Want your home not just to get organized, but to stay organized? Pull out your labeler.
Do you own a labeling machine? Is it collecting dust?
Well, my friend, I urge you: pull it out (or order one here pronto) , give it a quick dusting and watch your life fall into place.
Yep. That easy.
First stop, the children’s closets:
Know how you spend half a day organizing a closet and then, two weeks later, there is no trace of your hard work?
All of the toddler’s pants were divided by leggings, jeans, Shabbos…tops by sweatshirts, t-shirts, shirts. All neatly folded and laid out in a way that just made so much sense. And then, pouf! All gone.
That is when you pull out your label maker. Label each pile so that when you are returning items to the closet, they go back to the assigned spots. Do it for all your children’s closets and teach them how to return their washed clothes to their closet, in the right place.
This trick is especially beneficial when there are a few kids sharing a room with similar clothes and sizes (school sweaters and shells can all look the same). In those cases, I like to label the shelves with the child’s name as well (i.e. Miri’s long-sleeved shells).
The pantry & the toy closet:
An organized pantry is so inspiring. It makes you want to cook.
I like having my containers labeled so that I know, at a glance, what’s running low. Each box has its purpose and order is (for the most part) easily maintained.
I have the same system in the toy closet. There, I also added a label on the shelf where the coordinating box belongs. This is a way to ensure your closet remains the same as when you first organized it.
Here you see my magazine dividers. You learned about this idea here, where I discuss how to keep the thin books (Curious George, Berenstein Bears….) in control.
Mail & Papers Storage:
This one, always hard to tackle.
So, I trust that by now you have pulled out your label maker.
Not convinced yet?
How about this: We all deal with a huge amount of PAPERS. Yes. Mail, bills, ads, children’s lists, to-do lists, articles…stuff that usually piles up on your kitchen counter/desk/dining room table?
You know what I am talking about. Because you all have this problem in your houses too.
Well, here is my solution:
Find a cabinet in your house that you can use to store 3 (or more) magazine holders (you can order these or get the PLUGGIS from IKEA)
Then, label them according to what makes sense for you. This is what works for me:
ASAP/BILLS:
That’s where I will drop in my bills, mail, invitations…anything that needs dealing with. Twice a week this folder comes out and I go through all the bills and such. Invitations get marked down on my calendar (with place and time) and then thrown out (I will take a picture of the invitation if I know I will need to remember some details).
TO BE DEALT WITH EVENTUALLY/ COUPONS/THINGS I WANT TO READ:
This folder holds all the papers that need to be saved (gym schedules, takeout menus, instructions for children’s extracurricular activities, etc.), things I need to deal with but are not urgent (car tune-up reminders, the number to Tanta Mirel in Israel…you get the idea…).
I also save my coupons that come in the mail in this folder. Articles that seem interesting but I didn’t yet have time to read get ripped and stashed in there too.
This folder gets emptied once a month when I have time and am in the mood to tackle all this. I always end up enjoying this job because I usually have a nice time reading bits and pieces of things I’ve accumulated this month. I also don’t fret if the folder doesn’t get emptied out completely each month.
This one is my favorite:
HUBBY’S STUFF:
Geico sent something you cannot comprehend? Put into the Hubby folder.
An invitation from someone you have never heard of? Hubby pile.
Found a paper that looks important floating around between the Gemarahs and hats on the dining room table? The type that he will ask you about 3 weeks from now? Stash in Hubby Box.
See why it’s my favorite?
Feel free to add folders according to your needs. I can see myself adding one for each of my kids, eventually (“Maaaaaaa!! Where is that paper with that essay that I wrote 2 weeks ago???”) but for now, 3 are fine.
Hope you enjoyed my tips. Please do share with me any other ideas. I need to figure out what else I can label!
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