Showing posts with label organizing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label organizing. Show all posts
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Home Management Binder: Getting Started
This spring, I put together a home management binder to organize my daily paperwork relating to food, money, the house, schedules, and other information I wanted to have accessible. I use it all the time, and it keeps paper clutter out of my kitchen. After putting my system to the test over the summer, I am happy with how it's set up so far!
To start my home management binder, I used:
A binder (I believe 1.5")
A set of 8 binder dividers with pockets
A legal pad
I tucked the legal pad into the inside cover of the binder, and use it for making short-term to-do lists.
I used binder dividers (with pockets) to split my binder into 8 sections.
- Food: This section includes the meal plan for the week, as well as the grocery list and a separate list of our favorite menu ideas. We call this list the "make again" list, and it's a growing list of recipes we have tried and liked enough to keep on the roster.
- Cleaning: This section includes the cleaning schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, annually), the maintenance schedule, a recipe index for homemade cleaners, a stain removal chart, and an auto maintenance log.
- Calendar: I printed off monthly calendars to keep track of our events and schedules, and also created a perpetual calendar to keep track of birthdays and anniversaries. In the divider pocket, I keep invitations until the event has passed.
- Finances: In the pocket, I keep bills that need to be paid as well as our 2-envelope envelope system. We keep a separate monthly calendar in this section listing which bills are paid when, and for how much. I also have a list of dates for recurring bills that are set to autopay. In the back of this section are some notes from a Dave Ramsey class. I'd love to attend the actual classes, but so far have only watched a few sessions on YouTube before they were taken down for copyright infringement. This section would be an ideal space for a budget or coupons. (I have a separate folder for coupons).
- Garden: In the pocket, I keep receipts of plants that are guaranteed for a certain period of time. In the section, I have my planting map for the raised beds this year, as well as a form to record what and when I planted and harvested.
- To Do: This section is a catch-all for paperwork that doesn't belong in other sections. The pocket holds non-bill paperwork that needs to be addressed. The section includes lists of goals, pending house projects, and long-term to-do lists. I find this section essential for combating paper clutter in the kitchen.
- Contacts: Here I have all my contact information regarding banks, insurance agencies, doctors, hairdressers, and utility companies, etc. I also have business cards organized in baseball card sleeves.
- We're Out: This section is probably more useful for families with children, and would be a good spot to leave babysitter information. We don't have any kids, so our section includes "pet sitter notes" and a list of what to pack when we're camping.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Ideas for our Uninspired Laundry Room
We're in a self-imposed no-project zone right now, as our house is totally livable and my student loans are oppressively earning interest. (I'm about 50% through paying off my highest interest loan, if you're curious.)
When I went to orientation my first week of Physical Therapy school, I vividly remember someone from financial aid getting up to say that nobody ever complains about their student loans once they graduate and start working. I now understand that this is the case because said graduates are busy working a second job, doing paperwork to qualify for government assistance repayment programs, and heartily recommending to hapless underclassmen that they consider public universities. Much too busy to call financial aid and mention their distaste for the excessive cost of education. OR the fact that after earning a doctorate degree, if they want to pay off loans on a 10 year standard repayment plan, after monthly student loan payments they'll make approximately the same amount as the tech who helps them lift patients and went to 4 years of high school.
Okay, rant over.
Anyway. My laundry room looks like this:
Or from closer up, like this:
And I need something to think about while I drive from my first job to my second job as I try to avoid thinking about milkshakes. Something that is not the actual mound of laundry waiting for me at home ... the one that I can't remember whether it is clean or dirty but took my scrub pants from this morning because the seemed clean, and they are for sure not the ones I wore on Tuesday when I stepped in a lake of urine. Again: I am underpaid.
Here's a color scheme I am drawn to. If you're ever looking for color inspiration, check out Design Seeds (link below) for some quick ideas! I could imagine either color 2 of 3 as a cabinet color. Maybe 2, with 1 on the walls and 5 or a lighter 3 on the ceiling?
Color Scheme from Design Seeds
Love the vintage style of the sink and faucet in this room. And hello, are you carrara marble??
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| Pinned Here |
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| from Style at Home |
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| From Family Brings Joy |
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| Pinned here |
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| For sale Here |
Check out my powder room inspiration here.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Shoe Organizer
I'm on an organizing spree after my success with the junk drawer and am bravely moving on to our closet.
I picked up these shoe racks at The Container Store and am so happy with them! They fit well in our closet and will possibly even prevent me from buying additional shoes! After all the easiest way to stay organized is usually to have less stuff. (The two empty boxes on the bottom shelf are the shoes Jon wore to work that day).
There is no before picture, because our shoes were scattered all over the house.
Our gym shoes, snow/rain boots, and everyday shoes (like Old Navy flip flops) are organized downstairs in the coat closet.
Next step, weeding through my clothes ... wish me luck. What are you putting off organizing?
Friday, August 09, 2013
Tips for Junk Drawer Organization
We moved in half a year ago and this empty drawer has slowly been collecting things. After a few months of accumulation, it was clear that a junk drawer was forming. I think as long as you only have one, you are okay.
Mine needed to be organized. Here's the before (after I removed a tennis ball for Millie):
And after:
See how I saved room for future junk with the empty slot?? I didn't know what to put there. I guess I have not collected enough.
Here is my strategy for organizing the junk drawer:
- Purge. A large amount of stuff in the junk drawer was indeed junk. Test all your pens. Throw away receipts and post it notes that you can't remember why you are saving.
- Sort. Several items in the junk drawer actually had a home somewhere else. I'm talking to you, golf ball, ear buds, change, command hooks ... Sort remaining items into groups.
- Divide. Use a drawer divider or set of small trays to group like-junk together and keep your box tops for education from taking over the entire drawer. I got my clear acrylic divider on sale from The Container Store (link to a similar product because I can't find my exact one back.) If you don't want to buy something, check out this post where the author uses household items to organize her drawer, including pretty bowls and an ice cube tray.
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So much better! We'll see how it holds up.
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Sunflower Butter
Today is my second day off in a row. It's beautiful. On my first day off I do things like sleep in and catch up on laundry and chores. On my second day off I have less direction... Or multiple directions...
Today I sewed, played piano, accepted a PRN job at a nearby nursing home, weeded in the garden, shopped for deals on toilet paper on Amazon, ate strawberry ice cream, and organized the sewing closet and linen closet. When my organizing spree led me to the pantry I found a jar of these:
Wow I am never going to use these up. And I wondered ... can I make sunflower butter?
I have watched enough infomercials to know that if you have a powerful food processor or blender, you can even blend up roasted almonds. I don't have a food processor, but I have this Kitchenaid blender (except I got it on a sale for $49). Amazon says it has .9 horsepower -- which I figured should be enough to blend up some sunflower seeds.
Into my blender I poured in about 1.5 cups of dry roasted sunflower seeds. They turned into a "flour" consistency right away, but looked very dry.
A quick google search led me to Detoxinista, who shows in her post how to make almond butter. First the flour stage -- keep blending! The nuts have to heat up for the oil to come out and create the butter texture.
I blended for one minute on, half a minute off so I didn't overheat my blender. Repeating this for several cycles, the mixture started to get warm and less dry as the oil started coming out of the sunflower seeds.
I added 1 T. coconut oil because I was impatient waiting for the sunflower butter to smooth out.
I put the final product in a glass jelly jar and am storing it in the refrigerator. 1.5 cups of sunflower seeds turned into about 1 cup of sunflower butter.
Since my original seeds were salted, the nut butter tastes significantly saltier than normal peanut butter, but I like it with apples or celery. Before eating, I warm the nut butter in the microwave until it softens up. Next I want to try almond butter!
Today I sewed, played piano, accepted a PRN job at a nearby nursing home, weeded in the garden, shopped for deals on toilet paper on Amazon, ate strawberry ice cream, and organized the sewing closet and linen closet. When my organizing spree led me to the pantry I found a jar of these:
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| via |
I have watched enough infomercials to know that if you have a powerful food processor or blender, you can even blend up roasted almonds. I don't have a food processor, but I have this Kitchenaid blender (except I got it on a sale for $49). Amazon says it has .9 horsepower -- which I figured should be enough to blend up some sunflower seeds.
Into my blender I poured in about 1.5 cups of dry roasted sunflower seeds. They turned into a "flour" consistency right away, but looked very dry.
A quick google search led me to Detoxinista, who shows in her post how to make almond butter. First the flour stage -- keep blending! The nuts have to heat up for the oil to come out and create the butter texture.
I blended for one minute on, half a minute off so I didn't overheat my blender. Repeating this for several cycles, the mixture started to get warm and less dry as the oil started coming out of the sunflower seeds.
I added 1 T. coconut oil because I was impatient waiting for the sunflower butter to smooth out.
I put the final product in a glass jelly jar and am storing it in the refrigerator. 1.5 cups of sunflower seeds turned into about 1 cup of sunflower butter.
Since my original seeds were salted, the nut butter tastes significantly saltier than normal peanut butter, but I like it with apples or celery. Before eating, I warm the nut butter in the microwave until it softens up. Next I want to try almond butter!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Organizing the Pantry
Our new house came with twice as much pantry space as our old house, and four times that of our apartment. Unfortunately, this was translating into 2-4x the mess of it's pantry ancestors.
To start the process, I took everything out of the pantry and put it on the countertops (and floors).
I don't typically have multiples of the same product on hand, so in order to maintain a sustainable system I decided to sort everything into broad categories. Here is the final product!
Each shelf is divided in halves. Here are the categories I used, from left to right and top to bottom:
- Re-usables: dishrack, shopping bags, water bottles
- Disposables: paper towels, plates, cups, little paper bags. I plan to use up and NOT replace all of these disposable items, but we don't go through paper products very quickly and right now we have these lingering extras. In the right corner, I also have a stack of things in boxes I don't use very much, such as an electric knife, apple peeler/corer/slicer, kitchenaid attachments, and a frosting piper.
- Breakfast: cereal and smoothies
4. Snacks: Chips, cookies, crackers, pretzels, nuts, granola bars. Shelf almost empty ... as ususal.
5. Bread and Pasta: mmm carbs. Tortillas go here too.
6. Wet things: Oil, syrup, vinegar, canned goods, honey, molasses, peanut butter, barbeque sauce. I feel like I am playing outburst ... "wet things in the pantry." I am stumped trying to think of a better category name.
7. Baking: ingredients and cookie cutters. This side of the shelf has everything from shortenening and chocolate chips to cornstarch and coconut.
8. Canisters: I use these for white and whole wheat flour, oatmeal, sugar, powdered and brown sugar, quinoa, brown and white rice, and cornmeal.
9. Bulk items: storage of pantry staples that don't in canisters.
10. Cleaning supplies: I have way too many of these. We got married 2.5 years ago, and our church had a shower for us where we got a lot of cleaning supplies. I think I have enough windex to last at least 5 more years. The left half of this picture is all products I'm
It's been a few weeks since I organized the pantry, and I'm really pleased with how it has held up. I think this success is due to the flexibility of "the plan" so that new items are easily incorporated.
Any other pantry organizers out there? Windex hoarders? Is your snack shelf chronically depleted?
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