Attacking Two Boys' Massive Messes!!!

Oh Boy! If I were a fake person who wanted to carry on the "Martha" persona that gets randomly thrown at me, I would NOT post this. I cleaned out my boys' rooms today on my first day at home in forever! What a fun way to relax on my day off!

But I'm an organizer and you know what, people constantly admit they don't want me to see their closets or I'll 'flip' when I see their house or they have to clean before I come over and guess what, we all have to deal with things getting out of hand! My boys' rooms are my 'issue'. My bedroom is on the lower floor so I avoid their wing at times as it stresses me out! I've been promising them that we were going to ATTACK and today we did! So, here's how it went!

Phase 1--The Before!

What? Where's the picture? Oops! Okay so it was bad. You could walk through their rooms but it was bad. Their closets were mounds of toys and not one bin was holding the correct items as they were just throwing stuff wherever. It was a mound of toys.

Phase 2--Empty your room!

Seems drastic but it is the best visual for them to not only see their room clean but when you have 2 kids the same sex, sorting legos in one central area just makes more sense. So I had them bring everything out to the loft area. Start with one bin and if it's mostly legos, get the rest out and fill it with legos! See lots of kinetics, start a bin and keep going! Oh and USE the trash bags! So here is the loft after they sorted for 4-5 hours and I joined for the last 3. Full on rushing, craziness--no sitting. This was WORK.

Here is the bar where there are bags that I'm getting rid of that we never use and I think you can see 5 garbage bags. There are 2 in the loft area and some in both the bedrooms and we ended up with 9 bags total!!!

Phase 3--put it all away!

They picked their bins by priority and I inspected each bin to make sure it was sorted by like items and confirmed they were playing with those items. Once "approved" (they loved this) they put it away. Carter had 2 huge bins of matchbox cars. He is almost 8 and hardly ever touches them! So I made him sort down to one bin by picking his favorites and that was it! I worked all day and still need to organize their bookcases but the closets are done! Woo hoo! James, who is usually the messy one, got rid of a LOT! He is 10 now and doesn't need all the matchbox stuff like he used to. He is a legos freak and has TONS--the bottom two bins are just legos. I hope that this cleaner area will really help make things easier for him to manage. I am OVER small parts and I worked hard to get rid of stuff that wasn't used often!

Carter seemed neater but he has stuff stashed everywhere and had to keep more than James. He has a fun built in bed with lots of niches and places to stash stuff and I'm going to need to watch him so he doesn't let this get crazy again.

I love clear MATCHING bins for kids rooms. Look at how clean this looks. Imagine if I had the same system but some had a green lid, 3 had blue lids with a big curve, some were colored, etc. It is an initial investment but if you get good bins, they last forever! I have the clear shoe boxes from The Container Store, which I ordered by the case online, and they are used throughout my house and are the ONLY bins. Super easy long term and kids need to SEE what's on the bottom of their bins and boxes!!!

My cousin Wendy asked me about lego storage recently. We've done it all--big table, tried to sort by the kit, one big bin, sort by color but where we have ended up is a multi storage system. First, we have the 2 big bins in the closet filled. If I pick up, that's where I put things. But this fun thing is on his wall near where he plays and it's an easy place for him to toss them. If he had to walk all the way to his closet every time he found a tiny piece, it would be far worse. This unzips on the bottom so he can dump them all out and then it comes out of the holder so he can fill it and put it back on the holder and it's all picked up! There's a large lid bin in his closet with all his directions to all the kits he owns and he has a display area in his room for the things he has made that he doesn't want to put away. I think you have to make it easy to get to and easy to pick up or it won't work well. This works for us!

Someday I'll get photos of their rooms up but I am thrilled their closets are so clean now and had to share!

My System for sorting Mail and School Work

I promised that I would write a blog about how I sort my 'stuff'. Whether I am chit chatting with friends or problem solving with clients, many topics come up that appear to be an ongoing issue and one is paperwork! Whether it is mail or school work or church and organization flyers, it is hard to manage. The number one rule is 'touch it once' and that requires strict sorting discipline! It sounds like 'work' but it is very exciting to see a stack of stuff and turn it into a few things and be done with it. I promise! So, last week I promised that when I came home from helping my sister for 3 days that I would show you my stack of stuff that arrived while I was gone and show you how I knock it out! You won't find stacks of mail and paperwork at my house but if you look around you will find several different organizing tools that help me accomplish the same things we all have to accomplish. Bills, school paperwork, filing, tax items, school art work that I want to keep, things I want to hold onto but don't need to do anything with, magazines and catalogs that I want to read and on and on and on . . . They are all here but they have a place and I am very picky about what stays and what goes.

So, here is the stack that I came home to:

-A box from the scout store

-many catalogs including walmart and Tiffany, what a contrast in my mailbox!

-Bills, a check for scouting as I am treasurer, Christmas card and lots of junk mail

-School Papers and a receipt that I paid for a fieldtrip

Okay, you must sort everything now! It's a couple seconds when it comes in the door but if you stack ALL the bills and have to sort all of it at the end of the month, the 'bill paying' chore will seem large. It only takes me a few minutes to pay bills with this system. Here's what I kept and what I tossed.

-Tossed all the envelopes from bills, all I need is the bill as I bill pay online

- kept reward check, like a gift card
-kept scout shirt
-catalogs that were boring I flipped through quickly and tossed
-magazines and catalogs that I want to really look at go in my magazine bin. Once I read it, I recycle it but until I read it, it goes in my bin!
-kept Christmas Card
-kept money for scout account
-Tossed school items that were uneventful, 1 item had a lot of writing so I wanted to keep that.
-kept a magazine from school for my 4th grader

Here's my first secret. This table is rather large and is in the center of my family room. The white bin with the ribbon is my magazine bin and I read them and look at the catalogs when I watch tv. I have parties and no one has ever even noticed one of my biggest organizing secrets sitting right here, under the table.

TAKE A PEEK!

Bend down a bit and look under my coffee table.

Here they are in full view for you. They are actually 'containers' that I think were intended as planters from Southern Living At Home, aren't they pretty?

Well at my house, the big one is my trash can and the little one is my urgent TO DO bin. Whatever comes in that needs 'action' within the next couple days goes here. I look in it daily and do what is needed and it's small and never full. My office is not far but to make life simple, there is a pen, pencil, checkbook and pad of paper inside for me!

Nothing on my table was urgent that day. Now, I should define what I think is allowed to be put in "to do". If it takes longer than 2 minutes and you need time to do it, then it should go there but the check for cub scouts that came in the mail, I just filled out a deposit slip and that is done so it didn't need to go in there. If it had been 15 checks and cash from popcorn sales, it would have gone in there! Touching it once requires that you really use your time. If I had put that check down to handle later, I would have used up more time than to just do it now!

So Where Did The Rest Go?

Here are a few spots in my office. They seem pretty and are decorative items but they have high function! The green bin has all my bills. When it's bill time, I grab the bin, pay my bills and that's it! NOTHING goes in the bin except the bill--envelopes, flyers, promo junk has all been tossed while sorting the day the bill came into the house. I literally take out 8 or so pieces of paper.

The black basket is my Pending To Do. Meaning, it isn't urgent but I need to do something with it soon or I am waiting for someone else to do something. For an example, right now, here is what is in this bin--notebook with measurements because tomorrow I need to finalize a kitchen design, stack of documents I need to hold onto until I confirm that our old insurance is completely cancelled, a school project for my son that is due Friday and I am holding onto the rules, a scouting assignment that we need to work on and info I need for a reunion I am the treasurer for. Notice that anything Pending requires action at some point. If you just want something (article, catalog, school work) those items are a reference or memory item and need a different place.

Here is where I display the kids' work that I or they love. In the black cabinet is a drawer where this year's school work is that I want to hold on to. It is not a large drawer but I do not need to keep a lot either! Their report cards and 'official' items go in a school file folder in a file cabinet but their work and art are considered memories. I have a system for memories that I wrote a while ago and you can read in detail about my school work suggestions here.

The writing assignment that I wanted to keep went on this wall and the school magazine that my son needs to read went to his desk in his room. In a week, I will find it and toss it! He is still a kid!

Sometimes newsletters come home from school and some keep them or post them. I suggest you read it and immediately put dates in your calendar and anything you need to take action on (send and item in, talk to a teacher about something) should go on your To Do list. Then toss the newsletter.

This catalog bin is by my back door and it hold catalogs that I want to hold onto. Most catalogs you can view online but unique ones like Southern Living at Home, Tastefully Simple and many many other home show sales items aren't available online so I hold onto those.

Attached to this are 2 clips. The one on the left holds things that I need to take somewhere with me. Bank deposits are almost always on there and sometimes a document I need to drop off somewhere. The one on the right holds gift cards and coupons.

The reward check that I recieved went onto the right clip and the scout deposit went on the left clip.

I have a display area for Christmas Cards so that is where that went!

The bins in my mudroom have all our scouting stuff. I am NOT a fan of letting these uniforms along with sport uniforms end up in my kids rooms as inevitably, they can't find them when you need them! Makes me CRAZY! So I control these items and they go in 2 of these bins! I toss them in the dryer to get the wrinkles out in case you wonder how I store shirts in there--it's a sacrifice I make to not have to search for them every week!

So the new shirt went straight into the bin!

The garbage went out the door! Stack is done! Writing this, it seems like a lot of info and may seem like I did a lot but the work is in setting up the system! The sorting of this stack took me 4 minutes and I was done! I told you Rule #1--Touch it Once. But Rule #2 really made this work in 4 minutes. Rule #2--A Place or everything and everything in its place! It is not a cliche, it really makes life easy!

I mentioned that I am made fun of for being organized and I am a dork in that I love systems and finding solutions and really have a passion for making life easier on myself and others! So I'm teased a bit, whatever. I was shopping in a cute boutique this weekend and saw a cute saying that I thought those of you that like to make fun of me would like. It seems that you can find a way to make fun of anyone so here you go:

Organized People

Are Just To Lazy

To Look For

Their Stuff!

Happy Sorting! And remember, TOUCH IT ONCE!

My system

I get teased. It's a problem but also an amusement. I am an organizer. I love to be organized. My brain requires I be organized. Friends recently commented that they wanted to know where 'my stuff' was. Where is 'my stash' and 'my piles'. I have systems, not stashes! I answered questions which got them going on teasing me more about how their brain hurt from all the info. It made me realize that I should probably show you instead of tell you because it is NOT that complicated. I think it is really simple. Cut and Dry. Black and White. If you have systems, there's only a few places where you need to put things.

So, Follow me through a day!

Here's my plan. I am going to be out of town all weekend. I leave Friday morning. So I will come home to several days of mail, paperwork from school, magazines, sales flyers, etc. I will show you my "process". I will photograph and list what I had to work through on Monday and publish this sometime on Tuesday! And you will see that it is not only SIMPLE but also PRETTY and NEAT! I promise, no headaches . . .

A forgotten hall closet

This closet was a great place for things to "collect". It had lots of random stuff and it was a place where they looked for things they needed, not sure if it was there or not. One of those "maybe it's in the hall closet?" spaces. This space was a perfect spot to organize all their household items--light bulbs, cat food, tools, batteries, extension cords--all those things you need but often end up under the sink or in a desk drawer. I picked up a few of my favorite things (these bins, notice how there isn't an ugly gray handle on it!) and viola! A space perfect for all thier household items. Now when they need something, they know exactly where it is!

"Make Me Pretty" said the desk . . .

Can you tell these clients have a BIG house? They don't even NEED this area! Surrounding this area by their garage entry are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom and one room is a large office. So this area did not need to be used at all as an office but it did need something!

The Challenge:
Move the collectibles to another area. Create a space that looks good!

What Worked:
Decor: Clean Slate
Organization: Lots of space!

What Didn't Work:
Decor: This became a space where things collected. I didn't take a picture before I moved a few things but it basically housed extra wine and collectibles.
Organization: There are drawers but they weren't organized. It was an easy catch-all. However, there was no home for anything so her purse and his keys ended up in the kitchen or laundry room or sometimes here. The goal was to find places where all these things belonged! They own 2 businesses and had lots of paperwork, flyers, marketing they wanted to read, pending decisions, industry magazines, etc. that ended up in other areas as well and I wanted to find a place for them to sort these things too.

I organized this space along with several closets all at once in order to zone everything. Batteries are now in one place and not in 4 different areas, for example. The desk holds everyday office type supplies like tape, pens and thank you cards! No more screwdrivers and light bulbs here!

The basket holds things like sunglasses, the hooks hold keys and her purse and the tower sorts all their pending business materials until they are ready to take action or toss them. The bulletin board holds pictures, invitations and upcoming items. The clips can be used by anyone for whatever their 'thing' is that always seems to be sitting around. Maybe it's paperwork to take with you or forms to send to school or banking if you run a business from home. For this family, they always had coupons as well as gift cards sitting around so the clips are labeled and now they have a home for them!

Family Resources

Every family needs a place to hold your reference items and my solution is a Family Resource Binder. What goes in it? Well that depends on your family. Mine has a menu section, school schedules, homemade gift ideas that I might want to use someday, a 'personal education' section where I have an article about wine and books I would like to read, vacation spots I'd like to some day visit and the list goes on.

After sorting through your clutter areas and determining what it is you are holding onto and why, I can create a custom Family Resource Binder for your family.




If I am not organizing your home but you would like one, I will gladly make one for you at a cost of $65. That includes the following: Binder, 80 pages to hold your items, custom cover where you and I will work together to select the colors that best fit your home, custom tabs that coordinate with your cover, and Content page that details the topics of your Family Resource binder. We will determine the "content page" together, based on your family's needs and you will be given a word document of that content page so that as your family changes and grows, your Family Resource Binder can as well.

You can contact me at Kiersten@ThePrettyNeatCompany.com if you would like to discuss your own Family Resource Binder.

Calendars, post its and pens!

Are you always looking for these things? How many times have you said 'just a second, let me find a pen' or 'let me get a piece of paper . . . '? And what about that calendar? I'll admit, I had my years when my husband was able to say, I didn't see that on the calendar! Well, now he can't! I love scrapbooking and whenever I can find a way to make something that helps me stay organized, I go for it! My board is right at our side entrance where we can't miss it! The events pocket is where I slip a child's bday invitation or concert tickets or a printout receipt for an upcoming convention I have registered for--anything that is on that calendar that I will need for an event! The emergency contact tag is quite simple--numbers a babysitter would need most likely but poison control is there too and I may need that someday. The post it notes are obvious but where are the pens? The flowers! My now 9 year old helped me make those when he was 4 and I love to be reminded of that sweet day. My husband and children would never walk off with these so I always have pens just for me! Of course, I bought my favorite pens because this is all about making something work for the person using the space! If you aren't into flowers or even the scrapbook look, this can be done with a memo board and very classic labels and the post its and pens could be in a stainless steel hanging system or drawer built into a cork board.

Kitchens

I believe kitchens can be functional and that things can be in easy reach without being cluttered. As a kitchen designer as well as Mom to two boys, I strongly encourage appliance garages. This kitchen, which I designed for my own home, has two. The one in the corner has a plug in it and the toaster is always plugged in. The one on the right hold those 'all the time' things like bread and salt and pepper and the butter dish. The paper towels are even on the counter but you can't tell because it is behind the hand towels on a beautiful rack I found at http://www.ballarddesign.com/. I have many ideas when it comes to where things should be placed and how food should be organized and would love to help you reorganize your kitchen so it functions better for you. If you are building in the future, I can assist you in two ways. #1--I can work with you through out the entire design process. I am the designer for our family owned cabinet company, Interior Cabinet Design and we sell 4 brands that can cover any design element you require from the very high end where the options are limitless to our lower price point that provides gorgeous, high quality cabinets with flexible yet affordable design features or #2-- if you have a cabinet company in place but want to ensure you are maximizing your new spaces for the way your family will live, I can provide a design consultation to ensure you are maximizing your storage, space and functionality. Everything CAN be in your reach without it being seen!