I think I have said before that I am not an organized person by nature. It takes a lot for me to get and stay organized. Although the more organized I become, the easier it gets. I have been working on getting my closets organized for the last week or so. I finally have that done! I organized my children’s closets, my storage/sewing closet, my own closet and our new baby’s (who has yet to arrive) closet.
Just so you know when I was pregnant with my first son, 3 days before he was born I was cleaning all the windows in the house and scrubbing the top of the refrigerator. Ah, pregnancy, the thing I love about it is that it gives us a definite deadline. Maybe that is why I get so much done when I am pregnant. I need deadlines.
I also organized our computer armoire. Now I am going to do some spring cleaning. The main things that I need to do are:
Kitchen – refrigerator and oven
Windows!
Dust ceilings
Once these jobs are done I think I will be better able to maintain. If anyone has suggestions for cleaning windows, I would love to hear them.
I am usually always decluttering in some way or another. I think I am almost to the point that everything we have we use pretty regularly. I have paired down all of our wardrobes considerably. I am trying to simplify that even more. I am still working on it, but I think I am almost there. I am trying to avoid garage sales at this point because I know I have plenty of clothes for all of us.
My cleaning schedule is still working out wonderfully. I really like the structure of it. I do at least one to two loads of laundry a day so it doesn’t get overwhelming.
Here is what I did to organize our closets:
I took everything out. I put them in piles:
1. Keep/Store
2. Give away
I bought those banker boxes whenever they went on sale. I did use tubs, but I like this better. I still use some of the plastic tubs for in the garage or shed.
With each box, I numbered them, drew a colored circle on them and labeled them. I then made a corresponding 3 x 5 card and put the same color on it. I wrote the number, the name of the room where it is stored and the contents of the box. This system came from reading the Duggar book.
Now if I am looking for something and know that it is in a certain room, I can look up the card and see which box it is in. I have stored all of the kids clothes by size to be used by future children (child).
I also put a box in the kids’ closet that I labeled “Outgrown” and I throw shoes or clothes into there to be sorted and boxed up later. Before this I just kind of threw them in a pile.
So sorry I did not take any before pictures – just imagine the disorganization and mess.
Well, at the very least, it will make moving easier – right?
I did not get to take any pictures of the baby’s room, but I do have his closet organized as well. I also have his clothes washed and hung up by size.
Oh, one other thing that I need to do badly is go through our mini DVD home movies and record them onto regular DVDs and label them, but we will save that for another week!
I am linking this post at Tackle It Tuesday’s at 5 Minutes for Mom and Blissfully Domestic.
10 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 4, 2009 at 9:43 pm
katherine
organization … one thing i could learn to do better!
i washed windows as a job one summer. i HIGHLY recommend a squeegie and a little soapy water. that’s the best way to get windows streak-free.
adoption. yes, we both want to adopt. at this point, i’m not sure what that will look like. i’m really interested in adopting through foster care, but michael is very hesitant about it. God would have to work in his heart to make that feasible for us. (that could certainly happen through eduation when we get to that point.) we’re open to adopting locally or internationally.
my sister will soon be engaged to a man and michael’s sister married a man of different races. so, race is no issue to us, even with local adoption — the child will fit in our family because it will be pretty diverse! in fact, i get excited about bringing diversity to our little family within the clan 🙂
May 4, 2009 at 10:35 pm
Lindsay
very interesting!! i will have to steal some of your tips!
May 4, 2009 at 11:23 pm
It Feels Like Chaos
Your 1st paragraph completely describes how I am about organization! I love the number and card system. I should do that!
May 5, 2009 at 3:01 am
Donna Blessed Nest
I love it. I’ve been on a toy organizing kick too. if it doesn’t have a home, it might go by, by. The closets look great!
May 5, 2009 at 9:14 am
klutzymama
I have a similar system. For my storage totes, I number each box. Then I keep, in my zippered binder that I use for all things domestic, a master list that tells the contents and location for each number. I keep the list in pencil so if I empty a box out, I can erase and then rewrite the new contents. I used to always label all my boxes with masking tape, but when I needed to use it for something else, I had to peel off the tape and start over. Sometimes if the tape had been on there for long, it would be almost impossible to get off. With this new system all I have to do is look at the number on my sheet to see whats inside. It works better for me.
Also, I hate to change the subject, but I’m dying to know how the ball game went last night!
May 5, 2009 at 11:59 am
Charlotte
Deadlines can be good motivators
May 5, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Mamabeaz
Dust Ceilings??? You are CRAZY…prego?!
May 6, 2009 at 7:40 pm
We Be Jammin’ « Klutzy Mama
[…] My sweet cousin invited me over to learn how to can. She made brunch and invited some other family members over too. […]
May 12, 2009 at 12:10 am
Spring Cleaning Week « Extraordinary Ordinary Life
[…] week I am planning to get some more spring cleaning done since I am done organizing my closets. I will be doing a light version of my weekly cleaning schedule and everyday I will be adding a […]
June 11, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Frugal Friday . . . Organized Home « Extraordinary Ordinary Life
[…] have my cleaning list and I did organize my closets. I need to finish organizing my recipes and a few other things around my house, but this website […]