How {the kids and} I organize their bathroom cabinet

Last month, my daughter and I tackled getting the kids' bathroom cabinets organized.  So, we're going to share a few tips, tricks, and motivation for you to get yours done also!

 Left side of the kids bathroom cabinet.

The kids' bathroom has a nice-sized counter and cabinets underneath. So, Rachel and I assessed all the stuff under there.  She's seven, and even at her age she realized there was plenty under there she could part with.

We pulled out all the clutter and set it on the floor and began going through it. Some needed to go elsewhere and other stuff she really never used. So, we made decisions on all of that.

We wiped down all the cabinets inside then put clean, fresh contact paper on all the shelves and inside the drawers.

I bought some cheap containers at the 99 Cents Store and we got to organizing.

I always say to have your kids help with organizing because it teaches them as you go. It helps them to see what is important and what is not. It sets an example to show them that it's easy and how to do it.

They get to put the labels on, too. 

When all was done, here is how the cabinet looks now! Lots of room. But, as I have said before, just because you have lots of room doesn't mean you need to fill every square inch of it. If necessary, we have the room to move over some things if I buy toilet paper in bulk and need to store it. 

The other cabinet is lovely as well, with new contact paper!

Under the sink and the kids drawers were straightened and re-configured. 

Here is our oatmeal container turned headband holder on the bathroom counter.  It's full of Rachel's hair things inside, too. 



Under the sink {which is missing some drywall}, I store their bath toys and also a basket with all-purpose {non-toxic} spray cleaner and some rags. This way the kids can do their chore of wiping down the counters more easily.

And that's it! Nothing scientific or crazy, but just getting the kids to learn how to organize and clean up after themselves!

Apartment living!

Imagine, if you will, having a nice, spacious home in the midwest - middle America. You have lots of land, a beautiful home, with a good sized basement. You have three beautiful children and their grandparents close by.Then, your husband realizes that he needs a career change for something more creative and wants to go back to school - to do visual effects for 3D computer generated graphics for entertainment {TV, movies, gaming}, in California!!  AAAhhhh!!
 

How I organize: Kids computer/homework desk

OK...we took the last couple of months off from my regular Wednesday "how I organize" to do a lot of Back to School prepping and organizing. Now we'll dive back into my family room to show you some more areas that I've organized.  The family room is one of those places that everyone congregates in our house.  Our kitchen is actually in the front of our house and the family room is in the middle area.  We have a one-story L-shaped house {about 2400 square feet}. 

I want to show you an area I "created" a few years ago.  I found this great slim, adjustable desk at Overstock.com - it's got adjustable legs which I liked for the kids.  It can have two kids sit at once there.  Our kids' computer is here - out in the open, where everyone can see what they are doing {this is extremely important for parents NOT to have computer/TV in their rooms where you cannot monitor what they see}.  

We DO have them wear headphones cause their websites are not something we all need to hear! They also have a time limit on there, along with safety software {we use a program called Safe Eyes} so they can only go on websites with prior approval and access from the administrator {that would be ME!}.

I have a few dilemmas in this area. But, my main one was the cords! I really do hate cords dangling and a mess.  Isn't it just one of those things you can't stand but seem to have to put up with?

So, I took some of my hubby's cool velcro {remember I did that in our entry dresser?} and started to work on the cords.

Let me just say, cords are AWFUL! AWFUL, AWFUL, AWFUL!  It was one of the hardest things I've ever organized! They were all different lengths, widths, and wanted to go one way or another.  This table is great, but you can't just shove the cables somewhere to hide them!

My hubby does I.T. for a living, so I have DEEP appreciation for him now and for dealing with cords. I told him, too, that I just don't know how he does it! OK...so by the time I got those looking somewhat organized {and sort of pathetic}, then I took the large power strip and strapped it to the table leg. It was previously on the floor and the kids kept kicking it and it would turn off or scrape the wall, so this way seemed like a better idea!

My hubby recently bought the kids a Mini-Mac and so there is not a big box on the floor anymore! Yay! This is much less of a dust collector and just does a perfect job for them to work on. {Yes, Mini-Mac next to a Dell monitor!}

The other problem I had was there are no drawers in the desk to store things and so I bought this cart {years ago} from The Container Store when their Elfa systems were on sale. So, I have them labeled and more access for homework items - paper, pencils, rulers, etc.  

The little tray on top was a quick project I did - on the cheap! I bought the tray at the thrift store on "half-off" day for $1.15! Here is my Pinterest inspiration:

Source: belladia.typepad.com via OrganizingMadeFun on Pinterest

I spray painted it with black paint I had in my paint cupboard, then found some jars left over in my overflow pantry, and sorted out all the coloring pencils, pens and markers. 

Another dilemma I had previously was seating, so I bought these cute stools {at Kmart.com, but I don't think they make this low height anymore, so look at Ikea.com} since having chairs there took up too much space. The stools are fairly comfortable - but not something you'd want to sit on for hours {which is the point!} and slide under the table and out of the way. I can also slide them over to use elsewhere in the room, if needed. 

So there you have it! Our little computer desk area! I didn't do all this at once, but a little bit at a time to come up with the best solution as problems arose! Do you have a computer desk area in a public part of your house for you and/or your kids? What solutions have you come up with? Do you have time limits for them on the computer?

 

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Picking my organizing brain!

My friends like to pick my brain whenever I'm over at their homes.  They "casually" mention that they just can't seem to come up with anything to organize a certain space, then take me in and show me the dilemma.  Well, I DO love to solve a good organizing dilemma and so that always gets me thinking how we can make this work for them.

Organizing {school} lunches!

You may or may not have noticed last week, that on my kids' morning schedules one of their chores is to make their lunch each day for school.  Gasp! I am carrying on the tradition that my mom started!

Whoopsie! Not quite so organized!

I realize that I am supposed to be organized, since I am trying to be an example to others and inspire YOU to organize.  But, hey...I'm human! I'm not perfect and there are just places in this house that I make a mess - yes, ME!  For example...this is our entry dresser.  

Do you remember how I showed you every drawer was arranged just so?

What happened?  Well, see that big gap of space in the back? The nice trays got pushed back and I began using it to hold my stuff for when I go walking each morning and just sort of shoved it in!  Oops! I knew that wasn't going to work and it started driving me crazy!

I was at Target the other day and saw these cute cracker baskets for $1 each! I got them...it wasn't quite what I was looking for, since I really wanted a plastic version in this size but after all the errands I had been running there was nothing in any of the stores that would work.

See? The basket on the far right holds all the things that I need every morning I walk. I just grab it and set it on the table along with my water bottle and house key so that in the morning I just grab and go up "the hill of death."

Everything in it's place. You can see my Iphone strap I use when I walk, my prayer cards, and headphones.

I also have my extra Iphone case, bluetooth, and extra headphones. Theses are all things I rarely use!

Have you ever seen this?  This is velcro on a roll.  My hubby, who helps with the sound technician-y stuff at our church uses this stuff ALL the time for tying cables quickly so they are neat.

It makes an easy way to tie up something that you'll use often, plus you can make it the size you need by just cutting off what you need! Indeed a neat organizing tip, huh?

So, what you do think? Have you got any drawers that need a tweak?







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Paint project!

A few weeks ago I did this post at Pretty Handy Girl.  So, I wanted to share it with YOU! I'm going to show you how I organized all my household paint recently.

It may not seem so bad, when you first look in here.  My paint stash isn't THAT big, is it?  Well, it is...see this is where I was storing half of my paint supplies - in my basement. 

The other half are in my shed outside!  My goal: keep it all in one location! I prefer having it in the basement so I did a little bit of re-organizing. My other goal:  don't spend ANY money on organizing bins.  For Pete's sake, this is paint in the basement! It doesn't need to LOOK pretty! But, I DO need it to function practically!




I got all my paint, spray paint, paint brushes, anything related to painting, and put them in the basement on the floor.  




Wow, that's a LOT of paint.  I even attempted to try and get my friends to take some - a small amount was actually taken! But, there is still a lot left.



My cardboard carry-all box was not functioning as originally intended.  It had now become my "throw it in there and forget about it" box!




A couple of years ago, I was smart and bought many small, quart-sized paint cans at the hardware store.  They aren't expensive and I had a couple left.  I use those to pour that last little bit left from the big gallon paint cans of paint into.

  I highly recommend you dab your finger with the paint, mark the date, the formula or name of paint color, and brand. This way, if you ever DO need more you can have it.




More importantly, write down the date and the room you used it in.  I can't tell you how many cans of paint I forgot to do this with and the colors all start to look alike! Was this the kitchen yellow, the bathroom yellow, or furniture yellow? It's also amazing to realize - "wow, it's been 8 years since I painted the kitchen?" - and realize that it might be time for an update!




My resources for organizing were simple, old containers. I used a small coffee can, a Doritos can, Feta cheese container, a couple of cardboard box-bottoms, and some aluminum left-over containers.  All of these I found in my stash of containers in my overflow pantry.



The large aluminum roasting pan was to house all my spray paint {it was a tiny bit big, so I smooshed it in the front and back to be able to close the door}.  A smaller aluminum pan for the rollers. Two existing plastic boxes for sand paper and rubber gloves {they WERE "organizing" paint supplies in the shed but got unorganized}.



 Then, the feta cheese container to contain my stir sticks...




A coffee can for holding foam brushes...




A Dorito can for my Purdy brushes!


 And then, I put all the quart-sized paint cans into the cardboard box-bottom and stacked another box-bottom on top of the cans to make a "shelf".


This removable "shelf" would hold all the roller handles. I've got a lot - a lot more than I remember!

 I used the third pre-existing plastic box {minus the missing lid} for housing other small, miscellaneous paint supplies {tape, small foam rollers, paint can openers, etc.}.




I also moved out some other entertaining supplies in order to make room for the larger gallon-sized paint cans. Then I simply used the last of my existing plastic boxes to hold my de-glossers {TSP, stone sealers, etc.}.


 Last, I wanted to keep my rectangular, cardboard box for my paint trays and liners.  I like to use this box to "load" up everything and carry upstairs for my paint job!


 In the end, I decided to get rid of a bunch of paint.  Now, keep in mind, you can't "throw away" paint! You must let the can sit out in the sun and completely dry before throwing out {or throw cat litter inside and stir}.  Or, better yet, our city has a "hazardous waste" round-up every September that I plan to take all this paint to!


 You can see here, before and after, it's not drastically different, but I actually added MORE stuff to it and it's more organized.  My goal of not buying a single organizing container was also accomplished! So, I would say it was a success! I'm the only "painter" around here, so the mess was mine and I can't blame anyone else! Now, I'm going to keep it nice.




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