Editor’s Note: The blog, One Hectic Mommy, is no longer active. All links have been removed.
This week’s featured guest contributor is Samantha of The Narratives of One HecticMommy. She’s the mom to two active toddlers and wife to one amazing man. Samantha has been sharing her adventures as a stay-at-home mom since March 2011. Today she’s sharing tips to keep your home organized and clutter free!
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Thank you so much Emily for allowing me to be a guest on your fabulous blog!
If you head over to my site you will find that I love organizing and finding new ways to de-clutter and simplify my house. In my 3 months of blogging I have posted many of my experiences in organizing my home. I then came across a new approach, I take photos of my projects right once they are completed, before my toddlers get to it, or better yet my husband. So, I thought I could post pictures of what the space looks like today, weeks/months after the initial organization. I think this can be a good tool to see what works, and what doesn’t. Some ideas work out great, some not so much. Here is what I have found from some of my ideas….
{1} From Drab to FAB – My linen closet project.
Most of my laundry baskets are missing because today is laundry day 🙂
My broom seems to have gone missing as well. Not to sure about that one.
The things that didn’t last: I had taken many hours making labels and hanging them on each shelf. They looked beautiful, but didn’t stick well, and kept falling down. After trying to put them back on numerous times I called it quits and took them down for good. Also I love having a space for all our extra sheets, but I have not been folding them as neatly as I had the first day, and they sort of get thrown up there when they are not being used. A solution for this would possibly be to put them in large Ziploc’s once folded, get more bins for the sheets, or take the 10 minutes to fold them correctly. Anyone else hate folding fitted sheets, I know I do! {I have discovered that if you fold up the fitted sheet, then fold the flat sheet around the fitted one you can hide some of the mess}
{2} Perfect Solution Spice Cabinet
Unfortunately for this I have no before pic. Believe me it was B-A-D!
{What it looks like today}
The things that are working well: Honestly with this project I love every part of it. The first day my husband went looking for the garlic salt, he was not happy I changed things around {he usually isn’t} but he has gotten used to it.
If I had to share my number 1 tip for organizing anything I would say….. De-Clutter. Get rid of the things you do not use. In the linen closet, only keep the amount of towels and sheets you need, also try not to stock up on shampoos/hair products that you do not use/need. I mean how many bottles of hand lotion do you really use???? For the spice cabinet, throw out anything expired. Get rid of spices that you never use. and I suggest only keeping 1 open bottle of something in the cabinet, if you have extras (I buy cooking spray in bulk) leave the unopened bottle in a different location so it doesn’t mistakenly get opened with another already in use. The less you have the less messy it will be.
I am hoping to use this method in the future to go back and look in on projects I have completed in the past.
Thank you again Emily for letting me share with your followers some of my organizing tips and tricks.
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Great tips, Samantha! I’m going to practice your de-cluttering techniques, starting with my kitchen junk drawer! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful ideas with us! Want to hear more from Samantha – you can find her on Twitter, and subscribe to her blog via RSS Feed.
If you’re interested in being a featured blogger on Nap Time is My Time, please email me (emily@emilystephens.com) or comment below with your contact information.
Thank you so much for featuring me!!!
Great tips! Your shelf and linen closet look terrific. Decluttering is my biggest weakness. Afterall, I may need that spice someday-or at least that’s my terrible way of thinking. I will try to follow your example.
Great job! It looks awesome!