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

Tell me how you’re celebrating your special day! My husband and I have a tradition of putting the kiddos to bed, ordering Chinese food and watching a romantic movie. We have never liked fighting the crazy Valentine’s day crowds at dinner. Have a great day!

Technorati Tags: declutter it,happy valentine’s day

Post from: Blisstree

Happy Valentine’s Day from Declutter It!

I have certain places where I store these things and they always end up playing a disappearing act. Who takes them? Do we have little mice who need these items from wrapping presents or something?

No, it’s my sweet children who keep taking them and then don’t put them back where they belong. I don’t mind them using these things, but it’s frustrating when I do need them and can’t find them. The last thing I have time for is hunting around the house looking for something.

Let me give you an example: I needed the tape the other day. Yesterday was my little boy’s birthday, and I needed to wrap a few things. I usually keep tape with all my wrapping paper supplies, but I was out. So, I went to the next place I keep tape and that’s the craft drawer. But guess what? It wasn’t there! Argh. I knew exactly who to ask though. My ten year old daughter.

She and her brothers made this massive card board club house out in the playroom and they used the tape. Somehow the tape had disappeared into thin air. We were looking everywhere! You’ll never guess where we finally found it. In the linen closet. Yes, the linen closet.

You see, at the bottom of our linen closet, my kids love to turn it into a tiny clubhouse. I don’t mind. I only store blankets down there. Well, my daughter had been in there earlier “decorating” the little clubhouse and taping papers she had made on the walls. When she was done, she didn’t put the tape back, but instead threw all the blankets back on top of the tape, hiding it very well.

Thankfully we found it and I was able to continue my wrapping.

What’s the moral of this story? I have no idea, but I do know that I am going to make me a mom box that no one is aloud to touch. It will contain my most prized possessions like my tape, my special scissors, markers and anything else like that. I may even find a little box I can lock. Now that would be nice.

I’ll be sure and take pictures of my box for you when I’m all done. I will never again go searching high and low for the tape!

Post from: Blisstree

"Where is the Tape!?" – A Little Rant

A few weeks ago, I received an organizational system that is geared toward families. In fact, the line is called Family Matters, which is so accurate. Not only does you family actually matter to you and it’s important for you to be organized for them, but the system also helps you take care of all your family matters. Great name, I just love it. You can get products from this line exclusively at Office Depot.

All of the products in this line work together. It is based on a color-coded system for a family of five. You can assign each member in your family a color and this has been fabulous for my family. My kids love it that they have a designated color.

The products I would like to tell you about today from this line, are the Wirebound Appointment Book and the Storage Case.

Here are some pictures of the Appointment Book.

More pictures and review below the cut.

The appointment book comes in 2 sizes – 9 x 11 and 6 7/8 x 8 3/4. The one pictured here is the larger one. There are several features that I love about this planner:

• The spiral bound feature of the book, makes it easy to use. You can fold the book completely in half for easier writing and it takes up less space at your desk as you are jotting things down.
• It has both the monthly calendar and the weekly calendar.
• The monthly spread includes color-coded blocks for important notes/appointments.
• The weekly 2 page spread has color-coded columns for each day of the week.
• It has the monthly tabs making it easy to switch back and forth between months.
• It has a section to record family information.

Now, this isn’t exactly a planner that you can carry around with you every where you go, unless you carry a brief case or large purse. I see this as a planner that is good for those who do not need to carry it around with them, but instead leave it in a central location at home or at your desk.

If you have a lot going on in your family life and you need a planner to keep any and all the information you could imagine, then this would be a great planner for you. There is plenty of room to write down a ton of stuff. Compared to other planners I have used in the past, this gets a thumbs up from me. I do wish it had pockets to store loose papers, but that’s just me.

The next product in the Family Matters line, is their storage cases. Here’s a picture of the blue one.

I really like using storage boxes in an office area. There are certain things in an office that can make it look cluttered, but it’s stuff that you need to be able to access.

I use this storage box at my desk. It sits right behind my computer and I keep my day planner in it, a book I am reading, magazines I haven’t been able to look through yet and a few loose papers that I need close to me for the next few days. Storage boxes keep everything in one place and looking neat and tidy.

These storage boxes come in the colors that correspond with the appointment book and the other products. Each family member can have their own storage box where they put important items. It keeps papers, magazines, etc off of the desk or counter area and in a contained space.

Overall, I am very pleased with both of these products. Later this week, I will tell you about my all-time favorite product from the Family Matters line. I have literally fallen in love with this product and use it on a daily basis and so do my kids. Yes, I know I am weird. Organizing products get me way too excited.

Post from: Blisstree

Family Matters Planner Review – Tick Tock Tuesday

The BusyBodyBook is a personal and family organizer to help you keep track of your busy schedule. I use one of these myself and I absolutely love it!

The BusyBodyBook has several features that I really have enjoyed:

• It has a month-at-a-glance calendar so you can view the whole month at once.
• It has a weekly planner for writing more detailed information about the week’s happenings.
• It has a section called “To Doodles” which gives you lots of room on the page to write down any notes, goals or lists.
• Each day has five columns that you can divide up among the members of your family or students can even use this book to help them with their studies.
• There are 4 really nice designs available.

For me, when it comes to purchasing a planner it has to have both the month-at-glance calendar, a weekly calendar and also a place to jot down notes. The BusyBodyBook has all of those and it has been very helpful for keeping my family’s schedule organized. It’s also small enough for me to carry around. I have found that the large leather planners do me no good because I don’t need nor enjoy lugging something that heavy around with me. The BusyBodyBook suits me just perfectly.

Okay, so I bet you are wondering how you can win this. Here’s what you have to do and the rules of the giveaway:

• Just leave a comment on this post. That’s right…that’s it. You don’t even have to make some profound statement about why you need this. Just leave a simple comment and you are entered!
• Please leave your email address in the “email section” of the comment box so that I may contact you for your address.
• I will only ship to the US and Canada.
• The drawing will close on February 2nd at midnight eastern time and I will hold the drawing on February 3rd.
• I will cover the cost of shipping, so no need to worry there.

I think that’s it! Comment away…And be sure and visit the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival for more great prizes!

Good luck.

Post from: Blisstree

BusyBodyBook Giveaway – Tick Tock Tuesday

I mentioned a few days ago that I have some organizing product reviews for you and boy do I ever! I have been having so much fun looking at and getting myself even more organized with all of these fun organizing goodies. I think I have discovered some products that you will definitely enjoy too.

I also wanted to know if you have any questions? Feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll post your question (with a link back to you if you have a blog/website) and my answer. And also send any pictures of your recent organizing successes. I love hearing about and seeing those!

I hope everyone is having a good week. Now, let’s get organized shall we?

Post from: Blisstree

Back in the Saddle Again

To give you a brief description of what this tool is all about, it basically is a way to keep yourself organized on-line. It’s a great way to reduce the amount of paper you use. I am constantly scribbling little notes to myself and when I am in “work mode”, my desk can look pretty scary.

With Backpack you can keep up with your schedule using their calendar and also use their pages to keep to-do lists, notes, ideas or whatever! I’m planning on using this organizing tool for my blogging, housecleaning list and also projects that my kids are involved in. It’s discoveries like this that get me all excited!

To see how other people are using Backpack, be sure and visit their examples page. It’s awesome!

You can sign up for Backpack for free and you are given 5 pages to work with. If you decide you like it and you want more pages and also access to the calendar, there are upgrade options for you to consider. They range from $5 to $14 a month.

Go check it out and see how maybe you could benefit from this. I’ll update you on different ways I have used it after I’ve dove into it a bit more.

Post from: Blisstree

I’ve Decided to Backpackit – Where’s My Desk Wednesday

Alright, I plan on participating in OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday every week and I am really excited about it! I just received my MealPlanner 101 in the mail, so be looking for a review of it very soon. I can’t wait to tell you about it.

Now, my schedule is crazy so planning a menu was kind of hard. That’s been my problem – no time to cook in between everything, but I am doing whatever it takes to make this happen. This will take a lot of commitment, planning and organization.

Here’s a break down of my weekly schedule so you know what I’m talking about:

• Mondays are gymnastics from 4 to 7. I am usually only there from 6 to 7 so that gives me some time to cook a meal. I have to reheat whatever we have for dinner for my 8 year old, but he doesn’t mind. He loves gymnastics!
• Tuesdays are gymnastics from 5 to 6 and then small group from 6:45 to 8:15 pm. No cooking is happening this night.
• Wednesdays are gymnastics from 4 to 7. Are you seeing a theme here?
• Thursdays are….drum roll please…NOTHING! Wahoo!
• Fridays are acting class for my daughter from 6:30 to 8 pm. We eat before class.
• Saturdays – you just never know.
• Sundays – church at 10:30 am and again at 4:30 to 6:30 pm

And here’s my menu plan for the week:

• Monday: Homemade Chicken Pot Pie, cut up fruit
• Tuesday: Eat out night  – I think we’ll do Subway.
• Wednesday: Spaghetti and meat sauce, crescent rolls, fresh steamed green beans and fruit
• Thursday:  Marinated pork chops (I’ll marinate them Wednesday night and all day Thursday. Yum Yum.), corn, wheat rolls and fruit
• Friday: Date Night!
• Saturday: Baked Salmon with butter and garlic (I got this recipe from MealPlanner 101. It sounds so yummy!), steamed mixed veggies, fruit and rolls
• Sunday: Lunch: Soup and salad; Dinner: Quesadillas, mexican rice and veggie sticks

There you go! I did it and it feels SO unbelievably good to know exactly what my family is eating this week. It’s been awhile since I have planned out a menu.

Be sure and come join everyone over at Menu Plan Monday and share your weekly menu!

Post from: Blisstree

Menu Plan Monday #1 with OrgJunkie

Well, for this Supper Saturday I wanted to encourage you to stop by her Menu Plan Monday and participate. When I look back at the times that my meals were all planned out, not only did my bank account thank me, but my whole family just ate better. I have to stop using the excuse that plagues my brain of “I’m just SO busy”, to stop me from menu planning. Yes, I am way busier than I was, let’s say 2 years ago, but busy is not an excuse for me personally to not plan out my meals better.

So, next Monday I’ll be participating in her Menu Plan Monday and I hope you will too! See you there.

Post from: Blisstree

Supper Saturday – Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie

Getting organized is obviously a very popular New Year’s resolution and I am here to help you stick to that goal. In order to improve the content on Declutter It!, I would like to know what you need from me. Please answer the poll below so that I can have a better idea of what to write about.

The last poll that I did let me know that I have a wide variety of readers. Some of you work full time outside the home with kids, others work and don’t have kids. Some of you are retired, some work from home. My goal is to cover organizing information and give organizing advice and ideas to suit all of your needs.

Thanks for stopping by and here’s to 2008!

Post from: Blisstree

Happy New Year from Declutter It!