Ideas to Get a Home Organized

You've just got to get rid of stuff.
I know I need to.
I had a co-worker who believed each room of his house should be emptied of everything once a year, cleaned/repaired, then only put back what belongs and everything left over gets donated.
So one month it would be the living room, another month it would be the kitchen, then a bedroom, basement, garage, etc.
It worked very well for him.

The answer is MORE decluttering! ;) Like mom always said, a place of everything, and everything in its place. But if there isn't a place for it, then you probably don't really need it. Right?

I've noticed that when things start to get cluttered around here, it's because I need to purge more stuff.

That being said, the best way I have ever found to organize things in my house is to label everything. I bought a little P-Touch label maker, and I label all shelves, bins, etc. This way, nobody can say, "Well, I didn't know where to put it away, so I just put it... there." Know what I mean? :) Something about a shelf in the pantry labeled "Breakfast foods" prevents my kids from putting Goldfish crackers there. Instead, they put it on the shelf labeled "Snacks." Even for my organizationally-challenged family, this works! I do the same in the kids' rooms. They have those 9-bin cube shelves from Target, and I labeled those. Cleanup is much easier when you can see exactly where things are supposed to go. You can label everything - office supplies, linen closet, under the bathroom sink... you name it. A place for everything (clearly labeled), and everything in its place!

Speaking of, my office is a mess. I'd better get to de-cluttering and labeling! hahaha

If you have experience with Flylady, you know that clutter can't be organized. On the other hand, you have children, so there will always be some clutter.

You might try this with movies: ask one family member to go through all of them and set aside any movies that person can't live without. Then ask the next one to do the same thing. Add those keepers to the first keeper pile. Go through each member of the family, including you. When you're all done, there might be some movies left over that nobody can't live without, and those are the ones to give away to other people who would enjoy them.

Sometimes this can work with toys, too. There are really toys that should stay, and perhaps the ones that don't make it into the "love" pile should be allowed to go where they *will* be loved.

Anyhow it's worth a try.

I have to tell myself every day that I love my house and I appreciate the space there is in it. I need to respect that space by not letting it get cluttered up with things we don't use. And I'm much older than your family!

If it'll make you feel better, I'll tell you a family story. My mother, bless her heart, was a first class packrat. She wasn't a hoarder, but she did have a bachelor's degree in clutter. Sometimes she would go through things and realize she didn't need them - but, even though she knew what charities could use them, she couldn't manage to take them there. (She went through the Depression, so she had some of the mentality of "We might need this one day and not be able to afford to buy it!") Soooo... she would pack all the things in boxes, spend the money to UPS them to me several states away, and write, "See if you can use any of this!" And I'd take what I needed, and then I would be the one to give the rest to charity! One does what one can!

One thing you can (and should) do with your family is to always give away something whenever you get something new.
A new stuffed animal? Donate an old one to a children's organization.
A new movie? Pick an old movie you don't watch any more and donate it to the library.
An new outfit? Toy? Package of socks?
You get the idea.
A lot of clutter builds up simply because we buy things, or are given gifts, and we just add it to what we already have. Of course over time we run out of room!
Try to get your husband on board with this and make it a family rule. It really does make a difference, not only in the amount of clutter, but how your family views and values the "stuff" in their lives.

Definitely go through things and donate as much as possible. For instance, toys that never get touched shouldn't be taking up space in your home. This isn't just limited to the kids belongings, though. As for organization, I use wire shelves in the closets. And the toys have their own place in the living room. Ottomans are a great way to add storage space and still have functionality. Oh and if you can't find somewhere to put a possession then consider how much it is really needed or wanted.

For movies and things you want to keep in the living room but out of sight http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/...
toys, pantry, art supplies
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8282...
For bathroom shower stuff, kids shoes, hairbows, jewelry, toys with small pieces like polly pocket, small tools, batteries, and stuff you would stick in a junk drawer
http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=o...

Depending on how many movies you have piled up, how about saying something like, "hey, for every 5 (or 10) movies you guys get rid of, we can get one new one." That is incentive to keep on top of it and keep only the movies you want. Personally, this has never been an issue with my family because once the kids got older and stopped watching them 16x per day, we just stopped buying movies. We don't have any now because RedBox is only $1 so no big deal if they want to watch another one again. Good luck!

I like the under the bed storage bins that are long at Target or walmart. They are great for toys under the kids beds. We use them for a dress up or barbies...... But you can do blocks, little people stuff etc....

I like the shoe racks behind the door to store toys too. Not sure about movies, we have an entertainment storage unit which is out of date prob for most, but it works.

I like those over the door "shoe" organizers for little things especially in kids rooms! And I use some sweater organizer hanging thing in my sons closet for sweatpants and sweatshirts. I also really like hooks! Good for hanging up robes, jackets or even a bag filled with hair stuff! And you don't have to buy bins for everything (toys) - get some boxes and let the kids decorate with markers and label for what goes inside.

I haven't read through all of your replies, but one thing I do that helps a lot is to take a picture of things and then throw them away. Then my kids have the memory, but we don't have to keep it ALL. Also I have incentives for my kids to keep their rooms clean. They can't eat breakfast if their beds aren't made (that includes keeping underneath and around their beds clean and hanging up p.j.'s) and I wont tuck them in (they can put themselves to bed) if they don't take care of their clothes for the day. We also do "ten minute tidy's" at night before we start our bed routine. That's where everyone takes ten minutes and runs through the main areas of the house and picks up all their things, and tries to beat the timer for ten minutes. All these work really well to keep things clean. And when no one is looking (shhh, I throw away anything I can get away with).
good luck!
E.

the 15-thing fling!
khairete
S.

I LOVE to organize! I just do. My house used to be tidier before the kids came along but toys come and all the stuff that goes along with kids. The best way is to just keep on top of things. Put mail/papers/magazines in tidy piles. Find ways to stack larger kid toys that don't fit in a toy box or anything, keep toys limited to one area, at the end of the day, clean it up (no matter what). You can get stacking boxes or baskets to keep stuff in and it just looks like decoration around your house (but its actually functional). And if things really look a mess, start in one area first and just go from there. Oh, in your closets, you can get those plastic Rubbermaid drawers (if you have any room) to keep odds and ends in.