Getting Organized Around the Home with Staples

I am on a mission to get organized.

So far each weekend in 2013 I have tackled at least one drawer, counter top, or cabinet to organize and it's working! I have been purging and trying to find ways to better organize what is left. Sometimes it's easier to organize a drawer or cabinet after I've emptied it and I see I only need to keep a portion of what just came out. I have been tossing and donating items as I clean out certain areas. Not only does this give me extra room, it makes it easier to look at the space and put things back in an organized way. And donating extra items (did you know I had 3 extra coffee makers??) to homeless shelters and needy people means it's staying out of the landfill and helping someone else.

Start Small

The thing with getting organized is that you can become paralyzed by the fact that you 'don't have the right storage'. Instead of looking for an entire wall unit to clean up your famly room, start small. Look for something that will help organize just one area - books, board games, socks and underwear, computer equipment, or whatever else is getting out of control. It's also easier to get started on a small job. Mentally and physically it's easier to dive into cleaning up just one area or one category of 'things'. Just as people often say, "One day at a time", they could say "One drawer at a time".

Look for Multi-Purpose Pieces

The trick is to find the right storage that can work in any room of the house. Whether it's the twins' room, the family room, my home office, or my bedroom, I need a storage unit that can be moved where I decide I need it most. What I have found in my search is that Staples has a great selection of storage units that work in all areas of my house. When the folks at Staples asked me to review a product from their site I opted for a light-weight, fabric storage unit.

It's perfect as an end table as the top of hard and solid. It will work in my family room to keep the library books and magazines from getting scattered all over the floor. This piece would be great in the guest room to hold extra sheets and towels. I might use it in my home office to hold the supply of papers, labels and ink cartridges for my printer. It will even work in the girls' room or in my closet as the perfect place to keep socks, or other accessories. This piece costs around $50. Not a bad price considering how versatile it is.

Staples Rewards you for getting organized

What I love about Staples are the rewards. They basically PAY you to shop! The Mister just went to Staples last week and use our rewards to get almost $100 worth of computer equipment, offices supplies and cleaning supplies ALL with our Staples Rewards! If we have to get these things, we might as well get them at Staples where we not only get a good price, but we are rewarded.

Where do you go to get organized?

Have you ever found the perfect storage unit to help you get organized around the house? Do you jump in and commit to organizing an entire room or do you prefer to just work on one small section?

I'd love to know what tips you have!

Janine

Disclosure: Staples provided me with this Altra storage unit for the purposed of a review but all opinions are my own. To see the full line of storage cabinets visit Staples.com.

Last Minute Mother's Day Gift Idea

Need a Last Minute Gift for Mom?

Did you forgot to get that Mother's Day card in the mail until today?

Or maybe you had her gift in your Amazon basket but were distracted by a work call and forgot to actually place the order?

Whatever the reason - if you are one of the many people who had good intentions but will come up a little short this Mother's Day I have have a great last-minute gift idea!

Make a Donation to Share Our Strength and Create an e-card

Visit Share Our Strength and donate anywhere from $5 to even $100 in honor of your mother and know that your donation will help a mother who is struggling to feed her own family.

At the bottom of the page you can customize an e-card to be sent to your mom so she knows you not only care about her, but you care about other moms in the US.

Want to Share More with Mom?

Here's what I've learned through working with Cooking Matters.

Hunger Fear Anger Hope

Cooking Matters: Learning the Basics

Cooking Matters: The chef and the food and what matters

Janine

Disclosure: I have a relationship with ConAgra Foods Foundation and Share our Strength and I receive a stipend for my work telling the story and promoting Cooking Matters. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own and this post was neither reviewed nor approved prior to being published.

Looking for a little help for a local mom

Triplet cubs via ucumari on Flickr

Imagine being pregnant with triplets.

Now imagine being pregnant with triplets and having a toddler.

OK, now imagine being pregnant with triplets, having a toddler, and your husband dies.

Right.

Last month I read the story of Montgomery County Police Office, Hector Ayala's tragic death in a car wreck and I can't stop thinking about it. 

I remember being pregnant with twins and it was hard. I can't imagine what his wife is going through as she prepares to deliver their triplets.

I've never met her or the family but I am moved to help. I have considered having some kind of fundraiser but...

I think I'll start with writing about it here, raising awareness, and posting a link to where you can donate.

And if anyone else is moved, let me know and let's get something going.

Janine

Spring Cleaning for the clearing house

My house has become a clearing house of sorts.

I have hand-me-downs coming in (read here how the Twofer fight over them), I have hand-me-downs going out to friends with younger kids, and I have hand-me-downs waiting in the wings to be used.

And then...I have HMDs (hand-me-downs) that come back to me from the friends with younger kids.

Twice a year I have to take inventory. This year I'm going to sell some of the HMDs and toys at a local consignment sale. This will require a little more organization on my part but I KNOW it will be well worth it.

Step 1: collect what you want to sell

For me this is the stuff that has been returned from friend with younger kids and that's in good shape. It also means toys the Twofer have fully outgrown and that I'd rather not keep for young visitors...I can't keep it all now can I.

Step 2: sort by age, size, and season

It's almost Spring so anything Fall or Winter will get put back to be sold in September. Yes, this means YET another bag but I can deal with it later. Procrastination isn't such a bad thing. All the Spring clothing looks like this:

spring clothes sorted for consignment

and I've started a lovely pile in my foyer of toys, gear, etc that looks like this:

toys, water safety, roller skates and more for consignment

Step 3: price and label items

For yard sales I stage everything in my garage and have colorful dot stickers where I write the price so people know what to pay where to start haggling. For this consignment sale they've got a very cool online system where you enter information for each item (price, size, description, if you want to donate it after the end of the sale) and then you print out a label with a bar code.

TotSwap.net uses bar code system for tagging

The hardest thing is knowing how to price items. Go here to get an idea of where to start with pricing items and keep in mind what you would pay if you found the item at a yard or consignment sale. For larger items I've done better (made more money) selling them on Craigslist. For smaller items I'm hoping the sale will help me get rid of most of my inventory while still making a little money.

wood work bench and roller skated priced and tagged for consignment

Step 4: get rid of it

Now you are all set to either sell it at a yard sale, at a rummage sale (ie: where the proceeds go to the church hosting it) or consignment sale.

You can also list it on ebay or CraigsList.

Or donate it! You can easily add up the value to use on the donation receipt.

And leave me a comment letting me know where you get rid of your stuff and how. Tips and tricks are appreciated!

Janine

Disclosure: I have a working relationship with Tot Swap that is separate from my blog. All opinions are my own and this post was neither reviewed nor approved by Tot Swap prior to being published.