February To-Do List

This February think about getting cozy, gathering with friends, enjoying more time for your hobbies and planning changes both big (like the sale of your home) and small (new paint colors). It may still be cold out there, but there’s plenty to do indoors. Here are 10 ideas to make the most of your month. 

 1. Plan for a spring or summer home sale. With warmer weather and kids out of school, summer is a popular time to sell or buy a home. If you are considering putting your home on the market this year, it’s a good idea to start planning now. Interview real estate agents, make a list of home projects that need to get done to help your home look its best, and line up work so any major projects will be completed in time.

 

 2. Clean road salt from entrances. Road salt, melting snow, mud and grime can give the floors around entrances a beating this time of year. Clear away the clutter and give your floors a thorough cleaning. Then set up shelving or a tray to store boots near the door, and protect your floors with waterproof mats. Stash a few old towels in a basket near the door to quickly wipe up messes.

 3. Clean interior windows. It may be too cold and icy to clean windows outside, but cleaning interior windows can still help boost light — something we could all use a bit more of during the winter.

4. Conserve energy and stay warm. Block drafts coming through cracks around doors with door sweeps or good old-fashioned door snakes. Keep doors shut to rooms you’re not using, and warm up with cozy rugs, throws and duvets.

 5. Organize the craft area. If you enjoy crafting as a hobby, you probably find yourself doing more of it in the winter. And more crafting usually means more mess. Get a handle on your craft stash by sorting through your supplies and storing them in labeled bins, baskets and jars.

 

 6. Clean the air. Treat your home to a few new houseplants this month to help boost interior air quality and add life to your home. Even if it’s cold where you live, try cracking open a window or two each day (even if only for a moment) to bring in some fresh air. Clean or replace furnace filters as needed. And if you have allergies or are concerned about the quality of air where you live, look into getting an air purifier as well.

 7. Give your bath a spa-inspired makeover. Details can make a big impact in a small space like the bathroom. Bring in fresh white towels, a new shower curtain and liner, and a few organic accents, like potted plants and a wooden stool. Then be sure to make time for a relaxing soak in your refreshed bathroom!

 8. Pick up some paint swatches. Fight off winter doldrums by focusing on ways to enhance your home with color. Visit a paint store and scoop up swatches. Play around with potential color combinations by pinning your favorites to a bulletin board. By the time spring rolls around, you’ll be ready to break out the paintbrushes.

 9. Invite friends into the kitchen for “freezer cooking.” Make lighter work for all by inviting friends to participate in a day of cooking, with the express purpose of making dinners that can be stored in the freezer. Go in on ingredients and make a really big batch of chili, pans of lasagna or whatever strikes your fancy — just remind guests to bring their own containers to take food home.

 

 10. Treat your home (and yourself) to fresh flowers. With Valentine’s Day this month, the markets are bound to be bursting with blooms — and often at good prices. Why not treat yourself to a weekly bouquet?

 

Desk Distaster? 5 easy fixes to get it organized

Now that the kids are back to school it might be time to get yourself back on track and organize that desk.  We get so busy and things can really pile up but it feels great to get organized and studies show it helps to minimize stress.

Getting that office or work area organized can feel like climbing Everest but don't fear, you don't have to tackle it all in one day.  Follow these easy steps, one at a time and you'll be organized in no time!

1 Start with the desk itself
The first place you should start is the desk itself. If you’re just using your desk to pay bills or shop online, a small, attractive desk is fine, but if you do any kind of work at it, you need room to maneuver, you need at least one drawer and ideally two (one shallow one for desk accessories, and a deeper one for files), and you need an efficient paper handling and filing system.



2 Keep the surface of your desk uncluttered
Aim as much as possible to keep the surface of your desk uncluttered and clear; there’s a positive psychological aspect to this, as well as maximizing the amount of working space you have at your disposal.
Think of your desk as the cockpit of an airplane. You want everything you use frequently to be close at hand but not in the way, and a layout that’s well organized, easy to understand and efficient





 3 Desktop accessories: Do or don’t?
If you love attractive desktop accessories, by all means use them, but make sure they are out of the way of the “hot zone” (the live, working area) of your desk, or consider storing paperclips, Post-its and so on inside a desk drawer instead. . Plastic cutlery trays, baskets or cardboard boxes attached together to fit tightly into the drawer will work as well. Think about how you work and what you work on at home and take it from there.  Personally I like a cup for my pencils, a desk top calendar, a light and that's about it.  My husband on the other hand like a file folder to vertically hold the files he is currently working on, along with some mini bins for clips, white board markers, pens etc...But don't forget to use the vertical space too - installing open shelves is a great way to keep items close by without cluttering up the desk surface


 


 4 Create systems
The principle to keeping your home office desk organized, efficient and attractive is to create systems that allow you to find what you need quickly, perform the task efficiently, and return everything to its proper place easily when you’re done. The daily mail is a perfect example. Make sure you only open it right next to the shredder, recycling bin and wastebasket, and immediately process each piece you’re keeping: bills in a bills folder (or paid online and then filed), magazines in a magazine folder, appointment reminders marked in a desk diary and then recycled, etc.Think about colour coding with files this is great especially if you are sharing a home office.  So his work files could be green and hers in yellow, Household bills and receipts in red and maybe kids' stuff, insurance/will info etc in blue. Having a system is the key to staying organized just be sure to follow it and keep it simple or you won't stick with it!




 5 Managing paperwork
There are entire books and articles on how to efficiently organize the mountain of paper that comes through our lives every day, but as far as your desktop is concerned, there are two principles that should govern how you use and store it: a) how quickly you need to retrieve it, and b) how to store it without adding to the general clutter.
For your most important files, like projects you are currently working on, I like staggered vertical desktop file holders that allow you to see all of their subject labels at a glance.
Another alternative is to make use of the wall space around the desk; you can buy clear plastic file pockets that mount on the walls, getting paperwork off your desk but still keeping it within reach. Papers you’re not working with any more but need to keep can be stored in the desk file drawer, in closed file boxes, or in a “morgue file” cabinet out of the way.

At the end of the day (or the end of each work session), take a few minutes to process, discard or put away everything left out on the desk. It’s tempting to place papers into neat piles that you’ll definitely go through in more detail tomorrow – but, believe us, within a day or two they’ll become part of the “landscape,” so to speak, and sooner than you think, you’ll be surrounded by teetering paper stalagmites.
What you want to do is to stop the clutter before it starts, and find a simple system that you can stick with!

Creative Solutions for Storage

Spring is here! The grass is starting to turn green, the snow is gone, the sun is out and some flowers are beginning to bloom but spring also brings...Spring Cleaning! Things are really starting to pile up and get out of control! I dream of having organized closets, as I think many moms do. To find exactly what we are looking for with ease and grace ... ahhh, dare to dream!

Getting things under control and organized is a process and with growing families your amount of 'stuff' just grows with it! But it feels so great to tackle the clutter and keep it away. But how? Get smart with your storage and spend time sorting it.

Starting with a good purge is a great first step. Sort through the linen closet, the garage, the kids dressers, your closet (eek) and other storage areas. I am in this stage right now and I cannot believe these things that are still kicking around in plain sight. You will be so surprised at what you have held onto and for how long. If you haven't used it, worn it or even thought of it in 6 months to a year - retire it! There are so many different ways to 'get rid of junk'. Donate it, sell it, toss it, re-purpose it. Be realistic - if you wouldn't want it (due to it's condition i.e stains, tears, broken etc...) will anyone else want it? Once we unload the 'access baggage' we feel lighter in many ways. Clutter adds to stress, so by eliminating (or reducing) the clutter we are managing our stress too.

Now that you have purged, you likely still have a lot of things. So now what? They all need a place. This is where creative storage solutions come in. Unless you leave in a palatial home you likely need to have multi purpose pieces so look for furniture pieces that offer double duty.

Try these ideas:

- Baskets, baskets, baskets - with a lid or without, when things such as toys, books and magazine have a 'place' the space just feels neater. I have a great waterproof basket in my bathroom for my children's' bath toys. They love to get their toys out for bath time and then put them away too.

- Metro Shelving - this heavy duty chrome wire shelving is great in garages, laundry rooms, pantries and workshops. It has an industrial look but it is easy to clean and very sturdy.

- Bulletin Boards - best hung behind doors or in an area where they are not attracting too much attention. This is a perfect set up for kids' schedules, notes, permission forms, bills and other reminders. Think about all of the papers that get stuffed and ignored in a 'junk' drawer. By pinning them up in view, you'll be likely to purge the bulletin board once tasks are completed because the papers are in your sight line.

- Hooks and Pegs - these are great and often very inexpensive, they come in a variety of finishes from wood to metal. These work well in mud rooms, kids play areas, kids' room and bathrooms. When they are being used for children be sure to install them at a height that is functional for them, other wise the kids won't use them. These are ideal for hanging coats, backpacks, towels, dog leashes and more. A great idea for the mudroom is to pair up the hooks with a storage bench.

- Storage bench - piano benches work well too. these are great because they can store mitts, hats, gloves etc... they can also be used for seating. I have a few leather storage benches at home and we store our extra for parties in there - place mats, napkins, table cloths etc...items we don't use everyday plus the benches come out and act as additional seating - double duty!!

- Paint cans - new ones are best or use large,empty juice cans with the tops removed. These are perfect for storing kids stuff in an arts and crafts cupboard. The are great for paint brushes, crayons, rulers, beads, shells etc...You can label them and get the kids to decorate them too!

- Old trunks - check out vintage and antique shops for these but I have seen newer versions in home decor stores. They are great for storing extra linens and pillows. They look great too. In a guest room, keep one in the corner or at the foot of the bed, let guests know that they can help them selves to additional blankets, towels and pillows (some guests will be too shy to ask).

- Large fabric or plastic boxes - these are great 'hiding spots' for items such as laundry detergent, dog food, etc...things we use everyday but don't necessarily like to look at.

Now off I go to tackle some more rooms in need of organizing....