9 Extra! Extra! Organizing Reads!

Happy Friday!  I hope you all had a beautiful week!  Each month I like to share a few other ways to catch up on iHeart happenings and articles, so below you will find some extra iHeart Organizing reads.

As many of you know, not only do I write at this place I call home, I also contribute over at Better Homes and Garden's Style Spotter's Blog.  Contributing for them has always felt like such a privilege; I really love working with them and being part of their wonderful blog.

A huge thumbs up for quick getaways, a huge thumbs down to stressful quick getaways.  I am all about finding ways to make last minute trips as easy and fun as possible, and shared all of my top tips for organized travel here.

The leaves are starting to change and the weather is getting cooler.  That means that boot season is back!  Boots are fun to wear, but can pose storage challenges.  I shared a few simple boot storage solutions here.

A first for me that I was pretty pumped about is being featured on Oprah.com.  Oprah is one of those names that everyone knows and recognizes instantly, and for them to recognize and feature one of my projects?  Well, I find that to be pretty darn awesome.  You can find 6 Organization Ideas That Make Weekdays Less Chaotic here.

With the boom of Pinterest and blogs, it can be very easy to forget "why" we do projects, decorate and work on our homes around the clock.  Homes are created from more than pretty fabrics and fresh coats of paint, and I shared how we have worked hard to create a home with meaning here.

I am continuing to contribute to the The Daily Mom App feed, which I still love for a variety of reasons.  The daily jokes are also a huge hit with the kiddos.

As a reminder, this month I will hit 5 full years of blogging at this little place I call home.  The series is being drafted as we speak, and I couldn't be more excited to share a few things I have learned along the way.

My heart burst from joy with the excitement surrounding my recent planner printable release.  It was my biggest launch to date and you all have overwhelmed me with encouragement, love and support.  I created the new planner pages from scratch this year and with the amount of time and heart that goes into the process, it can always be stressful to release it to the public and mange the shift in shop traffic.  So a HUGE iHeart THANK YOU to everyone that is loving and sharing their new planner pages.  I hope that they bring a little extra happiness to your daily planning process and I am endlessly grateful for you.  And for those who have been asking, I finally decided on the mini-version this year and love the portability factor!

   
Last, but certainly not least, this blog would not be possible without my monthly sponsors.  They are each amazing companies that I love and support right back, you can check each of them out below or on the sidebar. 

Cheers to five more years of organizing fun!

17 UHeart Organizing: Living Comfortably in Small Spaces

Living in a small space always poses specific storage challenges and really requires you to think big when organizing.  Casey of Pretty Organized is a pro when it comes to getting creative with tight spaces.  She is here to share some tips that have been crucial to her in her own home.

Hey guys!  I'm stopping in today to share a few of my favorite ideas for living more comfortably in small spaces.  Here are my top three guidelines & some examples of how I use them.

TIP 1: MAKE USE OF AWKWARD SPACES

When space is at a premium, every single inch counts.  We noticed that we had some extra space in the back upper corners under our kitchen sink, so we installed small shelves to add extra storage.

We also have an awkward little space between the microwave and the cabinets, and our dust buster tucks away perfectly in that spot!

Lastly, (and this one is my favorite!), we have very little closet space upstairs.  It is an older house with very small, shallow closets.  It is also a cape cod style house, and the upstairs is technically a "half" story because the roofline comes down so far into the ceiling.  We were left with a lot of awkward space in the eaves, where it is too short for storage furniture, so that space was pretty much wasted (about a third of the floor space in the room!).

Our solution?  We built a closet with enormous pull-out storage drawers, so we could take advantage of the space without bumping our heads to reach into it.  (The hanging shoe organizer is from Wal-Mart.)


TIP 2: MAKE EVERYTHING MOVEABLE & MULTIPURPOSE

Everything we own is on casters, felt pads, and furniture movers.  Want to do aerobics in the kitchen?  Boom.  The island is instantly shoved out of the way & there is more room for activities!

Our dining room table folds away and doubles as an entryway table, and our storage benches pull double duty as seating.

Even our laundry sorter is multipurpose! We found this little beauty at Wal-Mart, and the lid is actually an ironing board.

TIP 3: HAVE LESS STUFF

Owning a lot of multipurpose items is a huge helping factor for this.  We also tried to get in the habit of creating a capsule wardrobe, where everything we own pretty much works with everything else.  (Flattering basics in solid neutral colors make up the majority of my wardrobe, and then I use accessories to add color and style.  It makes getting dressed SO much easier, and I have saved a ton of space in my closet!)

I also try to store as many items (books, paperwork, music, etc) in digital format as possible, and when it comes to holiday decorating, I try to use a few key pieces for each season and repurpose items around the house so that I don't have as much to worry about with storage.

What are your favorite ways to save space and organize your home? Please share your ideas in the comments!


"My name is Casey, and I live in a sweet, tiny little house in Delaware with my hubby & our two adorable rescue dogs. As a longtime fan of Jen's phenomenal organizing skills, I am absolutely THRILLED to be a contributor for IHeart Organizing! I used to be a total mess, but after I let go of the idea of “perfect,” I found freedom. I stopped trying to fit the mold & learned how to make organization work with my natural habits, and I have become obsessed with creative organizing solutions ever since! When I'm not drooling over the latest amazing project features over here, you can find me happily tinkering away on my own blog, Pretty Organized, where I share my addiction to aesthetics, small space storage ideas, DIY projects, and all things aqua!"

13 Quick Tip: Labeled Butterfly Clip!

My calendar is a little jumbled this week, so I am popping in today with a super simple quick tip that I personally implemented recently and love.

If you only sort through mail every couple of days / weeks to pay bills and budget, keep specific types of correspondence clipped together within your mail bin using a butterfly clip {as you collect mail each day}.

I add Washi tape and a label to the clip so I can quickly find the stack I need when the time comes {Bryan loves this system also!}.  I mainly use this for bills but have similar clips labeled "To Do" and "This Week" for my planner as well.

Happy organizing everyone!


Looking for more quick tips?  Check out the entire series here!

21 Our Favorite Organizing Tips for a Smooth School Year

Happy Monday Tuesday!  Did you have a great long weekend and soak up those final summer days?  I actually refuse to believe summer is over and plan to continue on loving up our nice weather every last day that I can.

So.... the boys went back to school this morning!  It is always so bittersweet and I got a little teary during our family dinner last night as we chatted about how quick the months went by and thinking of how quiet the house would be during the days again.  Yet at the same time, it will be so wonderful to get back to a good routine and find a productive groove again.

In celebration of the back-to-school season, I thought I would round-up some of my favorite posts for organizing with kids throughout the school year.  We didn't do anything new this year because last year we finally buttoned things up and had a good thing going.  No need to fix what is not broken, can I get a cheers to that?

One of the best things we ever did was create a cubby system for the boys.  We used the IKEA Besta cabinets to give the kids a space for their everyday shoes / boots, backpack, lunch sack, study boxes and electronics.  These cubbies are low to the ground and right inside our front door, so they are easy for the boys to access and the clutter is concealed in a pretty credenza style piece of furniture.

Inside of each cubby, is a study box for each boy to use at the counter, table or desk while working on their homework.  Inside is everything they may need to get a worksheet or project completed, and I have found that giving them each their own prevents any "battles" between them.

When school projects go beyond the basics, or when the crafty mood strikes, our organized craft cabinet holds all of the rest of their art supplies.

To display their art projects and to keep track of those important daily school correspondences, labeled fridge clips do the trick to keep the entire family up to date.

What do you do with all of the daily schoolwork and art projects that come home each day from school?  I prefer to file away the best of the best in an annual file and recycle the rest.

Another item we like to keep within reach is reading material.  We have book stations all over the house and have especially loved these DIY crate book bins.

Our younger two boys like to do their homework wherever mom is.... our oldest prefers a quiet and private spot.  So, we accommodated his request with a work zone ideal for a teen.

Our oldest has also started to have a bit of a social life.  To keep track of sleepovers, football games, test days, etc... a DIY chalkboard calendar has given him control of his schedule.

What we have learned over the years is that dedicated zones / stations are the key to our success.  School cubbies work great for supplies while baskets and bins in the cupboard and fridge for packing lunches have been pretty life changing.  So easy to pull out everything needed to pack a balanced meal!

In fact, it works so well, we do it with our breakfast foods now also!

The breakfast and lunch bins streamline our mornings, as does having clothes set out for the boys ahead of time.  We let them select their daily wears, but have them do this the evening or weekend before {depending on the craziness of the week}.  This is one less battle to face in the morning when we have three boys to get on the bus in a limited amount of time.

And speaking of laundry, we still lovity love our laundry bin system! 

Cubbies for daily school gear inside, cubbies for sporting goods outside.  I guess you could say we are fans of cubbies around here!

Of course, all of these systems would fail big time if we didn't have some sort of routine in place.  A quick visual printable of our morning and evening routines for the boys creates consistency and prepares them for what is ahead each day {after school routine coming soon!}.

And for those of you who recently went school shopping and are trying to come up with ways to make the most of those empty shoe boxes floating around, I rounded up my favorite shoe box storage solutions for you below.

Fabric Wrapped Shoe Box to Conceal Office Clutter	Fabric Covered Shoe Box for Remotes
Shoe Boxes to Store Dishes / China	Shoe Boxes for Organizing Crafts
Upcycled Boxes for Small Toy Storage	Shoe Boxes as Wall Cubbies
Shoe Box Desk Caddy	Shoe Box Drawer Dividers
Contact Paper Covered Shoe Boxes for Office Supply Storage	Shoe Box Lid as Decorative Tray
Shoe Boxes for Organizing Shoes	Shoe Boxes for Organizing Photos

Wishing you all a super successful 2014 - 2015 school year!  I would love to know what other tips keep your school year running smoothly in the comments below.