Organizing - A fresh start

Now while I am not an expert organizer, it is one thing I want to get better at this year.

I have gotten out of the habit of having a place for everything in my house. A small house forces you to look at your storage situation and take control so I will be cleaning out all of the closets all week. If you are in need of an item, call me, I may just have it.

Yesterday while I was browsing the ever so tempting aisles in Target, I noticed a large section of great organizational items.

When I was a kid, I had a large shelving display on my wall and all of my items were stored neatly in boxes and containers. I still love boxes, bins and using unusual items in which to store things.

So while I liked the idea of buying new containers to get me organized, I also knew that the everyday items I already have in the house can work just as well.

And once I utilize those things first, I can get back to the new, fun containers later.

Here are a few ideas that work for me.

Some of the items I use are jars. A tall, old freezer jar is the perfect size for cupcake liners. It was just .79 cents at the thrift shop, complete with zinc lid.
Every year when I get a box of chocolates at Valentine's day, I put the velvet heart to good use long after the holiday and use it as jewelry storage. I like it since the heart lays flat in the drawer and the compartments are perfect for earrings. I also wait until after Valentine's Day to buy them since they're 50-75% off. And since it's really the box I am after, I think of the chocolates as coming free. :) If you have boys or are around kids in general, they can amass a bunch of snap together toys. In Reese's room I have a minnow bucket bought at the thrift store for .99 cents. It holds all of the Bionicle parts until he gets around to putting them back together. It may take a while since he is head-over-heels for his I-pod right now. But at any rate, the bucket is cool and it looks good waiting for him. Poor toys...
Someone in the house is always looking for their game or phone charger, so I place bowls or pottery in places where the chargers can be stored. It is usually where I know the kids will be much of the time so this .50 cent (thrift store again) vintage piece of pottery, in a sunny color, is right next to the computer. I actually find all kinds of random stuff in there but at least it's not on the floor all of the time.
Storage in the office doubles as display or vice-versa. An old suitcase I purchased for a $1.00 at the flea market houses my oldest family photos and negatives. It also comes in handy as a photo prop. So, I guess it's use is tripled.
I hope to find more ideas on storing and organizing in our house. It always seems that when I make the extra effort, the whole spirit of the home is so much better.

So that's a wrap on some of the organizing ideas I use around here. What do you do?

Oh, and Happy New Year!

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