At Costco yesterday, I was enticed into purchasing the newest copy of Real Simple Magazine. With a cover article entitled “Easy organizing – 99 affordable ideas” who could resist? I was hopeful to motivate myself to do the all important and extremely necessary spring cleaning I’ve been putting off, so I excitedly cracked it open and began to page through it. After a few bunny trails down Jennifer Garner’s make up recommendations and the perfect menu for a garden party I finally found the article I was looking for. Low Cost Organizing! Here is a sample of the "helpful" tips I read…
1 – "Repurpose colorful ribbons from gifts to tie around bed sheet sets so that they don't stray."
- Are they serious? I have 2 kids, 2 dogs, a husband and a business to run. I don't need to decorate my linen closet - I need a bigger linen closet with a lock so that I can shove more stuff in it without worrying that it spring out and assault my family and any friends that come over.
- Can I repurpose the ice trays to gag myself with instead? How many times in my life do I have to read this stupid idea? Who are these people with thousands of tiny things rolling around in their desks? Paperclips, pushpins, I’m out!! Where can I buy giant ice trays to organize the kids and the dogs in a drawer? KIDDING!!!
3 – "A wine rack might store magazines and news papers."
- What?
4 – "Stash a flashlight in your lingerie drawer and it will be easy to tell the black tights from the navy ones."
- If I’m digging through my drawers for a pair of tights in the pitch black of night - color coordination may not be my biggest problem.
5 – "Ensure that your favorite purses remain free of dust and within easy reach by arranging them in a 10 compartment polyester hanging handbag organizer."
- Finally! This is great advice! I plan to use it to convince my husband that I really do need to buy 9 more purses.
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2 comments:
Ha ha ha ha..... I'd love to read your own article... I loved the color coordination and purse comments... way too funny.
I have strung string up in the laundry room and clothespinned the stray socks hoping for a pair, but it ended up looking like a middleaged singles bar.... not too successful in comebacks.
Clutter box is an invention I usurped and love. Place a basket in a common area, and instead of putting away every little thing on a rampage, send it into the clutter box and, when full, assign it to the child who is antagonizing all the others. Presto!
Since space is coveted, I swap out the boys toys in groups... animals for a month, then trains, then cars... only books and lego are permanent.
I try to relegate library books to one bookshelf, and keep a fabric bag there to transport them when the time is up.
Hope these are a little more practical.
ooh... and this goodie I made up myself. Potty mouth is rewarded with a free cleaning of the bathroom...sinks and toilets scrubbed by my 4 & 6 year old!
Excellent Excellent tips! I love the clutter box idea. I guess I've used a form of it which is carry a laundry basket from room to room and throw in whatever doesn't go in that room. By the time I make it around the whole house it's all been put in the proper place. However - using clutter as a motivation for my child's behavior is ingenious!! And saves me a lot of work! I LOVE it!
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