Are you sentimental? Re-use those containers

Laura posted about re-using containers some time back so I decided to show you how I've re-used some in my home.

We received matching souvenir mugs like these from San Antonio, Texas. They're a bit too big to actually use for tea or coffee so I keep my sweetener, different tea bags and coffees, and a chocolate spoon for hot chocolate in here.


When the babies were born, we got tons of flowers. Once I threw out the flowers, I washed out the containers (not all of them, but the nice-looking ones) and re-used.

This one holds bum creme, etc. at the babies' changing table.

and this one is in the bathroom with baby bath toiletries

Not only are these containers now functional, but every time I use them I think of the people who gave them to us.

Are you hanging onto something sentimental? Think about some ways you can re-use it so that it's not just clutter.

This week's organising challenge - declutter your bathroom toiletries

I thought it would be fun to issue a challenge this week on something relatively easy to do - declutter your bathroom toiletries.

You all know that I have the smallest bathroom in the world so I don't have enough storage space in there.

I use a drawer inside our bedroom to store excess bathroom toiletries.

This is my decluttered drawer....


and this is what I managed to declutter from the drawer and from the bathroom itself. 11 items


Right, over to you.

Are you up for the challenge? Let me know how many items you manage to declutter.

Project Baby - getting the clothes ready

So the baby showers are over and I finally knew what I could go buy.

People like to buy "outfits", in other words, cute clothes, so I put things like vests, leggings and babygrows (onesies) on my wish list.

Also, I like babies to look like babies, not like three-year-olds :)

We got a lot of what we needed but there being two, we had to go buy some stuff. I still don't know if we have enough but at least we have some clothes.

How many vests does one baby need anyway?

Someone at work gave us a very generous gift voucher so we went and bought the rest of what we needed, at least for the first stage.

And so the laundering commenced.

busy folding the clean laundry

sorting by category...
from the top: girl bibs, boy bibs and caps/ beanies

leggings on the left and vests on the right

their first slippers (they are too cute!), booties and socks

babygrows and knitted leggings and tops

neatly labelled on the shelf

burp cloths on left and blankets on right
(don't worry, I have PLENTY - the rest are still being laundered)

I feel much better now that they at least have clothes to wear!

I've used gift boxes (the purple ones) and plastic drawer dividers because they were falling over in anything bigger and I hate untidy shelves.

Question - anybody have any bright ideas to store all these tiny little clothes?

Ask the organiser - what do you do with out-of-the-way storage?

Somebody asked a question - (sorry preggy brain) I can't remember her name and I deleted the email too quickly :)

She is a short person and can't access the top shelf in her pantry so she often has to throw expired items away.

Any ideas to get organised here?

Of course I do!

1. My suggestion is store surplus items here that you don't need to access very often.

2. Then use see-through plastic baskets so that you can grab the front, pull towards you and see everything on the shelf.

3. I suggest that you keep like items together - for example, I have a big plastic basket with all my baking supplies, like cake and self-raising flour, coconut, yeast, bicarb of soda, baking powder, etc.

this is my old baking basket - I've now transitioned to one bigger than this

4. You could also keep a list of contents on the inside of your cupboard door with the contents of that top shelf, like 5 boxes cereal, 20 boxes milk, etc. and be sure to cross off as you use them.

5. I'm also short and I keep a cheap plastic stool nearby my pantry so when I want to get to the top shelf once or twice a month, I can quickly access it.

Hope these tips help you.

What other tips can you share with this reader?

Ask the organiser - what are the best storage boxes for paper?

This question came in from someone who is also pregnant with twins.

Seeing as you are the queen of de-clutter, I thought I would ask you where the best place to buy storage boxes is?

I need to start on my spare room cupboard (babies room) this weekend and have lots of files and papers that need to be sorted out.

My advice is actually contrary to what you’d expect – don’t buy a thing until AFTER the declutter is done. Just look at all the stuff I threw out here and what Anne, our makeover blogger, threw out here

I’d use the tops of photocopy paper boxes (or similar, like large shoeboxes) to sort the paper and once you decide how you want to store the paper, whether in files, plastic display folders, etc, then go out and buy just what you need.

When I’m organising people’s offices, all I take with me is a permanent marker and post-it notes and then only when it’s all done, we get the stuff if they don’t have it.

This post is about business filing but look at the pictures and apply the principles to your household stuff.

Some more posts on organising and storing paper

How to file

Different categories of paperwork

And more on paper organising


Hope this helps!


Any other tips for this pregnant mom?

Favourite organising tool #14 - mesh bags

These two mesh bags have a very important job in my life.

They help to keep my handbag organised. One has my makeup and the other has the medication I'm taking at the moment and my sweetener.


The pink one came in a set of three (for only R12,99 [$1,30] at Sheet Street - I know, crazy!) and I use the biggest of those to keep all my smaller bits and pieces organised when the handbag I'm using is just one big open cavern.

I can't STAND scratching around looking for things. So all I have to do is haul the mesh bag out, get my wallet or car keys, and I'm good to go.

Why do I like these mesh bags to organise?

• I can categorise
• When I'm transferring items between handbags, I can quickly decide if I need it with me or not
• It's see-through and I have a sincere love for any clear storage tools

Do you use smaller bags to organise your handbag? What other uses can you think of for mesh bags?


Check out the other favourite organising tools posts here

Organising and storing my jewellery...and when it doesn't quite work

I don't have a lot of jewellery. My thing is watches!

So I really just use a couple of hooks on the inside of my wardrobe door. The problem happens when I just keep throwing necklaces onto the hooks and eventually, it drives me crazy.

Like this - now I know it doesn't look that bad but that's because a hook fell off and I put those necklaces on some of the other hooks.


What did I do? I

• removed everything from the door
• decluttered stuff I never wear
  
• separated them into categories - earrings, pink and white set (only pink stuff I have), work necklaces, bracelets and weekend necklaces
• decided where to put new hooks (somewhat limited by the shelves when you close the door)
• hung everything up again, this time in an organised fashion
  

Voila!

P.S. So they're not the prettiest pictures in the world but they are organised - just keeping it real :)

Wordless Wednesday - neat stack of clothes

Have you switched your clothes around yet?

Whether you're in the Southern or Northern Hemisphere, the seasons have changed and it's time to switch your clothes around.

My goal is to have all my clothes comfortably in one wardrobe. This is 98% - I have 6 pairs of corduroy pants hanging in another bedroom.


I remember YEARS ago when I first started working I had about 5 things to wear for work. It was so quick to get dressed in the mornings because there wasn't much choice.

Even though most of my clothes fit in one wardrobe, I still switch things around because I put all the current season's stuff on the right of my cupboard - the left door stays closed most of the time.

If you look closely, you'll see long-sleeved shirts on the top left and long-sleeved suits on the bottom left. Those are my winter clothes.

Do you switch your clothes around? If yes, have you done yours yet? Can you declutter any items?

What do you do when there's no storage?

the smallest bathroom in the world

We moved into this new-to-us house in November 2005. In January 2006, the new owners of our old house phoned me (about something unrelated) and I asked her how she was enjoying the house (which I LOVED!!!).

She said to me, “Marcia, there’s not enough storage space”

The thing is there was more than enough storage space because even after decluttering stacks of things, we found that the new (bigger) house had far less storage than our old house.

Anywayyyyy, so what do you do?

I’ll confess that I had 3 guys out to give us quotes to put in more kitchen cupboards. Then I realised that I was being crazy to spend all that money – all I needed to do was buy one sideboard unit and declutter ruthlessly.

Declutter regularly --->>
Definitely make time to declutter on a weekly basis. The minute plastic containers look ugly (stained), I move them to another location either as drawer dividers if I need them, or I throw them out!

Make every item do double-duty
Choose desks with drawers and not just a table surface. Or use the space underneath for storing files.
Use a sideboard with lots of storage instead of just a table top.

Go vertical
Put up shelves along the walls. Hang kitchen utensils above the stove instead of in a canister or in a drawer. Use the inside of cupboard doors.



One in, one out
Or better still, one in, two out ;)Use this for everything – t-shirts, mugs, tea towels, magazines, everything!

These are some of the ways I maximise our less-than-stellar storage situation. How do you maximise your storage?

Organising jewellery storage

There are some great solutions to organise your jewellery - hooks on doors, compartmentalised jewellery boxes, tool boxes from the hardware store, cutlery trays, etc.

To start with, analyse what you have (earrings, bracelets, necklaces, etc) and how much you have. Then only select your storage solution.

I have lots of small studs (well...about 8 - 10 pairs) so I just lump them all together in a small jewellery box.

I have some hanging earrings, bracelets and necklaces which I keep on hooks.

No need to get fancy - chop a coouple of nails on the inside of your wardrobe door and drape them over there. Have a look at a picture of my wardrobe door. Or hang them on a martini glass (I blogged about this here.).

I also like ice-cube trays (if you have that much space in your drawers) but I tend to advise going vertical with this kind of storage.

How do you store your jewellery?

Organising children's toys

You can teach your children to be organised. The earlier you start, the earlier you can delegate :)

While they're organising, they're learning valuable life skills. They can learn to sort, to return toys to their homes, to make decisions while decluttering.

What to use
ice-cream tubs
clear shoe bags
wastepaper baskets - for tall, thin items like swords, cricket and baseball bats, etc.
ziploc bags -for puzzle pieces, legos, etc

How
Make things easy. If you use a basket without a lid, it is easier to put things away.
Label clearly with pictures.
For smaller children, use the bottom bookshelves and free-standing storage bins on the floor.

Declutter regularly. Now is the perfect time right after Christmas to go through those rooms and get rid of the old stuff :)

How do you stay organised with your children's toys?