I started to laugh a little when I titled this. I do love organization & I am pretty organized. But the title should also incorporate Hot Mess. Because I am not just organized, I am also a hot mess. Nothing in this post is really mind blowing - it's just too big for a Facebook post, so here we are.
After having kids, and quite frankly having a husband - organization became a little more difficult. More stuff and more hands to mix it up. McKinley now at 11, is super organized, so she can't take much of the blame. But the other two tiny sets of hands are the nightmare to my organization. And again, so are the jumbo man hands. After reorganizing the same places, it dawned on me. I need to create an organization system that is easy to follow. And what's easier to follow than labels. And... probably more importantly, minimizing the amount of stuff. I am way better at this now, but boy oh boy do we have a lot of room for growth in this area!
So, I thought I would share some of my favorite home organizational products. These items are the perfect clean, crisp look for closets & cupboards. Keep in mind, I am no organization expert...just someone who tries & enjoys it!
First up, these Y weave baskets are amazing for things that you use often. They come in a bunch of different sizes. The one pictured is the medium size. They are perfect for organizing your "grab and go" things - things that you don't want to dig for.
We have medium sized ones in our pantry with like items - boxed dinners (Mac and Cheese). I have the smaller ones in my bathroom closet with frequently used items. One for my face products & a medium on for all of our body lotions and oils. They come in large ones - think like the size of canvas bins, that are perfect for larger closets. I have a puzzles in jumbo sealed bags and they all go in the "puzzle bin"
My next & probably favorite are these storage boxes by bright room. You can get the small (which is just shorter) for $3, the medium height is $4 and the tallest is $5. Pretty reasonable!
These storage bins can be found just about anywhere. We have a small one for each, crayons, markers, colored pencils. We have the medium sized one for all other craft items (pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, etc.) And because they are clear, it's super nice to be able to see inside of them. And even though they are clear, I wasn't taking any chances and I still labeled them. I also have a medium sized one in a lower kitchen cupboard with all of our cookie cutters. Our master bathroom is chucked full of these - extras of everything sorted in bins alike! One has sun screen, one has all our finger nail polish. Seriously, they stack nicely, they look neat, they are literally perfect for just about everything!
Let's talk labeling. Around here, even if it's all alike items - the jumbo man hands in this house toss anything and everything there because *he wasn't sure* what all went in there. The solution for this is labels. If you want to label bins that are visible I recommend these. If you need a bunch of labels, you can snag pre-printed label sheets for specific areas - like these for the pantry. If you are going to do a label over haul, I totally recommend getting the Cricut Joy! I did the Cricut joy because I went overboard on labels. I went as far as to put removable labels on Lyncoln and Dakota's dresser drawers with pictures of what went in their drawers. Not only can they help put their own laundry away, so can dad!
