Getting Organized

[JaneDoe]

I desperately need help in this department! So far from this site, I've gleaned that I shouldn't buy 'getting organized' magazines, but are there any other tips out there for the organized-challenged?

My kitchen pantry is a disaster. I did closely inspect Kris' pictures of when her MIL organized her cupboards, but it hasn't seemed to help me. My kids play room, the garage and our office are just wrecks.

Anyone have any tips?

No, but our house desperately needs a spring cleaning purge. My highest priority is to organize the kids closets to maximize space.

We put in the Elfa closet organizers from The Container Store and that helps a bunch.

A while back there was a post about coat closet organization and that had some good suggestions.

Kris' MIL is slated to visit soon. Maybe she can go on an iMSN organizing tour. I could use some pantry re-organization too!

[SuzySunshine]

I have found that I just have to take everything out of the cupboards every once in a while (like 2-3 times/year) and then put it back in an organized way.

I bought one of those tupperware systems where the containers all have the same lids and the containers all stack in side of each other - that has been a HUGE space saver. I took all of the spices out of the cabinet a few weeks ago, consolidated the ones where I had more then one for some reason, put the most used ones in the front and the rest in the back. Next I'd like to make a list of what I have and post it inside the cupboard door so that when I'm making my shopping list I can look real quickly and see if it is a spice I have or not.

I also moved all of my "baking" ingredients away from the spices and into their own area, like brown sugar, powdered sugar, toppings, vanilla, nuts, etc.

I don't really have any special tips - just clean things out a few times a year and make sure things are put back in a neat way so you can at least find things for a few weeks (or days).

[medpedspouse]

Have you looked at http://www.flylady.net/.

I look at it everytime I get overwhelmed and think I am never getting organized. Some of the tips are pretty helpful - I follow them for a couple of days but then get busy (i.e. slack off) and end up with a mess. I wonder if the schedules really work. Has anyone tried them? Seems like a reasonable way to get organized. Too bad I am not that disciplined when it comes to clutter.

[alison]

We're getting rid of stuff. I think a big part of it is because I'm starting to mentally check out of Chicago. I don't want to be here anymore and I want to throw 2 suitcases into our car and drive off.

I'm selling two laptops on ebay. One is about 3 years old, in good shape, but doesn't do what dh wants it to do anymore. It's fetching $300 so far. And my ibook. The one that got me through my Masters, is fetching $400 with a few more days to go. I'm sad about that one, but I promised I'd get rid of mine if dh got rid of his. There are either really stupid people out there (you can get a new laptop for around $700) or people want our computers for parts.

[Stella]

Re: Getting Organized

My kitchen pantry is a disaster.

Anyone have any tips?

I am the queen at organizing kitchen pantries (and refridgerators). I hate disorganization. Do you have a label maker? I have very limited pantry space in my apartment so I have a couple of baskets (one for teas/cocoas and another for spice mixes/etc.) and I label the general areas for everything else: pasta, sauces, canned veggies/fruits, soups, baking, staples, vitamins, etc etc.... Whatever you need. I make sure everything has a place and put it back where it came from. Sometimes, I'll even take a photo of the organized pantry and post it inside the pantry door so I remember how good it looks when it is clean and organized.

[JaneDoe]

Re: Getting Organized

My kitchen pantry is a disaster.

Anyone have any tips?

I am the queen at organizing kitchen pantries (and refridgerators). I hate disorganization. Do you have a label maker? I have very limited pantry space in my apartment so I have a couple of baskets (one for teas/cocoas and another for spice mixes/etc.) and I label the general areas for everything else: pasta, sauces, canned veggies/fruits, soups, baking, staples, vitamins, etc etc.... Whatever you need. I make sure everything has a place and put it back where it came from. Sometimes, I'll even take a photo of the organized pantry and post it inside the pantry door so I remember how good it looks when it is clean and organized.

This is exactly what I was looking for: how to categorize the pantry. Ours is pretty large and we put just about everything in there; e.g., paper towels, light bulbs, cat food, paper plates, canned goods, baby food, baking goods, etc. I already have the canned goods in one section, but it's blending into the oils/vinegars into the babyfood into the crackers, etc. When I get a free moment one of these days (yeah, right - like that's happening anytime soon) I will start categorizing the way you suggested. I need to get some baskets too.

Thanks for all of the great tips. I agree about every so often just getting rid of stuff. Believe it or not, I'm actually pretty good at getting rid of junk. We just moved 6 months ago and we had truck loads of stuff hauled to Goodwilll then. In fact, I gave away so much of our crappy furniture, that I lost a lot of storage space- like book shelves, desk, etc. I just couldn't stand to look at it any longer and hoped that we would be able to buy some nice furniture right away. But, as usual with this lifestyle, we're postponing that until we're in a more comfortable financial position.

[Vishenka69]

Move to NY. You won't have a pantry or a front closet or other spaces that seem to get cluttered. No extra space = no clutter.

In all seriousness, once I get a pantry of my own, I'll need to come back to this thread to figure out what to do with it.

[Stella]

Haha, well, same with my apartment. I HAVE to keep my food storage area organized, so by "pantry" I mean the couple of cabinets above the sink where I store my dry food options.

[PrincessFiona]

I did an organizing from the outside in article for mdfamily this month. Should I email it to you?

kris

[JaneDoe]

I did an organizing from the outside in article for mdfamily this month. Should I email it to you?

kris

I would appreciate it very much. Thank you.