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Forum
-> Household Management
-> Organizing
amother
OP
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 10:32 pm
I am not a great organizer. We have a decent sized home with an attic we use for storage. But I have a hard time figuring out where to keep things that we use regularly or seasonally. Not a lot of closet space and no garage or shed. Where do you keep these things in your house?
yoga mats
swimming/beach gear
pail/mop
winter gear
cases of water bottles
CD player
step stool
And papers. So many papers. Bills. Invitations. Notices from kids schools. Papers from doctors/insurance. So much paper. Some to keep for records. Some that need to be addressed at specific times. And some that I have never had a moment to look at. I have piles everywhere. When I need one space cleared, I just move the pile elsewhere.
Please help me!
Oh I'm so embarrassed just writing this all out.
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Window
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 10:42 pm
A file cabinet. Make tabs/sections and put the papers in the correct sections.
If you don't have a lot of closet space, it makes sense to pack up the winter gear after pesach and send it to the attic until sukkos.
Cases of water bottles can go on the bottom of a closet.
That's all I can think of. Hard to know when I haven't seen the house
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amother
Ivory
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 10:44 pm
The only thing I can think of right now is the papers. I snap a picture on my phone of anything that needs to be kept. Then transfer it later to my computer where it's saved in folders named accordingly.
Ideally I would scan everything but I don't have a scanner handy so this works too.
I hope others are able to come up with solutions for the rest!
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trixx
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 10:53 pm
This will sound counterintuitive but I think you would benefit from reading Marie Kondos book.
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oneofakind
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 11:01 pm
Filing cabinet for papers to be saved. Accordian folder in desk or kitchen drawer for bills to be paid, invitations (that were marked in calendar already) etc.
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dankbar
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 11:03 pm
mop/broom- grip hooks inside laundry closet door
swim clothes in swim bag hanging on hook on wall inside laundry closet
pail in laundry sink or bathtub
cases of water bottles in bottom of coat closet, bottom shelf of pantry or on porch.
foldable step ladder behind door of one room
cd player either connected to amplifliers in living room closet or standing on window sill in kids bedroom for them to listen to, before bed.
Have small apt with overload of stuff too.
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ddmom
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 11:20 pm
Cd player: I got the one that you screw under the counter in the kitchen! Hasn't moved in yrs! And we're never looking for it!
I got a bag where I store bathing suits and cover ups. I put it in the attic from one summer to the next!(I take it out before pessach for hotel pool!)
Best way to store stuff is the clear bags with zipper that comes with comforter set, you can see right away what's in it and you can zip it close!
We usually keep one case of water bottles in the house and one in the car! They don't last too long around here so storage isn't such an issue!
Paperwork in a filing cabinet! If it's a big issue for you very paperless statement for some of it! (Utilities,phone...)
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ddmom
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 11:22 pm
We have a cork board hung in the kitchen that we pin invitations to when we receive them, every couple of weeks I throw out old ones!
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amother
Babypink
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 11:38 pm
The most important thing re controlling the papers is that you need to have a set place to put ALL the paper that comes in, and a set time to look though them and deal with them. For example, in my house all the poets go into a pile on one specific counter in my kitchen (it’s in a pretty bin but it’s really just a pile) and every Sunday morning I Deal With the Papers. That means, tossing the junk, paying the bills , and dealing with the rest. Mark down simchos and appointments on a calendar.
I only file things I absolutely need to keep. Otherwise, toss.
The pile never gets too out of hand because I deal with it once a week.
The system needs to be easy to maintain or else you won’t maintain it.
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ra_mom
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 11:51 pm
amother [ OP ] wrote: | I am not a great organizer. We have a decent sized home with an attic we use for storage. But I have a hard time figuring out where to keep things that we use regularly or seasonally. Not a lot of closet space and no garage or shed. Where do you keep these things in your house?
yoga mats
swimming/beach gear
pail/mop
winter gear
cases of water bottles
CD player
step stool
And papers. So many papers. Bills. Invitations. Notices from kids schools. Papers from doctors/insurance. So much paper. Some to keep for records. Some that need to be addressed at specific times. And some that I have never had a moment to look at. I have piles everywhere. When I need one space cleared, I just move the pile elsewhere.
Please help me!
Oh I'm so embarrassed just writing this all out. |
yoga mats
Rolled up and placed on bottom of toy closet (don't keep more than you need).
swimming/beach gear
Keep a large summer gear bin in the attic. Bring it down when you bring up the winter one.
pail/mop
Pail under laundry sink. Mop hanging from a holder. You can get 3M mounts for brooms & mops that go right on the side of the washing machine or wall if you prefer.
winter gear
See summer gear.
cases of water bottles
Bottom of coat closet
CD player
Since it's the kids portable, we keep it in the toy closet. Otherwise set up a nice shelf for it in the room you use it in, or buy an under cabinet one and mount it.
step stool
Foldable only - in the laundry room
Paper
Keep a vertical holder in the kitchen for to do items only (a flat pile will grow and grow and you won't pick up each page to find what you're looking for). Empty it every week.
All the rest need to be scanned or photographed and filed away on the computer. And then trashed.
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amother
Olive
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Tue, Aug 20 2019, 11:55 pm
I have found the following for papers:
1) Important papers that we NEED. Passports, birth certificates, vehicle registration. Those go into ONE folder with a clasp closure.
2) Papers with important information - these need to get transferred to a To Do list and recycled. Appointment information, bills, etc. I get whatever I can online, and write down what I need to do and get rid of it.
Sometimes take a pic with my phone. I have a fantastic fast scanner, but it's overkill for most stuff. Sending myself a WhatsApp pic of the paper is more than sufficient. Most RSVP cards have an email option nowadays, I use it.
Medical stuff, financial - shred and discard. Let's be honest, if I ever need it I'll never find it anyhow. I'll have to contact the office regardless. Let THEM have the file cabinet.
3) Shaimos - I have a box for this.
4) Sentimental stuff - this is the hardest for me. I periodically scan a pile of it (love my Scansnap!) and throw it out, and I give each of my kids plastic drawers that are the most "stuff" they can keep.
When I get into Paper Decimation Mode, I can go through a few big boxes before losing steam. I'm not so good at maintaining regularly, but knowing that papers have a home makes it easier to start.
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dankbar
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Wed, Aug 21 2019, 3:03 am
Medical records should be kept imo
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amother
Lemon
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Wed, Aug 21 2019, 3:19 am
trixx wrote: | This will sound counterintuitive but I think you would benefit from reading Marie Kondos book. |
But then, ironically, she'd have to find space for that too
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Teomima
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Wed, Aug 21 2019, 10:05 am
I live in a small Israeli apartment. My home has not got nearly enough room for all our stuff and this place is in constant disarray, but interestingly enough everything you mentioned, those that are applicable at least, are some of the few things I don't struggle with finding space for.
yoga mats
Don't have any, but I do have two camping mats (for under a sleeping bag) that are similar to yoga mats. I keep them on top of the closet in one of the kids rooms.
swimming/beach gear
In one cubby in a bookcase in the living room. Goggles and swimsuits go in everyone's rooms but everything else has to fit in that one cubby.
pail/mop
I don't have a regular American mop but my sponga supplies (bucket, rags, squeegee broom thing we use here) I keep in the laundry room.
winter gear
In living room cubbies, one for each person.
cases of water bottles
N/A. I don't use them. We drink tap water, and everyone has a water canteen for whenever they leave the house. I really try to stay away from single use plastics as much as possible.
CD player
N/A. We play cds from the laptop, kept either on the dining room table or on a bookcase in the living room.
step stool
Laundry room, plus a small folding one in the kids bathroom.
And papers. So many papers. Bills. Invitations. Notices from kids schools. Papers from doctors/insurance. So much paper. Some to keep for records. Some that need to be addressed at specific times. And some that I have never had a moment to look at. I have piles everywhere. When I need one space cleared, I just move the pile elsewhere.
A filing cabinet. It has three drawers: house+kids (utilities, schools, medical [a folder for each child], insurances, mortgage, appliance warranties, etc, everything has its own file), mine (credit card statements, taxes, medical, work stubs, insurance, etc), and dh's (similar to mine). I always keep one file at the front of the drawer free, labeled "To File", for when I don't have time to immediately sort it. Every now and then I go through that and put everything in its right place. And I always throw away/shred whatever I don't need anymore.
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