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Creative Organizing Ideas

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If you need to get seriously organized, you can watch Clean House, Clean Sweep, or Neat, pick up a book at the store or library, or call your mother over to help out (unless you ARE the mother, in which case you're out of luck.)

BUT there are some things that organizing books don't cover. Like the remote. Where does that go? And the gift you bought and wrapped for your cousin's wedding. Should you be penalized with clutter for not procrastinating? These problems and more can now be solved with creative organizing ideas.

Where DOES the remote go?

No one has just one remote anymore. In my bedroom alone there's one for the stereo, the VCR, the DVD player, the digital cable box, and the TV. Unlike the one shown in the movie Click with Adam Sandler, I have yet to confuse my garage door opener with the TV remote.

On a tray - if you just have a few, keep them piled on a decorative tray. One with sides of an inch or higher is best.
In a basket - mine are in a taller basket so they stand upright.
In the chair armrest - if you have a recliner with armrests that flip back on hinges to reveal a handy storage place, keep the remotes there.
Stick it to 'em - I've used VelCro to make remotes stick to the side of cabinets or desks. This works best for those tiny ones.
Coffee table drawer - if your coffee table has a drawer, stash them in there. It keeps the cat from playing with them too.
Remote Boat - although I have yet to see one of these aside from on Everybody Loves Raymond, so you might need to get a desk caddy or make your own!

Articles on Getting Organized

For a few more tips on getting your clutter under control, check out these simple-to-apply articles on getting organized.

50 Ideas to Organize Your Home: 50 great easy-to-implement tips for cleaning and organizing your house
15 Steps to a Clutter Free Home: Fifteen easy steps for keeping clutter out of your house.
Does Your Storage Make Sense?: How you store things will make a difference in your ability and ease of staying organized.
Unclutter your Cluttered Desk: Keep your desk clutter free so you can get more done at work!

Tips for Clothing

Organizing your clothing used to entail hanging it up or folding it into a drawer. Now there are a few additional ways to make your clothing system work for you.

Get a divider for your sock drawer. For years and years I just folded socks over themselves and threw them in a drawer. If figured they couldn't take up any less space than that. Recently I finally decided to make a drawer divider out of plastic canvas (you can also use poster board or card stock). What a difference it made! Not only can I fit all my socks in the drawer without jamming it, I can see all the colors and styles and putting them away takes half as long.
Stand your shirts on end. If you have deep enough drawers, fold your shirts in half one more time and stand them up in the drawer. That way you can see them all and get at the one you want without digging through a pile. This works great for shorts and jeans too.
Keep seldom used slips and nylons in plastic shoe boxes up on a shelf or in the closet. No need to take up space in your dresser if you only dig into them a few times a year.
Keep a basket for clothes that can be worn again. Fold and roll your jeans and shirts and put them in this basket. It keeps them out of the bathroom, off the floor, and clean enough to actually wear that second time.

Organizing Bibles

If you need to get organized, these are THE books to get. Everything you ever wanted to know about getting and staying organized can be found right here.

How organized are you?

Are you a clutter bug or a streamlined Suzy? Where do you fall on the clutter scale?

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Uses for a Tackle Box

You can find clear plastic tackle boxes at your local dollar store or craft store that make GREAT organizers for tiny things that you don't want to lose, or tiny things you don't want to get tangled.

They come in many sizes. Some are the size of embroidery floss organizers, and some have just a few compartments and fit in the palm of your hand. What can you keep organized with tackle boxes?

Earrings, rings, and necklaces. Every necklace gets its own compartment, earrings stay in pairs, and other body jewelry doesn't get lost in the mix.
Brads and eyelets. If you're a frequent scrapbooker, you can keep everything sorted by color and size in these handy boxes.
Safety pins and buttons. Keep sewing (and quick clothing fix) notions organized. You'll always know where to find them.
Paper clips, binder clips, thumbtacks, rubber bands. Office supplies are no longer a tangled mess in your desk drawer.
Screws, nuts, bolts, nails, etc. Fasteners are easy to see when they're sorted by type and size.
Hair ties, bands, jewels, and flowers. I used to have quite the collection of flowers and gems for up-dos. While those are now gone, a tackle box or embroidery floss box is a great way to keep these organized. If you have a lot of big ones, try stacking hard-shell pencil boxes. You can pick them up cheap around August.
Cake decorating tips. A larger box can hold cake tips so you have a neat display of your available tip shapes and sizes.
Barbie shoes and accessories. When I was little, all mine ended up in the vacuum. Keep them safe in an "under the Barbie bed" trunk.

Create a Computer Disk Binder

Binders are for more than just paper. Keep your computer disks and manuals organized by making your own tech binder.

Purchase page sleeves and 3-hole punched CD sleeves for a 3-ring binder. Go through all your computer manuals and CD's (this will probably take the longest) and sort out what you do need from you don't need. Toss what you don't need.

Place the manuals in the page protectors and arrange them in the binder with the corresponding CDs. This will take up less space on your shelf, and you can easily see what you have to work with.

Keep your Ideas Organized

You're in the car and WHAM. You're hit with an idea. You write it down, and promptly lose it upon returning home. How can you keep those darn things organized?

If you have a lot of random ideas, get some index cards and a plastic, expanding recipe file. Label each tab with categories that best represent your ideas.

- Things to do
- Things to buy
- Craft ideas
etc.

Put your ideas on the cards and file them accordingly.

If you have a lot of ideas for a variety of categories, such as:

- CafePress shirt ideas
- Squidoo lenses to make
- Character profiles for novels

...get a variety of index card file boxes (the thin plastic ones that only hold about 130 cards and have a snap flap front are my favorite). Assign a file box to each category and file your cards within each category.

No more lost ideas!

Are you One Organized Diva? (Or dude?)

Organize using Decorative Votive Holders

Decorative votive holders can hold more than just candles. Now you don't have to pass them by in the stores - they can be decorative AND useful. Keep them in your office, bathroom, and kitchen for small objects.

Q-tips
Cotton balls
Paper clips
Rubber bands
Thumbtacks
Toothpics
Binder clips
Small Post-it note pads
Golf pencils
Business cards

What else do you want to know how to organize?

Stump me with your organizational challenges, or just say hi!

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pix2print Mar 15, 2012 @ 1:07 am | delete

I've got a great one for kids drawings and paintings - scan them and add them into a photobook that you create online! have a look at my lens on creating a kids art photobook if you like the idea. I am new here, hoping my lens will be read too! thanks for your great ideas!

Reply

agoofyidea Mar 12, 2012 @ 10:30 am | delete

I've been looking for a way to remember all my ideas. I might try your index card idea. Nothing else has worked so far. Thanks.