Spring Clean the Kitchen – The Drawers

The messy kitchen gadget drawer

Spring Clean the Kitchen

The kitchen can be a big job to spring clean. You will want to allow several hours for this room, or break it into a couple days.

I start with the drawers.

1) Take out each drawer and all of it’s contents Thoroughly clean the empty drawer. Get all those crumbs that gather in the corners out. Pick up the twist ties that seem to accumulate (at least at my house…do they ever get back on the loaf of bread when you have 5 kids?) Contact paper can work well to protect the inside of the drawers.

2) Go through the items that come out of that drawer.  Make sure if it is silverware….is it clean? Does it have any rough edges (from getting caught in the garbage disposal)  Do you use the item?  If it is something that has been in your drawers for years and you don’t use it, or are not sure what it is or it is broken…or you don’t like using it. Then get rid of it! Toss it!  (or donate of course if in good shape)

3) Make sure the outside of the drawer and all the tracks and edges are clean and then put the items you are keeping neatly back in the drawer.

4) Before you put the items back into the drawer – figure out a system. If it is silverware or gadgets, you can use something like the Rubbermaid Drawer Organizer that I am currently doing a review and giveaway on (until 3/15/10) I did like this one because of the rubber on the bottom & it doesn’t slide around…but there are many different ones out there to choose from. You can use small baskets or even the lid to a shoe box.

5) Place the items back into the drawer neatly.  It is ok to label things in your kitchen.  You can label in your gadget drawer if you would like to and that system works for you.

It will feel so good the next time you open those drawers….to see how clean and how organized they are.

Be sure to check out my giveaway that is going on until 3/15/10 on my review site.  Rubbermaid Drawer Organizer

Organizer Blog Link

This starts my list for Organizing Blogs.  Feel free to link to this page on your blog. I would love to have more of you listed. Just let me know in the comments and I’ll add you to my list!!  This a list I compiled to be on Guy Kawasaki’s site AllTop.com.

Thanks

1) Sandy Jenney – Organize with Sandy

2) Stephanie Calahan – Productive and Organized

3) NAPO – National Association of Professional Organizers

4) Monica Ricci – Monica Ricci

5) Aby Garvey – Simplify 101

6) Julie Morgenstern – Julie Morgenstern

7) Dorothy Breininger – Dorothy Breininger

8) Ramona Creel – Ramona Creel

9) Laura – I’m an Organizing Junkie

10) Martha Crouse – Organized for Life

11) Melanie Dennis – Neat Streak

12) Rubbermaid – Rubbermaid Blog

13) Molly Gold – Go Mom

14) Beth Flarida – Get Beth

15) Lisa Montanaro – Decide to be Organized

16) Paul Burton – Quiet Spacing

17) Elizabeth Hagen – Elizabeth Hagen Inspires

18) Robin Stephens – Your Life in Order

19) Ellen Daly – Daly Organizing

20) Laura Aridgides - Who is Laura?

21) Tracy Campbell – Simplicated

22) Ellen Hankes – Ellen Hankes

23) Adele Blair – Green Apple Organising

24) Nikki Kinzer – Take Control Organizing

25) Elaine Shannon – Elaine Shannon

26) Kim Eagles – Organizing Connection

27) Allison Carter – The Professional Organizer

28) Nancy Nino – Nancy Organizes

29) Julie Seibert – Healing Organization

30) Lurlene Anderson – Lurlene Anderson

31) Carrie Green – Carrie Thru

32) Heidi DeCoux – Clear Simple Inspiration

33) Stacey Anderson – Organized innovations

34) Jacquie Ross – Baltimore Organized Families Examiner

35) Sheila McCurdy – Clutter Stop

36) Ann Bingley Gallop – Open Spaces Feng Shui

37) Lelah Baker-Rabe – Lelah with Anh

38) Kathi Burns – Add Space To Your Life

39) Grace Brooke – Grace Brooke

40) Margarita Ibbott – DownShifting Professional Organizing Solutions

41) Vicki Winterton – The Organized Woman

42) Maureen Nuccitelli – Harmonious Life Designs

43) Sue West – Organizing for the Next Chapter of Your Life

44) Jill Marie Hively – Order Up Organizing

45) Iowa & Nebraska Organizers List - Ask an Organizer

46) Monticello Corporation & paper Tiger Productivity Experts – The Paper Tiger

47) Deb Lee – Organize to Revitalize

Disclosure: I compiled this list from Organizers I talked to on Twitter who were interested in being on the All Top.com list. Many more names were given to me by Stephanie Callahan, off her list of Professional Organizers that she has on her blog.

I do not necessarily agree with everything that these bloggers have on their sites, just as they might not agree with everything I have on my site. This is a resource for you to find more information on organizers.

Please do not copy or take any information you find on any of our blogs without permission to do so by the blog owners.

If anyone finds themselves on this list and wishes to be removed, please contact me and I will do so.

Ottoman Storage Footrest

I Use My Ottoman Storage Footrest all the time.

I bought this ottoman storage footrest last year at Target. I really like it.  I am not being asked to review it, I just wanted to share with you. I needed a place in my small family room for blankets. We keep the house a little cooler to help save heating cost, so the kids always grab throws to cover up with. (Yeah…I use them too in the evening).

Storage

I keep blankets in mine, but you can put in pillows, board games, toys, Video games and controllers, placemats or dining room tablecloths, hanging files and office supplies.
There can be a million uses for this storage. The kids also pull it over to sit on and play their video games. I purchased it at Target and I think it was on sale at the time for $69 or $79.
It has held up very nicely and hasn’t shown any wear in the year I have had it.

Disclosure: I purchased this ottoman myself. It was not given to me and I was not asked to write this post.

Five Guidelines for Sorting

Sorting

Here are the 5 guidelines that I use to sort with!! Take each item and make a fast decision. Don’t worry if Aunt Susie gave it to you and you don’t want to hurt her feelings. Do YOU like it and does it add value to the space? If not, then it is alright to donate it, or give it to another family member who might really like it. Take that item and in 5 fast seconds say to yourself, “Do I love this, use it and want it?” Simple as that. (I know it isn’t really that easy…but the more you do, the easier it gets.) I know there are the complicated items, I know there are the sentimental items.
But here are the basics:

Love It:
1) Love It
2) Use It
3) Want it or Can’t live without it

Donate:
1) Won’t Use
2) Don’t Like
3) Doesn’t Fit

Move It:
1) Wrong Room

Store It:
1) Seasonal
2) Can’t give it up
3) Can’t Use Now

Trash:
1) Broken
2) Torn
3) Can’t Donate

A Vision Board

Check out This Vision Board

You may say to yourself…”What the heck is a vision board?”
This is just a board that you can make that you can see visually see your goals and what you would love to have your space look like. Also the other dreams and goals you have in life. (Like one of hers is to go on a trip)
This is one that one of my clients did on her own. I was so impressed. This is someone who is an actual hoarder..but she is so motivated and is determined to get out from underneath it!
You can look through magazines or look on the web and see a room or idea you like and would like to mimic and cut it out. Of course you probably won’t end up with the exact room…that’s not the point. The point is to have a goal and a vision. Then when you are going through that space you can say to yourself, “Will this big pink stuffed elephant really fit into the vision I want for this room or can I finally give it up to a someone who will love it as much as I have?”
One of the visions my client has for her home is to have a paperless home. She is a wiz on the computer and has a scanner and plans to scan all of her paperwork to save it. She saw this in the newspaper and I think she will actually be able to achieve it.
Even if you don’t put it on some kind of bulletin board or magnetic board, you can still do the same thing and just put the pictures in a notebook or even just write them down.
Give it a try!

Console Caddie Review and Giveaway

The creator of the pouchee, Anita Crook also developed this Console Caddie. It makes a great tote to carry things in and out of your house to your office and back again. It is also good to just keep in your car to keep things organized.
One of the Doctors I work for loves the large black one. He puts his Iphone, physican phone sheet, pens and I am not sure what else in it and says he loves it to carry things from his office, to his car and then to his house.
There are 2 sizes. They are both 5 inches tall (not including the handle). The larger one is 8 1/4 inches (long enough for a checkbook) and the smaller length is 7 inches.
They are a heavy leatherette fabric in either black or tan. The handles are stable and it has a gusseted bottom to be able to stand up when full.
Inside has credit card pouches, lipstick or pen pockets, a divided middle, pouches on both sides for all your odds and ends.

Pros: *Great size to keep all your little gadgets from falling all over the car.
*Sturdy
*Has separate pockets to keep things organized.
*Can work as purse organizer or separate mini purse.
*Can use it to organize other areas other than your car.

Cons: *Only comes in black and tan and not other fun colors.

Cable Holders

Cable Holders
These handy little holders for your cables are wonderful!
They are simple and work great. I have them on side of my little mini office by my couch. They have sticky backs and stick right on the surface of the cubby. I have a power strip just below on the floor and it has my cell phone charger and PDA charger plugged into it. Then I have these two (most used) power cords hooked up through these little holders and they are right where I need them every evening when I need to plug them in. So convenient! I think I found these at the Container Store but I have also seen them at Target.

Mini office

My Mini Office

This is my mini work station beside the couch, where I always sit, in the family room.
I have my bills in the right cubby, bills paid and things to be filed in the middle and on the right as you see my stapler and tape. On top I have a notebook I use daily to plan my day and extra paper. There are also some papers in there that I used to track and make sure some things were completed. In the drawer I have my stamps, envelops, return address labels, hand lotion and some other odds and ends. You can kind of see on the left of my work station I have a plastic …oh wait, I will take a picture of it because I love it too.

I have scissors, pens and pencils. My letter openers, paperclips. Then I have Q-tips and fingernail clippers because I am always seeing dirty ears and long fingernails on the kids and I want to take care of it when I see it!
So I have my little home away from home office. I do have a real office in the house, but I like being out with the family.
Oh..my laptop that I am currently working on sits on top of my workstation when I am not using it.

Laundry Cubbies!

Cubbies used for Laundry Sorting

Here is another cubby idea! This is what I use some more cubbies (can you tell I love them!!) for in my house. At the top of the stairs we have this little area that works perfect. By the way before Dave and his kids moved in, I had my scrap booking albums in these..and yes they were full. Anyway…I needed some way to sort the laundry (with 5 kids)and thought this would work. It works great.
I bring up the folded laundry in my laundry baskets and sort it into the proper child’s cubby.  The kids are then responsible for putting their own laundry away in their rooms.
The basket in the middle is for mismatched socks.
The basket on the top left is for my step children’s clothes that need to go back to their mom’s house.
If you look close you can see that the kids names are on the bottom of their cubbies. I just use scrap booking stickers for this.
I would love to have something like this in my laundry room…but it’s not big enough.

Organizing coats and bookbags

Hooks Can Do wonders!

Another tool you can use to keep things somewhat organized for your kids is to simply hang some hooks on the back of your closet door. You can also use your basement door or laundry room door. I got the double hooks so a book bag goes on one hook and a coat can go on the other.

Label Them

They are labeled with colorful stickers with their names so no one can fight over where theirs goes.
The kids come in and they hand me their school folders and anything else they need me to see and then they hang their book bags and coats up. Easy and no book bags all over the family room floor! When kids are small they need to be able to hang their coats somewhere they can reach easily and just hanging it on a hook is easier (and more likely to be used)than a hanger.

Color Code Them

If you have color coded your kids then you can use their color for hooks. If you can’t find their color in a plastic hook, you can use a piece of colored duct tape to serve the same purpose.  Each child will know which hook their coat or bookbag belongs on.

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