Clever Corner Storage

Here's another idea from Better Homes and Gardens - using your corners for efficient organizing or storage. This example is for the bathroom, but it would work in any room where you have an extra corner lurking around and need some cute storage.

"Make use of corner space with a tall pot rack. Fill bowls with bathroom supplies and stacks of rolled bath towels for an attractive and functional display."

You could substitute baskets for the bowls and store whatever you need in that room: sewing items in a craft room, fresh produce in the kitchen, etc.

Share your ideas!

More on storage:

Finding More Bathroom Storage without Expanding Your Bathroom

Get Organized Month 2009 - #1 Biggest Organizing Mistake

Magnetic Paint - An Innovative Space Saver!

Getting Organized for School - Organizing Your Child's Artwork and School Papers

Are you overwhelmed with school papers yet? Here's a blog I did last year to help corral the overload ...

Along with school, comes all those papers! And art masterpieces. What to do with them? You want to preserve memories of your child’s school years, but you don’t want to train her to be a pack rat.

I’ll have to admit – I wasn’t very proactive in this area when my children were growing up. We’d sort through papers every once in a while, frame some, and store others, but we didn’t do it very consistently.

I researched this topic when asked to contribute to an article written by Mary Beth Breckenridge at the Akron Beacon Journal (Preserve your Children's Masterpieces without Creating a Mountain from Paper Memoirs, September 5, 2005). I found some great ideas I wish I had used.

So today’s blog comes primarily from the article Mary Beth wrote from the hints that two other organizers (Deniece Schofield and Chris Perrow) and I contributed. And I’ve added a couple I’ve come up with since then.

First, choose a receptacle for such papers. It could be a file folder, a hanging file, an art portfolio (or one made by taping two pieces of poster board together), a box, a binder with protector sheets - whatever works for you and your child.

Before storing your child’s artwork, you may want to display them. You could create a gallery in your child’s room or elsewhere by hanging a colorful piece of string or yarn across a wall and clip the artwork to the string. Voila – instant gallery.

Or use a picture frame to house artwork, swapping out the front picture when a new keeper comes along, storing the other pictures behind the most recent one. And there’s always the refrigerator or a bulletin board.

Another option is to turn the artwork into placemats (by laminating them), wrapping paper or greeting cards. A glass-covered coffee table can show off artwork under the glass. Or turn your child’s artwork into a calendar. Create a collage with several pieces of artwork. There are even companies that turn your child’s artwork into a book.

Artwork that doesn’t make it into the keeper file can be sent to grandma or to our troops, if it seems too cruel to toss them.

With your child, clean out her backpack at the end of the week. Some papers will not be sentimental and will go easily into the recycling bin. Try to encourage your child to choose only one item a week to keep. Label the back of the paper with the date and a description, especially if the picture may not be readily identifiable!

Some weeks may be more prolific than others, and it may be too traumatic to narrow it down to one item. If you don’t mind, and you have enough room, make exceptions here and there. There may be items you treasure, but your child doesn’t see the value in them at her age – keep those, too.

At the end of the month, as you are evaluating that week’s papers, look back over the previously stored papers to see if some of the sentimentality has decreased for the earlier keepers. Time has a way of diminishing the attachment. Repeat every month.

For large three-dimensional projects take a picture rather than storing the entire project. Large art pieces can be taken to a copy center and reduced to a manageable size.

At the end of the school year, determine if your storage is adequate to house that year’s keepers. If not, purge until it is. Label the container with your child’s name and the year.

For family night one night, take out the keepers for the last few years and reminisce – what a fun memory!

Despite the Digital Age, Paper Consumption Keeps Growing! 10 Ways to Help Reverse the Trend.

According to Ann Mulcahy, Xerox CEO ("Paper Trail," Wall Street Journal interview, 3/9/09), paper has continued to grow over the last thirty years, with the printing of emails being a major culprit.

You would think that our paper consumption would decrease with the use of the internet, right? Yet 95% of all information is still processed in paper form according to Frank Booty ("Managing the Paper Trail," Systems I New UK, 3/01/07).

What can we do to reverse this trend? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Don't print emails or other digital products. Instead, file them on your computer if you need to keep the information. Create folders on your email account or copy the document and file it with your computer documents. Daniel Lyons reports that more than 40% of printouts are discarded within 24 hours, according to Xerox research ("The Paper Chasers," Newsweek 12/01/09).

2. Pay bills online. Not only does this save paper, but it saves time and money. It's so much easier to click than write a check, mail it, etc. And it's cheaper to process digital transactions than paper ones.

3. Ask investment firms, catalog companies, phone books companies, and others to stop mailing their information to you. Otherwise you may be deluged with quarterly reports, catalogs and other printed materials that you will inevitably toss.

4. Re-use paper that has been printed on only one side. For items that need not be in pristine condition, print on the blank side of these papers. Test runs, maps, drafts, and other such items are great candidates for eco-friendly printing. Just make sure that papers containing confidential information are not used for this task!

5. Keep track of the printed information you must keep in order to avoid replacing it. According to the Delphi Group out of Boston, 15% of all paper handled in business is lost, as reported by Jane M. Von Bergen (Knight Ridder Newspapers, The Boston Globe, 3/21/2006).

6. Recycle! According to Mike McConnell, all paper types can be recycled. ("Talking Trash," Journal of Property Management, 7/01/07 Statistic, EPA). Designate recycle containers both at work and at home for paper products.

If your area does not recycle (shame on them!), find the nearest recycle center. Many schools have such containers. Or find a company that will collect your paper products. Shredding companies will periodically offer free shredding of sensitive documents, as well.

7. Use recycled paper products. Not only toilet paper, napkins and paper bags, but computer paper, too! Look for the recycle symbol on the products you buy.

8. Use cloth instead of paper napkins, paper towels, and diapers whenever possible.

9. Use washable plates, glasses and mugs instead of disposable paper products as much as possible.

10. Reduce paper consumption and clutter by reading newspapers and magazines online rather than in print version. Or share a subscription with someone else. Buy ebooks when available.

Give us your eco-friendly suggestions!

More on paper:

Managing Paper

Sorting Mail

A very simple filing system for email and paper

Creating a Cleaning List

Our new home is quite a bit larger than our previous one. So my husband and I have made a new list of cleaning duties. There are several different cleaning philosophies, one of which is doing a little each day - that's the one we prefer these days. We have used others in the past, but this is the one that works for us right now.

When making our list, we considered what else was going on that day. We divided up the chores, including outdoor work. Now we each have a cleaning task(s) to do each day. We also made a list of monthly cleaning jobs and decided when to do those.

I like to do my cleaning in the afternoons when the girls are home from school. I can be interrupted and can chat with the girls while cleaning. That allows me to use the times when they are not at home for other work which is best done without being interrupted. My husband, on the other hand, likes to do his cleaning first thing in the morning to get it off his mind.

I've posted our list on our refrigerator so we can be reminded of our new schedule. I think it's good, too, for the girls to see what it takes to keep a home running well.

If you're feeling at a loss of where to start, my book Three Steps to Clever Cleaning helps you determine your cleaning philosophy and gives tips for streamlining your cleaning so you can get on to more fun stuff! It also provides a schedule for infrequent cleaning chores.

I know there are those out there who love to clean and I applaud you! But alas, I'm not one of those. I do love a clean house, though, and am willing to spend the time to keep it that way. Plus I'm sending a subliminal message to my foster daughters that they are important enough to me to provide them with a clean and attractive place to live. It's part of my desire to create an atmosphere for their success.

What are your cleaning secrets?

More on cleaning:
Schedule Daily Clean Up Times
The Best Time of Day to Clean the House
Get Organized Month 2009 - Family Five Minute Challenge

Getting Organized for School - Charts

As permanent houseparents for our foster daughters, we are trying to create structures and routines for their success. One is pretty structured on her own, but the other is a creative, free spirit. She is so much more interested in how she looks than whether she has all her books in her book bag!

After many attempts at creating a routine, I decided to go with a chart - one part for the morning and one part for after school/evening. I've broken it down to individual tasks - getting up with the alarm, getting dressed, doing hair, eating breakfast, etc. in the morning, and homework, loading her book bag, playing, dinner, chores, shower, etc. for the afternoon and evening.

Now our free spirit doesn't have to think about what needs to be done, she just looks at her chart. We tried it out yesterday, and she did so well that she had extra time to read. She wasn't too thrilled about the chore part, though. But it's better than saving chores up until Saturday and having endless work!

I divided her chores up into bite-size pieces: dusting, vacuuming, toilet, counter, bathroom floor, washing one load of laundry one day, drying it and putting it away the next, etc.

I haven't asked her yet if she wants to put stickers on her chart - I won't be surprised either way. She is 13 after all, but she's still a little kid, too!

How do you create routines and structure for yourself and/or your family?


More on routines:
Getting Organized for School - Start the Night Before
Creating Routines and Systems
The Real Problems Behind Kids' Excuses To Get Out of Chores

Destressing Christmas, Part 2, 2009 - Thinking Through the Needs of Your Family and Friends

As I mentioned last week, I'm going to be updating my Destressing Christmas series this year. If I calculate correctly, we are 78 days away from Christmas. So let's look at another way to destress Christmas: thinking about the needs of your family and friends. By using this as a filter, you can reduce some holiday stress. Here are some ideas:

- Choose whom you want to spend time with over the holidays - friends or family who refresh, encourage, and cheer you. Take the initiative to make that happen.

Do you have friends who might be alone whom you could include in your holiday plans? Have you included a healthy amount of giving to others who might otherwise be neglected? Your heart will overflow with joy as you reach out to others! It doesn't need to be expensive, just something that says you're thinking about them.

This makes me think of girls who have left our Shelter Care program but may not have anyone with whom to spend Christmas Day. I'll invite them this week for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

If getting together with your relatives is too painful or unhealthy, give yourself permission not to attend. If you, your spouse, or your children might be subjected to verbal, emotional or physical abuse, don't put yourselves in this unsafe place. Even if it hurts others' feelings, you cannot condone unhealthy or painful treatment by attending.

- Consider family problems when planning gatherings. Be proactive in order to minimize Uncle John's drinking problem by having a brunch rather than a dinner. If Cousin Sally's conversation is predominantly negative or a never-ending flow, plan some conversation starters or games to reduce her dominance.

- If it's just too difficult for you to travel during the holidays, don't let others guilt-trip you into travelling anyway. Be honest and stick to your guns for your own benefit and that of your family. Invite your relatives to visit you (if that is better for you) or suggest another time of year for a visit when life is less hectic.

- Consider the needs of your nuclear family. If you have small children who need naps and a consistent bedtime (who doesn’t qualify for that one?!!), don’t overschedule. Make sure the events you plan to attend are age appropriate for your children. Don’t have an unrealistic idea of what they can grasp and endure.

- Study your family. Know what delights each one and what stresses each one, including yourself. Plan accordingly. When our girls were small, one of our daughters would respond to an overplanned schedule by vomiting - a pretty clear message! (Sorry to be graphic.) So I had to be careful not to pack our schedule too tightly.

One of our daughters loved to help my husband get the tree in the stand and put the lights on. The other one did not! So we did not include it as a family event, but chose other things they both liked.

By anticipating your needs and those of your family and friends, you can be intentional about your holidays. You’ll be able to weed out those items that don’t fit, plan around potential hazards, and create memorable experiences for those you love.

What are your family's delights and stresses?

More on Christmas:
Destressing Christmas, Part I, 2009 - Thinking Through Your Expectations
Tackle the Clutter before Christmas
Three Steps to Clever Cleaning

Getting Organized for School - Peaceful and Organized Surroundings

Hope you had a nice weekend! One of our girls went to homecoming, which was fun for all of us to enjoy as she got all gorgeous.

We continue to work on getting our new home organized and functional. We have chosen to work on common rooms first so as to create a peaceful place for the girls to live - the kitchen, living room, and rec room. With those pretty usable, we are now tackling our bedroom and office. At some point, we'll get to the guest room and garage.

We took time over the weekend to help our two girls organize their rooms, so they can have their own peaceful surroundings. It's hard to be at peace internally when your physical surroundings are chaotic.

We got rid of things (trash and donations), thought through where things should go, and found homes for everything. We used clear plastic shoe boxes for shoes, hair products, lotions, and much more! We also used containers we had on hand to house other items. We organized their laundry into separate baskets. We also organized their bathrooms, putting like things together.

We still have some things to do in one room, but we can walk across the floor without injury. The child who lives in this room is naturally disorganized, but she said herself that she can now be at rest in her room.

If your or your child's surroundings are chaotic, take time to declutter and organize. You'll both feel better, feel successful, and feel ready to meet the challenges of the day. You can get ready without having to search for things, you can see what you have at a glance, and there is order in your life.

Comments?


More on these topics:
Three Steps to Decluttering
Three Steps to Organizing Your Child's Room
Before and After Pictures - Organizing a Bedroom

A Review by Now What Baby?

Now What Baby? was kind enough to review my 1-2-3...Get Organized books. If you'd like to take a look, here's the link.

10 Ways to Streamline Your Shopping Time

We all have to shop, whether it's grocery shopping, clothes shopping, gift shopping - whatever! If we streamline our shopping time, we have more time for other things or more shopping! Here are a few tips:

1. Pre-plan errands – combine errands and appointments in the same area to reduce drive time or repeated trips. Add on errands before or after times when you are out anyway.

2. While shopping, if you find something you know you will need in the future, buy it, rather than having to track it down later.

3. Buy birthday gifts and cards in quantity. Think through birthdays for the next month or two and buy for all of them at the same time, rather than making a special trip for each occasion. Stock up on wrapping supplies at the same time. Keep a supply of items that can be used for unexpected gifts

4. Shop online. If you spend a certain amount, shipping is often free. Just make sure you allow enough time for delivery, especially at Christmas.

5. Go to the post office mid-morning or mid-afternoon when it is least busy.

6. Don't go to the bank on Monday or Friday or during the lunch hour, the busiest times.

7. Plan your menus, and grocery shop only once a week. If you're an every-afternoon-shop-for-dinner shopper, this will save hours and dollars each week. Stock up on milk, bread and other essentials to avoid emergency trips. Milk, juice and bread can be frozen. Remove a little milk or juice from the container so it doesn't explode. Use the most perishable produce first and use less perishable later in the week. Have frozen or canned alternatives if you run out of fresh.

8. Visit the grocery store during off hours. Shop when other people are eating dinner, after 9:00 p.m. or before 7:00 a.m. to avoid the crowds. Early morning shopping may allow you to take advantage of day-old bakery items at a greatly reduced price.

9. Schedule hair appointments to avoid the walk-in wait.

10. Shop during non-peak shopping hours whenever possible - during the week rather than on weekends.

By streamlining your shopping, you'll create less stress and more usable time for yourself in addition to saving money! Now, who couldn't use that?!

What do you do to streamline your shopping? Subscribers, click the title to see the entire blog and comment at the end of it.


More on shopping:
Using Your Drive Time Efficiently
Coupon Sources
Planning Dinner
Hassle Free Dinners

Bedskirts Simplified

We have phones now and more boxes unpacked, so I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed. Things are coming together! So what's this about bed skirts? Here's a tip from my husband!

Picture this: my husband and I wrestling with a king-size mattress to place it perfectly on the bed skirt while keeping the bed skirt in place. In order to do this, you would need to lift the mattress above the bed and lay it gently on top of the bed skirt.

Do you know how much king-size mattresses weigh? I don't either, but they are HEAVY! We could never get it right ... until now. 

My wonderful husband came up with this idea: he cut a u-shape out of the top of the the bed skirt (the part that goes under the mattress), with the opening of the u at the head of the bed. He left a foot of material all around to tuck between the mattress and box springs. 

He suggests starting at the foot of the bed when tucking the bed skirt in, in order to get the corners in the right place, and then do each side.  Flipping the mattress just got easier, and washing your bed skirt isn't a chore. 

Isn't it amazing what you learn when you move?


Comments? Subscribers click the title to see the rest of the blog and to comment on it.


More on bedrooms:

Spring Cleaning Bedrooms

Getting a Good Night's Sleep Despite Daylight Savings

Organizing Laundry

 

Destressing Christmas, Part I, 2009 - Thinking Through Your Expectations

We unpacked a few more boxes yesterday and are feeling a little more settled. But we still have no phones, including my business phone which now has a recording that says that the number is disconnected!! Ugh!

But let's think about Christmas, shall we? I'm updating a series I did last year:

Christmas already? Did you know that it is 85 days until Christmas? If we really want to destress Christmas, it might be wise to start thinking about it now.

Last year I did a series on Destressing Christmas. I think I'll repeat one part of the series each week just to help us get started. Here's the first one: Thinking Through Your Expectations

As you anticipate the holidays, think through your expectations. Talk with your family members or those with whom you will be spending the holiday season. Ask what is important to them to celebrate at Christmas - activities, traditions, food, spiritual emphasis, giving, service opportunities, etc. This is the time to determine what is important to emphasize.

- Make a list of all your traditions, from decorating to Christmas caroling. Keep the ones you love (forget about impressing other people), and cross off the ones you don't. Without realizing it, I tend to feel a need to incorporate all we had ever done, which becomes unwieldy, and it's rediculous if no one wants to do it!

- Be flexible when things don't fit your expectations. Christmas Day doesn't have to happen on December 25th, for example. When we lived in Kenya, we worked with an expatriot medical team who gave their staff Christmas Day off. So we celebrated Christmas as a team on other days.

We were hoping to have our family with us for Christmas this year, but with our new position, we need to be with our foster children for Christmas, and our own children are not allowed to stay in our house when we have kids.

And because our position is so new, we don't know when we'll be off. So we decided to postpone our family time to another less stressful time! Disappointing, but realistic.

- Enjoy the moment rather than compare it to memories or expectations. Be present and relish what is happening. And if it's not the greatest, do what you can to make it pleasant. Be other-centered rather than self-centered.

- Keep a sense of humor. I like things to match and I appreciate beauty. However, my son-in-law secretly placed a very ugly decoration on the tree one year. I did manage to resist my urge to snatch it off the tree, and we left it on the tree for giggles. It has now become a tradition.

- Be realistic!!! Know what you can handle and what you cannot. Be kind to yourself and live within your limits. Each year is different. One year we were moving right after Christmas and our holiday preparations for that year were very few.

Other years I had themes - stars, hearts, trees, etc. But after a few years, the number of decorations were getting out of hand, so I stopped that tradition. Don't hesitate to limit activities so you can enjoy the season!!

Be intentional about Christmas this year by thinking through expectations of your own and those of your family members and friends. Give yourself permission to make your Christmas celebration personal, meaningful, and realistic.


What makes your Christmas meaningful? Subscribers, click on the title to comment at the end of the blog.


More on Christmas:
Get Started on Your Christmas Cards

Better Homes and Gardens Linked to My Blog!

I'm excited to add Better Homes and Gardens to my media list! Here's the link. Just a mention, but it makes me happy. :)

3-Part Webinar - Three Steps to Becoming a Downsizing Professional

 

 Three Steps to Becoming a Downsizing Professional

3-Part Webinar* (90 minutes each)

by Beverly Coggins

Please join me in a highly interactive and personalized webinar limited to 10 participants .

You’ll be as fully involved in the discussion as you wish.

I’ll give you a personal phone call before the webinar to ascertain your needs.

Why Consider becoming a Downsizing Professional?

- Downsizing is a relatively simple concept to learn 

- 76 million Baby Boomers will be retiring in the next 20 years, many needing to downsize

- Starting a downsizing business requires minimal up-front costs

- Training can be completed in three 90-minute seminars

- Your work hours are flexible based on your own needs

- You’ll have the fulfillment of helping seniors transition gracefully

- Your growth potential is unlimited!

What Content Will Be Covered in the Webinar?

Part I - Starting Your Downsizing Business

(business structures presented by my accountant, branding, websites, methods of payment, fees, affiliations, hiring employees, strategic alliances and more)

Part II - Marketing

(a plethora of proven marketing ideas!!)

Part III - The Nuts and Bolts of Downsizing

(estimates, contracts, measuring/floor plans, the steps involved in the move, including check lists for you and your clients, forms, and recommended products)

Bonus Features Included with the Cost of the Webinar:

• Three Steps to Becoming a Downsizing Professional manual (pdf version) 
• Membership to Downsizer Cafe, a members-only blog providing support, exchange of ideas, and continuing training
• Additional video training segments
• Continued one-on-one email coaching with Beverly Coggins following the webinar
  

We have two websinars scheduled:

Webinar #1 - October 20, 21, 22

Webinar #2 - November 10, 11, 12

Times for both webinars:

11 am Eastern (10 am Central, 9 am Mountain, 8 am Pacific)

Cost: $499

Both one-time payment and three-part installment options (billed 15 days apart) are available . To register, click here.

*What is a webinar? A webinar is a teleseminar where your computer is linked to the instructor’s notes on your computer screen.

We're Moved In!

 

We have most of our stuff moved over to our new home. We started the day with our phones/cable/internet being connected, or so we thought! Everything seemed in order until we tried to use the phone, which was dead. Hopefully by tomorrow!

This is the first chance I've had all day to sit down and chat with you. No organizing tips today - just a quick hello.

 We are now permanent houseparents for two girls in our Shelter Care program. We will house up to four girls eventually. 

We feel like life will be a little calmer without having to transition from one house of girls to another. And we're looking forward to having a more long-term impact in our girls' lives.

Of course, I'll still be spending time organizing, writing, speaking, and pursuing my business interests. I love my life!

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Moving Tips

                                   
It's Friday! Yeah! 

We've been moving this week, with the big stuff being moved on Saturday. Just thought I'd toss out a few moving tips that have helped me over the last few days. We are just moving 5 miles away, so some of these may or may not be relevant to your move.

- The first thing I did was to go over to the house and just look. I looked at the kitchen cabinets to determine where I wanted to put dishes, hot drinks/coffee maker/mugs, baking items, silverware, serving dishes, plastic items, etc.

By taking the time to think this out ahead of time, you're less likely to switch things around later, saving a bundle of time!

I looked at the office to see where I wanted to set up our desks, filing cabinets, printers, bookshelves, etc.

I looked in the master bedroom to see where to put the bed, dresser, etc. 

I looked at the rec room to determine where we would place the TV, do crafts, play games, etc.

And I looked at the living room to figure out which furniture would go there, and which furniture would go elsewhere.

- Next, I started sorting and packing. Some things will be living in different rooms in our new house than where they have lived here. So I packed together only items that were going to the same room - saves so much time and running!

- Each day we have filled our cars and taken a load over. Our kitchen is almost entirely unpacked. The kitchen and bedroom(s) are the most urgent to unpack in order for you to be functional. It has been hard work to do this every day, but so much less overwhelming than having an entire truck arrive with all of your stuff at the same time.

-  We are using different pieces of furniture for different uses, so we have swapped out items therein. When we move those pieces of furniture, they will be functional in the room where they live.

- As we have packed, we have labeled boxes with what is inside. Consequently, there will be some boxes we won't even open until later - seasonal/party items, etc.

- Since my specialty is downsizing, I have a plethora of bubble wrap - sheets of it, envelopes for small items, envelopes that are plate-sized. I'm even going to bubble wrap my couches and antique furniture to avoid damage. 

If you don't have bubble wrap, use anything other than newspaper! It leaves you and your belongings black, which means you have to wash everything! Not a chore you want to add when moving!

- Today I'm going to work on getting everything off the surfaces of the pieces of furniture that will be moved tomorrow. 

And I will put different colored stickers on each item that is going, so when it comes off the truck, it's obvious where it goes. At the garage entrance, I'll tape a guide of where each colored sticker goes. 

- We've already arranged for our phone, internet, and cable to be switched. After the move, we'll do change-of-addresses for our mail, drivers licenses, etc.

That's all for now - gotta get started on my day! :)

Do you have some moving tips that have worked for you? 


More on moving: 

Downsizing - Factors to Consider when Choosing a New Residence

It's a Great Time to Hire a Mover

The Advantages of Downsizing

Three Steps to Downsizing to a Smaller Residence