Organizing the "Right Way"
Organizing the "Right Way"
Posted by: Alexandra Penkalskyj in organizing tips, organizing homes, life organization on Mar 19, 2009
How many of us get paralyzed with the thought of tackling a project, because we do not have the perfect scheme, perfect supplies, perfect know-how. My philosophy is: Excellence, not Perfection.
Perfection is usually quite unattainable, but excellence, doing the best you can with the tools you have, is doable for everyone to their own degree.
When you are trying to organize your home and family, there is not necessarily a correct way of doing this. You have to figure out what works for your family, and you might even have to stumble through a few tries before you find the “perfect” solution.
Here are a few thoughts about finding what works for you:
1. Do not try to imitate what is impossible. How many times do we see wonderfully organized and decorated mudrooms, and get upset because our home does not allow for such a thing. Don’t despair and give up… instead, figure out how your family comes into the house or leaves, and where should you store their gear. Think of other places for storing coats, shoes, and sports gear.
2. The most obvious place for coats may be the hall closet, but maybe you do not have a hall closet, a hall, or either one. How about splitting up the coats into each person’s personal closet space? Shoes could be kept under the bed, or to save underbed space, hang a shoe-bag on the back of the bedroom door.
3. The sports gear is probably the most problematic. Maybe you can create a space in the laundry area, with hooks and baskets for various pieces of sports paraphernalia.
4. We know that a nice array of matching baskets looks very attractive in organizational schemes, but what if this is beyond your budget now? An alternative solution could be using boxes; sometimes it’s possible to get used boxes at your workplace. To make them attractive, cover them with matching gift-wrapping paper, or choose one patterned paper and one solid color from the patterned paper; wrap the boxes, glue a ribbon, and you have nice inexpensive storage.
5. As you are de-cluttering and organizing, make notes on the storage containers that you need for specific items. You might be pleasantly surprised to find just what you need in a container you already have -- one that can be re-purposed. Some examples: old ashtrays, little vases, pretty gift boxes, antique-looking cups, silver trays; I have even found use for pieces of my daughters’ play dishware.
Perfection is usually quite unattainable, but excellence, doing the best you can with the tools you have, is doable for everyone to their own degree.
When you are trying to organize your home and family, there is not necessarily a correct way of doing this. You have to figure out what works for your family, and you might even have to stumble through a few tries before you find the “perfect” solution.
Here are a few thoughts about finding what works for you:
1. Do not try to imitate what is impossible. How many times do we see wonderfully organized and decorated mudrooms, and get upset because our home does not allow for such a thing. Don’t despair and give up… instead, figure out how your family comes into the house or leaves, and where should you store their gear. Think of other places for storing coats, shoes, and sports gear.
2. The most obvious place for coats may be the hall closet, but maybe you do not have a hall closet, a hall, or either one. How about splitting up the coats into each person’s personal closet space? Shoes could be kept under the bed, or to save underbed space, hang a shoe-bag on the back of the bedroom door.
3. The sports gear is probably the most problematic. Maybe you can create a space in the laundry area, with hooks and baskets for various pieces of sports paraphernalia.
4. We know that a nice array of matching baskets looks very attractive in organizational schemes, but what if this is beyond your budget now? An alternative solution could be using boxes; sometimes it’s possible to get used boxes at your workplace. To make them attractive, cover them with matching gift-wrapping paper, or choose one patterned paper and one solid color from the patterned paper; wrap the boxes, glue a ribbon, and you have nice inexpensive storage.
5. As you are de-cluttering and organizing, make notes on the storage containers that you need for specific items. You might be pleasantly surprised to find just what you need in a container you already have -- one that can be re-purposed. Some examples: old ashtrays, little vases, pretty gift boxes, antique-looking cups, silver trays; I have even found use for pieces of my daughters’ play dishware.
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email this
