MY FAVORITE TOOLS FOR ORGANIZING

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I have always been kind of on the fence when it comes to organising stuff and keeping them that way. What I mean is I love an organized life. I love seeing beautifully organised spaces. Honestly I can spend hours on a stretch looking at these mentioned spaces and I Heart Organizing is one of my all time favorite reads. And trust me when I see these I am inspired, always. But do I follow the guidelines and keep them? That is a tough call.

We don't really own a ton of stuff. It should fairly be easy right! But I do have an illness called "laziness', it's lame but sometimes I can't help it. So "a place for everything, everything in its place" rule doesn't work out for me.

So what I do in reality is to use tricks and tools that are sneaky and do not take much effort or money.

1. Baskets, Boxes & Buckets

The very first is to corral similar things in baskets, bowls,bags or buckets. So when I am finally inspired to clean up which strikes once a week or so, I can carry around said corralled stuff to their places. Easy enough? That is the best organising strategy I have devised so far. I try to make the baskets and bags pretty so they are easy on the eyes even though scattered around.

2. Trays To Collect Random Stuff

Almost anything would look pretty on trays. They need not be fancy. But it does help if they are pretty. The surfaces look streamlined if the random things are collected and placed together as if they belong together. I use trays on our kitchen counter, entry way, coffee table, on my desk where ever I can think of.

3. Handling the Mail & Paper work.

It is best to deal with the incoming mail and paperwork immediately before they conquer us. We scan through our mail as soon as we pick up and discard any unwanted ads, pamphlets and offers. I have a tissue holder that act as my mail holder at the entry. Only bills, usable coupons and important papers go there. Rest all is taken to the trash then and there. That way we are not overwhelmed by the number of things we have to go through at the end of the week which is when we pay the bills and checks. It is best to go paperless when ever possible to avoid the mess altogether.

3. A Place for Kid's Works.

Though our little one is just 4, she brings a ton pf papers and craft stuff from school. Add with it the continuous painting, cutting, writing things she does at home. I go through them each day as soon as she comes home and discard the ones that aren't special. If the art/craft shows off her creativity and she likes to keep them, I let her keep it for a few days and then digitize and save on my computer and discard originals. What we save are only the real special things that she makes.

It is always a mess when little ones play and craft or do their homework. I make clean ups easy with giving small bowls, jars and buckets to collect her things and even mine.

5. Wardrobes : 

This is one area where I haven't really got much to share. My husband blandly disagrees to throw anything away as far as clothes are concerned. And ours is a small one which I shared here. Please give me tips here. I control the linen clutter though. I have only a pair for each bed and only four sets of bath linen. One for each of us and one for Akshara.

6.  Craft & Stationery 

I try my level best to own as less as possible when it comes to craft things. One way is to know what you have by keeping a check on inventory and storing things in plain sight. I try to pretty up my storage but still try to store them in sight. Old pickle jars and clear bowls help a ton here.

Now, most of my friends ask me what do I do with the things I make. I like making things, but most of the times I make things I really want or need. And when I make, I don't really do a big batch of things here. At the end of a DIY project , mostly I will have two or three of the pieces ( especially if that incolves Akshara and trial and errors). Most of them are used for what they are intended for. I display them around the house . For example, the bowls I paint would be plant holders or bead collectors. Vases would turn into pencil holders, brush holders, washi tape holders - any type of holders. Art works will go on walls, clay dishes would hold jewelry or coins or even pins and needles.

Some of the things I make with an intention to gift to someone special. Some others as seasonal crafts etc those which are lucky enough to escape Akshara's pretend play shenanigans end up at our local Goodwill - so on and so forth.

These are my tricks, now I would love to hear yours. Let us be organised together.
Anima.

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Anima