Day 1: Project Home Organization
September 18, 2009 by Kasey
Filed under Home & Garden, Organization
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It’s Day 1 of my home organization project. I’m finally ready to get on with organizing all the things in my life that are driving me crazy. It seems that most days, being a mom and daycare provider, takes all the time I have to just get through the day. Tasks such as organizing a closet, a desk, a drawer or even my paperwork, gets pushed aside. I’m sure most of you can relate to that being a mom and taking care of the kids always comes before the “extras”. Organizing is not something that I want to put on the back burner, it just happens.
I’m not the most organized person in the world, but I want to be and I felt like now was a great time to get started. I’ve always looked forward to the 1st day of school, even when I was not in school or had kids in school. There’s just something about it that gives me a sense of new beginning and renewal. And so, I have decided that now that I am a mom of a preschooler and have a tiny bit of free time each week, I’m going to tackle organizing my family, my home and my life. In my quest for finding the best tips on accomplishing this, I’ve visited several blogs that I would consider “pros” in this area and will be using some of their tips on becoming a more efficient, productive and organized mom and I’ll share this information with you as I go along!
Today I started with my 1st project: Organize my daughter’s craft supplies.
My daughter, Ella, LOVES to color, paint, cut, sticker, draw, and do puzzles and spends most of her free time doing so. It’s the first thing she does in the morning and the last thing she does at night. We didn’t have a designated area for all of her supplies and she normally works at our island on her projects. Ideally, this was not the best set up. Her stuff would be scattered and cluttered and she would always loose things since we only had them in a basket on the counter. I knew I needed something to keep it all in, but didn’t know what. Here’s what I came up with:
1. Preschool Desk from Pottery Barn Kids.
(I was going to link you up to this, but they must have sold out since I ordered it last week.)
This is an adorable little child-sized desk and the kids all love it. I actually think my 15 month old need his very own. He spends alot of time sitting here as well. As cute as it is, it’s not very practical for keeping Ella’s supplies in order. The two drawers are narrow and not very long – just enough room for some pens and pencils and maybe some other little items. So, I came up with another storage solution.
2. 4-shelf Organizer Cube
I picked this up at Michael’s but also saw one at Target. This was a snap to put together and holds all of Ella’s construction paper, drawing paper, notebooks, coloring books and marker and crayon holders. I even placed some of her scissors and stickers in closed containers on top of the cube. For now, it sits on the island in the kitchen so that the little kids don’t make confetti out of the contents. My plan is to sit Ella’s desk beside my desk (that will be delivered this weekend) and place the cube on my desk for her to use. I also have another modular storage system on order that we’ll put together later.
But this is a good start. It doesn’t look like much, but I feel a ton better AND more productive since I got this all organized today. I’m also going to be working on a great tip from Simple Mom for all of Ella’s completed artwork. She has some great ideas to storing and displaying all those special pieces that I’d like to save but not have it just cluttered into a drawer or taped all over the house like it currently is.
I’ll keep you updated every step of the way on my Project: Home Organization. In the meantime, send me your tips and tricks that you use to keep your child’s projects and hobbies in order. I’d love to see pictures as well. I’ll post them right here!
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Sounds like a great start, I’m getting ready to start this task myself! I just went out and got myself a extra 5×7 storage unit to store things in cause I need the extra space in my storage room. I’m hoping this weekend I can get a lot of things done in my home and get it back to normal! I tend to be depressed when my house is turned upside down! Good luck and can’t wait to see the next step!
Lisa, I’m the same way. I get so anxious and depressed when my home is cluttered. I feel like I can’t function fully. With 2 small children and 3 daycare kids…I have to be more organized or I’ll drive us all crazy! LOL
Looks like you’re off to a much better start than I am. LOL
Cat´s last blog ..Macy’s Come Together Giveaway
Have to start somewhere, Cat. It’s hard, but you have to just jump in!
LOL wanna come do my house next? Your doing great keep up the good work!
Jess´s last blog ..PediPeds New Fall/Winter Line
Jess, come help me and I’ll come help you when we’re done! : )
Oh darn it goes both ways huh lol
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Love that desk! I need some kind of desk for my kids’ arts and crafts stuff too. Its out of control. But I also need to block it off somehow so the 2 year old’s aren’t pulling stuff out and drawing on my walls.
Marianna´s last blog ..Check out the JuiceBoxJungle Widget!
OH I know! My 15 mo old is into it all. I had to take all the little stuff out of the desk and put it on the counter with the organizer. He had crayon marks all over the place last night!
WOW! Kudos to you for even tacking this. I am so far behind in organizing. I really need to get started. Your post inspired me to get off my lazy butt and start organizing, most especially in the kid’s room.
Thanks for the post.
Kids rooms are the worst! So many toys from all different ages. Throw in some clothes, shoes, hair ties, pictures, blankets and who knows whatelse and its downright overwhelming! Good luck!
I love that desk so cute
you’re off good!I need to organize hubby’s office badly, but I’m too busy with our master bedroom now 
Firefly´s last blog ..Over The Top
Well, atleast you’ve started somewhere. It takes time to get to it all, but if you keep at it…one day it’ll all get done! Good luck with the bedroom.
Kudos to you for taking the next step. I absolutely LOVE the desk. TOO Cute.
Kasandria
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Thanks! I have a lot more to do, but I’ll get there!
Great job, I love that desk, I want to get the table and chairs they have there.
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OH I know! Don’t they have the cutest stuff ever? I just wish I could afford whatever I wanted to buy!
Great job I so need to get to some organizating around here. Thanks for the motivation
It’s hard to get motivated to organize. When there are so many other things to do, it’s hard to get it done.
Sounds like it’ll turn out nice! I belong to Flylady who offers great organizational tips. Keep a small basket in the room to drop things into to put way when there’s more time!
Visiting from MD!
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OH, I haven’t heard of the Flylady. I’ll have to check it out!!
I admire you forging ahead!!! It can be so daunting to corral all the stuff a family accumulates! I will be interested in following your journey and taking notes!!
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Thanks Shannon! I’m working on some posts to update my progress. Be on the lookout!
I am embarking on some major purging and organizing…I hope you will share more of the process as you keep going…I love getting ideas from others.
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It is quite a journey, but atleast it is one you can see results from fairly quickly. Can’t wait to share more with you!
[...] first project was to organize my 3 year old’s crafty stuff. I’m happy to report that it is STILL organized and my system is working brilliantly. [...]