Organizing Made Easy

Need tips to organize and simplify?  I know I do.  So I searched through stacks of old magazines and found tons of ideas that I thought might come in handy.  Here are my top favorites...

Simple Ways to Organize Your House & Household:
Most ideas I found in Woman's Day magazine.

• assign each member of the house a color:  When purchasing towels, backpacks, etc.  buy the appropriate color for each family member.  This will let you know exactly who has left out what, so that it can get cleaned up quickly.
• place a small decorative basket near the door that is used most often: Use the basket as a place to place keys, cell phones, etc. when you enter the house.  This will save time as you will not here the all to familiar... "Honey, where did I put my keys?"
• make casting away old items easy:  Place several baskets in a closet.  As you have old clothes, toys, etc that need to be given away simply toss them into the corresponding bin and you are done!  When a bin is full take it to the local Goodwill as a donation.
• manage laundry in minutes: well, okay... let's be honest... not minutes, but definitely not hours:  Place rolling cart of drawers in the laundry room.  Label each drawer with a different family member's name.  Fold laundry and place it directly into the appropriate draw.  When a drawer is full, that person, must take the drawer upstairs and put away the contents.  The next morning just grab the drawer and bring it back to its "home".  Oh, I almost forgot.  Don't do laundry all on one day.  Do at least one load of laundry daily to keep this very unfriendly chore in check.
• scheduling and homework help:  Create a binder that has tabs for each member of the family as well as a master calendar, important telephone numbers, etc.  Keep class list, important assignments, restaurant menus, etc. organized and right at your finger tips.  Be sure to find a place that this binder will stay at all times.  if not, it won't get used and it will end up only another piece of clutter.
• shelve those books:  Line the wall of the living room with shelves about 18 inches below the ceiling.  This is the perfect place to shelve books that you want to reread, but need to stash away. 
• keep dirty clothes at bay:  Place a small hamper in or directly outside each bathroom door.  As soon as clothes are removed, they should be tossed in the hamper.  When the hamper is filled, take the hamper to the laundry room for washing.
• create a lost and found:  Place a small basket in a downstairs closet or pantry for found items.  Before bed, take out the basket and have each family member take what belongs to them and put it away.
• catch all: Somethings just do not have a place.  Batteries, safety pins, and other random items can all be stored in a plastic shoe box type container or in a designated kitchen drawer.  If you chose a box with a lid, make sure you find a location to store the box and remember to always put it back after use.

Websites to Peruse:

• desktop google
• get sorted
• project girl
• home sanctuary
• tip junkie