What do you do to keep your house "organized"?

Do you have anything that helps keep things going that you have figured out?

Here are some of mine:

We keep all of the kid shoes in "cubbies" in the laundry room. That way I always know where shoes are and if one of the big people finds shoes where they don't belong we have a central location to put them all in.
The cubbies are wires cube shelves from Target with plastic dish tubs in them. I also use them for hats and sports stuff (shin guards, karate uniforms, etc.) so that I don't have to hunt them down before a class.
I keep the girls leotards, tights and dance shoes in the laundry room also, but inside their dance bags.
So, all sports and dance things get washed and go straight into their little spot in the laundry room. :D

All toys are sorted into tubs in the kids rooms here. Ali and Patrick learned early on where everything is supposed to go. (I still have to tell them to do it, I can't wait until they do it on their own.)

No other tips I can think of right now.

Great idea on the cubbies! We use a basket near the door, but all of our shoes are thrown in there together. I would love to be more organized about them!

I'll have to think and see if I have anything that may be useful to someone else. I'm not the most organized person.

I'm not the most organized person.

Yeah, that is why "organized" was in quotes. :lol My house is not terribly organized these days either, but the shoes being centrally located makes it at LEAST controlled chaos.

Our best investment was a storage ottoman! Now, some of Nathan's toys can be in the living room without them OVERTAKING the living room! Bravo to my DH for the great find - $20 at Wal-Mart. Best investment ever!!!

Yeah, and if we're talking organization - we won't talk about my office!!!

I thought of a minor one. :) We took all our CDs and DVDs out of the cases and put them in two books- one for us, one for the kids. Now, it's pretty easy to flip through and find a movie or CD, and we don't have to store all the cases somewhere.

I'm not very good at organizing, so I try to de-clutter frequently. If I have less stuff then I don't need to organize!

I bought one of those over the door shoe organizer's (plastic w/the shoe pockets) for Harper's shoes & socks. I put it in her closet on the door. I was having a terrible time keeping her shoes together. She LOVES to put socks & shoes on & off ALL day!!! We would get ready to leave an have only 1 shoe~no matching mate. It got old real quick...Now she can't mess w/them. I keep one pair out for her to play with.

I thought of a minor one. :) We took all our CDs and DVDs out of the cases and put them in two books- one for us, one for the kids. Now, it's pretty easy to flip through and find a movie or CD, and we don't have to store all the cases somewhere.
Nicole: Thats a great idea!!! God, knows we have TONS of movies...:upthumb

Oh, I have another! :D I use one of those paper tray organizers in the kitchen (you know...one of these (http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=738211&cm_mmc=MSN-_-Shopping%20Comp-_-Datafeed-_-Office%20Supplies)). I put Ashton's papers she brings home from preschool on the top, until I can go through them and decide what I want to keep. In the second one, I put blank paper for them to write/color/cut/etc. The third is construction paper. The fourth is paperwork I need to keep- her preschool calendar, book orders, other things I need to take care. The bottom one is for my current magazines that I haven't finished reading.

ETA: Left off a couple of shelves. We have one for coloring books, and one for other misc. stuff.

We use a basket near the door, but all of our shoes are thrown in there together.


We also have a basket. I had to move it out in the garage b/c Benjamin kept getting shoes and trying to eat them. Yuck. I don't put my dh's shoes in there b/c they take up too much room, but everyone else is fair game!

I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooo unorganized. I hope y'all have some great, easy ideas!
Thanks!

What's organization? :lol

One of my favorite "rooms" is my pantry. I've worked really hard to get it organized so everything is in a place that makes sense, and I don't have to dig for things. All the dry goods are in see through containers, cans organized on shelves from the Container Store, cereal and chips in see through containers so there are no bags and boxes.

My absolute favorite part is my spices. I used to drive myself crazy digging through all of them for thyme, rosemary, or whatever. I bought eight small spice racks at The Container Store that screw into the wall. They are all lined up on the wall of my pantry that didn't have any shelving - one under the next. Now my spices are all lined up in alphabetical order, and I can find them in a hurry.

Will you come organize my pantry? :lol

Mine too. I can't find anything in it and always end up buying more of what I have.

We keep all of the kid shoes in "cubbies" in the laundry room. The cubbies are wires cube shelves from Target with plastic dish tubs in them.

We have something similar. We use the "shelves" that hang on your closet rod and put our winter stuff in plastic shoe boxes ($1.00 Dollar Tree) and labeled them "Dad", "Mom", "Kids" (we only have two little ones). I also have a label-maker that DH got me for Mom's Day last year, which I LOVE :throblove . I organize my fridge shelves by similar items- beverages, breakfast, lunch, leftovers, a produce drawer, and a kids' drawer (with yogurts, pudding, snack cheeses, etc.). I LOVE having the kids' drawer, bc my ds doesn't stand with the door open as long.

I am very particular about the closets...sort by type (pants, skirts, blouses, etc.), then color, then long/short sleeve (not so much as the other categories). I also put my sons shirts on the bottom rod so he can reach them, and I don't have to get everything ready for him. I also put some "neutral" pants/shorts there for him to match (or rather, keep from mismatching).

Toys are organized by kid. Baby toys in one bin downstairs, and toddler in another (4 bins...j/k). But they are on a shelf and also have one drawer each under my bench (Target...approx. $99.00- got at Goodwill for $30.00). I've kept them very organized since ds was a baby, and he keeps them pretty well organized, too. :upthumb

I try to find "new" ways to organize my home without having to buy anything new...although, sometimes, I DO have to break down and buy something. :rolleyes I LOVE organizing, and DH doesn't; so, it can get pretty interesting...not ugly, thank goodness! :D

Everything goes back into the same place every time in my fridge so I can see at a glance what I'm running low on and this way I don't make duplicate purchases at the store. Luckily, my husband is a neat freak too, so it wasn't hard to get him to put things back in their "place". It drives me nuts when my mom or sister comes over and put things on random shelves in the fridge. I think to myself "can't you see that all the condiments are on one shelf... all the fruit goes here... all the cheese goes here???" I'm very Bree Van de Kamp about the fridge and the pantry.

Same with Ryan's toys. I bought bins for his play room and all the cars and trucks go in one, all the balls in another, all the blocks in another, etc. I am not sure how long I can keep that up when the next one gets here, but we'll see!

I'm very Bree Van de Kamp about the fridge and the pantry.


This is cracking me up. :lol

I'm getting some good ideas here, ladies! Since we'll be moving to a new house, I want to have some plans in place for keeping the clutter to a minimum and everything where it belongs. Keep 'em coming! :)

One of my favorite "rooms" is my pantry. I've worked really hard to get it organized so everything is in a place that makes sense, and I don't have to dig for things. All the dry goods are in see through containers, cans organized on shelves from the Container Store, cereal and chips in see through containers so there are no bags and boxes.

My absolute favorite part is my spices. I used to drive myself crazy digging through all of them for thyme, rosemary, or whatever. I bought eight small spice racks at The Container Store that screw into the wall. They are all lined up on the wall of my pantry that didn't have any shelving - one under the next. Now my spices are all lined up in alphabetical order, and I can find them in a hurry.
Ok. I have to have a picture of this. Sounds like heaven. :lol

OH, I am not very organized though I try to be. I use pretty baskets for the kid's books and toys in the living room.

Um...... like I have said before. I "appear" organized but I just am not. I just go through and declutter once a month and reorganize about every two months.

To keep my house what????

Ok. I have to have a picture of this. Sounds like heaven. :lol

OK, dry goods. Oatmeal, rice, WW flour, flour, sugar, cornmeal. In unmatching containers b/c I've bought them as I've needed them.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantrya.jpg

Todd's tabascos, random things on a 3-tiered shelf (makes them so much easier to see), and 3 kinds of cooking spray.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantryb.jpg

Chips and pastas. My shelves aren't tall enough for the tall spaghetti holders. :frown
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantryc.jpg

Canned goods. This expandable shelf doubles the space.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantrye.jpg

Plastic bags.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantryh.jpg

Coffee fixins, cereal and goldfish, bins on the floor for unrefrigerated fruits, veggies, and dirty dishtowels. This got rid of the sea of those plastic fruit and veggie bags that used to be on the floor.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantryd.jpg

Spice racks.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantryf.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantryg.jpg

Wrap organizer on a cabinet door.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c371/hktexan/pantryi.jpg

Wow! :yikes That's awesome!

Very nice Holly! I finally bought one of those tiered shelves for my spices and it's great to be able to see everything instead of digging!

Holly you are officially the "queen of the organized pantry"!!!!! :bbow

These are some great ideas ladies!!! I have an office full of organization thingies, but have yet to utilize most of them. I have great ideas, just not organized enough to put them into place. :bag

I hung hooks by the door to the garage so the girls can hang their jackets and backpacks. I am still trying to organzie their play area. I am looking for shelves with canvas bins but I only can find the ones that are hard. Any suggestions?

Oh, I have another! :D I use one of those paper tray organizers in the kitchen (you know...one of these (http://www.officedepot.com/ddSKU.do?level=SK&id=738211&cm_mmc=MSN-_-Shopping%20Comp-_-Datafeed-_-Office%20Supplies)). I put Ashton's papers she brings home from preschool on the top, until I can go through them and decide what I want to keep.[

I am not a SAHM, but one of the ways I handle stuff from school is I got a 3 inch binder and the plastic sleeve thingys. I put Holli's paperwork in in and. You can do front and back. That way at the end of the year we can see how far she has advance and Holli likes to look in it. I plan to do one for each preschool age 3-5. Not sure how I am going to handle kindergarten, but I have time

I am not a SAHM, but one of the ways I handle stuff from school is I got a 3 inch binder and the plastic sleeve thingys. I put Holli's paperwork in in and. You can do front and back. That way at the end of the year we can see how far she has advance and Holli likes to look in it. I plan to do one for each preschool age 3-5. Not sure how I am going to handle kindergarten, but I have time


What a great idea!! I have piles of all of their stuff from school and don't know what to do with it. I am going to have to get some binders and start that. thanks!!!

These ideas are great. We are so unorganized here. Especially our office UGH!!! I would also like to organize the closets as well as our pantry. Unfortunatly we don't have a closet pantry but very deep shelves. We have an idea to fix it but it will be down the road when we have the money. Keep the ideas coming. Who knows, maybe I will get the urge to finally organize something.:)

Somethings that just save me are ... a little basket where receipts go until I can enter them into Quicken (then they go in a file folder), a basket for papers that need to be filed (sometimes it gets pretty full, and I think the ONLY time it was empty was before I used it for this purpose), and bills have a place on my desk. All the other mail sometimes piles up for a few days.

I was VERY good with organizing toys with my older 3 boys, but they just wore me down. They still have not learned to organize or even just KEEP organized their things. I try to keep Garrett's toys organized, but the boys help with the pickup, which means they don't get organized.

My recipes are organized. I have a master list of recipes we enjoy - lists the recipe name and where the recipe is located (what recipe book, etc). I use this list when I'm trying to come up with meal ideas. For recipes clipped and printed from internet or emails, I put in page protectors and in a binder.

My recipes are organized.

Oh, that reminds me. I keep all my recipes in a file in GMail. I can copy and paste the text straight from Weight Watchers, Cooking Light, from DAM, or wherever. Then they are all in a file, and also I can use the GMail search feature to find them. Also, I can get to them from my parents' house or wherever.

:blush I cant stand clutter so i am constanly going to goodwill!!! Now for organization thats a tough one cause about 2 months ago i bought some organizers for the each kid room closet.. Well all the stuff stayed organised for about 2 weeks thats it... In my closet my Wonderful put up Wood shelves in it.. it looks awesome and helps soo much!! Thats about the only thing that has stayed organised...

Anyone have any ideas on how to organize my kids? They just don't seem to get with the program--but it must be bad when your three year old makes it a point to tell you in front of the neighbors that the upstairs is so "yucky" (messy) that she can't think straight...One thing I do is every month my neighbors and I take turns driving all our stuff to Goodwill-we have a pact that everyone has to donate something--it is amazing how much stuff you can give away!

WOW Holly!
That looks great! I like the bins at the bottom of the pantry for fruits/veggies. That is where I have my trash & recycle bins. Where do you put those? I would have so much more room in my panty w/o those, but unless I put them in the garage (which may not be a bad idea) I don't know what to do........

I'm going out TODAY for those bins for fruits/veggies. Such a great idea. Love the spice rack, too. I may do that although hubby might not want me drilling holes into the door.:hopmad

WOW Holly!
That looks great! I like the bins at the bottom of the pantry for fruits/veggies. That is where I have my trash & recycle bins. Where do you put those? I would have so much more room in my panty w/o those, but unless I put them in the garage (which may not be a bad idea) I don't know what to do........

There is a skinny trash can in there, too. You can see it in the bottom right of the picture. Have you looked into those super skinny cans?

I only recycle newspaper and cardboard :bag , and I put it in the garage.

The trick is to measure it all out and take a cheat sheet with you to the Container Store so you don't get home with stuff that doesn't fit. I really wanted one of those gravity fed can-holder roller thingies, but it wouldn't fit on my shelves.

I hung hooks by the door to the garage so the girls can hang their jackets and backpacks. I am still trying to organzie their play area. I am looking for shelves with canvas bins but I only can find the ones that are hard. Any suggestions?

We found some at Lowes. There are cube like shelves and then you buy the canvas bins seprate. We haven't actually put any of it together but we have it!!

I am not organized in the least. My house is complete chaos!!:(

OK, I'm completely inspired - we move to the new house next week & I can't wait to get it organized! I'm using your pantry as my model, Holly! Thanks!

Adrienne, they also have a shelf with canvas bins at Company Kids.
I notice you have girls - they have really cute pastel bins:
http://www.thecompanystore.com/parent.asp?product=zh75x&dept%5Fid=5301

They also have primary colors & even camo for the boys!
http://www.thecompanystore.com/parent.asp?product=zh75x%5F2&dept%5Fid=5301

I saw this show the other weekend about organization and one idea that I thought was really neat was that they got this little shelf that had four shelves on it and put little doors on them. They used the shelves as in and out compartments. So, the school aged children that had homework to check or papers to sign would put them on the in shelf. The mom would then check or sign it and put it in the out shelf. The children would go to the shelf before bed and put the out papers into there backpacks. I thought that was really neat.

without the flylady my house would be mess... a total mess!

My husband's sister is an EXPERT at decluttering and organizing!!!

She came to visit when we first moved in my house and organized my kitchen and pantry...Whenever my friends come over, they ooooh and wowwwwww at it.

She did the "spice rack" idea -- except -- not for spices...

On the little piece of the pantry that runs down each side (next to the door facing) where there are no shelves, she found little white spice racks at Container Store and ran them one after the other all the way down each side. These are perfect for things like vanilla, my PAM -- stuff I use a lot but that takes up a lot of room in the cabinet or gets shuffled to the back a lot.

She also bought risers for my shelves (so we can see all our cans)...and clear plastic containers that pour to hold ALL our cereal. She got plastic bins for the bottom to hold baking stuff (to help keep the bugs out). In one, she put all the "sweet" baking stuff -- brown sugar, chocolate chips, etc. In another she put all my flours and meals (oatmeal, cornmeal, etc.)

Then -- she found a pull-down spice rack from Container Store that my DH installed in the second shelf up...Now, when I need a spice, I just pull it down -- I can see everything!! -- choose my spice and raise it back up...incredible...

I have offered to pay her to come back and help me with the rest of the house...but she won't take money...I told her she should write a book on this...