The Organized Homemaker

Finding the TIME to Stay Organized

2009-12-04T12:59:00.001-08:00

If you're anything like me, it's hard to stay organized. Our 1500 sq ft, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house has 5 people living in it and it never fails to be disorganized.

I've come to the conclusion that it never will be. I have friends who have an organizing gene in them, but it's definitely not my gift.

Right now, I have a mostly clean living room, 1 clean bathroom, a clean sunroom (this is my pet peeve room that I like to keep clean), and the dishes are at least stacked IN the sink.

I'm not sure how to blog about getting organized. I'm a happier person when I'm organized... who isn't?! But who likes doing it all day?? I received a comment a while back how staying organized with kids in the house is like mopping in a flood. I SO agree with this!! Since I homeschool, me and my kids are home all day. This is where we LIVE, and for the life of me, I cannot keep it clean. Messes are made all day and they really can't be helped.

I've heard the clean as you go, but that would entail me starting with a clean house... And the other side of that is, I still have to clean my floors, bathrooms, organize the pantry, clean the fridge on occasion, and so on. Those aren't really "clean as you go" types of chores. You need to plan for those chores.

Okay, so that's my venting on a clean house... I'm off to get to it now! :)

No time to organize...

2009-03-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

I am seriously lacking time to organize these days! I'm so sorry for the lack of posts on The Organized Homemaker. I hope to get back into it soon. I am still organizing behind the scenes, so to speak, just rarely. :)

Wow! Do I stink at organizing, or what?!

2008-12-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

Here I set up this blog thinking that I would magically become more organized, but man is it hard! As a child, I loved to help my mom organize her cupboards, keep my room cleaned (at times) and loved to see the accomplishment of my hard work.

Now, I feel so busy and lack the time I'd like to put into organizing my house. Don't get me wrong, I am NOT giving up on my 1-year plan to organize the house, but as you can tell, it is a challenge for me. I suppose that now having a husband and 3 children, my time is much more limited on how organized I am. I start out the week with many good intentions to keep the house clean, stay on top of the laundry (yes, you remember how laundry is not my favorite chore), all the while keeping my family fed, clean, and homeschooled. Oh, and throw in a slight coupon craze in there too!

I'd love to be able to do it all, but there are not enough hours in the day. How do you other stay-at-home or working moms for that matter do it? Really, I'd love to know! :)

Garage Sale for Ministry!

2008-11-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

What better way to declutter your garage and house than to have a garage sale?! I've held my share of garage sales in the past 2 years as our family saved for an adoption. Many people in our church gave generously to help us out, and in turn, God blessed us with numerous successful garage sales!

Now, it's our turn. I am SOOOO ready to get rid of all of this stuff that is weighing me down. Have you ever noticed how the stuff in our life can become a burden if we let it? Well, it's time for our stuff to go! I'm tired of dealing with it.

The Lord has blessed us, and now we want to pass on the blessing. I enjoy having garage sales for a purpose. Since I have no need for everything we're selling, and right now I can't really think of anything that we need, we've decided to give to a ministry in need.

Isn't it more exciting to give toward a ministry that will further God's kingdom, than to fulfill a want/desire that we might have?!

I'm happy to report...

2008-10-27T05:22:00.001-07:00

... that the kids rooms officially have closet organizers!! I ended up finding Closetmaid shelving organizers at Home Depot for only $30 each. I even found bins in our garage that worked great for most of the toy organization as well. We're still in need of cutting back some toys to keep the clutter down, but we are well on our way to organized kids rooms!!

We chose clear bins, and labeled them with pictures (for the younger kids) with the type of toy that goes in that bin. For my older reading daughter, I labeled them with pictures and words. I want it to be very simple for them to figure out what goes where.

In order for their rooms to stay organized, it's necessary for them to learn a few simple chores.

Here's the plan:

Make bed every morning (Before school or playing).
Before bedtime, clean up any clothes left on the floor, put shoes away neatly in closet, and be sure all toys are put away.

Closetmaid or Rubbermaid...

2008-10-16T19:52:00.000-07:00

We have been putting off the expense (minor as it may be to some) of purchasing closet shelving organizers for the kids rooms. Well, we've decided to go ahead. This weekend will be our time to get that up and throughout next week we'll be figuring out the toy situation into bins.

I know I said last week was the week to take this task on, and honestly I did do some shopping and thinking about the way to go about it.

... I did say this would take me a year to get organized, so I do have some time. :)

Help! The toys are taking over!!!

2008-10-10T05:31:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to figure out a way of organizing all of the toys our children have, and for some reason, I never thought to use bins. Of course, the rest of the world figured this out years ago...

We have a small shelf that the kids use for books and puzzles, the games go up in our hall closet, and I've used bins for certain toys, but I'm convinced now that it is really the best way (for me) to organize and keep organized when things have a rightful place. Granted, they need to earn that rightful place. All this being said...

This week is my toy organization week!

Whether you organize with bins, shelves, closet shelf organizers like Rubbermaid, or simply do not have a specific organization style, please let me know what works for you!

I am constantly trying to teach my children the importance of taking care of what they have. After all, everything that we have belongs to the Lord, so how would you take care of His belongings?

Here's my plan to organize the toys:

Decide what stays. That's simple enough!
Let the kids help sort so that they become more aware of where things will go.
Purchase the correct sized bins I need to store the size of items we have.

On a side note: I've already used the under-the-bed space to store clothing for sizes they will grow into and seasonal clothing items. So, that "zone" is taken. Therefore, I need to find more space in the closets or organize on shelves.

Now, since I also have The Coupon Game blog, you probably already know that I enjoy a good deal. So I'll be shopping around for deals on bins this week. Dollar General typically has good prices on these items, but I'll check out Walmart as well.

Daily Routine Got Away From You?

2008-10-06T18:17:00.001-07:00

We've all probably heard of this saying, but instead of feeling this way toward someone, I sometimes feel this way about my house chores.

Ever have those days when you just can't seem to catch up on the daily chores?... Okay, so maybe they're weeks or even a month. I've been having one of those weeks. We've been too busy enjoying the outdoors this past week that we let the house go for a bit. With the fun comes the not-so-fun. I'm afraid I've gotten a bit behind on the housework and daily routine. So, back to the grind, right?! Wrong! I'm taking it one day at a time, and just adding a little more to each day. By the end of the week, I should be caught up. Granted, the organizing might need to wait a week, but it all happens in time.

If you're having a week like me, don't sweat it. Just start back up and before you know it, your house will be back in order (or at least clean)! If you look at it as a HUGE task it becomes daunting and overwhelming. So, just keep chuggin' one day at a time.

Is your house TOO clean?!

2008-09-12T04:41:00.001-07:00

I'm sorry for not keeping up on this blog these past 2 weeks. I hope to get more in the swing of posting here after this weekend.

So, I've posed a question in the title of this post... Is your house TOO clean?!

Most of us scramble to clean our house when we know people will be coming over. It's funny... having guests over (which I love doing) is my best motivation for getting my house spic and span! I want to welcome my friends and family with a clean home. I want to honor them by spending a little time cleaning up so that they can feel at home and comfortable in our home.

That being said... Have you ever been to someone's house and felt uncomfortable to even walk in their door because their carpet was so spotless that you thought you might dirty it? Sometimes the cleanest homes are the most uncomfortable. You sit on the sofa looking around and wonder, does anyone actually LIVE here?! I've felt that way a few times in my life. Fortunately, God has provided me with friends who are very down to earth and don't mind a little dirt in their life if it means they have more time to spend with their friends and family.

As one of my friends says, "We just keep it real!"

Let me just say, a disaster of a house may be uncomfortable for many people as well. So, finding that happy medium is important.

My goal is to keep the house clean, but understand that we do LIVE here. Is your house "lived in?"

My Favorite Thing

2008-08-27T04:24:00.001-07:00

My cleaning caddy!

Someone gave me this idea a couple of years ago to keep all of my cleaning supplies for the bathrooms, kitchen, etc. in one place. This has been so nice to keep this part of my cleaning routine organized.

I keep my caddy in the laundry closet on the shelf, and when it's time to clean, I just grab the whole thing down and do the work!

Because it's all in one place, even my husband can find the Windex when he needs it. Ever see the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding?" The dad believes that Windex will clean everything, and I think my husband does too, since he uses it on floors, counters, and everything in between.

Find more Favorite Things at Fiddledeedee!

Laundry Blues...

2008-08-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Wow! I never thought I'd show people how badly our laundry can pile up... but at the same time, surely someone out there can relate to this picture!! Let's keep it real, people! Please tell me someone else's laundry pile has looked like this before.

You know it's laundry time when the hamper just can't hold anymore clothes... and these are just the kid's clothes.

I'm beginning to think that my kids just have too many clothes. It's either that, or I need to find a way to keep the winter from the summer organized.

So, my new daily organization task is to get a handle on my daily routine to include 1 load of laundry per day. My hope is that this will allow me to stay on top of this pile of laundry and keep it all contained in 1 hamper for kids, and 1 hamper for Dad and Mom.

My BIG Organization Task For The Week

To sort through my children's clothes and see what needs to go into a garage sale, get thrown away, given away, or be put into storage for another season.

As a Side Note: I need to buffer the amount of clothing that comes into my house via hand-me-downs (I'm a sucker for free Gymboree & GAP clothes!)

Questions to help me sort:

Do they have too many of 1 type of item (i.e. pajamas, shirts, shorts, pants, etc.)?
Can someone else benefit from this item of clothing?
Can stained or tattered clothing be used for playtime?
Decide how many outfits are necessary.

I am learning as I go, so this list may drastically change once I get started. The fun thing is that my oldest daughter will LOVE helping me with this project, and it teaches her a good organized lifestyle.

My 1-Year Challenge

2008-08-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

Maybe God sent Tropical Storm Fay our way for me to focus on the simpler life. Our family stayed home all day and I got so much done!! It was fabulous!

Of course this got me to thinking that I needed to get some areas of our house organized and cleared of clutter. How did we accumulate so much STUFF?! It seems to pile up and overflow into other rooms, hallways, and especially the garage. Where do we put stuff when we don't know where to put it?? In our 2-car garage... which by the way, does not have enough room for either vehicle we own. Again, how did we get so much stuff??

So, here's my challenge to myself! I hope to give away, garage sale away, or donate the items that we do not truly need this year. Sure, we could always buy a bigger house and fill it up with all of our current stuff, but then we'd be the typical American family with more debt than we can handle. I'd rather be happy where I'm at in the house that God blessed us with.

It's hard to enjoy the blessings God has given when our lives are cluttered up with the stuff of this world.

Am I Organized?!

2008-08-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, so maybe I'm not all that organized... maybe not at all, I shudder to say.

If you're anything like me, you watch those organization TV shows (you know the ones I'm talking about) and wish you could have your house looking like theirs at the end. But by the time the show has ended, you've lost all motivation to do it for yourself.

Well, this blog is my attempt to becoming more organized in my home, life, and daily schedule. There are a few things that are most important to me, and need to be priority above everything else.

Here they are:

Daily time with God in His Word (Necessary for my relationship with Jesus Christ and my sanity throughout the day)
Spending quality time with my husband & children
Being involved in the Church
Balancing time for chores, errands, entertainment, quiet-time, etc.