You see, we live in a pretty small house for a family of 5. We also both work out of our home, which we love, but space is definitely an issue for us. My husband has an office set up in the back of the house, but he doesn’t use it much because, well, it’s in the back of the house away from everyone. He goes back there when he needs to make phone calls.

My office is in the living room, which is where both of us usually work from. Yes, even with 3 kids and a dog running around. Our house is NEVER boring. The living room arrangement has been bothering me for awhile but I could never figure out what would work best, until today.

(Here’s a picture of my desk. It comes from Target and works well in a living area.)

My whole family approves of the new arrangement and so far, it seems to be working. If a room just doesn’t feel right to you, play around with it a bit. Move the furniture, think of some unconventional storage ideas and change it until it works and feels just right!

Never be afraid to change things up a bit. Oh, and I was going to take a picture of my new living room, but I have three kids home with the flu, so it’s a tad bit messy right now. I’ll post one later.

Photo Source: Target 

Post from: Blisstree

Don’t Be Afraid to Change Things Up a Bit

Post from: Blisstree

VIDEO – Organizing the Utensil Drawer

There is something about music that gets you going and gives you some energy. Who knows…maybe you’ll start to even enjoy doing tasks like these because you know it’s your time to turn up your favorite tunes and escape into your little world of music.

Give it a try. You won’t know if it’ll do the trick until you try it. This is multi-tasking at its best!

Post from: Blisstree

Feed Your Soul While Doing the Dishes – Tick Tock Tuesday

Utility Caddy

You can store all of your bathroom cleaning supplies in a utility caddy similar to the one pictured here. It can hold your basic cleanser, rags and sponges. When it’s time to clean, all you have to do is tote it from room to room. When you are finished, just put the caddy back and you are done!

Under the Sink 

Another way to organize your cleaning supplies is to store one bottle of cleanser, or Clorox wipes, and rags or sponges under each bathroom sink. Make it a point to quickly wipe down the sinks,toilets and tubs every morning and cleaning the bathroom will not become such a chore. I have done this for years and it has served me well.

Do you have any tips for storing and organizing your bathroom cleaning supplies?

Post from: Blisstree

Organize Your Bathroom Cleaning Supplies

To see the after picture, be sure and head over to Tackle it Tuesday: The Hall Closet and see what she accomplished.

What else has she tackled? Well, the Christmas tree (she didn’t literally tackle it, lol!) this last Tuesday was her latest feat! Great job Thrifty Mommy! If you would like to join in on the fun and tackle areas of your house, then head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

Post from: Blisstree

Thrifty Mommy Tackles Tuesday!

Post from: Blisstree

How to Organize a Grab n Go Drawer in Your Kitchen

Well, it was working just fine for awhile. I mentioned that it would need weekly maintenance to keep it up, but that I thought it was going to work just great. Guess what? I was wrong. It’s not working so well anymore.

Because of the deep drawers it made it very easy for my kids just to drop things in there and by the end of the day, each drawer was just a mess. It got to where they couldn’t find any pencils when it was time to do their homework. Why? Because they were all at the bottom of the cube tote. Why? Because my kids frequently decided it was easier to just drop the pencil in the tote, rather than put it back in the pencil box.

One thing I have realized over the years, is that organizing your home and getting it to work for you requires experimenting. One thing that makes my home work for me, is that I am not afraid to experiment with new ideas and techniques. If the system I have set-up starts to become a hassle, is hard to use or just flat isn’t working, then that means it is time to re-evaluate. That’s exactly what I did this weekend.

I happen to be blessed with a kitchen that has a lot of cabinets and drawers. It was the one thing that sold me on our house. I love my kitchen.

Well, the other night I was laying in bed and this idea of how to organize the kids’ crafts came to me. Yes, I often think about and dream about organizing while in bed. I know, I’m weird. The whole cube organizer just wasn’t working anymore and I also knew that it could be put to better use in my daughter’s room. (I’ll show you what my daughter did with it in her room another day.)

In my kitchen I have these four drawers near the kitchen table that were not being put to good use. I knew it was time to clean them out and that those drawers would be the perfect spot for my kids’ crafts. It only took me a few minutes to clean out the drawers and I lucked out that the containers which hold their markers, crayons, etc, fit perfectly in the top drawer. I love it when that happens! LOL.

So, I put the markers, colored pencils, pens/pencils, glue and scissors in the top drawer. They are all in containers. Here’s a picture for you:

In the second drawer I put coloring books and paper:

And in the third drawer I put stickers, glue gun and some other miscellaneous supplies:

I did all of this yesterday, so it hasn’t been put to the test yet. I’ll let you know how it’s working at the end of the week. What I like about this system is that the items are not in deep drawers or containers like they previously were. It’ll be much easier for my kids to put the craft items back where they belong and it’s also much easier for them to see what’s there. I think it’s going to work out great, but I’ve been wrong before that’s for sure!

Remember: if a system isn’t working for you, try to think about how you can change it or improve on it. If you have an organizing system that is complicated or just isn’t working, then it’ll just end up frustrating you and always staying in a state of chaos and that is no fun!

Post from: Blisstree

Rethinking the Craft Area

Post from: Blisstree

Video: How to Organize Your Tupperware

1. Exchange gifts given to you for gifts that you can actually use or give the gift to someone else who can use it.

2. Tidy your workspace each time after you are finished for the day.

3. Rein in your hobbies. Resolve not to start another project until you have finished all the other ones you have already started.

4. Schedule regular tune-ups for each room in your home.

5. Purchase an attractive relocate bin or basket for every area of your home. At the end of the day spend a few minutes returning items to their proper locations.

6. Learn to say no when someone tries to give you something of theirs.

7. Clean and put away dishes after every meal.

8. Have your kids put away their toys after playtime is over.

9. Discard all periodicals after they are a week old.

10. Make the beds every morning.

Post from: Blisstree

10 Tips on Keeping Away the Clutter for Good