A Place for Everything, and Everything in Its Place

I get a lot of calls from my fiance wanting to know where things are at the house. 

"Have you seen my flip flops?  I've been looking for them everywhere for over a week and can't find them," he says.
"You mean the flip flops sitting on top of your sock drawer in the closet?" I reply.

"We're out of milk," he says.
"There is a full gallon.  It's behind the butter on the bottom shelf," I reply.

I'm growing more and more concerned with his failing eyesight as the days go by. 

As I've stated time and time again, the key to organization and efficient time management is to have a place for everything, and have everything in its place.  Well, this past weekend I was looking for a certain article of clothing, and dare I say, I had to search for it!  I was on my way to the gym and could not find my black Nike shorts.  They should be on the left hand side of the third drawer from the bottom on the right side of my dresser.  But they weren't.  Oh, the humanity!!  I eventually found them, got changed, went to the gym, and finished my workout.  All the while I was in a panic that my home was falling apart.  I was on yet another mission:  Organize my dresser drawers. 

My original system consisted of lingerie in top right drawer, swimsuits and sports bras in second right hand drawer, all shorts (sleep and gym) in third right hand drawer, socks in top left drawer, and sleep pants and gym pants in second left hand drawer.  However, within each drawer there was no organization or categorization.  Bras and panties mixed together; gym shorts and sleep shorts mixed together, all socks mixed together.  The fact that I had to actually look for something meant the system did not work.

So off to Bed Bath & Beyond I went.  Mission #1 was to get the lingerie drawer organized.  I was working with a drawer that was 14" deep, 18" wide, and 5" high.  I found clear plastic bins that fit within those dimensions.   One larger bin was used to house my bras together.  The other two smaller bins were used to divide my underwear into two categories:  "Everyday Panties" and "Those really cute panties that are terribly uncomfortable and never stay where they should but you paid a lot of money at Victoria's Secret for them so you can't toss them out but they always get in the way when you're looking for those really comfortable full coverage granny panties".  Mission #1 accomplished.

Here's a hint when using drawer organizers, especially if you use "expandable" ones.  A problem I use to run into a lot was that no organizer is ever going to fit exactly perfect in your drawer.  And the expandable ones are created to move, so you will have issues with them shifting around.  The key to fixing this problem is double sided mounting tape (I prefer Scotch brand).  It's thicker than regular double sided tape and comes off of most surfaces relatively easy.  Use the mounting tape on the sides or bottoms of your containers and they will stay exactly where you want them.  Brilliant!

Mission #2 was to get one drawer organized just for my gym attire.  For this I simply needed a divider to keep gym shorts on one side of the drawer, sports bras on the other.  I didn't want to use containers because this would just cut down on the amount of actual space I would have for storage.  So I looked into the expandable drawer dividers.  The first ones I tried were from Real Simple.  They were horrible.  They were flimsy and did not stay in place.  So, I increased the budget and went with the good ol OXO brand dividers.  They worked great.  They are much sturdier and have a locking mechanism that allows you to lock them into place whereever you need.  (The cheaper version only allows for you to lock them in place within designated ranges).  Mission #2 accomplished.

I used the same OXO dividers for my new "PJ drawer" to divide sleep shorts and sleep pants.

Mission #3 was to bring order to the sock drawer.  I needed to divide these into gym socks, house socks (that my fiance abhors for me to wear, but until he stops keeping the house cold as a meat locker I will continue to wear them), and boot socks.  I used the same OXO dividers for this drawer.

My final mission was to organize my ten swimsuits.  Why I have so many swimsuits, I'm not sure.  I live 4 hours from the beach so I find this a bit ridiculous.  I did toss out two that I deemed inappropriate for a woman in her 30's to wear, but I couldn't bare to part with any of the others.  For my swimsuits, I wanted each one to be in its own compartment.  I was able to accomplish this by using a fabric jewelry divider (like the one I had previously had my jewelry in).  The dividers I found had 9 small square compartments and one large compartment on the right hand side.  This gave me the perfect amount of space for my 9 bikinis and my one larger tankini.  Although I found my fabric dividers at Big Lots, you can find similar products (such as these) online.

Now that all of my dresser drawers are organized, I can start nagging the fiance to let me organize his.  Wish me luck!

Please let me know of ways in which you have organized your dresser drawers. And if you live in the Birmingham, Alabama area and could use my help in taming any organizational issue in your home, email me at TheNeatFreakOrganizer@gmail.com.

Take Two of These, and Call Me in the Morning

I have a Jack Russell named Booze.  Here he is.

He sure is cute.  He was purchased from a puppy mill.  Needless to say, he's not the smartest pup out there.  A few weeks ago I sat and watched him catch a red wasp and eat the entire thing within a matter of seconds.  The entire time I'm thinking to myself, "What a stupid dog."  A few minutes later I was walking in the area where the wasp homicide had gone down and that's when I realized the dog isn't as dumb as he appears.  Apparently he ate everything except the stinger, because the stinger was now lodged in the bottom of my foot.  I dropped to the floor in pain as my fiance stared at me like I was a crazy person. My dad is allergic to red wasps so any time he gets stung he has to hop in the car and head to the ER for a shot.  I had never been stung by a red wasp that I could remember but was afraid to find out if I was allergic or not, so I tell my fiance to please go grab me a Benadryl.  He looks at me and says where are the Benadryl.  Well, they are in the bin with all the other meds in the bathroom closet.  He goes in search for them and returns to say he can't find any.  So I hobble my crippled (and possibly dying) body into the bathroom, open the bathroom closet, look in the bin with all the meds, and pull out a Benadryl capsule.  As I give him the death stare, I realize I need a better organization system for my medicines.

This is how my "medicine cabinet" use to be organized.

Everything was tossed in a plastic bin and stored on a shelf in my bathroom linen closet.  Although I knew where everything was, there was no system to separate the different items so my fiance couldn't find anything.

Here is the new system.

I purchased a larger container with two large drawers and one smaller drawer.  Each drawer houses a specific category of medication supplies.  The top drawer has one container of allergy medication (so he can find the Benadryl for me when I have my next near-death experience), one container for tummy trouble meds, and another container for my anxiety meds (shocking I know; someone with extreme OCD would get anxious about things out of their control).

The center drawer houses cold and sinus meds (you can never have enough NyQuil) and pain meds.

 

 

The bottom drawer stores all of my vitamins that I never take and all first aid supplies.

 



 

Now, all my medicine supplies are divided and stored in their respective areas for easy access and quick retrieval when needed.  Plus I was able to purge out expired meds, something I apparently had not done since 2004 (I'm so ashamed). 

 

As a side note, I have no children (except for the puppy) in the house.  This is why I can use a plastic container and store it in the floor of a closet.  If you do have children in your house, make sure the container you use can either be locked or is in an area out of their reach.

 

Please let me know of ways in which you have organized your medicine cabinet. And if you live in the Birmingham, Alabama area and could use my help in taming any organizational issue in your home, email me at TheNeatFreakOrganizer@gmail.com.



Keeping the Bathroom in Order

So, my fiance and I share a bathroom (something that will not happen when we build our dream home!).  Here is a picture of my drawer:

 

I have a plastic divider so that each item I need access to has its own home, with room to spare.  I would now like to show you my fiance's drawer.  Brace yourself.

 



Just looking at the picture makes me a little light headed.  I obviously do not use this drawer or need anything out of it on a regular basis, which is the argument my fiance has when I ask if I can organize it for him.  Apparently my nagging got to him and he finally agreed to let me give him a little organization.  Here is the result (I stopped short of using the label maker.  Didn't want to push it with him.)

Now everything has a home.  Razors go in a compartment, contact lense care products in another, deo in another, and his massive collection of nail clippers have thier own home.  (Still haven't figured out why one person would need that many, but I guess that will remain one of the great mysteries in life).  The drawer organizers I use have a smaller tray that sits on the top.  This tray can be removed and house items you may not need access to on a regular basis, but still don't want to have to hunt down when you do need it.

The organizers I used are made by Madesmart and can be found online or at Target.  As I've preached before, the key to organization is having a home for everything, so these organizers do the trick beautifully.  Of course, I have more beauty products than what fits in that one drawer.  For the products I use on a daily basis to get ready each morning, I store them in a bucket (these are actually cutlery dividers I found in the picnic area of Target!).

One bucket holds items such as mouthwash, face cleaner, and deodorant.  I have a second bucket that holds all my hair products.

These buckets can easily be pulled from the cabinet, use what I need to use, toss it back in the bucket, then put the buckets back in thier respective home under the sink.

As you can see, there isn't much else housed under there.  I have a drawer organizer for all of my mani/pedi supplies, my makeup mirror, and facial steamer.  But I definitely have more beauty products.  Those are stored in a separate drawer, each category of product in its own container.

These containers hold the items I don't use on a regular basis, but still need to be able to find when they are needed.  Coconut oil for my hair (if you haven't tried this I highly recommend it!), baby oil, foot scrubs, etc.  This drawer could probably use a good purging, but no matter the level of OCD, a girl needs her beauty supplies!  As far as having a bulk supply of products, I avoid that my having my current supply and one backup.  For the products I use on a daily basis, I have the items I have in my shower, the items in my respective buckets, and the drawer organizer.  In addition, I have one backup of each of these items in a travel case that I keep in another drawer (along with a backup hair dryer).

My "Backup Case" serves two purposes.  First, if I'm taking a shower and end up using the last of my shampoo, I simply get a bottle from my backup case, then on my next trip to the store I buy a new bottle and put that bottle in my back up case.  Next time I run out of shampoo, my backup case is stocked and ready to go.  No need for three and four bottles wasting precious space in my bathroom, however I am always prepared.  The second purpose it serves is that I never ever ever have to pack my beauty supplies to go on a trip.  They are already to go.  That case has every product I use on a regular basis:  face cleaner, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, razor, body wash, deodorant, body lotion, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash.  It has everything down to Qtips, cottonballs, and floss.  When I go on a trip, I simply grab my case and the hair dryer and go on my merry way.  (Well, in all honesty this time saver just gives me extra time to stress over what clothes to take).  I grew up in a house where we had 10 bottles of shampoo, 20 tubes of toothpaste, and more hotel samples of product than I care to think about.  At the same time we were a family of five sharing one small bathroom.  I see that as taking up valuable storage real estate for no reason at all.  I understand buying in bulk and purchasing items when they are on sale can save money, but by committing to the ''Backup Case", I allow myself the freedom to hunt for coupons and sales on items that I need without having to buy 20 of everything.

One last organizing system I employ in the bathroom is using decorative containers on the countertop to house cottonballs and Qtips.  These two items have a way of taking over a bathroom drawer and somehow always get dirty or destroyed before being used.  By keeping them contained out of the way of messy products, they stay useable and are convenient when needed.  I found these containers at World Market. 

 

 

In addition, I keep a matching box on the back of the toilet for feminine products.  

Please let me know of ways in which you have organized your bathroom clutter. And if you live in the Birmingham, Alabama area and could use my help in taming any organizational issue in your home, email me at TheNeatFreakOrganizer@gmail.com.