother’s as a training tool, I think. There are other ways to manage your linen closet, that will allow for optimal usage and the least amount of mom anxiety.

READ MORE...

Posted in Organization

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Who’s Using the Room?

Last week I blogged about re-arranging a room to give it a complete face-lift without having to spend a dime. I received an email asking if there was a rule about doing that with the usage of the room in mind. Well, I don’t know if it is a decorator’s rule or not, but the answer is very simple.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Arranging a Room to Create an Atmosphere of Warmth

Furniture arrangement is the most important aspect of creating an atmosphere of warmth in a room. The right arrangement can change an entire feeling in a room, even when you change nothing else. If you have a room in need of a face lift and you don’t want to spend any money, consider re-arranging your room in a new way. This is a very simple process and can make a big impact!

Read More...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Storing Tupperware Lids

One thing that has plagued me for years about organizing plastic kitchen storage containers such as Tupperware and Rubbermaid, is those pesky lids. I don’t know what happens at your home, but they keep coming up with these organizing “gimmick”, such as interlocking lids, and that is NOT a help. When my children put dishes away, they will stack the plastic containers inside one another, but those pesky lids they don’t take the time to put them together according to size and shape. I have tried a variety of solutions over the years. For a while we stored lids in Zip style bags, by size. That actually worked for a while, but then my children became lazy about putting lids away in the right bag and the bag sides finally ripped. We use baskets and other containers in which we could just through the lids, but that takes up precious cupboard space. So, with the gauntlet thrown down, I was determined to sold the problem once and for all.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

FREE Storage Options

We all need containers, bins, baskets, and a variety of other options to organize the items within our homes. To complicate matters we typically need these items in every room and for items that encompass every aspect of our lives. That’s a lot of stuff to store. Purchasing baskets, boxes, containers, baskets, bins, etc can be costly, even when we are able to get them at a low cost. On top of all that we may find ourselves in need of containers at a time when we just can’t (or don’t want to) spare a cent on them! Well, there is an option that may get you the storage space you need and is completely FREE!

Read More...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Organized Toys

Few things bug me as much as my kids asking me to play a game, opening the box and finding pieces missing. This is a true pet peeve of mine. The thing is, often times it isn’t that my children don’t put games away properly, but that the boxes are made so cheaply that they often break down quickly.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Helping Children to Organize Books

It can often be daunting to a mom to teach children how to keep their books stored on a bookshelf. It may seem as though they should be able to do this task easily, but the fact is it can often be overwhelming; not just for mom, but for children as well.

READ MORE...

Posted in Organization

 

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Storing Scrapbooking Scraps

I love binders for storing and organizing items, especially magazine articles! I can organize my recipes, family life, budget, e-books, etc by using binders. People sometimes laugh and sometimes are amazed at how many binders I actually have in my home. EVERYTHING has a place in a well labeled binder. This holds true for scrapbooking scraps.

Read More...

Posted in Organization

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Keep It Together Girl!

Paper Police

Paper is an issue that every family deals with. Some more than others, but we all have paper we need to store such as bills, receipts, documents, statements, school papers, art work (dare we ever throw one piece away), notes, newspapers, magazines, books, circulars, etc. The list can go on and on. Sometimes we don’t even get to those in a timely manner, missing out on a great sale on something that we actually have on our need list! That always burns me! There are lots of neat ways to keep paper under control and still have access to it, when needed.

Read More...