3 Back-To-School Organization Tips

It’s hard to believe, but summer vacation is nearly at an end. It’s just a matter of time before the little ones are off to school again for a brand new year! If you’re still catching your breath from the hectic morning rush to get the kids to the bus stop, now may be a good time to tweak your routine so you and the kids can stay a little more organized this school year. For smooth sailing from Day One to Day DONE, here are some of our favorite back-to-school organizational tips. Enjoy!

1. Lay Out a Week’s Worth of Clothes- Save time and a whole lot of drama by skipping the morning “nothing to wear” crisis and planning ahead! Every Sunday, when all the laundry has been done, put together an outfit for each day of the school week, and group them together in your child’s closet. Getting dressed will now be as easy as pulling clothes out of the corresponding day’s drawer or hanger! If your children are older, invite them to help choose their outfits so they have some input.

2. Establish a Good Night Schedule- In order to do their best at school and stay healthy, your kids need at least 10 hours of sleep per night. Check out this handy bedtime chart from Wilson Elementary School to determine an appropriate bedtime for your kids, based on their ages and what time they need to wake up:

3. Keep Everything in One Place- Designate a countertop, small table or desk in your home as the Information Center for all things school-related. This includes your kids’ school calendars, after-school activity schedules, homework, school supplies and permission slips. This all-in-one solution will help you avoid a last-minute dash around the house looking for your child’s homework!

If you have any more organization tips for starting the school year right, we’d love to hear from you- post your comments in the section below!

Sheet Folding 101

You know how new sheets are perfectly folded when they come from the store? You look at that tidy little square and think, “Yeah, right, who actually folds sheets like this?” In fact, it is a lot easier to fold your fitted sheets perfectly than you think it is, and it can be a real space-saver when storing sheet sets in your linen closet. Let us take the mystery out of getting a perfectly-folded fitted sheet with this handy little how-to:

Step 1- Drape sheet over hands, and hold the fitted sheet with one hand in each of the top corners, with the elastic edge facing you.

Step 2- Fold sheet in half vertically and flip the left corner inside out to create a little pocket. Turn the sheet 180 degrees and make another little corner-pocket at the top. If your fitted sheet has gathered sides, tuck them inside one another.

Step 3- Fold sheet in half again, so that all four corners meet up at one point. Flip the right set of corners over the left set.

Step 4- Lay the sheet on the bed and face the gathered edges up. Fold the longer part of the curved edge in a few inches to make a straight edge. Then, fold the sheet in half lengthwise and then into thirds to create a perfectly-folded sheet.

A Pain-Free Guide to Cutting the Clutter

Be honest - is there a huge pile of stuff taking up valuable space right now in your garage, shed or basement? Is it full of items that have absolutely no functional value in your life, yet you are reluctant to throw or give them away in case you find yourself needing them in the future? Maybe you aren’t particularly attached to anything in the junk pile, but lack the necessary motivation to get in gear and cut out the clutter for good. Not only is it exhausting to sort through everything and haul away what you don’t wish to keep, but it is also quite taxing to decide whether to keep, sell, give away or throw away every object you encounter. While reducing clutter in your home can be both physically and emotionally difficult, it is an important step to helping your living space reach its full potential in terms of aesthetics and functionality. The following tips can get you on the right path to a clutter-free, organized home:

Sort Your Stash-

Probably the hardest step of the de-cluttering process is the very first one you will have to do. You need to go through the items in your pile and decide what you keep and what gets sold, given away or tossed. The easiest way to go about this daunting task is to get four boxes, marked with “Keep,” “Donate,” “Sell” and “Trash.” Items you actually use at least once a month should go into the “Keep” box, and anything you think may actually be of some collectible value should be placed into the box marked “Sell.” If you see anything that may be of use to someone else, such as a household appliance or clothing with little wear, put it in the “Donate” box. Everything else…sorry, it’s “Trash.” The act of physically putting each thing into one of these boxes will help clarify what you truly need and what you can afford to part with. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the process goes after the hard start, and how much lighter you’ll feel almost instantly!

Don’t Lose Momentum-

So now you’ve sorted everything into their respective boxes and you feel really accomplished. Don’t put your feet up just yet- you’re far from done! It’s so easy to feel accomplished when you’re done sorting your pile and then just leave the four boxes sitting there in the same spot for six months. Why not go one step farther and actually bring the “Donate” box to your local charity organization or thrift shop? How about listing some of those “Sell” items on eBay or Craigslist? You can at least walk the “Trash” box over to the Dumpster, can’t you? The follow-through is every bit as important as the initial effort to get rid of the clutter.

Time to Organize! -

Now that you’ve whittled down the items you actually want to keep, it’s time to figure out where to put them. As much fun as those home organizing stores can be, there is really no need to spend a lot of money on fancy storage systems for your living space. Check out Pinterest and other home-improvement blogs for excellent and creative ways to use existing items in your house as organizational tools. The internet is teeming with all kinds of these little “life hacks” to get you organized on the cheap. Be honest with yourself about how you will really end up putting things away on days when you are too tired or busy. An organizational system that isn’t going to realistically fit into your life is not going to help much. Pick what you think will work best for your personality and energy level. Better to have a bin full of odds and ends or a “junk drawer” than to have the junk overtake the entire kitchen counter. Use your best judgment to figure out a system that is right for you.