Simple Ideas to Organize Your Kitchen

Simple Ideas to Organize Your Kitchen

The kitchen is often known as the heart of the home. It is the place where we gather to eat, cook, entertain, and spend time with friends and family. As a result, the kitchen can become one of the most difficult rooms to organize and keep clean. Try some of these tips and time savers to organize your kitchen and simplify your life. Countertops: • Clean your countertops and remove any item or appliance you do not use at least once a week. • Keep cookbooks to a minimum and store away the ones you don’t use on a regular basis. Pots/Pans/Containers: • Store pots and pans in a cabinet beneath or next to the stove for easy access. • Place baking sheets, cake pans, pizza pans, etc. in a cabinet beneath or next to the oven. You can use a rack to help arrange baking sheets by size and those used most often. • Consider suspending pots and pans on a wall or from a ceiling mounted rack to maximize cabinet and storage space. • Store microwave safe containers in a cabinet near the microwave. Arrange containers by size and stack one inside of the other if possible. Throw away plastic containers that are no longer used. Pantry: • Store each item so that it is easily handy and visible. • Group canned goods together and stack so that their labels can easily be seen. Discard canned goods and jars that have passed their expiration dates or are more than a year old. • Place pasta, cereal, rice, and other dried foods in labeled plastic storage containers. • Store gravy packets, seasoning packets, etc. in a small, clear plastic tub for easy access. • Line up boxes with their 'spines' facing front (like library books). • If possible, store the most often used items at eye level. • Choose a lower shelf for paper storage and place all napkins, towels and plates together. • Store heavy items, such as boxes of soda and juice, on the floor or on a lower shelf. • If you have extra wall space, consider hanging up storage hooks, a hand vacuum, a bulletin board or other helpful organizing items. • Purchase handy space saving products such as stacking containers, caddies to store foil and wax paper, and sturdy baskets for onions, garlic and potatoes. • If you have school-age children, create a snack shelf of parent-approved treats. Refrigerator: • Designate certain shelves in your refrigerator for specific items. For example, use your top shelf for beverages, your bottom shelf for leftovers, place produce in its drawer, and place condiments in the door of the refrigerator. • Delegate one day of the week to tossing out old foods. Consider cleaning out your refrigerator on the same day you go to the grocery store. Since you will be adding new items in your refrigerator it is a great time to toss out old food to make space. Spices: • Organize spices on a spice rack and place the ones used most often in the front row. • If you have a shallow drawer near your stove, consider laying all of your small spice jars in there. Place them label side up so it is easy to view them all at once. • Most dried spices lose their flavor in six months. Discard any spices that are older than six months or you no longer use. To keep track of the freshness of spices, write the purchase date or throw away date on the bottle with a black marker. Misc. • Consider recycling products to help organize your kitchen. You can label shoe boxes and use them to store items such as cookie cutters, candles, appliance accessories, etc. You can also use checkbook boxes to store items such as matches, batteries, and smaller items. • Square containers take up less space and fit more efficiently on shelves than round ones. • Place hooks inside a cabinet door to hang cooking utensils on. This will help to clear drawer space. • If you have school age kids or someone who carries their lunch to work, create an area in your kitchen for lunch-making. Stock it with lunch boxes and/or brown bags, plastic wraps/bags, thermos, quarters and small containers. • Utilize bins and baskets to keep “like items” together. • Store trash bags near or in the bottom of trash can for easy changing. By using some or all of these tips, you can be well on your way to a more organized kitchen. Happy Organizing! Lesley Dietschy is a freelance writer and the creator/editor of The Home Decor Exchange. The Home Decor Exchange is a popular home and garden website featuring resources, a shopping marketplace, articles, decorating pictures, free projects, and more. http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com

Tips for Organizing Your Monthly Bills and Paperwork

Do you get hit with late fees because you forget to pay your bills on time? Do you constantly waste time searching for that cable bill you left somewhere in the house? Spend an hour organizing your personal bills and papers now, and this will save you time and frustration in the future. Plus, this helps make tax time easier because you already have everything in one place. First of all, have a place where you sort your mail every day. Junk mail gets trashed or recycled right away. Magazines and catalogs should go in a rack to read later. Open your bills, make a note of the due date and immediately put them on your desk in a small file until you write the check. A small letter file that sits on your desk works well- no need to buy any fancy tickler file unless you think that will work better for you. It’s best to start in January, but you can begin to set up your filing system at any time during the year. Use a filing cabinet or plastic storage box to store all your files. I prefer a plastic file box because at year end I can carry it to the basement to store with other old records. If you have more than 10 bills a month, use a separate manila folder for each company you write a check to. I prefer to use the manila file jackets instead because they have closed sides that prevent small receipts from falling out and getting lost. Create a folder for Miscellaneous for those people or companies you only pay once or twice each year, such as insurance or magazine subscriptions. You can also use this folder to keep those occasional letters you need to write during the year but don’t know where to file them. Make a folder for bank statements and another one labeled “For income taxes.” As you pay a bill that can be deducted on your tax return (such as real property tax or medical bills), file it in this folder instead of your paid bills file. Name one folder “Investments” for any paperwork that comes regarding your 401(k) or IRA during the year. If you pay less than 10 checks a month, you don’t need a separate folder for each company-you can manage with only one file folder for all of your bills for the whole year. Keep all your paycheck or direct deposit stubs in an envelope or folder, newest one on top. I use a regular letter envelope for mine, and always keep them until I verify that my W-2 is correct when it arrives in January. Pay your bills as you get paid- either weekly or bi-weekly. If you are paid monthly, chances are you will have to pay some of your bills during the month, so schedule time to pay bills every other week. Be sure to allow a week’s mailing time if you pay by check. If you pay online, this chore will be easier, and in most instances you can set up your payment in advance of the due date. After you write the check or pay online, be sure to mark the bill “Paid” with the date and check number before you file it in the folder you have set up. At the end of December, create new files so you can be ready for the next year. By organizing your bills and setting up a filing system, you will wind up spending less time on this chore every week. And, next tax season all you will need to do is pull the file “For income taxes” to begin preparing your tax returns. Kathy Swann has over 25 years experience in office administration, payroll and Human Resources. Her e-book "How to Win When You Lose Your Job: A Handbook for Those Soon to Be Unemployed” was written to help employees understand what benefits are available to them should they lose their job through no fault of their own.

Simplify Your Wardrobe and Closet

Okay - show of hands, even though I can't see them.... How many of you have done any of the following in the past 90 days: Put on an outfit only to realize you liked the top or bottom but did not have a matching top or bottom that you liked to wear with it, and thus changed out of it? Tried on more than 2 outfits for a single event? Tried on something in your closet only to discover you no longer like the way it looks, but left it in your closet anyway? Argued with a child (or had a long conversation) about what they were going to wear? Scrambled to find a matching outfit for your child? Wanted to wear something only to discover it needed to be mended, ironed or dry-cleaned so chosen to wear something else? Have a pile of clothes that need repairing, ironing or dry cleaning that have not moved forward in any of the aforementioned processes in the last 3 weeks? This week's challenge is geared toward your personal wardrobe, but I strongly encourage you to do this with any children's wardrobes if you are responsible for getting them dressed in the morning. It is simply amazing how much time we spend putting on and taking off, searching for a missing item of clothing or a 'match,' running errands to dry clean or mend, ironing, pre-soaking, taking something off in frustration and then adding it to a pile we will later have to fold so we can repeat the process later! Since dressing is something we do daily, it is important to tackle on the simple path. When we don't have good routines and practices in place, what should be a simple task becomes a source of stress and lost-time. Not to mention, it isn't a great feeling to put something on and decide you don't like how it looks first thing in the morning! Here is how I went about the practice of simplifying my wardrobe. You can do this exercise over the course of a week or take a long weekend to get everything in order. First, wash and repair everything you own so everything is clean and ready for a clear decision. Remove all special occasion clothes that you need to keep but don't wear on a regular basis. Store them at an end rod of your closet, or better yet in a different closet. Begin with three piles ... 1. Your favorite items: You wear them a lot, you feel good in them and they are comfortable. 2. Things you don't wear for whatever reason. 3. Things that fall in between 1 and 2 - you don't love them, but you wear them. Now let's revisit pile 1, the most important pile. The first step is to match everything up. What bottoms go with what tops? Lay out these loveable outfits in sets, making sure everything has a match (and yes, one pair of jeans can have multiple matching tops). The goal here is to make sure that no-faves-are left behind. If you find you have bottoms or tops you love, but don't have a matching loveable counterpart, see if you can find anything in pile 3 that works. Make sure to try it on and ensure you are satisfied with the combo. If not, put this 'stray loveable item' in its own area of the closet. Once you have completed this step ask yourself the following question of the combos you have made. Are these combos easy for me to maintain? Move any that require special care into their own grouping. Now count up the combos you have left. How many are there? Next, think about how often you will do laundry. If you do laundry weekly, do you have 7 outfits? If you do laundry twice a week, do you have 3 or 4? If you find that you have enough outfits to get through between laundering then you have discovered your core wardrobe. Carefully put these items back in your closet, keeping them grouped together for easy 'grabbing.' Now we have to look at these other piles that you have made. If you find that you easily have enough comfortable outfits to last several launderings, then it is time to think about seriously trimming your wardrobe. Why keep anything in pile 2 or 3? If you have plenty of matching combos in pile 1, why settle for something that makes you feel less than wonderful? If you find you are lacking in pile 1 combos, grab the yellow pages and look up a consignment shop. Take items from piles 2 and 3 and place them on consignment or hold a garage sale. Use that money to finance more 1-combos. (Make sure to try everything on before purchasing!!!!) After you have put your combos back into your closet, check to see what you have in the odds-and-ends favorite grouping. Make a list and tuck it in your wallet of items that need matches. Decide if is worth the time and money and the maximum you are willing to spend on the item. Keep this with you as you go about your errands and consult it before adding new clothes to your wardrobe. Then you are buying-on-purpose, instead of on impulse. People have asked me what I think a good number of 'combos' is to have at-the-ready. I personally think 10 is perfect for each life area... 10 home combos, 10 work combos, and then 4 church combos. If you live in a seasonal area like I do, then you would have 10 for summer work, summer home, etc. and 10 for winter. Return any of the higher-maintenance combos to your closet as well. Store these items in a different area of the closet and remember when you pull from this section, the time investment is greater. Make sure you have a plan for getting the item to the dry cleaner or ironed, so it doesn't pile up and become clothing clutter. There are many great options for purchasing wonderful clothing without breaking the bank. However when clothes shopping, it is very important to be in the right mindset. You want to go on a day where you are not pressed for time and plan on trying everything on (even t-shirts)! Everything fits everyone differently. If you prefer to catalog shop, that is fine, just make sure the stores makes returns easy. I like Newport News as they have good clothes in all sizes and the return process is very easy and the last time I ordered, there was not a time limit on the return. What about piles 2 and 3? Good question! After you have completed the above assignments, I want you to stand and look at the nice combos you put together and how think about how they make you feel. Then look at your other two piles. Do you really want or need to keep them? Do you want the clutter? Personally, when I did this, I took it all to a women's shelter. It was 18 bags of clothes, shoes and miscellaneous. Honest. (I told you I wasn't born simple!) I was a little paranoid and nervous as I did it and thought my husband would have a fit but I did it anyway. When I walked into my closet that next morning it felt great. No crammed stuff everywhere. No searching. No debating. No trying something on and then throwing it into a pile. I loved everything there. If you aren't ready to stomach the big give-away, then please do this. Package it all up in bags and boxes and either store it out of the way or stack it in the closet. Live with your simple wardrobe for the next 30 days. Then come back and see if you are ready for the big giveaway. Once you have completed this process with your day-to-day wardrobe, consider applying the principles to your special-occasion clothing as well. Since special occasion clothing is worn infrequently keep only your 'pile 1 combos.' Then consider applying these principles to simplify young children's wardrobes as well. Excerpted from the 30 Day Walk Toward Simplicity Class. (Visitwww.changeyourlifechallenge.com/class.htm to learn more about this class) Brook Noel is the creator of the best-selling 70 Day Life Makeover Program for Women .. The Change Your Life Challenge.http://www.changeyourlifechallenge.com This program has helped thousands of women take control of their home, finances, relationships, clutter, time-managmenet and more. She is the author of 19 books and maintains three free newsletters. The Daily Rush is devoted to quick and easy recipes; Good Morning! is a daily newsletter to get your day off to a great start and The Challenge Weekly offers a personal challenge for self-improvement each week. To sign up for these free newsletters please visit http://www.changeyourlifechallenge.com/news.htm

50 Ideas to Organize Your Home

Organize is a familiar word heard on many of today’s popular decorating shows. Every family has its struggles with some type of clutter whether it is stacks of papers or a cluttered and cramped bathroom. In fact, the National Association of Professional Organizers reports that 80% of what we keep we never use, we wear 20% of the clothes we own while the other 80% hangs there just in case, and 25% of adults say they pay bills late because they lost them. If you have stacks of papers, frazzled mornings, or lost car keys, use the following ideas to help you organize your family and home. Evenings/Mornings: 1. If you have rushed mornings, make lunches, set out clothes, and put everything you need for the next day in a designated area the night before. Have kids pack homework and books in their backpack so they will be ready for the next day. 2. Place your purse, briefcase and keys in a designated area every day so you always know where they are. 3. Decide the night before what is on the menu for breakfast the next morning. If the family is to have cereal, set out the cereal boxes, bowls, and spoons. 4. Make a “to do” list for the next day and organize it according to what task needs to be completed first. 5. Fill the gas tank the day before so you won’t have to worry about getting gas if you are running late the next morning. Bathrooms: 6. To organize countertop clutter, purchase a plastic tub with a handle on top. Place all of your accessories such as hair spray and lotion, in the tub and place under the counter. Take the tub out when you are ready to use it and then put it back under the counter when you are finished with it. 7. To organize your shower, buy shower caddies to place your soaps and shampoos in. There are numerous styles available in many discount and fine department stores. 8. To help keep your shower doors clean, buy a water squeegee (like you use on your windows) and place it in the shower. When you are done taking a shower just wipe down the doors with the squeegee and you’ll have a clean and dry shower door. Many of the squeegees come with a whole in the handle, which is convenient for hanging it up in the shower with a suction cup. 9. Install a straight magnet in your medicine cabinet for tweezers, nail clippers, and scissors. 10. Store reading material in a decorative magazine rack. As you add new magazines, throw away the older ones to keep the magazine rack from overflowing. 11. Throw away items in your bathroom that are old or you don’t use anymore, such as make-up, lotions, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications, old razors, sunscreen, and perfume. 12. If you are out of space in your bathroom cabinets for towels, roll them up and display them in a decorative basket next to the shower or bath tub. 13. Install hooks on the back of your bathroom door or wall space for towels and robes. 14. Use drawer organizers for makeup, jewelry, ponytail holders, and other loose items. 15. Place a shelving unit above the toilet for storing extra towels, washcloths, and other accessories. 16. Put a clock in each bathroom so everyone can be on time. Closet: 17. Place baskets in your closet for laundry and dry cleaning. 18. Sort through your clothes and anything you don’t wear anymore, bag and donate to a local charity. This includes clothes that are no longer in fashion, no longer fit, or clothes you haven’t worn in a year. Also, get rid of those worn out and/or uncomfortable shoes you no longer wear. 19. Separate your clothes by season. If you have a tall closet with several rows of rods, place current seasons clothes on the lowest level and move out of season clothes on the tallest rods. 20. Categorize your clothes by purpose, such as work, casual, and formal. 21. Gather all unused wire hangers and take them to the dry cleaners to recycle. 22. Hang scarves on a hanger or scarf rack. Also, hang belts and ties on hangers or racks. 23. Use a shoe rack to keep shoes organized and throw out shoe boxes that clutter the floor. 24. Install hooks on the closet wall to hang up hats and purses. 25. Store clothes that you want to save in a vacuum sealed plastic bag. These bags pack down for storing under the bed or in a closet. Remember to save only the clothes that you think will be worn! Kitchen: 26. Organize your cabinets into several categories such as plates, glasses, Tupperware, kid’s plates and sippy cups. Place the plates on one shelf, the glasses on another shelf, and so on. This way when you empty the dishwasher, you or other family members will always know where everything goes. 27. Group your foods together in the pantry for easy access and to help you identify when inventory is getting low. For example, group together your canned goods, cereals, pasta, etc. 28. Place all packets (gravy, Jell-O, sauces) in a basket and place on shelf. 29. Purchase a spice rack that works best for your cabinet. Alphabetize your spices and place frequently used spices on the front of the rack and all others towards the back of the rack. 30. For all of those plastic containers and Tupperware items, dedicate one cabinet or drawer for those items and try to purchase stackable containers to maximize your space. 31. Save your countertop space for items you use daily. Only display cookbooks that you really use and if possible store your canister set in your pantry instead of on the counter. 32. If you have a collection of clipped recipes that are filling drawers and countertop space, purchase a three-ring binder in a color that matches your decor, a box of plastic sheet protectors (to protect your recipes), paper, and a set of dividers with tabs. Glue each recipe onto a piece of paper (use front and back of each piece of paper) and then place into a sheet protector. Categorize recipes (breakfast, desert, etc.), label the tabs, and place recipes in binder. Additional tip, if you purchase a binder that has pockets, store clipped recipes that you want to try in the pockets before adding them to your collection. 33. Do you have mounds of plastic bags from the grocery store? Place about 10 bags inside of 1 bag and throw the rest away. You can always get more the next time you go to the grocery store. 34. Get in a habit of cleaning out your refrigerator every time you bring home groceries. Dispose of any food that is no longer edible or your family is not going to eat. Kid’s Room: 35. In a boy’s room, put a basketball hoop over a laundry basket for slam-dunking dirty clothes. 36. Place a two-compartment hamper in your kid’s room so he or she can sort light clothes from dark clothes as they undress. 37. String a clothesline in your child’s room and have your child clothespin his or her favorite artwork. 38. Hang a fish net from the ceiling to store stuffed animals, dolls, or action figures. 39. Add a bookshelf and help your child organize their books. 40. Buy the kids their own alarm clocks and teach them how to get up on time. Misc. 41. Make sure everything in your house has a home. Teach all family members to mind their own messes. For example, if you take it out, put it back; if you open it, close it; if you throw it down, pick it up; if you make a mess, clean it up; and so on. 42. Put wastebaskets in every room and place several unused trash bags in the bottom of each one. This will eliminate countless trips to retrieve new trash bags and give all family members a place to throw away their trash. 43. Place a decorative basket on the coffee table to keep remote controls in. 44. Use a plastic caddy (instead of shelf space) to store cleaning supplies in and tote it from room to room. 45. Keep baskets or tubs for toys in every room for fast pickup and play time. 46. For kids’ outdoor toys, purchase a weatherproof, bench-style storage box and store toys inside. Also, gather all outdoor balls and place into a large, mesh drawstring bag and store in garage. 47. Each night before bedtime, have all family members pick up clutter for 15 minutes. Make a game out of it and see who can pick up the most things in the shortest amount of time. 48. Create a family message center on the refrigerator or other prominent place and use it for shopping lists, reminders, calendars, and phone messages. 49. Make a master grocery list on your computer from a spreadsheet or Word document. Categorize the groceries into sections such as frozen, dairy, and so on. In each category, list the most frequent items that you buy. Organize the grocery list according to the way your favorite grocery store’s isles are set up. Print copies and keep one copy handy for the current week. When you see you are low on a product or you’re preparing your grocery list for the week, simply highlight whatever items you need. Keep the document current by adding new items and/or deleting items you no longer buy. Also, create a space on the document for Misc. items where your family members can write down what they need that is not on your list. 50. Create an in box on your desk for papers (bills, permission slips, etc.) that need your attention. The goal of organizing isn’t to make your home pristine but rather to make your life more calm and functional. Work with the above ideas and you will end up having less clutter, a simplified home, more quality time for yourself and your family, and improved productivity. Lesley Dietschy is a freelance writer and the creator/editor of The Home Decor Exchange and the Home & Garden Exchange. The Home Decor Exchange is a popular home and garden website featuring resources, articles, decorating pictures, free projects, and a shopping marketplace. The Home & Garden Exchange website is a link exchange program and directory dedicated to the home and garden industry, as well as offering free website content and promotional ideas. Please visit both websites for all of your home, garden, and website needs. http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com