Jackets & Stuff

I know I cannot be the ONLY one in this world who struggles with stuff. Stuff that is ALL. OVER. THE. HOUSE.  The minute we walk in the house, shoes are tossed around, jackets flung on the couch, backpacks and purses everywhere... It's sheer chaos. Our couch, dining room table and kitchen island serve as a dumping ground for all things outerwear related. Makes me bonzo. With the freezing cold weather this weekend (for Atlanta it’s INSANE cold!) and excessive outerwear explosion, I decided that enough is enough and finally made a hall hanging station for all of our “stuff!”  

Does this look familiar to anyone?

Jackets

More Jackets. A shoe. a baby toy. A backpack underneath this pile. Gasp!

Our empty hall/stairway is begging for some organization! Bring me stuff!

Poor umbrella needs a home. And the Ryobi sander.. Is this really where you should live? Maybe that's part of a cool mist humidifier. What have I become?!

I bought this Walmart hanging rack for $10. I had a few extra blue baskets from the baby's nursery and this silver bucket we had was perfect for storing winter hats and gloves! 

Ahhhhh!!! Look! Shoes and backpacks and jackets, oh my!

How good does it feel to get organized? I swear I slept better last night after tackling this project and clearing the clutter!

Hope this inspires you to tackle your Jackets & Stuff! 
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Christmas post with my Pottery Barn-ish tree limb project!

Katie

Easy to ORGANIZE

OK my Crafties ... I have the most simple way to keep yourself organized.  It is cost effective and easy to find. 

Yes ... it is a spiral notebook!  Silly right?!  NO ... not silly, smart.  This is what I do EVERY night after the kids are in bed.  I sit in the kitchen and write down what I need to do the next day.

The next day, I add to the list.  Things pop up, calls come in, errands need to be added to the list.  I put the bills I need to pay in the front pocket.  I carry this with me everywhere .... it is in my hand, on the console of my car, in my purse at WalMart, etc. 

These 2 things go hand in hand! 

Some of you out there (I won't name anyone specific - you know who you are), ONLY NEED ONE NOTEBOOK/PLANNER, NOT FOUR!  Get a bigger notebook - don't try to get over-organized and buy muliptle notebooks/planners. 

I realized many years ago that this is SO very simple.  Help simplify your daily life and GET ORGANIZED.



Best Curtains EVER!

Earlier this summer, I decided that I couldn’t walk through our dining room again and see the scuffs on the walls, paint chipped off the trim and the chocolate paint drops all over the ceiling. It had to go!  5 or 6 years ago, my husband and I (...then boyfriend living it up in the frat pad, a.k.a our house) painted our dining room. It went from a lovely peach color (nag) to a Ralph Lauren suede tan. The ceiling was done in chocolate suede and at the time it looked pretty good! P.S. We will never. ever. ever. paint a ceiling again.   We did an awful job!  Our poor room screamed for a professional to come in and take over!

6 years later… We finally had our dining room repainted and the new curtains I used in there are fab-u-lo-so! My decorator friend, Emy, recommended these curtains from IKEA. I’ve got to give her all the glory! LOVE THEM! They are $19 for a pair and they are glorious. I doubled it for extra fullness using 4 panels per window. What a mean bargain for such great looking curtains! They’ve got a yummy texture and they just soften up the space so well. They come with a hemming strip you can iron on (easy as pie) but I just wanted them to be casual and didn't touch them.    IKEA RITVA CURTAINS

I didn’t use the tiebacks. Also, I already had the drapery rods from Home Depot from the last curtains so I don't count that in pricing (good justification, eh?). I bought some of the rings from Home Depot and think a pack of 12 is about $14. You can go Pottery Barn for rings if your budget allows as well. 

If you’re looking for great curtains at a much affordable price, IKEA's got your back!

Have you tried these curtains? You likey? What’s your favorite curtain steal/deal?

Katie

Can a laundry room be a HAPPY place?!

What the heck is this mess???  Ummm....my laundry room. Yes, I have 4 boys, but this is embarrassing.  I cannot believe I am posting this.  Sigh. ;)

So the problem is obvious.  I make them take off their shoes when they come inside.  The shoes end up in a mountain of mess.  Ewwwww. 

Mornings consist of looking for their shoes in this pile.  Annoying on many levels. :)

Being the obsessive organizer that I am, I decided to make this room a happy place! 

I bought 4 stackable white bins at Dollar General for $4 each.  Then I wrote each of the boys' names on a bin with a blue paint pen.  (Oldest on top because he is tallest ... but the other ones were upset that theirs was not on top.  Seriously?)

 I was inspired ... so I kept on going.  The boys hang their backpacks in the kitchen on a drawer knob.  Cute and functional, but it gets in the way of me being able to get things out of the lower cabinets.  This is where they normally hang ....

 I bought this over the door hanger at Target for $15.  Love it.    In my laundry is the hot water heater with a cabinetry access door. 

Hang it  & a place for back packs.  4 hooks, 4 boys!  Yeah. 

Still inspired ... kept going.

What should I do with the millions of baseball hats they leave in the laundry room, floorboard of the car, under the couch, etc.?  HOOKS!!  Target!

I bought these 3M hooks that have the sticky tape on the back.  The tape peels off the wall with no damage to your sheetrock (my construction hubby says "yeah").  Got a 6 pack for $8.  They have different weight limits available.  I got hooks that could hold 2 lbs. 

Arrange them as you wish.  TIP:  Put a hat on the one up top before you place the bottom hook.  Then you KNOW you will have enough room.  The directions say to place the hook on the wall and PRESS HARD for 60 seconds.  Then WAIT ONE HOUR before you put anything on the hook.  Target also has BIG HOOKS that can hold up to 40 lbs.  Put them on a wall and hang your backpacks there. 

6 hats (4 boys, Mom and Dad) next to the garage door, grab one on a bad hair day and go! 

Organized and happy. 

DE-Clutter Me!

Notice the piles of paper, miscellaneous tech gear, stack of bills and kid toys?  (and a 3 hole punch next to the coffee maker - I mean, really? Come on. URGH!!!)

I am sure all of you Moms, with children, or without children, have a messy corner ... somewhere in your house.  BE HONEST.   You know you do!  Mine is in the kitchen. 

Yeeeessss - it drives me absolutely baaaaaazerk!!!  I have tried many different things to organize. 
(B.T.W. I am an organizing freak!  Always buying baskets, tins, shelving, stickers and labels...I cannot help it.)

So this is what I did over a week ago AND it is still clean and organized.  Yeah! :) 

Here we go:

*Basket placemats from Pier One Imports under coffee maker and hot water kettle. Nice. (Already had these - but LOVE them)

*Basket for all of the tech stuff, video camera, chargers and digital camera. Convienient.

*Basket on top of TV for Hubby's wallet and kids SILLY BANDS that end up on the counter. Super great.

*Cell phone charger wires bundled together with an extra bread tie.  Crafty!

* Bamboo silverware tray from Wal-Mart turned upside down for my laptop.  Wonderful!

I like to have my laptop in the kitchen .... recipies, check the school menu each morning and weather.  However, I am ALWAYS worried that it is going to get wet with coffee or someone's cereal bowl milk.  Lifting it up on this tray seemed to be the perfect idea. 

Across the hall I added this wall organizer that I bought at Wal Mart for $14.  I put my bills in it ... which used to sit in stacks on the counter. 

Under it is a small dry erase board for MY daily list (ie; teach spinning @ 9:30am, go to football practice @ 6pm, buy Windex,etc).  Below that is a large dry erase board for my boys to draw on.  This keeps them from drawing on my walls!  They LOVE it. 

However, knowing me, the bills would stay in stacks in this organizer.  SO, I cut the tops off 4 manilla envelopes, labeled each one with a week, and now stuff each bill due per week in the appropriate envelope. 

Get organized!