Organizing your home

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Proven fact, the less clutter their is the less stressed you will feel.

Can I get an AMEN?

Everything needs a home and I mean everything!

If you're like me you have a perpetual pile of stuff that you can't throw away but really aren't sure what to do with it.  Mine resides on my kitchen countertop.
Give it a home, even if that means a bin labeled "homeless stuff" :)

At least it's in a designated spot and can be periodically gone through to see what can be tossed and what may finally be able to be given a different home.

The biggest culprits for me are the boys' toys and financial/home/school related papers.
We've worked hard to give all toys a new home.
In other words, out of the normal living space.  Sound too harsh for the kiddos?  I don't think so.  This way they have to be intentional about what they want to play with.  They can go grab it from its home in the basement or in their bedroom and bring it to the main floor to play but then it needs to "go back home" before they get something new out.  It's genius I say!  I can't tell you how much better my mental state has been by having less toys strewn about everywhere.
My feet are happier too without the pain of stepping on Legos :)

I spent some time organizing the toys so that all the pieces are now together in one place.  I just need to get them labeled before I forget where everything goes :) Since E is too young to read yet, I'll make picture labels so its easy for him to identify what items go in which bins.

I must admit.  I'm still struggling with the homeless yet important papers but I am determined to get it straightened out.  We have a very small file cabinet so I need to go through and reorganize it, making room for some new papers.  Lord know there's probably papers from 2007 in there.

Here are some other tips I found that I fully plan to implement....stat!

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 -A HOME binder-
Get a large binder to keep master lists of all household-related contacts.
(electric company, phone company, water company, heating company, plumber, electrician, mechanic, cable company, car insurance company, home insurance company, health insurance company. Include your account number, the name of the provider and the phone number.)
You can also keep a profile of each family member in there.
(date of birth, medical conditions and phone numbers of physicians. Each profile can be as elaborate as you want it to be, listing anything and everything — from underwear sizes to ring sizes — if you are a lover of details!)  You can find free printables to help here.

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-Master Schedule-

Having a master family schedule is also a great way to eliminate household confusion. While on your trip to the office supply store, grab one of those oversized calendars and some colored markers (I prefer the dry-erase type). Assign each family member a color, and fill in the 

 calendar with everyone's day-to-day schedule.

When assigning your colors, make sure you save one color to designate family time and then be sure to include time for family on your calendar (this is even more important as the kids get older and their activities leave everyone feeling disconnected). Once a week, try to plan something special to do as a family. Whether it is going for a weekend morning walk or taking a special outing to the park, having regularly scheduled family times will ensure that the ties that bind don't unravel amid the business of life.

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 -An organized Kitchen-

My kitchen is the catch-all that every one of us clutters.  We seem to always have bookbags on the floor and some sort of electronics, clothes, and toys all over the counter tops....not to mention those ever multiplying dirty dishes.  Trying to clear the counter top is essential because when it is clean, I automatically take a cleansing breath and feel more peaceful. Some suggestions to clear those counters are using drawer and shelf organizers, take advantage of wall space,  and store like items together.   Drawer and shelf organizers will help you keep your stuff where you need it so you don't need to wade through all that counter clutter to find a pen.  Use wall pegs for your pot holders and dish towels.  

Somewhere along the way, we have separated those items from the same family.  Like our peanut butter is kept with the liquor :)  And for some reason I keep the kids' fruit snacks with the protein powder Hubsy and I use instead of with the other snacks.  It's chaos I say!

These tips are sure to help you get a better hold on things and give you that "ahhh" feeling when your home is calm and collected.  Do you have any other tips to share? Please do!

Happy Organizing!

**Many of the ideas for this post came from here and here.