Organizing our lives in 2010

I love a new year for it's fresh start.  January can be dull!  The excitement of the holidays are over.  We might be broke or at least on a strict budget and the weather is highly undesirable.  Therefore, it's the perfect time to do little projects around the house and organize your closets and cupboards to start the year off on a clean slate.  Below are a few tips to get you started in the kitchen and office. If you thrive on chaos then you may want to skip to the bottom for a great pic of each section. 

Kitchen storage:

• Organize your kitchen into sections.  Group together spices and cooking oils, baking essentials (wooden spoons, bowls, pie dishes, etc).
• Store those items that you use regularly on the most convenient shelf and then those items that are rarely used on the top shelf or back of a large pantry. 
• Take inventory and dispose of items (cans, spices, kitchen utensils or equipment) that may be expired or that you just don't use anymore. 
• Purchase clear glass containers to store cereal, flour, sugar, salt, pepper...etc.  They will clean up the look of your shelves and make it easier to find.
• Use drawer dividers to clean up and organize utensils.
• Stack shelves within shelves to help you utilize every bit of space in your cupboards.
• Store kitchen cleaning supplies in gliding baskets under the sink.  Ideally you should store cleaning supplies for the kitchen in the kitchen and bathroom cleaning supplies in the bathroom.  I don't have enough space so all of mine are stores in the kitchen. 
  

Simple Human

Martha Stewart

Organize

Joseph Joseph Index Color Coded Chopping Boards,

Joseph Joseph

Ikea

Martha Stewart Set

Office Storage:

• Store old magazines in stylish boxes and display on a shelf for easy access.
• File papers away in a filing cabinet or filing boxes.
• Sort through office for items and papers that can be disposed of.
• Group items together such as pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, scissors, gift wrap supplies, etc in easy to reach desk top containers or drawers.
• Store items used less frequently in storage boxes with labels.
• Save space by using shelves such as the Sapien shelves from Design within Reach.  Stylish and practical!

 

Semikolon desk top organizers from The Container Store

Magazine Storeage Boxes from Kaboodle

Sapien Shelves from Design within Reach

House & Home

I hope this helps you get started.  When my home and office are organized I feel more relaxed and at peace.  If it's a mess then I'm also a mess.  After a long day of work, the last thing I want to do is come home to a disorganized mess.  Keeping a system helps me relax at home and stay productive at work.  At least that's the idea.  I don't have kids yet so we'll see how long I can keep it up.