Organizational Item you LOVE

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Started 2 years ago by Mid America Mom
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Mid America Mom
Member

Today someone complimented us on an organizational item in our home. I realized that I just love some items that help me with controlling clutter. So much so I feel this pride and known to show guests these prized items!

What Item do you love?

For now I have a few. Three homes ago I purchased a revolving vertical shoe rack with three tiers. It does have its drawbacks (husband has very large feet so we cannot load up on his shoes, only 3 tiers though we are a family of 4 ...I wish each member had their own) but I like that it does not take up much floor space. My favorite item in the kitchen is the upright paper towel holder. It is the kind that stops the papertowel from unrolling with use of a lip on the base. What about you?

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

Baskets! They are pretty, and they keep items sorted but visible.

Posted 2 years ago #
Kaz in Oz
Member

A great new spiral bound planner/journal/diary I bought last week that takes pride of place next to the phone in the kitchen (the real hub of the house), that my hubby is actually communicating stuff to me in. It has columns for work, financial, personal/community/church and appointments on every page so there's really no excuse. So much more space than a calendar and easier to write on too. It's also portable if I need to take it into the study when I pay bills. And it has a stack of organisational tips in it too. it's helping me to unclutter all the stuff in my head that we tend to argue over whether we've told each other about.

The other thing would have to be my Ikea Expedit 4x2 bookcase that is horizontal behind me in the study. It's a bookcase for our photo anbd scrapbook albums, a stationery cupboard and a place for the printers (colour laser and photo bubblejet). At the moment it is open but in a few weeks will have cupboards adn drawers. It has tidied up the study no end.

Posted 2 years ago #
stagepin
Member

My Blackberry. I went from trying to remember everything in my head to actually having a chance in hell of following through. It's like wearing my brain on my hip.

Posted 2 years ago #
badkitti
Member

My MiL recently commented on the fact that I have a specially designed bag for keeping wrapping paper and accesories in. Yes it is a unitasker, but its so nice having all that stuff stored properly in one space

Posted 2 years ago #
MsDasha
Member

Space!

My last apartment was tiny and I kept trying to get organized and it kept un-organizing itself. Now that we are in a place twice as big, is is so much easier to keep everything tidy! Sometimes bigger is better :)

Posted 2 years ago #
Sky
Member

My label maker and Rubbermaid boxes. I have like things together and the boxes are the same size so they stack well. My closets are organized and I can easily find what I'm looking for.

Now, I just need to get rid of some stuff in those boxes!

Posted 2 years ago #
PrairieGal
Member

Label maker! Love it!
@badkitti - It's not a unitasker it it's ALWAYS in use.

Posted 2 years ago #
opadit
Member

Two things come to mind right away. First, I have a stoneware pitcher on the counter to the left of the stove, where I keep cooking implements (spatulas, ladles, tongs, etc.). For some reason I always wanted my mom to have one of these in the kitchen when I was a kid, but she always kept things in drawers. I really, really like it, though, because I think it looks homey, I don't have a lot of drawer space, and it keeps all those tools immediately at hand. Two functional reasons and an aesthetic bonus. Can't lose!

Second, I put a nightstand in the entryway to our apartment. It has one wide but very shallow drawer. My rule is to leave nothing on the top except for my bus pass and, as a piece of art, the antique coffee pot that used to belong to my great-grandmother. My wallet, sunglasses, lip balm, transit schedules, and other "landing strip" kinds of things stay in the drawer. But! The drawer is so shallow that I'm forced to clean it out regularly. This nightstand is a great tool for me because it's the "place for everything, everything in its place" place for things I need when I leave the house. Also it's a temporary landing spot for my mail and other stuff that needs a spot during the day.

P.S. Not to be a hater, but boo on labels! Labels belong in the supply closet at the office, not my home. They are so totally not my style. LOL, I know that a lot of other people are 100% the opposite on that!

Posted 2 years ago #
MsDasha
Member

Oh how could I forget my label maker! *pets labelmaker* please forgive me?

@opadit - I don't have labels anywhere you would really see them - but I label the spines of my binders (for school) and boxes and bins that live in closets, as well as all the files in my filing cabinet. I have super neat handwriting, but the labels still look neater!

Posted 2 years ago #
Nina
Member

My Kindel (and my husbands Kindel): we both love books and this will save a lot of space in the long run.

I also love my label maker.

Posted 2 years ago #
badkitti
Member

I would love a label maker. When I was learning a foreign language I had to make labels for objects like the kettles, spoons etc - a label maker would have made this cool.

Thanks PrairieGal!

Posted 2 years ago #
Jeri Dansky
Member

The coffee mug that holds my pens:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24224159@N00/2764900320/

And a matching one that holds my toothbrush and toothpaste:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24224159@N00/2764900326/

And my MacBook (with iCal and Address Book).

Posted 2 years ago #
bandicoot
Member

LOVE the mug, jeri.

gotta second the macbook!
between the calender, the contacts, the music and the photos....it really is fantastic.

in my kitchen i have stainless steel hooks hanging from stainless steel shelves.
on the hooks i keep all my most-used tools: whisks, spatula, pastry brush, graters, spoons.
keeps them out of the way, but plainly in view and ready to grab.
i also keep small baskets with garlic and eggs hanging up there.

Posted 2 years ago #
Claycat
Member

I love my iMac, too.

Bandicoot, you don't keep your eggs in the refrigerator? I love the shelves and the hooks. I like things in sight. I like cabinets with windows and open shelving.

Jeri, I use mugs as holders, too. I like what yours say!

Posted 2 years ago #
Mid America Mom
Member

Thanks for sharing!

Nina, Do you find yourself reading more?

Opadit, love the container idea for implements. A decorative item too what a plus.

Jeri, double duty mug. I also seen them used for loose coins, other office supplies like clips, holding jewelery. Anyone have another idea for them

Kaz my husband thought I should have listed our bookcases (I have them in my unclutter success story).

Posted 2 years ago #
Stacia
Member

Hi! I'm new here, but have been reading for a few weeks. I'm trying to unclutter... constantly, it seems. LOL.

My favorite organizational item is a multi-section, rotating organizer that was originally intended for holding kitchen utensils (like spatulas, whisks, etc...). Long ago, I took it for my desk & use it to hold pens, pencils, scissors, hole-puncher, ruler, & staple-remover. It's great & everyone in the house knows where to go to find these items (& where to return the items after use).

Posted 2 years ago #
Laetitia in Australia
Member

For my 21st I was given a plastic stand-on-the-counter holders with 6 kitchen implements - love it - we can see what tool we want and it has enough space that a few extra tools like wooden and steel spoons can also fit in there.

When I get my fantasy home (I've rented for almost the past 7 years), I want lazy susan corner cupboards in the kitchen. They're common in Germany and we wonder why they aren't a more common feature elsewhere.

Apart from those would be the two glass dishes I retained when my nana died and her personal goods were given to whichever member of the family wanted them. They now are on my dresser - rings, keys, nail clipper go in one and larger items like my phone and hair clip go in the other. Now I can actually find the things I want everyday when I leave the house instead of pushing around a stack of stuff on the dresser top.

Posted 2 years ago #
Another Deb
Member

My favorite organizational tool this year is my redesigned pantry. At first I had shelving that ran 24 inches wide and 24 inches deep. I felt like I was putting my head into the oven just reaching back into the depths to find anything, and I couldn't reach very far into the highest shelf because the others were in the way. Also, the shelves were about 15 inches apart, so the short things took up as much space as the tall things. I made do for several years with the wire stands that you can put another layer of cans on, but I was still burrowing through the mess to get anything and often bought duplicates because I forgot what I had.

This fall I had the shelves cut down to 10 inches from the back and 6 inches from the side, like a fat "L" shape. Then I had another narrow shelf installed between the 6 inch wide shelves, just deep enough for two soup cans and tall enough for a large can.

I had always used a large wire over the door shelf for spices and a wire paper wrap holder on the door. Now I had room on the third wall of the pantry to put holders for aprons, brooms, plastic bag holders. I have a clean, neat pantry and actually USE what I have because I can see it all at once. Overall I lost some square inches of shelving, but gained function many times over.

Posted 2 years ago #
bandicoot
Member

claycat....we get free range eggs from a neighbour lady every week.
they don't hang around here long. my husband is am omelette freak.
they arrive here at room temperature and i just keep them at room temperature.

another favourite thing is the key-hook-shelf-thingie.
when i've been out, i walk back into the house and on this ting, i hang my keys and my sunglasses and place my purse on the shelf.
luvvit.

Posted 2 years ago #

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