Tips for the Troops Week 2: Rolling with Life!

Life is so inconvenient sometimes.

This week I had big plans to clean out my son’s closet, as my Operation Organization Week 2 goal.

His dad had cleaned Micah's room (yeah, hubby!), but he stuck everything he didn’t know what to do with in the closet. (But I’m not complaining!) So, I had my work cut out for me:

Then I was out of town for four days.

And Molly started school.

And I have work deadlines.

And I had to take Micah back-to-school shopping.

And I had three visits to the chiropractor.

And I’m preparing to go out of town for the weekend.

Please tell me someone can relate!

So THIS is what his closet looks like NOW:

What?! You can’t tell the difference??

Yeah, just call me the Wizard of Organization.

But …. I’m not giving up! Repeat! I am NOT giving up! And if you are in the same boat as I am, neither should you!

Here’s what I am doing … I’m scaling back my goal to MAKING PROGRESS on Micah’s closet. Next week my goal will be FINISHING Micah’s closet.

The fact is there will never be a convenient time to get organized. We just have to adjust to life's craziness and be realistic about what can be accomplished from day-to-day or week-to-week. Remember: Little goals add up to a lot.

So, hang in there!!

Perhaps you’ll gain some inspiration from our Organizational Commander-in-Chief (my friend Dina). Today, she is giving some great tips for organizing Kids’ Rooms and Master Bedrooms.

Listen up troops!

Welcome to Week 2, Soldiers! Dina here! Hope you are making progress. Like Melinda said, the most important thing is this: Don’t Give Up! Be strategic and hit the battlefield. Hope these tips drive you to victory!

Kids’ Rooms
They can be a total nightmare! All those fun little trinkets that they collect in those party goody bags add up, don't they? Hopefully, if your area to work on is a child's bedroom you have purged all that little, well, crap!

To keep kids rooms organized, I think the key is keeping like items together. Storage containers and baskets are our friends. My son used to be into Legos, so I had a huge Lego container that they all went in (except the ones that got sucked up by the vacuum). Kids keep up with their stuff better when it's convenient for them to put it away.

Now he's into Nerf guns, so I have a long container that they fit into under his bed. I got him a little plastic open crate for the bullets so he can just walk around and collect them from ALL over the house and toss them right into the crate. Easy.

Master Bedroom/Linens
Let's quickly talk linens. If your towels are thinner than Grandma's hair - might be time to get rid of them. You don't need loads and loads of towels and sheets!!! Keep some towels only for guests.

Is your bedroom just a bedroom or a combo office/excercise room where you happen to sleep? Your room should be a calm, relaxing place. You can still have a desk or treadmill in there and accomplish this. But if your treadmill has become storage for your clothes it might be time to get rid of it.

Try not to let stuff stack all over your dresser. This is NOT relaxing to look at. If you're collecting papers in there, they probably need to be filed or trashed. (Remember that file system we talked about last week?)

As for the closet - this is another major item that I will only be able to scratch the surface on.

You have to get rid of your clothes (I'm afraid shoes also count here, ladies) that you haven't worn in a year. This is the major key to decluttering and organizing your closet.

Get everything except shoes up off the floor. Invest in some closet organization items such as over door shoe storage, hanging sweater shelves, etc. (Both Target and Wal Mart carry a good selection of closet organizing products.)

As with other areas of the house, you need to keep like items together in the closet. Who wants to dig through pants and shirts to find a skirt?

A few more ideas:

Browse through books and magazines to get ideas that will work for you. The magazine Real Simple is an excellent source of organizing and simplifying ideas. Your library probably carries books that can give you ideas as well.

If you have a certain style you like, you might want to pick up a magazine like Country Living, or Traditional Home. Their decorating ideas often contain organizational tips, too.

Report back here on Friday for Week 3 instructions (I’ll also have another post tomorrow unrelated to Operation Organization! Hope you’ll stop by!)

You are dismissed! ;0)

(I also haven't had much time to visit your blogs this week, but hope to catch up next week! If life doesn't get too inconvenient! ;0)