Spices and Herbs

The best way to tackle a spice/herb cabinet is to understand a little about them.

We'll start with little basics on the difference between a spice and a herb.

Spices are grown in the tropics or subtropics and have colors of brown, red, orange, black or anything other than green. FYI...the word "spice" comes from the word "species" Latin, which were goods brought by caravan from tropical islands of southern Asia. Wares and assorted traded goods were called "species", which became "spice" in English.

Herbs are grown in more temperate climates, Europe and U.S. and are green in color.

The biggest enemy to spices and herbs is light. Spices and herbs are usually sold in grocery stores in clear glass or plastic containers and in large quantities. The reason I've learned, is that spices and herbs can have a longer storage life if they are in dark, cool containers, but that would not sell spices and herbs as frequently as manufactures would like. In reality, we would like to buy smaller quantities because recipes generally don't call for a large quantity of spice or herbs. If you are able to, it's better to purchase your spices in bulk at stores like Whole Foods or other bulk type stores. When you buy in bulk it saves you money and you can buy the quantity you need, especially if you're using a new recipe.

Each person has their more common spices and herbs that are used. It's good to take note of these spices and herbs most used in your kitchen. This will help you to know what you should keep and dispose of or give to a friend that uses that spice.

Storing spices
It's best to store spices in a dark, cool container. The refrigerator is the ideal place to store all spices and herbs. Do not store your spices above your stove, the heat will destroy them.
I love my small tin containers. The containers can be found in most kitchen stores or stores like Bed Bath and Beyond. The tin keeps the temperature cool.

I print out a label and place it on the front of the tin or if you store it in a drawer you can place it on the top. I print a second label with the date purchased, that way I can keep track of how long I've had the spice.

How do you know if the spice and herbs are expired?

Herbs usually loose their flavor after a year or so and get dried out. The oils in the herbs are what gives the flavor. If in doubt you can rub a small amount of the herb in your palm and see if there is still an odor on your palm, if it crumbles and smells like hay, toss it!

Spices keep longer than herbs. If the spices are in whole form, they last even longer, except for mustard seeds and sesame seeds, they can go rancid. If the spices are old, you may need to use more of the spice or you can choose to throw it away and buy new. You may also to the palm check to see if the spice still has a kick.

There are many ways to store your spices and herbs in a cabinet.

** Tiered shelf inserts, they look like little steps and you can adjust the width.
** Stack the tins on top of each other. The smaller tins take up little space.
** Single or doubled turntable,  comes in various sizes and materials.

I use a combination of these items in my cabinet. (Photos below)

Check out http://www.thecontainerstore.com/ , look under kitchen category.

Learn more about spices and herbs....great resource "The Complete Spice Book"
Author Maggie Stuckey

My spice cabinet photos:

Spice tins with labels

Tiered spice/seasoning shelf

Doubled Turntable

I put the large  Costco seasonings/spices on their side and label the top lid

Where is January going?

January is flying by.We've had some wonderful news in our family, my oldest daughter is going to be serving an 18 month mission for our church, in Brazil. Preparing all the paperwork for her VISA kept me pretty busy! I do have to say that we were able to get it done in 6 days, and I contribute that to my organized files...it makes tasks like this so much easier!

I left you hanging in December with the Pantry organizing...I'm working on the next,  "In My Kitchen" organizing post. I'll concentrate on the next area, the Spice cabinet. There is really a lot to know about spices, like how do  you know the 25 year old tumeric is still good?! Believe me, I have come across items in people's spice cabinets older than me.

I'll be posting this information next week.........until then keep up the good work on your New Year's resolutions! (I'm hoping it is to be more organized!)

Holiday Down Time

I don't know about you, but during the holidays I have some downtime when the kids are in their PJ's watching movies and just relaxing. Now don't get me wrong, I love to relax and sleep in, but after a while I get a little bored and need something constructive to do. So I have some end of the year things I do to fill this time.

Family Medical History....

Throughout the year as I recieve insurance EOB (Explanation of Benefits) I write on the EOB the reason for the doctor visit and any other information. I put them in a file and at the end of the year I sort them according to family member, and then put them in date order. I record the information in a Microsoft Excel file, titled "Medical History 2009".  I have columns for recording information: Family member, Date, Doctor, and Reason for visit. I take the EOB's and input the information for each family member.
I then shred the EOB's and start with a clean file for the new year.

This medical history has been a very helpful resource to keep track of appointments, patterns of sicknesses. An example, one of my children for three years straight visited the doctor in February and November for the same reason each year. I mentioned the pattern to my doctor and it turns out it's a specific allergy. So around those months an allergy medicine is taken and we don't have those doctor visits anymore.

This downtime is a good time to sort out files. I take one file at a time and while watching a movie or sitting around visiting with my family, I sort the file. Make sure you have a bag for recycle and shredding.

It never fails during winter break, my kids say, "I'm bored!". Yes, my children still haven't learned to say that around this mom! I spend time with each child going through their toy box or closet and clean out to make room for the new items recieved as Christmas gifts.

Well, I'm off to put away my holiday decorations, which always leads to a good house cleaning!

Happy Holidays to All!

If your new year's resolution is to be more organized.............check back in 2010!

Welcome to my pantry!

As promised, here is my personal pantry. Enjoy! (Disclaimer...I'm not a professional photographer. :-)

I used scrapbook letter stickers to label my bins.

The larger labels I ordered from etsy.com, JK Designs

The white bins are great....IKEA!

Tupperware changed kitchen in the 60's, Costco has changed kitchen in the 90's and on...

Clean containers, food quality, are a great visual.

Little bins and lazy susans are great for miscellaneous items.

I don't know about you, but I have to designate a special shelf that is for school lunch supplies only.

That is the only way I can guarantee there are treats and chips left for the next days lunches. :-)

Small bins found at Container Store are nice to hold paper goods,  easy to find and reach,

 something kids always need and need it quick!

I like  to keep my potatoes and squash in a basket so that it's dry and airy.

I also have my flour and sugar 5 gallon buckets as back up for the smaller sugar and flour bins.

I find I get better success from my children refilling the smaller bins when they don't have to go out to the garage to do so. It takes up a lot of space, but the benefits outway.

Some of my favorite things....a holder for those store plastic bags. It also helps

monitor how many you can save. I use a  magazine rack from IKEA to hold my paper bags. It keeps them

up and off the floor and easy to see what sizes I have.

So that is my pantry, which us to be an area where I had a butler service (counter and shelves below and above) and a smaller pantry on the opposite of the butler service. I saw how much wasted space

there was and I had my husband close it off and make a large pantry. It's been great! It makes for a nice phone booth too when my kids are too loud and I need to talk on the phone. He, he!

Hello and Happy Autumn!

Sorry I haven't posted for a long while. Organizing still goes on...organizing how to pack my suitcase for my trip to Omaha and New York.
Now let the organizing begin in my pantry. Upon us are months of baking, preparing, cooking and to have your pantry stocked saves you time and money.

First let's start with a list of basics for your pantry...

Baking powder
Baking soda
Beans, canned: black beans, red kidney, white
Beans, dried: red kidney, great northern, lentils, split pea, black, pinto
Bread crumbs
Broth, dried and canned: beef, vegetable, chicken
Cereal
Chocolate: unsweetened squares, semisweet chips, cocoa powder
Cooking spray
Cornmeal
Cornstarch
Crackers
Dried fruits: raisins
Extracts: vanilla, lemon, almond, orange
Flour: All-purpose, whole wheat, cake, bread
Fruit preserves, jam, jelly
Garlic, fresh
Gelatin: powdered, unflavored
Milk: boxed, powdered, evaporated milk
Nuts: almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, pine nuts
Onions: red and yellow
Pasta, dried: spaghetti, linguini, angel hair, fettuccine, penne, noodles
Peanut butter
Potatoes, fresh
Rice
Soup: canned and dry bouillon
Sugar: granulated, confectioner's, light and dark brown
Tomatoes: canned whole, crushed, chopped, puree, sauce, fresh
Tuna, canned
Yeast, dry active (I keep my yeast in the freezer. It extends its life)

This list is an idea, but you need to specialize it to your needs.

Next post....how to organize them in your pantry.... ideas from my pantry.

A Blog Follower's Question

What do you do if you are married to a collector who wants to keep EVERYTHING?? How do you convince those that you organize to throw away or get rid of things?? I need help in convincing my husband he doesn't need to keep stuff. Hope you can help me - and others who are married to the same problem --- Heather, Seattle, WA

This is a difficult task to accomplish....first you need to ask yourself, what am I storing and why? We often look at other's "stuff" and think ours is more important!

After being married for a year, living in small college apartments, and moving all of my husband's stuff from apartment to apartment, I challenged my husband to a "Get Rid of Our Stuff Night". Convenience was the key...there was a dumpster right below our apartment balcony. We took each of our boxes full of "stuff" and had the other look through it. We would hold up an item from each other’s box and asked for a good justification to keep it.

This is how the evening went...

Husband: "What do you need this Michael Jackson "Thriller" album for honey?"
Wife: (Me) “Well, maybe one day it'll be worth something and the songs remind me of college days when I met you. It doesn't take up much space".
(How could he resist? Yeah! I got to keep it.)
Wife: (Holding a rope maker), "Why do you need this rope maker that's made of cut 2” x 4” and 4 nails?"
Husband: "Well, when I have a son, I hope to show him how to make rope, like I did as a Boy Scout."
Wife: "Honey, let's just hope you have a decent job so when and if we have a son, you will be able to afford to buy a 2” x 4” and 4 nails.” (Side note: After three girls we finally had a son, and yes he can afford to buy all the materials to make that rope maker!)
Over the balcony and into the dumpster the rope maker went.

My point, don't throw anything away without the owner’s consent. It's important to build trust when trying to downsize "collections".

It’s also helpful to ask the right questions......

1. What memory does this bring to you? Is important enough to keep?

2. How long has it been since you've used this item?

3. Do you still fit into it? Will you ever? (HA!)
I mark the month and year purchased on the back of the tag on my husband's clothing...I win the arguement everytime.

4. Can we creatively display this if it's that important to you?

Photo below: My husband lived in Spain for two years and took 100's of slides. We had many shoe boxes of slides. After 15 years of marriage, I felt it was time to look through these slides. Hours later and many fun memories shared, we ended up with 15 slides that he remembered the people or the places photographed. Most of the slides we saved were of him with beautiful scenery in the background. For a birthday present that current year, I had three photos made from his favorite slides and a map of Spain, matted and framed. It now hangs on our wall for everyone to enjoy.




I have also framed items that can't be put in a scrapbook, for instance, my daughter went to China for a humanitarian trip. She purchased a traditional "rice paddy" hat for $2 USD and carried it everywhere she went for 2 weeks. I took a stitchery she recieved from a villager and framed it with her hat above it. Be creative!



5. What’s the worst thing that could happen if we got rid of this?

6. These items take a lot of storage, what else could we put in this place that we will use more often?

7. Let’s put these items in a box and mark it with the date. If we haven’t opened this in a year, than let’s donate it or throw it away.

8. Can this information be accessed on the internet? Is it current information?

9. Can we take a photo of it?

10. Do you really need 100 of this one item? Group the like items so they can visually see how many they reallly have of one thing.

Remember patience is the key!

FYI…….I still have my “Thriller” album, it’s worth nothing but the memories. However, its fun to show my kids the size of an album compared to an iPod file. I’ll save it for my grandkids, along with my high school letterman’s jacket, which by the way, has been used many a Halloween for costumes!

A great article to read in Real Simple magazine by Erin Rooney

http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/inspiration-motivation/10-ways-let-go-stuff-00000000010583/index.html

Analog Photos...550 Billion in American Homes!

The other day as I was driving to a client's home to help them organize, I was listening to National Public Radio. (I have to confess, I'm an NPR junkie! I feel like a smarty pants learning new things as I drive about town.) The topic on NPR was "Scanning Old Photos A Shoebox At A Time". Sam Allen the CEO of Scancafe did a study and he discovered that there are 550 billion analog photos sitting in shoe boxes or other types of storage in American homes. Yikes!

When I was living in Omaha, two friends and I opened a storefront scrapbook store. Customers would bring their boxes, old magnetic albums, etc..., into the store to seek help to get those photos in a safe place. It was sad to see some of the photos beginning to fade and memories lost.

I bring this up to remind you as the kids go back to school, take a few minutes in your day and locate your photos. Make sure they are safely stored, PVC free and archival safe!

A great Christmas gift to add to your 2009 Christmas list would be to have your photos scanned. Once you have them all on a disk you are able to make various copies to give to your family members.

There are local businesses that have this service, Costco has just began scanning photos and converting slides, there are online services, Scancafe.com (The CEO mentioned their business is in India, so the photos are shipped, that makes me a wee bit nervous), Scandigital.com. Another alternative is to make your own book bound albums with companies like Snapfish.com or Shutterfly.com. Don't forget your VHS tapes too. If the VHS tapes are not viewed a few times a year the tape begins to fade.

In this time of digital photos we tend to download our photos onto our computers and forget about them. Remember to back up your harddrive in case your computer crashes or use an online service to back up your computer regularly, Mozy.com is a great resource and if you don't have large files it's free.

Different Ways to Categorize Your DVD Collection

I let my son (10 years old)take charge of the DVD organizing and he wanted to alphabetize the DVDs. Alphabetizing works in our family because we don't purchase many DVDs, not since we subscribed to Netflix. Let them store DVDs for me! Just like the public library stores books for me.

However, frequent DVD buyers should avoid alphabetizing...it'll be a continual shuffling of DVDs.
Other suggestions from my wonderful readers:
1- The best way is to cut the DVD jackets and place them in the DVD holder. If the DVD is gone, then you'll know which one is missing.
2- Group by ratings G, PG, PG-13, etc....
3- Have separate binder for children's video's and non-children videos
4- Group by genre, i.e., Westerns, Comedy, Romance, etc...
5- Type up your DVD list on the computer for safe keeping and put all your DVDs in the binder. (I know that's not very organized, but think of all the space you're saving!)

My Children's Summer Organizing Project

I think my children know better than to say, "Mom I'm bored!" during the summer break. Before school ended, I thought of some organizing projects that they could do during the summer when they pulled the "I'm bored card".

The first project was organizing our DVD collection into a DVD binder. This project was brought on sooner than expected with the need for my husband to mount our flat screen television to the wall. He had to mess up my cute television cabinet and my already organized DVD storage shelf. How dare him! :-) When the television goes on the wall, there's no need for a storage cabinet....so my kids came to the rescue.

One child read off the title of the DVD and the other typed the title into an Excel spreadsheet. As soon as all the titles of the DVD's were inputted, they could use the "A to Z" format in Excel to put the titles in alphabetical order. They printed out the excel sheet and placed it in the front of the binder to be used as an index.

Next, they made a template to measure the size of the binder DVD pocket to cut out the label for each DVD.

The list they had printed out gave them the order in which to place the DVDs alphabetically in the binder. They started with the first DVD cover and cut the main title fonts and photo to fit in the pocket. (Some DVD covers slip out of the plastic jacket on the DVD case, others are cardboard. If you don't have a case, you can always go to the Internet and print out a title and photo )
They first put the cut out label into the pocket and then placed the DVD in the pocket. This will make the removal of the DVD easier and the label will stay in the binder.

Now we have over 75 DVDs in one little binder!

The left over cases were put in a box and listed on FreeCycle.org. They were gone the next day! BTW...Freecycle is a great resource to give items away to others than can use them.


Every time they open the DVD case, they are so proud of their project! When a child helps with a project they take ownership and thus, help to keep the system successful!

Happy Summer....where is it going?!

Hello! I know it's been a month since my last post, but it seems just like yesterday! Our family's summer is going so fast. Of course, living in the Northwest, summers are very short, come late and leave early, so we take advantage of every sunny day!
I have been doing some organizing with my children and will post those projects real soon!
Thanks for visiting and I hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Baby Steps

The first step in organizing your home is DESIRE. If you have no desire you won't do it!

Second, start one room at a time and remove anything thing that doesn't belong there, i.e., lawnmower in bedroom, wrench in the nursery. Ha, you know what I mean!

Third, obtain 3 boxes for sorting and title them:

1. Things that belong in another room.
2. Give away/garage sale box.
3. Not sure of. (Let it sit a month and if you don't use it,put in box #2 or )
4. TRASH BASKET

Now the fun begins!

While you're sitting there in front of your "project" sorting, ask yourself these 3 questions:
1. Do I really need this?
2. How long has been since it's been used?
3. Do I need so many?

Think "Out of sight, out of mind", not "absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Then ask yourself how did these things get here, let's look at the questions perhaps not asked before bringing these little projects home.

1. Where am I going to put it? (When purchasing something.)
2. Do I really need this? ( Perhaps borrow that pasta maker before purchasing it.)
3. What can I do without? What do I really need? ( Keep a list of things you'd like to buy then decide what can you live without.)
4. Why did I say "Sure I'd love to have that!".( Learn to say,"No thanks!" when your mother- in-law is trying to clean out her house.)
5. Is this item time consuming to maintain? If yes, is it worth it to me to spend that time.

Now you have things that you NEED, right?....Let's organize those items.

Group and store items together, i.e., books, tapes, suitcases etc..
1. Use drawer dividers
2. Use Rubbermaid bins, Ziploc bags, boxes etc.

I suggest using temporary containers until you know those items are definitely keepers.


Things to keep in mind when organizing:
1. Store things where you use them
2. Have a trash can in every room.
3. Be motion minded. Delete steps, i.e. have cleaning items upstairs and downstairs.

The more steps it takes to complete the task the less success you will have! This really applies to children. (No lid on the dirty clothes hamper)

Where is the month of May going?

Hello Everyone! May is flying by. I think next to November and December, May is one of the busier months. Graduations, weddings, end of school year activities, you name it, everyone seems to be busy.
I went to the stationary store yesterday and stocked up on graduation cards. I usually am so organized that I purchase one generic "high school" graduate gift and then I'm finished with the gift purchasing. I'm realizing that teenagers would rather get a check in the mail and spend it how they want. I'm fine with that, it's easier for me and I'm all for easy! I probably don't even need to put the check in a card,just wrap it in recycled paper and be done with it. Ha! We know they all go for the money and don't read the card. Perhaps their mothers read the card and then put your name on a "Write Thank You Cards" list. Yes, I still make my kids sit down and write thank you cards and no emails can be sent, just the good old handwritten notes.

I have been working on my garden this month and have not posted on my blog. I apologize, when we get a sunny day in Seattle it must be taken advantage of for we can't be guaranteed it will be back the next day.

Here are photos of my garden project. Our garden is on a friend's property and they have been gracious enough to let our family and two others garden together. Of course, I'm in charge of organizing the watering and weeding schedule. It's a great opportunity to teach your children the value of hard work and healthy eating.

Organizing Your Kids' Bathroom

I am a mother of 4 children, 3 being teenage daughters. (My poor son) There needs to be some sort of organization in a bathroom being used by 4 kids, especially with all the "accessories" teenage girls need.

Here are some organization methods that have worked for me...

I was an organizer on a mission to find extra space in this room. I had my husband install a medicine cabinet for extra storage. As he was installing the medicine cabinet, his curiousity took over and he looked beyond the insulation and lo and behold there was a 3' x 5' empty space. I jumped for joy....we could install cabinets in that wall for extra storage! (Sometimes to gain extra storage you have to think outside of the box. And have a handyman husband.)

The cabinet has been a great place to store linens and towels.

I was once told, by a mother of 7 children, that the best thing she ever did for herself was to buy all white linens, towels and children's socks. I have always remembered that and have bought all white towels. You can bleach them clean, just like the hotels. (Exception: Beach towels!)

I also buy the stacks of white washcloths, that are inexpensive, so when the make up stains no longer wash out I can move them to my rag basket and bring out new ones. I stock up on hand towels and washcloths at Costco. I keep a stack in the back of the cabinet for "guests only".

The containers that house my washcloths and extra pillowcases are from IKEA. I fold the pillowcases into the flat and fitted sheets so they are always together. The extra pillow cases are for camp, sleepovers, etc....

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Towel bars wouldn't give us enough space, so I came up with this idea. (So very Martha Stewart of me!) Each child has their intial over their towel hook. (Towel hooks purchased at the Restoration Hardware outlet! Great buy!) Having the intials over their towel hook prevents the Three Bear comments...."Hey some one used my towel!" and it also helps me know whose towel is missing on laundry day!

(I'm in a big debate whether to change the "S" to "G"uest, "S" went away to college, what are your thoughts moms??)



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Hold on to your hats, this is the bestest idea yet, well at least I was pretty proud of my idea.

My children use the Sonicare toothbrushes and the Sonicare heads were finding their place all over the counters. It was driving me crazy! One day my son was cleaning the bathroom counters and he had the brush heads stuck to the metal corner under the dry wall. Wow...I didn't know they were magnetic. I checked with a Sonicare expert and asked if it would harm the heads to be mounted on a piece of metal. The answer was "NO", so I took my black IKEA metal message bar and cut it to fit the space above the counter, on the wall and "VIOLA", my problem solved.


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Drawers and Cabinets

There is a face plate, in most cabinets, in front of the sink. There is a product that can be purchased at stores like Home Depot that will turn this space into useable space. Photo below is the result....

Under the sink cabinets

When placing storage containers under the sink, remember to measure the space, the plumbing tends to make odd spaces for storage.

TIP: Increase your odds of children putting things back in their places by designating a space for everything. There will never be a question of "Where does this go?".

Now this drawer below will never be neatly organized, but my kids know what items go in this drawer.

Shower and Toilet area......

I hung a cabinet on the wall to house items that need to be on hand, like TP.

There are all kinds of over the toilet storage available.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour through a room that most "visitors" to my home don't see.

Little Set Backs

The best laid plans..........I had my next blog post ready to go, just needed to take the photos and sickness hits our home. First priority, sick children. It's a nice set back to be home with sick kids, you have their undivided attention! Ha! Children are well, but I caught the icky bug, another set back. In a few days we are leaving on our Spring break vacation to sunnier climates.

I thought I'd hurry and add a great website for your Spring break packing ...

Onebag.com

Also, last week while I was sick in bed watching Oprah and Peter Walsh, Oprah mentioned that she had a coupon on her website for 25% off entire purchase at the Container Store. It's good until the 13th of April and if you don't have a store near you, you can shop online. Go to Oprah's website to print out the coupon.

Happy Spring!

I'm Baaack!

I'm back from Ireland and it was a beautiful, miraculously sunny vacation. I returned with my jury duty responsibilities lingering in the following week. I'm glad jury duty is over and I'm ready to fulfill the wishes of my blog readers....see how the "Professional Organizer Lives" or should I say "Behind Closed Doors of a P.O.". I wish I could link in some dramatic music or a drum roll...or not, it's not that exciting!

I'll start with the laundry room. Laundry rooms always seem to be the catch all for whatever no one wants to deal with, especially if it's located on the main floor and as an exit to the garage. Fortunately, my laundry room is upstairs, so it dodges many forms of clutter.

It's always nice to have some place to hang your wet clothes or items you can hang dry. I like this shelf because it is off the floor. It's placed high so it doesn't impede standing in the laundry room.

I purchased this bucket at Target years ago. It was cute and I dreamed of filling it with ice and soda at an outdoor picnic. But it ended up being used as a cute basket to put the every day little laundry items in i.e., dish towels, hand towels, dog towels, etc... This was a necessity when my laundry room was on the ground floor, entrance from the garage and a hallway to the bonus room. It's nice to "hide" the laundry when you need to.

I keep all of my bathroom and general cleaning items under the laundry room sink. I put the cleaning items in a caddy so it's easy for my kids to grab and go clean the bathrooms. I also have a bin to hold the larger "rag" towels used for the dog and big clean ups.


I saw these cute clear paint can containers at Ben Franklin's the other day. I like them because they're clear, lightweight and handy to pick up and go. I purchased some letter stickers and labeled the containers. The containers come in gallon size and quart size. They'd be great for a gift bag too. (Home Depot sells them in aluminum, to put extra paint in or you can be creative!)



If you are able to install cabinets or shelves in your laundry room it helps to add extra storage over your washer and dryer. I have additional supplies in these cupboards. (Love the Restoration Hardware Vacuum BB's. It makes your vacuuming experience yummy!)




I use the laundry room cabinets to store extra paper goods, small cleaning rags, my poor old fish bowl that may be used in the future. (I know, some of you are shocked to think I saved something for the "future". I lost my 5 year old blue beta "Steve" a few months ago and I'd like to buy another little guy to greet me at my work desk, so I have plans for the bowl.)



The cabinet with all the fun, goopy stuff in it like the laundry soap. I usually have the laundry soap and softener turned with the spout down, however, I'm using them in my weight training program, lifting them out to the laundry soap dispenser. Ha! I've containerized items that my children and my husband are always asking about, "Batteries", "Candles", that's in case we have a power outage, and other items that we use frequently. I've stored extra dish towels and bath rugs up on the top shelf. Use the top shelves for infrequent storage. (Side note: Bin labeled "felt" is the small felt pads for furniture legs, etc.... thanks, Julie, crafty friend, who I'm sure has a huge bin of felt)

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Good time to bring up labeling.........

When you label an item, it's best to use the first word that comes to your mind, or the name that it's known by those who use that item. As in the "felt" label. When I mention "felt" in my house, me not being a real crafty person, my kids and husband know it's the felt with the sticky bottom to place on the furniture that sits on the wood floors. Labels are what they are, labels, to tell you what is in the container for easy locating. So make it easy on yourself, don't worry about using fancy verbage like Martha Steward does.

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You may be wondering where all the dirty laundry is. Each of our bedrooms have laundry baskets and that helps avoid the "laundry pile up". The children have an assigned day to sort their laundry and bring it to the laundry room for their laundress to take care of. (that laundress would be me!)

On Vacation....

Hello Everyone!
I'm currently in Ireland....will have some great posts when I return...that is, on organizing, not of my tour in Ireland, that will be posted on my family blog.

Cheers!

How Do You Get Your Kids To Use These Skills?

Since I have posted my list of age appropriate skills, I've had many people ask me how I got my kids to use these skills for the benefit of those who live in my household.

Well.......A BIG STICK....no, seriously, I started when my children were young toddlers. Now I am reaping the benefits of having my children help carry the load of maintaining a clean, organized home. When my youngest daughter was almost two years old I attending a church class and the topic was, "Confessions of An Organized Housewife", by Deniece Schofield. (Don't hold me to this, I couldn't read my notes very well) The theme of this class was organizing your house chores so that you did your Spring cleaning all year round. This process has stayed with me all my 24 years of having my own home and family.

The idea behind this is a card catalogue system with each card having a chore written on it. Then the cards are organized by daily, weekly, monthly chores. As I used this system I was able to delegate these chores to meet the skills my child had at the time.
I have since abandoned the index card system and it's become incorporated in my daily chores for myself and my children. (My husband fills in the gaps or plays the role as the task master, Ha!)

Some of the benefits I've gained from this system are:
** My laundry is all done by Wednesday afternoon. My teenage children know the day that their laundry gets done and if they miss it, well, guess what they're doing Saturday? One daughter missed her day so often that she put as a number one item on her Christmas list, "an ample supply of socks". Uh mm, I wonder why she didn't list underwear too. Ha! She's getting better at getting her laundry sorted on time.
** I'm not knocking myself out every April doing my Spring cleaning.
** I never forget to do the things that aren't common, like defrosting my freezer. (Shouldn't the freezer have an ample supply of ice to keep things frozen?! I'll never get that one!)

My list could go on and on, but I know I've made my life much easier in the long run. It's never too late to start.

At What Age Can My Kids Help At Home?

Here is a chart that I have found helpful when helping moms

get their kids' chores organized.

The numbers in "( )"'s are the ages.... I'm sure some digress, especially when they become husbands. HA, HA!

Clothing Care Skills Basic

Spot removal--blood, oil, coffee, tea, soda, etc. (12-18)

Operate electric clothes dryer (9-16)

Polish shoes (8-18)

Clean own closet (6-16)

Put away clean clothes (5-9)

Clean own drawers (6-16)

Shop for clothing (11-18)

Empty hamper, put dirty clothes in wash area (4-8)

Simple mending--buttons and holes (12-17)

Fold clothes neatly, without wrinkles (8-16)

Simple sewing (12-18)

Fold, separate clean laundry (8-16)

Sort clothes by color, dirt, fabric content (8-18)

Hand-wash lingerie or woolens (12-18)

Wash clothes in machine (9-16)

Hang clothes for sun drying (8-16)

Iron clothing (12-18)

Personal Care Skills

Arrange for own haircut (10-16)

Pick up toys (2-6)

Brush teeth (2-5)

Purchase own grooming supplies (11-18)

Clean, trim nails (5-10)

Put pajamas away (2-4)

Comb hair (2-5)Tidy up bedroom (2-8)

Dress self (3-6)

Undress self (2-4)

Leave bathroom neat after use (6-10)

Wash and dry own hair (7-10)

Make own bed (3-7)

Wash face, hands (2-5)

Cooking Skills

Bake a cake from a mix (10-14)

Make a sandwich (6-12)

Bake bread (12-17)

Make casserole (14-18)

Bake cookies (10-16)

Make fruit salad (13-15)

Bake muffins, biscuits (11-17)

Make gelatin (7-12)

Boil eggs (7-13)

Make hot beverages (12-16)

Broil a steak (12-16)

Make punch (6-9)

Make tossed salad (11-15)

Clean frost-free refrigerator (12-18)

Measure properly (7-14)

Clean oven and stove (15-18)

Mix pancakes (10-17)

Pack a cold lunch (7-12)

Cook canned soup (7-12)

Plan and shop for groceries for a week (15-18)

Cook frozen, canned vegetables (10-13)

Plan balanced meal (10-15)

Defrost refrigerator or freezer (15-18)

Put groceries away (6-16)

Distinguish between good and spoiled foods (10-18)

Read a recipe (7-12)

Read ingredient labels wisely (10-15)

Scramble eggs (9-13)

Know basic food groups and nutrition (5-14)

Select and prepare fresh fruits and vegetables (10-18)

Household Skills

Change bed linens (10-13)

Replace faucet washer (15-18)

Change vacuum belt and bag (12-15)

Replace light bulbs, understand wattage (10-15)

Clean bathroom tile (14-18)

Scour sink and tub (5-12)

Clean bathroom total (6-12)

Scrub down walls (14-18)

Clean combs and brushes (4-8)

Scrub or mop floor (6-13)

Clean fireplace (10-15)

Set table (3-7)

Clean pet cages and bowls (7-13)

Shake area rugs (4-8)

Clean toilet (5-8)

Spot-clean walls (4-12)

Clean TV screen and mirrors (4-8)

Sweep porches, patios, walks (4-10)

Clear off own place at table (2-5)

Take written telephone messages (7-12)

Clear table (3-13)

Trim trees, shrubs (12-18)

Dust furniture (3-12)

Unstop a drain with chemicals or plunger (13-18)

Empty dishwasher and put dishes away (4-1 2)

Use broom, dust-pan (8-12)

Empty wastebaskets (4-10)

Use vacuum cleaner (7-12)

Feed pets (5-10)

Fold blankets neatly (8-14)

Vacuum upholstery and drapes (8-14)

Wash and dry dishes by hand (6-12)

Know differences and uses of various household cleaners (4-14)

Wash car (8-16)

Wash windows (13-18)

Load and turn on dishwasher (6-12)

Water grass (8-14)

Mow lawn (12-16)

Water house plants (8-14)

Oil squeaky door (12-18)

Pick up trash in yard (4-10)

Weed garden (9-13) )

Wipe off chairs (6-11)

Wipe off door frames (4-12)

Wipe up a spill (3-10)

Polish wood furniture (14-18)

Mi Casa Es Su Casa........

While I was working with a client she asked if I lived as organized as I was making her...ha! I don't expect anyone to live as organized as I do, they'd have to be crazy! I'm just lucky that I get to use my obsession as a business, like a person that loves to cook, being a chef.

Many people have asked me to post my personal organizing systems from my home, on my blog. I guess that would encourage more people visiting my blog and maybe a few creepy blog stalkers, but hey I'm willing to share as long as I don't have a blog stalker knocking at my front door.
So my next post will be.........uhm, I'll leave that as a surprise!