Home Organization Tips

When it comes to Home Organization, we've been there, done that, now serving 160 tips in 15 categories ranging from Answer User Questions to Winter Storage.

What is the best way to organize a laundry room?

Quick Tips for Organizing a Laundry Room

1. Corral all-weather gear
2. Contain your cleaning supplies
3. Create a pet zone
4. Go vertical to dry clothes
5. Pre-sort dirty clothes in hampers
6. Create a laundry room "Lost and Found"

   
How can I keep my bathroom clean with a miniumum of time and effort?

Quick and Easy Touchups

Do you groan when you enter your bathroom? Is the toothpaste debris concrete-solid? Do you wish you had time to clean it? Does 'clean the bathroom' require a two-hour commitment out of your schedule?

Although the initial grunt work will have to be done first, cleaning the bathroom does not need to require chemical resistant gloves and face mask everytime! Nor should it take hours to accomplish. All it takes is a minute here and a minute there. And antiseptic wipes!! Don't forget those.

Keep a container of wipes in every room wherein they can be used (all bathrooms, laundry rooms, and kitchen.) Every other day (or everyday if you're a real neat-freak), simply wipe down the sink/counters that take the most abuse. Toothpaste that's only a day or so old is not nearly as difficult to wipe off as the week- or month-old stuff. Once or twice a week, wipe around the tub edges and floor corners and exposed areas. Don't forget the washer/dryer where lint and soap has accumulated. When it's time
to really CLEAN these rooms, you'll find that it goes quickly and with a minimum of effort.

   
How can I keep my extension cords organized and protected?

End Entangled Extension Cords

Do you find yourself spending more time looking for and untangling an extension cord than it takes to use it? Do your extension cords fray and wear out from improper storage? Can you never remember which cord works best for which appliance? Do you try three different cords before finding the right length for your need?

The end to this problem is in a simple toilet paper roll! Simply loop the cord back and forth, slip into the tube, and voila! Your cord stays together and doesn't tangle with other cords. If you have special cords for special appliances, simply label the extension cord on the cardboard tube with a sharpie, and that cord is identified. Extension cord length can also be written, thus ending the search for a nine-foot cord amongst all the six-foot ones!

AND, if you put them all in the same drawer, you'll never have to hunt for an extension cord again!

   

Creative Uses for Shoe Organizers

There are a number of cute shoe organizers on the market and their uses go far beyond storing shoes. Today's colorful and decorative shoe storage solutions can be put to use in almost any room of the house.

Shoe storage cabinets, for instance, are great for reining in the chaos of your crafting corner. Items can be easily organized in the cabinets' multiple cubby holes. Tiny items such as jars of glitter or crystals can be stowed in a basket before sliding inside the shoe cabinet. Even if you aren't an organizational wizard, your craft room can still look attractive and well put together.

Make the task of getting everyone off to school and work that much easier by using a hanging shoe organizer specifically for mudroom storage. When family members enter the house, they can stash mittens, hats and scarves in their personal clear vinyl pouches. The next morning, the items are right there, saving everyone time that might otherwise be spent searching all over the house for a missing glove during the morning rush. If need be, you can label each pouch in the organizer with a family member's name, and the item they should store there.

Hanging shoe organizers are also great in the bathroom. Hair brushes, bottles of lotion, barrettes and beauty items can hang neatly on the back of the bathroom door instead of getting tossed in drawers and cabinets.

By thinking beyond the intended use of storage objects, you can bring more order to your home, with decorative flair.

   

Storage Towers: A Solution For Almost Everything

When you are attempting to get more organized, there is simply no other storage product on the market that works better than storage towers. Storage towers come in many different styles and shapes to suite just about any taste, area, or budget.

An excellent way to store your media collection including CDs, DVDs, and video game discs is a storage tower. These types of devices sometimes come in a large enough size to be considered TV stands or small enough to only hold 10 discs and sit on top of your desk or shelf.

In the bedroom you can get storage towers called shoe storage cabinets and garment racks to take care of the clutter in the closet or even a shelf to put near the bed that holds all of your books. Book shelves are also considered to be storage towers you know.

Storage towers work especially well in the children’s room for the little ones. These rack type towers often have several smaller baskets to help little ones learn to organize their things. The bins of a storage tower can be used for books, toys and even clothes and shoes all depending on your individual style.

Another great place to use storage towers is in the kitchen and the mud room. Mud room storage can be difficult at times. You really need mudroom storage ideas that will allow not only for the storage of wet or damp gear like snow boots and coats but also storage that lets those things dry.

Storage towers are a useful addition to any home and every room. They come in many different colors, styles and materials and can often be found to suit any use or space.

   

Making Time to Organize

If I were to ask you why your home wasn't organized, what answer would you give me? If I had to guess, I'd say it would have something to do with not having enough time. The sad fact is that most of us don't have the time we'd like to in order to keep our homes in order. Fortunately, finding time doesn't have to be like searching for a needle in a million haystacks. It's just a matter of being creative about it.

If you're like most people, you watch at least one or two television shows each week. If you do, what do you do when the commercials come on? Unless you're a TIVO fanatic and you fast-forward away from the commercials like they're contaminated with the plague, you probably waste at least twenty minutes each and every week on the marketing ploys of television advertising.

Instead of sitting through the commercials that come on during your favorite show, get up off the couch and do some quick organizing while the commercials are running. Then when the show comes back on, go ahead and sit down and relax. You'll have earned it.

   
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Sherril Steele-Carlin