Simple Mom » organizing

Plan your Peaceful Christmas: Task 3

Tsh — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:01:37 +0000

So far in our steps for a peaceful Christmas series, we’ve talked about preparing your holiday budget, planning your gift giving, and organizing your calendar. One thing per week, a little at a time… they help make the holidays enjoyable instead of chaotic.

What’s the next step? Well, doing this week’s task early enough will save you money, keep your hand from aching, and protect your late nights from grumbling over something that’s meant to be a blessing.

It’s not an essential part of everyone’s holidays, but it’s important to our family. That’s why I like doing it with plenty of time to spare.

Organize, order, and address your holiday cards

Not everyone bothers with Christmas cards anymore, and I understand why. It’s expensive, it’s time consuming, and they’re not as essential as other aspects of the season, such as gifts or food.

But I still love sending cards—because I love receiving them. We hang photo cards on our fridge the entire following year. To me, it’s one of the few things during the holidays that keep us connected, tangibly, to the people we love.

It’s expensive, yes. But you can save money the earlier you plan.

Photo card options

My preference is sending photo cards, because it’s what I like to receive. I love seeing how kids have grown, and it puts faces to the names of people we talk about with our kids. Photo cards remind us to pray for people.

(And as a side note, I prefer seeing entire families in the photos, and not just the kids. C’mon, grownups—get behind the camera, too!)

Pre-made photo cards

• Tiny Prints has a beautiful selection. They’re pricier, but you can’t go wrong with any of their designs. High-quality printing as well.

• Snapfish has a good deal right now—30% off and free shipping on all photo cards until November 22 (that’s in five days).

• Shutterfly currently has free shipping on orders over $30.

• I love supporting designers at Etsy! Order a photo card design from stores like Roxter Designs, Paper Kite, Grace & Co, and Harper Gray, and they’ll usually customize them for you (I used to do this as a side business, and I loved creating photo cards exactly how someone wanted them). Search “photo cards,” and you’ll have more than your pick.

Added: Grace & Co created a coupon code for Simple Mom readers—10% off all purchases until November 30. Just use the coupon code SIMPLEMOM1130 at checkout. Thanks, Grace & Co!

Photo card by Roxter Designs

And of course, brick-and-mortar stores like Target, CVS, Costco, and the like always have photo card options. I prefer to use these guys just for printing, though, especially when I buy an Etsy design and print them myself.

DIY photo cards

If you have a knack for Photoshop (or its equivalent), make photo cards yourself and have them printed. This is what I do almost every year, and it saves me bundles. As you design, keep in mind that 4×6 photos are considerably cheaper to print than 5×7.

A 4×6 photo will need a size A6 envelope, and a 5×7 photo will need an A7 envelope. I usually order them from Amazon because we send out quite a few cards, but you can easily find high-quality envelopes sold individually at local paper stores.

A cheaper alternative is to turn your photo cards into postcards—you won’t have to buy envelopes, and you can use postcard stamps, which are less expensive (at least in the U.S.).

My favorite places to order postcards are Overnight Prints, Vistaprint (they’re in Canada, too!), and Budget Prints (which currently has free shipping over $30). All have reasonable prices.

Gather your addresses

It’s no fun writing friends and family the night before you want to mail cards, asking them for their snail mail address. Start gathering them now, when you’re not rushed or panicked.

Order stamps

If you’re in the States, order stamps online, and they’ll be delivered the next day. I haven’t bought stamps at an actual post office in years.

Address envelopes early

This activity is a great excuse to pop in a holiday movie and sip on hot cocoa. Just do a few each night for a week, and you’re done. Kids with readable penmanship might enjoy this task, too.

Return address stamp by Primele

I print our return address directly on the envelopes—I’d rather run them through the printer for 30 minutes than spend hours writing the same thing repeatedly. One day, I may splurge on a beautiful return address stamp—I’m drooling over the ones at Primele.

Digital options

If you simply can’t afford snail mail greetings, email is still a friendly, etiquette-approved option (if you’re asking me, anyway, but I’m no Emily Post). Please don’t go overboard with the flashing lights and instamusic, though. A simple informative-yet-not-long email with an attached photo is great.

I’d rather receive these than nothing—I can always print out the photo and stick it on my fridge if I want.

Sending hand-signed cards is a dying art, but it’s personally important to me. I want my kids to know the value of writing letters, so for us, sending holiday cards is an annual family affair.

When I plan in plenty of time, creating and sending cards is a festive tradition, and not a hand-aching chore. I love it.

How about you—do you send out cards? Newsletters? E-greetings? Don’t bother? I’d love to hear your reasons.

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Plan your Peaceful Christmas: Task 3 is a post from Simple Mom

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Clearing the “Counter Pile” with a Tickler File

April Perry — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:01:54 +0000

The following is a guest post from April Perry of powerofmoms.com.

Just about every mom I know has something on the kitchen counter called “the pile.”

You’ve surely seen one. It’s generally stocked full of receipts, original art work, birthday party invitations, advertisements, coupons, and the like, and if you’re one of the lucky moms sporting a counter pile, you’ve certainly plowed through it on numerous occasions–looking for that community holiday flier or the reminder card from the dentist office.

Ring a bell?

Today I’m going to show you a trick that virtually eliminates the time-sensitive items from your counter pile. It’s called a Tickler File, and you can have yours set up in minutes. Quite honestly, it will change your paper-sorting life.

How to Set Up Your Tickler File:

Get 12 file folders and label them by month.

Put your Tickler in an easy-to-access location.

A small file box, a little stacking tray, or the very front of your filing cabinet are great spots for your Tickler. It doesn’t need to be out in plain sight–you just don’t want to forget where you put it.

Reference paperwork with a “Tickler Symbol” on your calendar.

Whenever you receive a piece of paper that needs to be accessed or used during a specific month (examples below), reference the accompanying action or event on your calendar and add a little T with a circle around it–indicating that the paper you’ll need on that date is in your Tickler. If you use a digital calendar, you could use parentheses:(T).

Then simply place those time-sensitive papers in the appropriate month’s folder.

Sound easy? It is. Now let’s practice:

1. Smog Check Form

It’s October 10th, and your husband hands you a form from the Department of Motor Vehicles, indicating that your registration this year requires a smog check. The smog check can be done during October or November, but the registration is due on December 12th.

What on earth do you do?

Normally, we’d just stick something like that in “the pile” and hope we remember to get that smog check done in time. And then in January, when we get pulled over by a police officer who’s wondering why our car hasn’t been registered, we plead, “I’m sorry, but have you seen my kitchen counter? I’ll get it done today . . . I promise!”

(We’re not going to do that anymore.)

Instead, we’ll write the registration deadline on our calendar (so we’ll see it coming), and we’ll add “Get a smog check” to the “Errands” section of our context-based list.

We could even add a calendar trigger sometime in November that asks, “Did you get your smog check yet?” (Just in case . . . because we all know how motherhood can throw us into a whirlwind sometimes.)

Next to each of those reminders, we add our cute circled “T” (and since this particular sheet of paper might be in three different folders, we note the month beside it–as you can see in the photo above).

When the day comes to take the car in to get checked, we calmly walk to our October Tickler, take out the smog check form that needs to be signed, and happily cross that task off our list.

Lovely, isn’t it?

Here’s another example:

2. Wedding Invitation

Your dear friend from college is getting married on June 22nd, and she sends you a beautiful invitation, complete with a map to the wedding and reception. You need a safe place to keep this invitation, so you don’t end up texting the bride for directions to her wedding the morning of.

You simply note the wedding on your June calendar and put your “T” symbol right next to it, indicating that any related paperwork can be found within the folder for the month of the wedding.

Are you starting to get excited?

Let’s do one more . . .

3. Concert Tickets

You and your best friends from high school are going to a concert in the city on August 3rd, and everyone buys their tickets when they go on sale in late May. You’ve got more than two months before the event, and you don’t want to be scrambling at the last minute, so you print your tickets online and put them in your August Tickler, noting the concert and your Tickler symbol on your calendar.

Get Rid of the Paper Pile Forever

This Tickler idea is so simple, but I never thought of it until I read David Allen’s best-seller, Getting Things Done. He recommends a Tickler consisting of 43 files, 12 for the months, 31 for the days (that cycles and is checked daily), but as a mom who is spinning in several different directions each morning (brushing hair, tying shoes, cleaning up breakfast . . .), I like to simplify the number of things I need to check before I start my day.

Twelve files kept in a safe place and one calendar I check daily has taken loads of stress off my plate. Now, when my daughter comes to me in June and hands me a form for the school orchestra that doesn’t need to be turned in until September, I don’t even break a sweat.

Our family now has a place for the book order form that’s due in two weeks. We can always find the addresses to birthday parties, and I can easily group papers that need to accompany me on a plane trip.

When we consistently use our Tickler files, we won’t cringe every time we look at that pile on our kitchen counter. In fact, by implementing a few simple organization techniques, we can get to the point where “the pile” won’t even exist.

Note from April: The Tickler File is part of a GTD®-based program called Mind Organization for Moms, and I would love to give away 100 free programs (valued at $40 each) as a gift to the Simple Mom Community. To receive your free program, please click here.

Do you have any counter-clearing tips or paper-processing ideas you’d like to share? Do you notice an improvement in how you feel around your family when your papers are under control?

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Scan Artist: Scan your way to an organized life.

Carley — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 04:01:04 +0000

Note from Tsh: I’m still at Relevant, so I’m excited to bring you today’s guest post from Carley Knobloch of Digitwirl. I love her practical ideas here!

Didn’t scholars predict that we’d be a paperless society by now? I read that in a magazine article once, but don’t ask me to find it… it’s probably under the mound of bills, school papers, receipts and magazines that used to be my dining room table.

The paper clutter in my house has been a constant source of angst. Popular productivity books taught me how to “process” piles until they were no more. File away the things you need, toss the rest—that’s what they said.

What I’ve found, however, is that it’s not the filing that’s the challenge, it’s the retrieval:

• Where’s that receipt file for our accountant?
• Where did we file those pictures from our honeymoon?
• Why can’t I find the %!*#$ file with the Kindergarten class roster in it?!

I yearned for a way not just to clear my counter tops, but to be able to instantly find any important document or precious memory without upturning my entire house.

Then I started scanning the paper around my house. Now, important documents rarely go missing, and if they do, I type a few keywords to find them.

I can dial up any document from any computer, smartphone or tablet. Everything is safe and secure. And the mound of paper that once consumed my dining room has become cross-cut shreds that line the cage of my daughter’s class guinea pig cage.

It’s easy to scan your way to an organized, digitized life, and the results in my life have been dramatic—I feel so much more “together” and I waste so much less time.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

• Select a scanner that works in your budget:

There’s a scanner at every price point, from the JotNot app for iPhone ($0.99), or the CamScanner for Android (free), to the super-slim portable scanners like Doxie ($149) and NeatReceipts ($199), to the deluxe Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500 ($459).

As you go up in price, you get a faster scanner and the ability to scan piles of paper without having to feed them in one at a time, which can be agonizingly slow. Many of the options above come bundled with OCR (optical character recognition) software, which turns your document into editable, searchable text. If your scanner doesn’t, you can upload files to PDF OCR, a free online app that will convert files for you.

• Storage and backup:

It’s a bit of a leap to toss your paper and trust the digital realm to keep things safe, so it’s good practice (and will help you sleep better) if you backup your files in at least two places. I back up important files to an external hard drive should my computer suddenly fall ill, but hard drives make it difficult to access your files.

Cloud storage solutions keep your files safe and easily accessible from wherever you are—you can access them on any smartphone or tablet, which is like carrying a gargantuan filing cabinet with you wherever you go. I use Evernote, which lets me organize my scans into notebooks, kind of like I would in real life. Dropbox or SkyDrive are other excellent cloud storage systems.

Okay, those are the basics. Now, what to scan?

How about every piece of paper that isn’t easily dubbed “trash”, yet isn’t so important that it needs to be tacked to your refrigerator door? That should keep you busy for a while! To get started, here are some of my most productive scan-able categories:

• School/Sport/Work Rosters:

I used to slave away entering everyone’s address into my address book each September. Now I just scan the roster and in seconds the information is accessible whenever I need to call it up. Huge time-saver.

• Tear Sheets:

I used to keep tons of home design magazines with dog-eared pages… inspiration for a future remodel or landscaping job. Now, I tear out the pages that I want to remember, and store each scan so I can access them in the future.

• Art and Schoolwork:

Some special pieces of your children’s artwork is best appreciated in its original form… for the rest of the heap, there’s scanning. Scanning liberates me from having to decide what to keep and what to toss, and I can keep my house from being overtaken by construction paper art. Now, I save everything, including report cards, written assignments and certificates.

• Tax Preparation:

Our one file for tax receipts was always a bulging mess when it came to itemizing for tax time. Now we scan them in a bit at a time, and when tax time rolls around, everything is digitized, and easily exported to a spreadsheet for our accountant.

• Home Documents and Inventory:

Scanning insurance documents, warranties, appraisals repair history and receipts, as well as keeping digital photo records of the valuables in your home is a great way to keep a record of your belongings in the event of a natural disaster or burglary.

• Business cards:

When the gentleman who cleaned my gutters (Thank you, Mr. Munoz!) leaves me his business card, who knows where it will have disappeared to in a year when I need to call him again? If I scan it, I can search “gutter” and find it effortlessly, even if I forget his name.

• Photos:

Digital photos are easier than ever to store and share online. But what about old photographs? You know, the ones printed on (gasp!) paper? Scanning old pictures means I can pull them up and enjoy them anytime which, last time I checked, was the whole point of taking photos to begin with.

Once you’re done scanning, it’s great to shred all that paper before you recycle it to keep your privacy intact when you toss it all. These shredding scissors are an inexpensive option, but I use this cross-cut Init shredder, which makes the perfect cushy bedding for Blackie, the class pet.

Do you use a scanner to save or store documents in your home? What are some other things that you scan?

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Scan Artist: Scan your way to an organized life. is a post from Simple Mom

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Getting Organized for an Intentional Summer

Mandi — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:01:33 +0000

Last year at this time, I was gearing up for a low-key, relaxing summer with my family, and my summer post here on Simple Mom was all about making summer memories at home.

This year, however, our summer is busier — with activities, trips, and plenty to do. I’ve been inspired by the summer bucket lists popping up all over the blogosphere as families are sharing their must-do activities for the season, so I’m looking forward to a fun and good-busy summer for our family.

Only you know which type of summer is better for your family. If you’re in the middle of a big transition (a new baby, new job, or moving), then low-key may be best. But maybe you’re feeling energized and adventurous, and you want to explore, go, and do this summer.

Neither approach is right or wrong, better or worse — the key is to be intentional with your plans.

Here are some ideas to help you organize and prepare for an intentional summer, so that you don’t look back and regret missed opportunities to make memories.

Make a list of things you want to do

Even if you’re planning to stay close to home this summer and don’t have a big budget, make a list of the things you’d like to do this year.

Maybe you want to camp in the living room one night, go on weekly picnics, or plan the ultimate staycation. Or maybe you’d like to learn to can, pick your own berries, or color rocks in the backyard.

It’s all too easy to forget these things in the midst of another busy week, and before you know it, August is here with a lot of things left undone. Rather than just thinking of ideas and hoping you get to them, make a list. Talk about it over dinner or plan a special family meeting, and let everybody choose a few activities for the list.

You can then write them on a piece of paper or a chalkboard, store them in a jar or a bucket, or type them up on the computer. Whatever you do with the list, get it down on paper to start!

Looking for summer inspiration? Be sure to check out this list of 101 ways to embrace summer.

…And then a list of things you don’t want to do

This is just as important as listing the things you want to do. This isn’t a list that you necessarily need the kids to help write, but take some time with your significant other to talk about the pitfalls you’d like to avoid this summer.

Do you end up saying yes to too many invitations, only to find yourself burnt out? Do you focus too much on house projects and not enough time on memory-making? Do you spend too much time in the kitchen preparing complicated meals rather than in the backyard or by the pool?

Think about the pitfalls you’d like to avoid this summer and write them down as a reminder.

Keep a “Go Bag” packed and ready

There’s nothing more stressful than being ill-prepared for a last-minute invite to the pool or park that’s too good to pass. I don’t know about you, but I usually end up rushing around the house like a madwoman, frantically gathering what we need (except for the items I ultimately forget!), and leaving a disaster in my wake.

One way we avoid this is by keeping a Go Bag packed and ready with sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and snacks. If you regularly go to the pool or beach, add bathing suits, swimmies and towels to your Go Bag. If you like to hike and explore, maybe add some bug repellant.

Whenever you get home from an outing, empty and repack the bag before bedtime so that it’s ready again for the next adventure.

Photo by Johan Hansson

Plan for downtime at home

If you’re planning an exciting and good-busy summer, leave plenty of time for rest and relaxation. Plan on staying home all day at least once per week, and build routines into your day for quiet time and rest.

Summer is three months long, leaving plenty of time to make memories and have fun, but you don’t want to get burnt out or rush through it all. Leave enough time to savor the little moments as well.

Prepare easy meals and snacks

To make the most of your time — and avoid the heat of the kitchen — plan easy and nutritious meals that incorporate plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. Smoothies and muffin tin meals are perfect for lazy afternoons at home, and salads, sandwiches, and outdoor grilling are all easy options that leave more time playing and less time spent cooking and cleaning up.

Capture the memories

Perhaps most importantly, think about how you will capture the memories from the summer. Whether you create a fun mini books, a memory board, or a printed photo book — or even if you just save your photos in a folder on your computer for a fun slideshow — be intentional about capturing pictures and recording memories!

What’s on your summer bucket list? Are you planning for a low-key or good-busy summer?

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Project: Simplify: Yard Sale Prep Results

Tsh — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 04:01:12 +0000

With a move date coming up soon, I’ve had boxes and bubble wrap on the brain. It’s meant that during Project: Simplify, my goal hasn’t necessarily been to make our home here work long-term — it’s been to make packing and starting a new home much easier.

So I confess: Part of the reason I made hot spot 5 a free-for-all is because I wanted the excuse to work on my upcoming yard sale. Yep, my focus has been on clearing out storage, decluttering all the little bits here and there, and handling everything in our home so that if it’s not in the yard sale, it’s because we want to keep it.

See, this spring cleaning process with Project: Simplify works for anybody, no matter your specific situation.

Did you just move? You can get started on the right foot by getting rid of things you don’t need before they make dents in the carpet.

About to head out, like us? I don’t have to tell you how helpful it is to not pack up things you don’t need.

Been in your home awhile, and have no plans of leaving? Well, you know how the clutter can build when you least expect it.

Here’s my work this week, as I prepared for our yard sale.

“Mudroom” area, before:

We don’t really have a mudroom, it’s more what I call, “hooks in the wall as you enter through the back door into the kitchen.” With absolutely no storage here, we created our own storage with hooks from Ikea and a simple metal shelf that serves as Shoe Central.

If we were staying here longer term, I’d invest in a better shelving system — a bigger one, for sure. But we’re not, so I’m just waiting to see what our next place will be like.

I spring-ified the area by boxing up winter coats, scarves, and other cold weather paraphernalia. We haven’t needed those in about two months. All that’s left are what we need to head out the door right now — purse, nursing cover, diaper bag, bag-full-of-reusable-bags, swim gear, kids backpacks, picnic gear, and the gym bag.

We keep our everyday shoes here, since 90 percent of the time we grab these before anything else. We also take our shoes off when we come inside.

And you can witness just how small our place is by the pot rack above the hooks — this is definitely Catch-All Central.

And of course, I added a few items from here to the yard sale stash — a diaper bag, some shoes, and a winter jacket that fits nobody.

Books, before:

These weren’t too bad, I simply needed to reshelve most of them. But I did collect about 10 that I know I won’t read again and tossed them in the yard sale pile.

We keep our books out in the living room, for easy access. And because we don’t have room anywhere else.

Room for more books makes me happy. They’re one of the few things I don’t part with easily.

And if you’re curious, here’s our childrens’ book library, just on the other side of the living room.

I created simple alphabet dividers out of scrapbook paper, making it easy to reshelve in some semblance of order — as long as it’s in the general area, that works for us.

At our next place, I’ll probably create sturdier dividers out of paint stir sticks.

The rest of the yard sale stash

Overall, I mostly purged this week. We don’t have much stuff, but it’s amazing how easy it is to amass things in just one year. Since we plan to move back overseas eventually, we want to keep a tight rein on our belongings.

I had kept a few magazines when we went overseas, for some reason. I never look at these. Out they go.

And oh yes — I kept my Babysitter Club books in storage during our time abroad. I completely forgot about those. I loved them when I was 10, but yeah, they’re more or less twaddle. If you want them, come to my yard sale.

My stash from hot spot #1 is headed that direction, too. So are my maternity clothes and two action packers of kids’ clothes.

These are items prepped for the yard sale, as of 9:26 pm last night. There are two more of these boxes inside, and more are still coming.

Now it’s your turn!

You don’t have to publish as many photos, by any means. Just a simple before-and-after shot is great — as many or as few are perfect, but in order to link up, you do need at least one before and one after photo.

Share your progress by linking below. Click the blue button that says “Add your link,” and follow the instructions. Copy and paste your blog post’s URL (NOT your blog’s home page — it should look like this: http://simplemom.net/toys-before-and-after, not like this: http://simplemom.net).

If you don’t have a blog, no problem! Submit your photos to the Simple Living Flickr pool, and then come back to link to your ‘before’ photo below. Copy and paste the photo’s URL.

I will leave the link submission space open until the end of Project: Simplify — that’s this Sunday!. To be eligible for this week’s giveaway, you must submit your link before this Sunday, April 10 at noon CST.

And what is this week’s giveaway? Let me refresh your memory…

Adams Organizing

Elise Adams writes about life areas that can become enemies to our serenity — CHAOS (Clutter challenges, Home/routine chaos, Addictions, recovery and relapse prevention, Office and room organizing, and Struggles and stress) with specific tools and strategies designed to move us through these tight spots and back into calm, functioning, healthy lives.

Each week she is also on the Dr. Carol Show, addressing ‘Living in Recovery’ topics, offering the lessons she’s learned the hard way to others who may be struggling to find hope. She also speaks to conferences, schools, shelters about my own journey through addiction and dysfunction to a happy, healthy fulfilled life today.

Her greatest joy, however, is working directly, one-on-one with her clients; hearing their struggles and then offering them hope by targeting solutions directly at their specific situations, empowering them to progress toward their goals once again. She’s not in the business of perfection–just steady, hope-filled progress.

Elise is giving one Project: Simplify hot spot #5 participant a custom-designed PRESCRIPTION for PROGRESS PACKAGE. This is a designed-just-for-you, change-your-life plan focused on helping you tackle one of the following areas:

C-clutter challenges
H-home/routine chaos
A-addictions, recovery and relapse prevention
O-office or room organizing
S-struggles and stress

In order for her to design your unique Prescription for Progress, this package includes:

a phone, chat or in-person assessment of your specific situation,
a written report detailing your situation, and her observations,
a custom-designed plan, including specific step-by-step strategies to help you move toward your goals, and
a follow-up session (again, on the phone, via online chat, or in-person) to ensure that she’s heard and addressed your specific situation.

I can’t wait to see what hot spots you’ve chosen! And whether you’ve done one hot spot or all five, you deserve a major pat on the back. Amazing work, everyone — I hope your homes are a bit saner and more relaxing after the past five weeks. Enjoy your weekend, and join me back on Monday for a fun giveaway!

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Project: Simplify: Hot Spot #5 Revealed

Tsh — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 04:01:25 +0000

You guys have ROCKED it with the hot spots this past month. For four weeks, you’ve decluttered, cleaned, and organized your master bedroom closet, your paper piles, your kids’ toys or clothing, and your pantry and fridge.

I am so impressed with everyone’s’ enthusiasm, creativity, and determination. Your community spirit has kept me going here in my own home — there’s something motivating to know there are hundreds of you worldwide, doing the same thing each week.

Thank you for sharing your photos, your ideas, and your comments. It’s been a great series!

We’ve got one more hot spot left; the grand finale. Want to guess what it is?

Hot Spot #5

This week’s hot spot: whatever you want!

Yep, that’s right — you get to choose the final hot spot in your home. So many of you have shared via Facebook or Twitter what hot spot you want covered, and we can spend all year tackling everyone’s wish list. Not gonna happen (I’m ready to get back to writing about other stuff).

This way, you get to completely customize your Project: Simplify experience by tackling whatever area you feel like your home needs most. So now I don’t want to hear any, “I just did this area last month!” or “I just did this but didn’t take any photos!”

Hot Spot Ideas

You probably aren’t short of ideas on areas that need your special touch, but in case you need a little inspiration, here are just a few that come to mind:

under the bathroom counters
under the kitchen sink
junk drawers
the guest bedroom (is it your catch-all spot?)
laundry room
garage
back deck
inside your car
files on your computer
photo collection
book library
movie collection
attic
craft stations — your scrapbooking papers, sewing station, or woodworking tools, oh my
or catching up on hot spots 1 through 4

Here a few final thoughts on making your home work for you…

Create that family purpose statement.

Organizing is just organizing when you’re putting out fires. But when you create a family purpose statement, and therefore know the purpose of your home, organizing becomes a mission; an act of love.

If you want some inspiration, use chapter 3 of my book to craft your family purpose statement, or you can use Franklin Covey’s online tool.

Enjoy the process.

A simplified home is a journey, not a destination. Your home will get messy again. You’ll probably need to do some spring cleaning again next year (or sometime this fall). That’s okay. You live with human beings, so it’s inevitable.

The goal isn’t a museum-worthy home. It’s one that allows you to live intentionally, full of meaning. Enjoy the process of making your house a home.

Relationships are more important than things.

Don’t trample over your kids or spouse in order to have your home the way you want it. Place a higher value on your family, serving others, and meaningful relationships over a house that qualifies for Better Homes & Gardens.

Work quickly.

I’ve said it throughout this whole series — if it takes you forever to decide whether to keep something, it’s taking you too long. It’s not worth the mental agony deciding if the spoon collection from Great Grandma is worth keeping. Does it bless you? Do you see it contributing to your future? Is it beautiful or useful? Keep it. Is it collecting dust? Have you toyed with the idea of posting it on eBay or Craigslist just one too many times? Do you have absolutely no where to put it and you really don’t love it? Get rid of it.

And if you truly aren’t sure, put it in your “maybe” box. If you haven’t gotten it out in six months (and it’s not a holiday item), then you probably don’t find it beautiful or useful. Get rid of it.

This “work quickly” also applies to not biting off more than you can chew. Particularly this week, it might be tempting to tackle three hot spots — but completely finish one area before starting another. Otherwise, you’ll be left with three undone spots, and it might even be messier than when you started. Talk about discouraging.

One is plenty. If you’re able to do more, consider it gravy.

Focus on what you did get done, not on what’s still left.

We recovering perfectionists tend to notice what’s still on the to-do list, not what we’ve already crossed off. Celebrate your accomplishments! If you’re not as far along as you would hope come Friday, still be encouraged you got something done.

Actually, this is true about the entire Project: Simplify series. You may not have gotten as far as you would have liked. But did you do something? That’s better than nothing. And that’s progress. Good on you!

Finish by Friday

Do your best to finish by this Friday. Post your before-and-after photos either on the blog or on the Simple Living Flickr pool, and then come to Simple Mom to link up (I’ll provide a spot on that day’s post). Spend the weekend resting, relishing in your work, and oohing and ahhing over everyone’s accomplishments as you browse the links.

This week’s giveaway

Everyone who participates in this week’s hot spot — and then links to the before-and-after photos on her blog or the Flickr pool — is automatically entered to win this week’s giveaway! As I mentioned earlier, all the prizes are tools to help further simplify your life, not more “stuff.”

Adams Organizing

C-clutter challenges
H-home/routine chaos
A-addictions, recovery and relapse prevention
O-office or room organizing
S-struggles and stress

In order for her to design your unique Prescription for Progress, this package includes:

a phone, chat or in-person assessment of your specific situation,
a written report detailing your situation, and her observations,
a custom-designed plan, including specific step-by-step strategies to help you move toward your goals, and
a follow-up session (again, on the phone, via online chat, or in-person) to ensure that she’s heard and addressed your specific situation.

Ready… Set… Go!

I hope you’re excited to tackle the one area that’s been bugging you since this series began. Now’s your chance! And I’m eager to see what you’ve done by this Friday.

I personally can’t decide whether I’ll focus on under the kitchen sink, the other side of my kids’ closet (it serves as miscellaneous storage), or my computer files. What do you think you’ll tackle?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

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Project: Simplify: Pantry & Fridge Results

Tsh — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:04:48 +0000

I‘ve had a whole variety of kitchens in the past 10 years. 10, to be exact. And I’ve only really loved one of them (the one from our home overseas). I tell you this because if you’re not crazy about your kitchen, I know what that’s like.

I’m right there with you.

My current kitchen has less than savory cabinets, iffy appliances, and an awkward layout. If I were given a kajillion dollars to create a new kitchen, it would be — well, nothing like the kitchen in our current, temporary home.

That’s okay. Because at the end of the day, it works — we can cook for our family, store food and dishes, and otherwise do kitchenish things. I honestly can’t complain.

We’re moving in three to four months, and when we moved here a year ago, we knew it was temporary — reasons enough to not mess with hard-core organization. And admittedly, this has been some of my excuse to not organize my kitchen for the long-term.

But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t do something. So this week, I finally did.

Pantry, before:

In my former home, I had my pantry nicely organized. When we moved here, we didn’t know how long we’d stay, so I didn’t bother with too much.

Yeah… We’re still here (meaning the States), so I need to make an effort.

Pantry, after:

I love reusing jars and containers — not only for aesthetics, but because things stack better.

Oils and vinegars are lined up for easy use.

Tate got in on the labeling action, too.

I reused a six-pack holder to corral refill spices.

I exchanged shelves and moved the cans up to a higher shelf, then relegated cereal, grains, and refill stuff to the bottom shelf.

I keep my everyday spices out, tacked to the wall. It’s not my ideal solution, but it works for now.

Fridge, before:

It wasn’t too bad in terms of science experiments, but we’ve had a busy month, so things were just tossed in there haphazardly.

Fridge, after:

There. That’s better.

We keep fruit out in a bowl on the kitchen table. That way, kiddos can grab a piece of fruit anytime they’re hungry. That’s the go-to snack of choice.

I moved the teas to a drawer where they’re more easily reached.

And just fyi, because of my nearly zero drawer space, I hang most of my cooking tools near the stove. Easy to reach and non-ugly.

Now it’s your turn!

If you don’t have a blog, no problem! Submit your photos to the Simple Living Flickr pool, and then come back to link to your ‘before’ photo below. Copy and paste the photo’s URL.

I will leave the link submission space open throughout Project: Simplify (which ends on April 8), so even if you aren’t able to finish your master closet for a few weeks, you are welcome to share your link between now and the end date. However, to be eligible for this week’s giveaway, you must submit your link before this Sunday, March 27 at noon CST.

And what is this week’s giveaway? Let me refresh your memory…

eBooks galore!

I love the topic of eating well, and there are so many fabulous bloggers out there who write about this very thing. Many of them even have amazing ebooks — tools to help you toss out the junk and feed your family well. One participant will receive all of these ebooks:

1. Gluten-Free and Good for You!, by Laura Coppinger

This ebook is filled with all kinds of gluten-free tips and information to help you to either eat gluten free, or to be able to serve gluten free meals and snacks to family members and friends who have gluten free needs.

2. GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals

Wonder how to get the most nutrition from the real foods you already eat? Confused by the zillions of websites, pages of information, and oodles of recipes? The is the companion eBook to our popular and life-changing Fundamentals class of GNOWFGLINS eCourse. In 14 lessons, it will help you make your kitchen healthy, one task at a time, one week at a time.

3. Have Your Cookie… and Eat it Too!, by Laura Coppinger

Love a sweet treat every now and then? Trying to avoid white flour and processed sugars? This e-book features 20 delicious treat recipes that use only whole wheat flour and unprocessed sugars such as honey, maple syrup or rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice).

4. Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time, by Stephanie Langford

This ebook is a 76-page compilation of practical, relevant and varied “baby steps”, designed to take you on a one-year journey. One of the major premises behind the way that Stephanie has written it is to keep it from being overwhelming. The intent is to focus instead on the little victories in each positive step we take forward, one step at a time.

5. Healthy Snacks To Go, by Katie Kimball

When you’re trying to avoid processed food, coming up with something quick can be a challenge. Healthy Snacks To Go features diaper-bag friendly snacks that are toddler-approved and will help your household be prepared for the classic call of, “Mom, I’m huuuuungry!”

6. Herbal Nurturing: A Family Healing & Learning Guide, by Michele Augur

As a “friend along the journey,” this 44-page book walks you through preparing basic herbal remedies for you and your family, from childbirth to arthritis, and everything in between! Naturally prepare for cold/flu season, PMS, headaches, sunburns, postpartum, tummy aches, rashes, and more with over 30 recipes, additional homeopathic suggestions, and healthy-living tips.

7. In the Kitchen: Real Food Basics, by Kate Tietje

Are you new to real food? Looking for familiar recipes? Or maybe you’re not as new, but you still need healthy, familiar recipes to cook for family or friends who are still rather skeptical. Or, are you looking for a way to learn about why real food for yourself or others? This book is the answer. It will show you how to cook real, recognizable foods in your own kitchen. Foods that everyone loves, like pizza, ice cream, and French fries, that have been made over with healthy ingredients!

8. Kitchen Stewardship in the Big Woods: A Family Camping Handbook with Real Food Options, by Katie Kimball

This ebook gives an overview of how to get started camping, what to bring, the proper campin’ attitude, and of course, real food adaptations to standard camping fare. No need to compromise with hot dogs and white buns just because you’re out in the woods with a campfire!

9. Real Food on a Real Budget: How to Eat Healthy for Less, by Stephanie Langford

This ebook is written as a primer for families who want to learn how to save an average of 20-30% on their food budget ($100-$200 per month for most families), while at the same time serving better quality and more nutritionally dense foods. Based on six years of hands-on experience and hundreds of hours of research, Real Food on a Real Budget is packed with practical tips and suggestions to help you become a better a steward of both your finances and your health.

10. Simple Food {for winter}, by Shannon of Nourishing Days

Use the harvest to provide nutrient-dense, delicious, and easy-to-prepare meals all winter long. Simple Food {for winter} is the first of what Shannon plans to be four seasonal cookbooks that emphasize real food and sustainable living. This 58 page book contains 30 recipes, 10 full-color photos, and three essays. The spring ebook is on its way soon!

11. The Everything Beans Book, by Katie Kimball

Is your grocery budget struggling? Do you wish you could improve your family’s nutrition without breaking the bank? Have you always wanted to use dry beans, but you’re afraid of the complexity of cooking them or just don’t have any good recipes? Beyond recipes, The Everything Beans Book also offers over 20 pages of information to facilitate your new love of beans and make sure you can cook with dry beans without any stress.

12. Think Breakfast… Outside the Box, by Laura Coppinger

If you’re looking for great recipes, helpful ideas, and new ways to prepare a healthy breakfast for your family, this ebook is just what you need. Learn why it is important to think outside the box for breakfast (outside the poptart and cereal box, that is!). Read helpful tips for preparing healthy meals to begin your day, and learn how to prepare these foods in advance for quick, convenient breakfasts. The recipes in this ebook use only whole wheat flour, natural sugars and other wholesome ingredients.

This should get you started on some light reading, eh? I honestly wish I could win this hot spot!

Alrighty, let’s see your pantries and refrigerators! I’m looking forward to seeing your results. Enjoy the weekend either catching up or relaxing… I’ll be camping with the family sans wifi, so I’ll check out everyone’s progress Sunday afternoon. I’m curious — out of the first four hot spots, which one was the most challenging?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
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Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
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Project: Simplify: Hot Spot #4 Revealed

Tsh — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 05:52:39 +0000

Time for hot spot number four in Project: Simplify! We’ve worked through our master bedroom closets, our paper piles, and our kids’ toys and clothes. Two more to go.

I think you’ll like this week’s because many of you have requested it for this series. Even if you don’t like it, I know you’ll like the final one.

This week’s hot spot involves some basic decluttering and cleaning, but it also challenges you to think a bit deeper and to evaluate some of your life’s values. You could almost say this is both a decluttering of our physical space and of our daily habits.

Have a guess at what it is?

Hot Spot #4

This week’s hot spot: our pantry and refrigerator.

Yep, we’re going to clean out our pantries from expired spices and stale snacks, and reshelve them in a way that works for us. We’re also going to toss the science experiments from the fridge and clean out the grime.

But I hope it’ll be more than that. I hope, as we clean, we’ll ask ourselves, “Why do we want this in here?” every time we restock the shelves.

Here are the tools you’ll need this week:

• Trash can, compost bin, or both
• Pen and labels (or paper and tape, to make the labels)
• Warm, soapy water
• Baking soda
• Jars and other containers (repurposed, if possible)

Here’s the basic plan for decluttering the fridge and pantry:

1. Empty out the pantry. If it saves your sanity, start with one shelf at a time and do the entire process there before moving on to the next shelf.

2. Handle each item. Toss the expired items in the trash can or compost bin (head here to learn what can be composted). Also get rid of any items you think you simply won’t eat anymore.

3. Clean the pantry. I like using my simple all-purpose cleaner found in Appendix A of my book.

4. Corral ingredients and staples in a more visible container. Nuts, dried beans, grains bought in bulk, and most baking staples work wonderfully in large glass jars.

5. Restock the pantry in a way that makes sense of your space and the way you cook.

6. Repeat with the fridge, taking care to scrub the stinky parts with soapy water. Add an open box of baking soda inside, which helps neutralize odors.

7. If you have time, work on your cabinets, drawers, gadget storage, and other parts of your kitchen.

Head here to download and print the supply list and steps (written above), so that you can tack it somewhere where you can easily see it.

A few tips…

Become aware.

Ignorance truly isn’t bliss when it comes to the stuff we’re putting in our bodies. I believe our bodies were created by a Maker, and this same Maker also supplied the things it needs to keep it usually healthy and running well.

A lot of the things we put in our bodies ultimately were not made by God — they were made by factories and scientists.

Learn more about what your body craves. You don’t have to be a nutritional guru or a certifiable health nut to feed your family well.

Some great websites to start with:

More helpful media:

GNOWFGLINS e-courses
e-courses from Lisa Byrne of The Well-Grounded Life
Nourishing Traditions (though it might overwhelm you if you’re a beginner — it does me)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
The Omnivore’s Dilemma
In Defense of Food
Fast Food Nation
Food, Inc. — prepare for your world to be rocked (it’s on instant queue on Netflix, fyi)
Supersize Me
Local Harvest — for finding local farmer’s markets or CSAs

Organize your pantry so that you can make more wholesome choices.

Put your ingredients — spices, grains, beans, and the like — at eye level, where you can easily use them. Stock snack items up high, making it more of a conscience decision to grab them. It’s also more difficult for your kids to see stuff there.

Repurpose jars.

I’m a huge fan of glass jars and other see-through containers for food storage. There’s no need to buy new containers — when your pickles and salsa run out, wash out the jars and use those.

Not only will things be more stackable and stand up straighter, they’ll look prettier. I’m a fan of a pretty-looking pantry.

Label well.

I mention in my book that my mother-in-law is known for not labeling her jars, so it’s often hard to tell what’s baking soda and what’s baking powder (she knows, of course). Do yourself a favor, and label your items well, especially those in repurposed jars.

“If in doubt, throw it out.”

This is my mantra when I clean out the fridge. If I think the olives might have seen better days, or I’m leaning towards that sour cream having been in there too long, then I just toss it. No need to risk it.

When we lived overseas, food didn’t have preservatives in it, so I felt like I was constantly throwing food out. As an American, the leftovers I was used to keeping for a week would be a goner in two days.

Purge often.

For this reason, I prefer to clean out the fridge regularly. It makes it so much easier to clean when it’s not that bad. And when you handle your food regularly, there’s a higher chance it’ll be eaten. How often have you found a food item gone fuzzy only because you completely forgot it was in there? Me too.

Change a few things at a time.

Photo by Caroline Stokes

I first read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in 2009. At that point, we were eating mostly whole foods, but I didn’t really understand much about organic versus conventional farming methods, or about the value of eating seasonally.

After that book, we decided to eat as seasonally as possible and to buy organic (not necessarily “certified organic,” since many organic farmers can’t afford the certification). It felt like quite a big change.

Two years later, and I’m reading the book once more with my local book club. And I’m reminded that the things that were so new to me back then are common sense to me now. It’s a no brainer to me now to wait until late spring to eat strawberries, or to not mess with zucchini until the summer.

My point is that if eating whole foods in season is new to you, don’t feel overwhelmed. Pick just two or three changes to make right now. Make them a habit, learn to enjoy them, and then focus on a few more things.

For my family this year, we’re focused more on eating meatless, because we really only want to eat grass-fed/grass-finished beef and pasture-raised chicken as much as possible. It’s not very affordable, so we’d rather do without than support the conventional meat industry.

That’s just us. Learn what you can, and make choices, a little at a time. One well thought-out choice is so much better than putting the blinders on.

Finish by Friday

This week’s giveaway

eBooks galore!

Photo by Natalie Maynor

1. Gluten-Free and Good for You!, by Laura Coppinger

2. GNOWFGLINS Fundamentals

3. Have Your Cookie… and Eat it Too!, by Laura Coppinger

4. Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time, by Stephanie Langford

5. Healthy Snacks To Go, by Katie Kimball

6. Herbal Nurturing: A Family Healing & Learning Guide, by Michele Augur

7. In the Kitchen: Real Food Basics, by Kate Tietje

8. Kitchen Stewardship in the Big Woods: A Family Camping Handbook with Real Food Options, by Katie Kimball

9. Real Food on a Real Budget: How to Eat Healthy for Less, by Stephanie Langford

10. Simple Food {for winter}, by Shannon of Nourishing Days

11. The Everything Beans Book, by Katie Kimball

12. Think Breakfast… Outside the Box, by Laura Coppinger

This should get you started on some light reading, eh? I honestly wish I could win this hot spot!

Ready… Set… Go!

Alright, are you excited? I am. Use this week’s hot spot as an impetus to get your family on a journey towards eating whole, local, real foods.

I can’t wait to see all your photos this Friday.

How do you think kitchen organization ties in with eating habits?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
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Project: Simplify: Kids Clothes & Toys Results

Tsh — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:01:18 +0000

We are moving across the country this summer. Par for the course around here, so honestly, it doesn’t really feel like a major ordeal. Not having to board an international flight with 15 boxes and three small children? Yes, please.

But we’re still moving, and I’ve found it’s incredibly helpful to start getting ready early. Early, early. If I wait until the month we leave, I’m no fun to be around, and the packing is much more haphazard.

So this week, as I decluttered with the kids, we had three basic piles of things: to sell, to keep out, and to pack up for Oregon.

I was so proud of my kids being so agreeable through this process — no problems at all packing up about a quarter of their things already (this would normally be part of the toy rotation), and as I mentioned on Facebook this week, I had to actually hold Tate back from yard sale-ing too many things.

Here’s our before-and-after photos for both toys and kids’ clothing.

Closet, before:

All our kids are in the same room (the baby sleeps in the laundry room for a few more weeks, to make sure he’s totally sleeping through the night) — this means everything that belongs to them is in one spot. It’s hard to tell from this picture, but this is all the hanging clothes, on one high rack. When they’d want some clothes, either they’d break the hanger trying to yank it down, or more commonly, they’d call for Kyle or me for help.

This was the sore spot. Above the out-of-reach closet rod lay all the clothes waiting for Tate to grow into. I tossed them up there when we moved here a year ago, and had every good intention of using one of our boxes to contain them all. Apparently 12 months go by fast.

Closet, after:

Kyle hung a short, lower dowel with some heavy-duty string; it’s simply tied from the top rod. Now the kids can reach the clothes themselves — that’s much more our style.

Turns out she was the right size for a large chunk of the clothes — the remaining fit nicely in a small box, waiting for her this fall. Feels good to finally get that off my to-do list.

Dresser, before:

Sorry about the photo’s weird coloring — it’s quite dark in the closet.

Instead of a traditional dresser, we prefer small buckets. Each kid has his or her own color, and we separate the clothes by tops, bottoms, socks and undies, and jammies.

These weren’t disorganized, I just needed to go through and update their stash, both for the season and for fit.

Reed helped me sort through his clothes. If he needs to use his grabber-nabber to make it interesting, that’s fine by me.

Dresser, after:

It looks pretty much the same, but not as filled to the brim, now that we’re only wearing warm-weather clothes (thank you, spring in central Texas).

We also moved these out from the closet and in to their bedroom, in order to make room in the closet for boxes as we pack.

Toy buckets, before:

Again, we didn’t have too much disorganization to begin with, we simply needed to cull our stash.

Tate did a great job quickly working and passing on items she no longer played with. I had to keep her from tossing too quickly her brother’s favorites.

I love using buckets, but it’s not terribly helpful when you have too many toys to fit in said buckets. Somehow we amassed too many baby toys for Finn. It was ridiculous.

Toy buckets, after:

We tossed a few in the yard sale pile, a few more in the pack-to-Oregon pile, and kept the rest in their usual home. And you might have experienced this yourself — it is impossible to organize the toys without your kids wanting to play with those exact toys. No reason to create a fake perfect shot here, I say. Toys are meant to be played with.

When you have buckets, you’re self-imposing limits — as soon as you can’t fit any more toys in the buckets, some have to go.

Stuffed animals, before:

If paper clutter is my arch nemesis, then stuffed animals are its villain.

Don’t get me wrong, I like adorable stuffed friends as much as the next gal. But one only needs so many. And for some reason, people love to give these as gifts. As a reader once said here, I think the next time someone gives our kids a stuffed animal as a gift, I’ll tell them, “Thank you. Which three would you like to take in return?” I love this.

Kidding.

Sort of.

Stuffed animals, after:

There… that’s better. I told the kids they could keep out five. We got rid of a bunch, and the rest are waiting for our new place in Oregon. They quickly picked their favorites, and didn’t bat an eye about packing up the rest. Way to go, guys.

The rest of the room:

In case you’re wondering, here’s what it looks like on the other side of their room.

I found that orange chair on the side of the road and fell in love with its shape and color. Reminds me of middle school.

The left basket is dress-up clothes, and the dollhouse was from last Christmas’ giveaway here. The artwork is simple scanned pictures from our personal library collection.

Yard sale prep

Here’s the collection headed to our yard sale in a few weeks.

Translation of “Eords-ale” = Yard Sale.

Now it’s your turn!

If you don’t have a blog, no problem! Submit your photos to the Simple Living Flickr pool, and then come back to link to your ‘before’ photo below. Copy and paste the photo’s URL.

And what is this week’s giveaway? Let me refresh your memory…

Simplicity Consultant

Laura Edwards runs Simplicity Consultant, but to her, it’s more than organizing your things–to her it is a process of changing your orientation to your attachments, integrating mindfulness and fulfillment. It is an ongoing path of self-awareness.

You want less stuff, but you don’t want to go through the pain of letting it go. You already feel the resistance when you just think about sorting through and making decisions, one-by-one, of your trinkets.

Simplicity Consulting takes a different approach to organizing. Together, you focus on what you originally imagined your life to feel like. You remember your dream together. And then, with this lovely picture in mind, you gently peel away anything that doesn’t serve that vision.

Laura is giving one participant in this week’s Hot Spot two hours of Vision Mapping. This is designed to reorient the approach you have to fulfillment. Instead of focusing on externally focused goals, Laura guides you through the process of mapping out how you want your experience to be.

Laura will spend a few minutes getting to know you over Video Skype, and during the two hours, will take you through a candid and thoughtful tour of your intentions. The result will be a Vision Map that will arrive at your door that week.

Everyone is doing so well with each of the hot spots — I can’t wait to see this week’s! Keep up the good work… After this, we have two more. Even if you’re not crazy about the next one (but I think you will be; lots of you have mentioned it), I know you’ll love the final one. What do you think is left?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
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Project: Simplify: Hot Spot #3 Revealed

Tsh — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:01:48 +0000

We’re back! And with this hot spot, we’re officially halfway through Project: Simplify. Are you feeling re-energized? Exhausted? Motivated? Overwhelmed? Maybe a little of everything?

I understand. It’s easy for me to feel that way, too. But that’s the beauty of all of us doing it together – watching progress happen, testifying with our own eyes that the goal isn’t perfection, but instead a more purposeful living space. You guys really have inspired me.

This week’s hot spot will require help from others in your home — specifically, the little people. Not only will you get extra hands to help with the stuff, you’ll be teaching life lessons in how to treat the things we own — with respect, but with an open hand.

That’s probably a pretty big clue. Ready for it?

Hot Spot #3

This week’s hot spot: toys and/or kids’ clothes.

It only makes sense that Project: Simplify isn’t a solo deal. Everyone lives in your home, and helping your kids declutter and organize their toys is more than just cleaning — it’s helping them hold on to things loosely, prize the things they do keep, and learn the value of giving to others.

Organizing their clothes gives you an excuse to take inventory of what they have, box up or pass on clothes they’ve outgrown, and make a list of what you need to buy for the future.

An important note about this particular Hot Spot: Everyone has a different situation, so it’ll be a bit hard to prescribe hard-and-fast tips for decluttering and organizing. Sorting through stuff with your teenager is light years different than helping a toddler. To keep this post from being chapters long, I’m going to share my own experience and plan with my young children. You’ll know how to best do this with your own children — and feel free to ask and answer questions to other readers in the comments section.

Let’s get started.

Here are the tools you’ll need this week:

• Organized Simplicity, especially chapters 4 and 13
• A large “give” box
• A large “store” box (one for toys, one for clothes)
• Smaller boxes for clothes storage (if you’re doing the clothes)
• Containers for corralling toys (if you’re doing the toys)
• Cleaning supplies (check Appendix A in the book for my homemade recipes)
• Price tags and a pen (optional)

Here’s the basic plan for decluttering the toys:

1. Set aside some time with your kids to handle every toy, one by one. If your kids mostly share the toys in one playroom of sorts, you can do this together as a family. If they have separate toys in their own room, you can do it one-on-one.

2. Toss any unwanted items in the “give” box. This can be either for donation, for selling, or both.

3. Clean the remaining toys and the toy storage system.

4. If needed, set aside some toys in the “store” box to be shelved and rotated out in a few months.

5. Organize and display the toys so that they’re loved and play-able.

6. Tag and price the toys in the “give” box you plan to sell in a yard sale.

7. Donate, pass on to another family, or post online (Craigslist, eBay, etc.) the rest of the toys in the “give” box.

Here’s the basic plan for decluttering the kids’ clothes:

1. Go through each of your children’s clothes, possibly holding up the items to see if they still fit.

2. Set aside items that no longer fit. If there are younger siblings (or there might be in the future), put these items in the large “store” box. If there’s no one else in your family who can wear them, toss the items in the “give” box.

3. Clean the closet and the dresser drawers.

4. Organize and re-stock all the items currently in use.

5. Sort and store the items to be passed on to the next sibling.

6. Tag and price the clothes in the “give” box you plan to sell in a yard sale.

7. Donate, pass on to another family, or post online (Craigslist, eBay, etc.) the rest of the clothes in the “give” box.

Head here to download and print the supply list and steps (written above), so that you can tack it somewhere where you and the kids can see it.

A few tips…

Really think about the toys you want in your home.

We’ve written extensively here about the value of quality toys that allow your children to exercise their imagination. As a family, we do our best to avoid toys that entertain — essentially playing on their own while the kids watch. To us, that’s not playing.

I shared my favorite classic toys a few years ago, when my kids were much younger. I’ve also shared ideas for cheap and free playthings you probably already have around the house. Megan has also written about how to handle your relationship with well-meaning gift givers who give you toys you — well, just don’t love.

And in my book (pages 179-180), I talk a bit more about our favorite open-ended toys.

Consider your kids’ feelings.

It’s easy for us, as adults, to think the rock collection on the window sill is trash. But to our child, it might be a prized collection. This is a fine line to walk.

I tell you all the time to ask yourself the questions, “Is it beautiful? Or is it useful?” when you’re decluttering, to help you decide whether something stays or goes. This comes from the famous quote from 19th century architect William Morris — “Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

Your kids should ask this question, too, about their living space. A child’s room is their little sanctuary, a haven where she can be herself and express her personality.

As an adult, extend some grace when your kiddo wants to keep something you find ugly. I can already tell you Strawberry the Bear will have to stay in our home, even though I’d toss it in the “give” box in a nanosecond if it were me.

Store toys appropriately — easy to play with, easy to clean.

The one problem with quality, open-ended toys is that they tend to also be loose-parts toys. Train tracks, blocks, play food, Lego, cars… They’re little, and they get everywhere.

I like to store everything in separate bins, easily dumped on the ground, but then easy to just chuck back together and store on the shelf. We use the Trofast storage buckets and the Expedit shelving system, both from Ikea.

Create a toy rotation.

If your kids are younger, and you feel like there’s still too many toys to have out at one time, store half of them in the “store” box out of sight. In a few months, rotate those toys back in circulation, and store the original toys. Rinse and repeat.

Kids really don’t need many clothes.

Like us, kids typically wear 20 percent of their clothes 80 percent of the time. I constrain our kids’ clothes to small buckets, and this is more than enough. A week’s worth, more or less, works for us. And if we need anything, we either call up the grandparents or head to the thrift store. I can count on one hand the times I’ve bought kids’ clothes at a regular store.

Make clothes easy to reach.

Most of our clothes are in buckets, where the kids can just cram their items inside. Pretty much everything is 100 percent cotton, so wrinkling isn’t an issue. Because of this, we ask our children to dress themselves as early as possible, as soon as they have the physical ability.

Store clothes-in-waiting nearby.

Store clothes in the next size up somewhere easily accessible, like on the shelf above the clothing rod. Label these boxes well, and check them every few months, to see if anything needs to be moved to the current rotation.

Finish by Friday

This week’s giveaway

Simplicity Consultant

Ready… Set… Go!

Alright, are you excited? I am. Set an example for your kids, and include them in Project: Simplify by helping them organize their stuff. Maybe they’ll react like Marla’s kids, who wrote her that note in the top photo. Thanks, Marla, for sharing that with me on Twitter.

I can’t wait to see all your photos this Friday.

How do you think your kids will react to this week’s hot spot? Have any tips for motivating older kids to declutter and organize?

CURRENT SPONSORS:

Plan to Eat - meal planning made simple.
The Justice Conference - Justice hangs by a thread.
Lil' Soak - Sewing hope with handmade goods.
Treed - A simple, flexible, effective project planning tool.

Project: Simplify: Hot Spot #3 Revealed is a post from Simple Mom

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