In Organizing, Conformity is Key
I know, I know! Me? giving organization tips! You’ve seen my house! About every six months or so, I do a great job organizing my laundry room!
And then about six months later, it turns into a great big hairy beast, and I have to totally clean it out again!
Throughout my serial cleaning career, I obviously have a deficiency in KEEPING the room organized, but I have also done a lot of trial and error, and I’ve found a couple of things that really do work!!
The most effective thing I have found in organizing the kids’ craft supply cabinet in the laundry room is this:
- Invest in LOTS of uniform containers, that are the same and can be stacked easily.
I have tried to save money by using various containers I found around the house, and trying to use those to organize the supplies. It “don’t work,” let me tell you! Just trust me, it is so hard to keep everything in the right place, especially for the kids.
- I saved money by buying the containers at the Dollar Tree. You can get great organizing stuff there.
- Choose smaller containers, and compartmentalize very specifically. Don’t just have a container for “Art Supplies.” Do one for each category: markers, crayons, jewelry-making, stickers/glue sticks, etc.
Case in point! Since the last time I cleaned out the laundry room, the room has once again grown scales and started breathing fire! However, the cabinet underneath is still organized after 8 months of the kids using their supplies almost every day, and putting them away!
Closer view?
So there you have it! Small, uniform containers are a key to keeping the organization going! What are your favorite tips?
Comments
By Shannon Wilkes on September 2nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
Thanks so much for the great ideas. We live in a super small house and will take all the organizational ideas we can get! By the way, IKEA (in Charlotte) has great ideas AND great, reasonably priced containers for storage.
By Connie on September 2nd, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I find that whatever types of containers I use in organizing the key is to label EVERYTHING. So…I have one of those inexpensive labelers and put a label on the outside of the box on 2 sides. That way whichever way the box is positioned you can see a label.
By Sarah on September 2nd, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Great idea, Connie! I never thought to put the label on more sides of the container. Makes sense so you can always find it.
Shannon, I so wish we had a IKEA here!