Let’s Talk…Organization

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Now I am by all means no expert on organization but I would consider myself an organized person, often times called a “neat freak” which I will not argue with! I have become a bit better since having kids and honestly am just living in organized chaos. The biggest piece of advice I can give, and how I truly keep things organized and myself sane, is to give everything a place. Whether it be a drawer, a bin or basket, a place for those things to go back to once you are done and I promise it makes cleaning up the clutter so much easier! 

IN THE KITCHEN: 
When we packed up our old house, I truthfully did a good purge in the kitchen! Anything that I never used, had duplicates of, had a crack or chip or wasn’t my taste or style was trashed or donated. I didn’t need 3 sets of mixing bowls or 4 ice cream scoops! I needed one…of each! I also went down to one set of dishes, flatware and drink ware! A good purge can go a long way and it made things easier to use and find! Another key piece of advice, purge and be intentional on what you keep! 

These expandable drawer organizer have been truly been organizational life savers! I never had them in our old house and everything was haphazardly thrown in a drawer {or two}! They are an affordable investment and really helped me organize all our prep tools, utensils and flatware! 

As I mentioned about, having one set of dishes really helped in not taking up unnecessary cabinet space! And I actually USE them! It’s worth it in having a nice set of simple white dishes that can be used for all occasions and holidays! Plus everything fit nicely in one large cabinet and I even having small appetizer plates and serving dishes in here as well! These are not only our everyday dishes but we pull these out on the holidays too! 

Now let’s talk about those infamous plastic storage containers! The ones you continuously end up buying and then constantly lose the lids for? I mean where do they go? Plus they were taking up so much space in one cabinet I was honestly over it! I finally ditched them all and invested in a set of glass storage containers with locking lids. I love these as they are oven and microwave safe, dishwasher safe and I have not lost one lid yet! A must have in the kitchen for sure! {PS: When I took this pic, the other half were in use! We LOVE them!}

Lastly, let’s talk about the junk drawer! The one every household has in every kitchen! In our old house, I never really had a designated spot! Things just got tossed in a drawer or I had to go somewhere else for whatever it was I needed! When we moved in here, I was determined to designate one drawer as the “junk” drawer and again, another expandable drawer organizer came to the rescue! I swear these things are WORTH it! Buy a few and call it a day! I promise, they truly do keep EVERYTHING organized! 

I could go on and on about the kitchen but I think you get the point! Having the basics and truly only what you need and use is key in here! And I have so much more space in my cabinets for the day I decide to go on a shopping spree at Williams Sonoma! 

SHOP MY KITCHEN ORGANIZATION

FOR THE ALL THE TOYS:
Getting all the kids toys was a big one for me! With 3 kids it can get to be a lot! When we moved in here, I made it a point to buy a good storage unit that had enough room for bins and baskets and that was easily accessible for the kids! I love this unit we picked up from IKEA! They also have similar ones in Target! You can get them as large or as small as your space allows. 

This fit perfectly in the nook we have in our upstairs hallway and since the kids rooms are all upstairs it made the most sense to store all their toys there! Plus they have enough room to play despite it being a hallway or they grab a bin and take it to their rooms. It really is the best storage unit I’ve found and it even fit our library of family shared books perfectly! You can truthfully store any and everything in this and it is totally worth the investment! 

Once we had that and all the bins and baskets, it was easy to designate a place for all the sets of toys! We have a bin for Matchbox cars, Barbies, Shopkins, etc. It took me a few days to get it all organized and designate a spot for everything but the kids helped and it was totally worth it! Now when they take something out to play with it, it is so easy to put it right back where it belongs! 

Next, I designated a closet for all our games, puzzles and Legos. Handy hubby was able to build a set of deep shelves in a closet we have in our TV room and it has truly been great for storing everything. They weren’t too hard to make and have really helped in storing a ton of stuff especially all the board games we have accumulated over the years. If you have a closet in your home you can designate to, it really is nice as I am not taking of space without another storage unit. Plus I can close the door once we are done playing and it’s all unseen and out of the way!  

Lastly, when we moved into this house I really wanted to designate a spot to store all the kids art supplies and coloring books. I truthfully wanted it in a spot where they can easily get to it and just as easily put it all back! Thankfully since I purged our kitchen I was able to have an open cabinet near our “junk” drawer that I designated for all the kids art. I bought some plastic bins to store the coloring books and found a cute caddy with handles to store all the crayons and colored pencils.

Since it’s in the kitchen, the kids can easily grab what they need and often times color or do some art at the kitchen island when I am making dinner! And it is all so easy to put away once they are all done!

I also do try and make it a point, at least twice a year, to go through all our toys and books. We donate anything that they have out grown and just don’t play with anymore and then trash anything that is broken. Right before Christmas is a great time to do it! They are motivated because they know they will be getting new toys from Santa and they enjoy donating to kids who are less fortunate. I try and do it before each of their birthdays as well for the same reasons. 

SHOP MY TOY ORGANIZATION

IN THE BATHROOM: 
Bathroom organization can sometimes be a challenge! I have found the easiest way to keep everything organized is by simple bins and then acrylic or plastic compartment trays. I was struggling with two girls sharing one bathroom and one vanity. Even though they don’t have too much at this age, they still had a bunch of stuff that needed some form of organization {all those bows and hair ties needed a place to go}. I found these bins at Target were a great solution and I also bought a smaller one to fit in the bigger one for more organization. It keeps the girls stuff separate while organizing their brushes and hair stuff. I also like that they are plastic and can easily be wiped down in case something leaks or spills. 

As far as my bathroom goes, we have smaller side drawers that I had a challenge trying to organize at first. I honestly don’t have too many products and/or makeup and only buy what I need when I am out of something. These acrylic organizers came in hand and I love the smaller dividers they each have. They are perfect for holding makeup tools and brushes, eyeshadow, etc. I bought two and have the same on the other side for everyday essentials such as moisturizer, toothpaste, deodorant, etc. I found these on a whim at Home Goods but The Container Store has similar ones for about the same price. 

Like every other space in our house, I do try and clean out the bathroom cabinets and drawers at least twice a year. Maybe once in the spring and again in the fall. I try and trash anything that is questionable, expired, dried out, etc. and then anything that may be broken or that we just don’t use anymore. Making it a point to organize each room or space at least twice year really cuts down on any unnecessary clutter and helps staying organized so much easier! 

SHOP MY BATHROOM ORGANIZATION