Organizing Small Spaces

This is my first ever "link up" post and I'm doing it as part of the "Organizing Small Spaces" series at Hall of Fame Moms. For those who don't know me, I'm Bri, mom to six kids ages five months to eleven years. We are a big family living in a small-ish ranch house, so organization is not optional, it's mandatory for survival! As a stay-at-home mom, I'm on a tight budget, so my ideas are simple and inexpensive. But they can't be tacky either! Hey, I like HGTV as much as the next girl, so it's got to be stylish!

Before we dive in though I have to say, you can't organize clutter!! Seriously, just watch an episode of Hoarders and you will get my point! So, purge whatever you can as you organize an area or an the very least store items that are not frequently used. Also, buy an inexpensive label maker. I label everything possible! My kids are just lucky I haven't labeled them yet.... Alright, the tips are going to come rapid-fire, so hang on!

Let's start with a girl's best friend. No, not diamonds. Shoes! I love over the door shoe bags! Not the tacky plastic kind your grandmother had either. You can find stylish, fabric ones even at Wal-mart. (In fact, they carry the exact same one as the Container Store for half the price.) Now, aside from the obvious of organizing shoes, they are great for organizing craft supplies or storing small toys or even socks and undies in a child's room. Put one on the back of any door for instant added storage and organization! On the subject of kids' rooms, use that space under their beds for great, hidden storage! We had a trundle built to fit under our twins' bunk bed and it stores extra blankets and all those stuffed animals that drive me crazy! (Seriously, stuffed animals give me a nervous twitch.) It could also be used for the obvious of storing an extra mattress for guests, but I love that I can store bulky blankets out of sight! You can also buy bed risers if you have low beds and this will allow for under-the-bed boxes.

We are limited in our closet space here and so I have to get the most out of every inch. We have a craft and game closet in the dining room and it has to be perfectly organized for everything to fit. I have hooks on the inside of the door for backpacks and the kids coats. (Let me take a moment to shout the praises of hooks. Again, put them anywhere you can and definitely have some on your child's level, so there are no excuses for not hanging up towels, coats, etc.) I have various medium sized plastic containers (all labeled, of course) to hold craft supplies, puzzles, coloring books, etc. I've also used baby wipe containers for small items like beads, glue sticks and bottles, etc. Just use the same brand container for easy stacking. I also have one unconventional tip. We have lots and lots (and lots and lots) of board games. We literally ran out of room to store all those boxes! So, any game that was just a flat board with game pieces (ex. Monopoly, Sorry, etc.; not a bulky game like Operation or Trouble) I ditched the box and put all the game pieces into individual baggies. The boards stack neatly and take up a lot less space than all those boxes and I store the game piece baggies in one small container. This saved an immense amount of room!

A few tips for small items: shoe boxes work great inside big dresser drawers to divide small items. In one drawer I have several boxes to separate my youngest's socks, hairbows, bibs and onesies. Now more digging through a drawer in search of something and no expensive organizer to buy! Always have a couple of decorative baskets or crates by entrance ways as catchalls. Hats, gloves, keys, cell phones, etc., always look better thrown in a basket than just thrown on the table or counter. I use a dish pan to store all the lids to my food storage containers (i.e. Rubbermaid or Tupperware.) It's easy to just pull out that dishpan and find the lid I need for any container. Use flat containers where ever possible to store items. You'll be amazed at how much you can stack and store this way. When I'm tackling a new project, I just buy a couple of containers every time I go to Wal-mart, so as not to break the bank! I've found rectangular Rubbermaid containers that I LOVE for storing all our snack items in the snack cupboard. Everything fits so much better now and food stays fresh longer. Plus, it's easy to grab a container or two as I walk out the door and the kids (or mama!) need a snack.

Paper clutter is a constant challenge here. I think the kids kill their own section of the rainforest with all the papers they bring home from school! And the mailman does his part, too! I have baskets in the kitchen in my buffet (you could use a cupboard or drawers too) and I tackle it immediately. I recycle what I can and then file papers accordingly. School papers get tossed in the school basket (surprise-lol) and bills in the bill basket. It's not super organized immediately, but we (read-kids and hubby, too) always, always know where things are! I also have a bulletin board in the kitchen right beside the calendar. So, when I stumble bleary-eyed to the kitchen in the morning I can easily see what's important that day. All permission slips or important informational sheets go on the bulletin board. No digging through any basket to find those important items!!!

Again, I cannot stress the fact that clutter and just plain "too much stuff" cannot be organized. So, pare down, buy less and organize as you go. I promise you it will decrease your stress! I hope some of these tips have been helpful to you and bless your family! (P.S. I'm glad I'm getting a mansion in heaven, because some days I get tired of organizing this stuff!)