Thursday, May 17, 2007

How Do you all Organize your Homes...

I have a question how do you all Organize your Homes?
I am not talking about what Homemaking Book or Planner you may use.
I am talking about how do you all go through the things and decide what needs to go to the trash, to give away or needs to stay.
I am trying my best to organize our Darling Daughter's Room but it is getting so overwhelming I need some advice on how you all handle Organizing your Homes.

8 comments:

sheila from life @ #17 said...

hi, Mrs Garcia :)

I think this is my first visit to your blog...so I'm going to browse a bit :)

Thanks for dropping by :)

Anonymous said...

This is a question I need answered. I'll be watching your blog for answers!!

Revka said...

Hmm, well, I guess according to your question, I am constantly organizing our home.

Here is my criteria for keeping something - do they actually love/use this even when it's not about to be pitched? If my girls see me take something out, they'll beg to keep it, but if they don't see me pitch it, they never know it's gone (usually!).

Also, I keep very few papers for them and toys are constantly being shifted out to our stage shed.

By far the best organization tip I know is the old sayin, "A place for everything and everything in its place." If something doesn't have a home, it either needs to be stored or tossed.

I hope that helps.

Sharon said...

Mrs. Garcia,

I started to type my answer here and realized it was going to be too lengthy, so what I'll do is a post on my blog today.

Hope it'll help!

Jean in Wisconsin said...

It use to be that I could trace the trail of where my son had been throughout the day simply by observing the rooms. I lovingly dubbed him "Pigpen" from the Charlie Brown comic strip. At one point I decided that we had to contend with his bedroom, and I went into his room and packed up everything in garbage bags--everything but clothes hanging on hangers, furniture, and folded, neat clothing in the drawers. His older brother volunteered to help him sort through the bags, but if he had not, I would have. The rules: Nothing could go back into the room without my approval; Everything had to fit nicely and look neat. What we did not keep got organized into piles of garbage and donations. I did this twice, and the third time I informed him that we needed to clean his room, he "magically" learned how to organize it without my help. :-).

I also use to sit at the foot of the bed in my daughter's room while she cleaned her room. Sometimes I'd knit. She'd open each drawer and closet and organized them as I made suggestions and helped as needed. Then she'd start working on the piles in the room. We discussed the need for a book shelf and a desk. We hung pictures and a nicknack shelf on the wall. We organized, tossed and cleaned. She is now 18, and although she does not always keep a beautifully clean and organized room, she knows how to do it.

My 3rd child has never needed help. He cannot sleep if a picture on his wall is not straight. He has built himself a book shelf, a shelving for his desk, and has willingly organized his closet, requesting organizers as he saw need.

And me? I sort through each room in the house each year, starting in the attic, garage and basement. Once those are clean,I can organize the rest of the house, knowing that there is room for the items that need to be stored. I pray about what I should keep and what I should toss. Right now much is being stored because my children will soon be moving out and needing to set up their own homes (dorm room for now). I use Rubbermaid tubs, closet organizers, and underbed storage boxes. My biggest weakness? Books. I've floor to ceiling bookshelves in two hallways and still have books piled, piled, piled. Mixing a bibliophile with homeschooling is not necessarily recommended...

Does this help?
Jean
www.shadesofwhite.typepad.com

DonnaB said...

It depends on the age of your daughter. When my daughter was younger, I would organize her room when she was over at Grandma's house. She never missed anything that I had removed from her room. Now that she is older, she can handle it on her own. I just gave her a few guidelines: 1)do you love it? 2)Is it useful? 3)are you going to wear it ever again? Now 2-3 times a year she keeps her room tidy going through this process.

Peggy said...

I don't have any answers but I do know that I am downsizing alot now that I am older. If I haven't used it in the last 6 months I get rid of it. If I haven't worn it in the last year its outta here. I have decided to only keep special pieces of my collections and pass on the rest to family or friends. Even sell some on ebay. I just don't have the time to dust the collections, or take care of the clutter.

runningtothecross said...

I can't say that my home is perfectly organized or that I know a ton about organization, BUT I did write a post about how I organized my daughters' room without spending any money. It is labeled, "Maintaining the Clean Areas."

Since I have 4 girls, we have a ton of stuff. Sometimes I go through their room and grab all the stuffed animals that they don't play with much and put them in the attic. I don't have much time to go to the goodwill to drop them off. Usually when I organize, I throw away several of their coloring pictures. And when the crayons get old and broken I melt them together in muffin tins to make mixed crayons.

Clothes are also a problem when everyone is giving them to you, bag up what you don't use and take them to church. If the folks from church don't need them...leave them in the car or van until you get by a clothing drop or goodwill store.

And as far as storing the clothes in the bedroom in a dresser, I don't do it...else they get scattered on the floor in the bedroom. I keep our clothes for our children on a shelf in the bathroom. They are easy to put away and easy to go through especially since the washer and dryer are close by.

But, organization is something that you learn through experience. I am still learning and will probably be learning until I am old and gray!!! Find our what works for you and stick to it...and when you get a room organized like you like it...take the 5 minutes or so each day to put things in their places...this is the most recent thing that I have learned and I have been blessed by it!!!

Blessings!
Heather

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