Organizing 101

I'll be the first to admit that I have an obsession with organizing...I dream about it. I literally can't function in a messy space. I am constantly organizing, re-arranging, ahem, throwing out...I am so OCD that my Husband often has to reign me in and tell me to cool it just a little. I often dream about organizing other people's houses! (SO weird, and I totally know it) but most the time, my OCD organizing is a good thing.

I really and truly believe that if you have an organized space, it creates a feeling of calm and peace around you. If you have chaos and clutter around you, I completely believe your mind will feel cluttered as well!!!
I hate the feeling of not knowing where things are, it's so annoying! You can ask me where anything is in my house or classroom and I can tell you! Some may say that is crazy, but if things are NOT organized, you actually take MORE time looking for things than you do if you organize them ONCE. It literally takes 15-30 minutes to organize and then, there! Done! You won't have to do it again.

Here are some items that you need to keep you organized~
Baskets are a must. They look great, and are a great place to store miscellaneous items.
My labeler is my best friend! Labeling things keeps it organized and easy to find.
Tray organizers that fit in drawers help organize miscellaneous items neatly. A junk drawer??? No way! There will be NO need for a junk drawer because everything will have a home!

I have a mantra that I LIVE by...just ask my students, even they know it! "A place for everything, and everything in its place". 
Everything in your house deserves a HOME!


Here are my rules to live by~

1. If you don't use it, get RID of it!!!!!! The more I talk to people, I hear them say things like, I may need it one day. If you haven't looked at it in over a month, chances are, you NEVER will! Ask yourself, will I actually use this one day????

2. Less is MORE. I think people feel that if they get rid of things, they will feel like their house is empty. But I really think less is more. You will actually USE all the things in your home. The things you have, will truly be things you ACTUALLY use and appreciate, instead of having miscellaneous junk around. Surround yourself with things you LOVE, not junk!

Here are some photos from around my house~

I found these great little drawer organizers at winners and I'll admit it, I just love the feeling of opening my lingerie drawer and looking at it in awe! It's the little things in life, people!
Note: Not my underwear drawer (Did you think I'd let the world see my undies!?!)

I found this amazing little earring organizer. I bought two and they are home to all my earrings!

An antique tray is a great home for toiletries in the bathroom. Easy to get at but also looks great!

Ok, I know there is going to be a lot of eye rolling here, this is where my OCD is in full swing! All food in pantry is organized with like items and organized according to height! 

Here is another great little drawer organizer I found to store all my little hair bits

Baskets are a GREAT thing!!! I use this basket to store all my headbands etc.

I'm all about little trays and baskets to help organize the little things that are otherwise hard to store neatly. All our pens etc. are stored neatly in our office drawer

Found this great little organizer at Home Sense to hold all our cords, batteries, Ipods and electronics etc. Keeps these things neat and tidy, but also quick and easy to find when you need them

This is my office closet where I keep all our photo albums, etc. Found these great little "keepsake" boxes at Ikea for miscellaneous cards and notes

Photo Albums all organized and neat

This is a great little basket I found to hold all our household files. It looks great tucked in the corner of our office but also holds important files and is easy to access

All in alphabetical order and labelled so it is quick and easy to find things

Our hallway closet. All cleaners are organized on one shelf so they are easy to get at when needed

Again, baskets are awesome to store things neatly and also looks great. Here are all Miss Madison's purses stored in this little basket

Shoe racks are a must to organize shoes! If you're like me, you may need 2 or 3 or maybe even 4!

Here is a great trick for organizing necklaces. I found these inexpensive hooks and hung it at the side of my closet. Easy to get to, but not on display where everyone can see it

DVD's all organized and easy to access

I am even MORE obsessed with organizing my classroom. Things are SO hectic, you need to be able to access things quickly and easily. As well, it's important that my students are able to find things easily and be able to put things away quickly and easily or my classroom would turn into a complete disaster!!! It also helps save me time because they are able to do the clean up and not just me!

Bins are all labelled

Books are organized according to Author or theme...which is a quick and easy way for students to find and put away books but also gets them used to looking for books in a library

All my Teacher manuals are organized for quick and easy access

I found this carousel at Michael's and I just love it! Not only does it look great, but it's so easy to find my pens, markers and supplies! Red pens together, blue pens together etc....easy peasy to find things in a snap! It's from the Martha Stewart collection