Skip to main content
Category

Expert Articles

10 Smart Home Organization Ideas

By Blog, Expert Articles, Home Organizing, Simple Living No Comments


With the recent years’ influx of “smart homes,” one thing I am seeing a lot more of is smart storage!

 

Since there is less storage space in these small homes, we have had to get really creative with inexpensive, space-saving solutions. Often right down to the nitty-gritty of each drawer.

 

Not only are these little product changes making big storage impacts, but they’re also huge time savers. Bonus points for productivity!

 

These tips are especially useful for smaller spaces but also applicable to larger homes just the same.

 

Since there is no better time to get organized than the present, so let’s get right into these ideas!

Spice Jars

These aren’t only pretty kitchen accessories – they’re super functional and space-saving too!

 

Instead of a drawer stuffed full of spices in plastic bags, or a cupboard of miscellaneous bottles, find exactly what you need with uniform labeled jars. These can be purchased as fancy or inexpensive as you like, with a wide array available both online and in-store.

 

An extra tip: use a small funnel to decant the spices and powders. You’ll save a whole lot of mess!

Turntables

One of my all-time favorite products are turntables! I love them because they are so versatile.

 

I frequently use turntables in kitchens for oils and sauces, liquor, and breakfast spreads. They are also very handy in bathrooms for skin and hair care products, and laundry rooms for bottles of detergent. These products come in many durable materials; acacia wood, bamboo, and acrylic.

Drawer Dividers

Have you ever run into the drawer-jamming problem of that pesky potato masher getting stuck? I know I sure have!

 

My best solution for organizing kitchen, bathroom, and office drawers is to use dividers or small containers to keep things separate. One option I like are these bamboo drawer tension dividers. If you’re looking for a more sectional type of organization, smaller containers come in just about any material you could wish for.

Shop This Look:

Canisters in a Drawer

Say goodbye to reaching your whole arm into a flour bag! A drawer of canisters for bulk ingredients makes cooking and baking simple and accessible.

 

Make sure to first measure out your desired drawer for the dimensions of your canisters before purchasing! Once you’ve got them set, decant your bulk ingredients into them and make sure to label the top of the lids.

Color-Code Playroom

How many times a day do you ask your kids to clean up? Don’t worry, I won’t make you count – but I can guess it’s too many!

 

Turn cleanup into a fun activity for little ones by color-coding toys and books. Tidying time will turn into matching colors and become less of a chore. Plus, they will know where each of their toys are when they want to play!

Velvet Grid Jewelry Tray

Not only are these smooth jewelry trays gorgeous, but they’re also overtly functional too!

 

I like to use them for jewelry, specifically earrings to organize matching pairs. They also come in different sizes, so they are not always squares but can be rectangles, and there are even designs for rings to be propped up in.

Hanging Files

Useful in homes and work offices alike, this way of filing makes it easy to file papers and even easier to retrieve them.

 

This system is great for businesses. Keep any paper copies of legal documents safely stored in your chosen style of organization. I also use this method for organizing kids’ artwork, greeting cards, and printed photos.

Shop This Look:

Cleaning Caddy

Cleaning isn’t at the top of my fun-list, but I can make it a little less of a hassle by keeping products and accessories easy to grab and go!

 

Trade reaching into the back of a cupboard of loose cleaning product bottles for grabbing one easy caddy. My favorite caddy is functional and stylish, with a comfortable handle and durable bin. These dimensions easily fit into most under-the-sink storage spaces and storage closets.

Jewelry Board

One of everyone’s least favorite steps of getting ready is to approach a jumbled knot of necklaces. Often many of us will give up and suffice without one!

 

Keep them separated and hanging with a board attached to the back of a cabinet door, or a standalone hanging organizer. This also helps you to organize them however you please; by color, length, style, material, etc.

Shop This Look:

Garage Hooks

Most of us have a space in our garage or equipment shed where we cram gardening tools into one spot and then fight to retrieve one when needed.

 

Let’s cut that unnecessary frustration out and hang these tools up! With these easy-to-install hooks, you will be able to see where each item is and take them down without a problem. With materials ranging from plastic to durable metal out there, you can even hang heavier equipment too!

With all these smart storage tips, what will you do with your extra space? Do you already use some of these ideas in your home? Comment below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like this article?

You’ll love this one👉

Ultimate Guide: My Kitchen Organizing Process

Conquer Your Paper Chaos When You Business Travel

By Blog, Business Organizing, Expert Articles, Free Articles, Home Office Organization No Comments

business travelHas this ever happened to you? You’ve just returned from a business trip and your briefcase is bulging with receipts, meeting notes, business cards, travel documents and other essential paperwork. You’ll probably spend your first day back in the office just sorting through the chaotic mass of paper before you can even think about getting down to business!

Or, perhaps you travel all over the city attending one meeting after another. By the end of the day your briefcase is a pile of to-dos with no particular order.  Phone messages are scattered on various pieces of papers and you just know that an important message is hidden somewhere in the mess. Then there are the business cards you collected, some require follow-up, but you’re not sure where you put those important numbers. If only you had kept it in a safe place so you could remember where you put it.

At this point, all those good intentions to take action and follow-up on hot new business leads fizzle into frustration.  But there’s no time to think about how you misplaced those essential items. The minute you’re back in the office you find there is a pile of emails waiting for your response in addition to a large pile of papers on your desk begging for your attention.  You dive right in to the emails and before you know it the morning is gone and it’s lunchtime.  You work through lunch in order to attack the pile of paper on your desk.  Then you realize you reviewed your messages, so you abandon the paper pile and listen to all your messages.  It’s a never-ending circle of paper, email and voicemail, and you haven’t even cracked open your briefcase.  You just spend the day reacting to emergencies and interruptions with no planned scheduled time to deal with the important issues that you had hoped to get to.

This continues day after day and you’re still dragging all those papers from your business trip in your briefcase and you’ve been adding to it during the week as you attended more meetings.  Now you have no idea what’s what and it all melts together into one big mountain of paper begging for your attention.  How long do you let this go on before you decide to take action?  For some its days and other’s its weeks or months.  Those hot new leads you made on your business trip aren’t so hot now and the longer you leave it the more you procrastinate on taking action.  Eventually you take mountain of paper out of your briefcase and drop it on the floor by your desk and say you’ll deal with it later because you have more important things to take care of in the office.  Guilt sets in and it constantly nags at you to do something but you don’t.  You know you should get your business receipts handled but you’re not sure where they all are and it ends up costing you money when you could have been reimbursed.

Read More

Going Paperless is a Process

By Blog, Business Organizing, Expert Articles, Free Articles, Organizing Paper Files, Quick Organizing Tips, Videos No Comments

Going Paperless

going paperless

photo via rosmary

 

Making the decision to go paperless is a great step in the right direction in any home or business.

But it isn’t a single step, going paperless is a process. even after I thought I had cleared everything I could I still find it is important to keep going back in and clearing more out! Staying organized is about staying on top of your systems.

Check out this short video about my system for keeping my closets, desk, and file drawers organized.

 

 

How is your going paperless process going? Let us know in the comments below.