˚organizational tip˚ Throw Blankets

(Did you see the giveaway here? If not, make sure you enter. You better hurry though. It closes tomorrow at midnight. I hope you win!)


There is nothing like grabbing a cuddly blanket to hang out with on the couch. Read a good book. Talk to your kids or spouse. Watch a movie. Believe me, the possibilities are endless.

But...

If your house is anything like ours, these blankets often get left out and about. 

Instead of worrying about a carefully organized linen closet, we keep a hamper next to the couch where such culprits can be easily stuffed inside, or pulled out in a hurry. (Especially critical for fort building on a whim.)

It makes cleanup simple and stress free (not to mention a linen closet that is still carefully organized...if you even have one).

Did I just say simple and stress free cleaning? I sure did. Go grab yourself a good looking hamper and stuff those fort-building blankets inside.

And check out the giveaway....who doesn't love free stuff?

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˚organizational tip˚ Pots and Pans

Why is it that the most essential things in a kitchen take up the most space? Seriously. Think about it. The stove...fridge...freezer...dishwasher. How about pots and pans? We use our pots and pans all the time. Want to see how we store them so they don't take up too much space in the kitchen (since we can't oust the fridge or oven)?

Take a peek...(i almost just left the "k" off of peek. hmm....)

Since we have a small kitchen, our pot hanger sits just outside of it. I have seen awesome pot hangers that hang from the ceiling that would be wonderful in some larger kitchens. Just find one that works for you! 

And enjoy a little bit more room in your kitchen. 

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˚tutorial˚ Easy (sturdy) Apartment Shelving

Moving. Boxes. Packing tape. Not my favorite thing. 

New places. New faces. New weather. Sure. I will give it a try. 

When we moved down to Texas, we had the opportunity to figure out how we were going to store our stuff. We had to figure out where the couch would go, which cupboard the plates would fit in, and how in the world we were going to store the five large instruments we own.

I am all about making an apartment work. It may not be my style per se, but it works. One day we will decorate for fun. Right now we will stick to functional.

So...when we saw the poor design of our apartment (a bar that was too skinny to put bar stools under that would block the pathway to the bathroom anyway)  we decided to make it into a bookshelf.

Think functional...

We headed to home depot and purchased three boards that were relatively straight and flat that fit the width of our bar. We cut them down to fit lengthwise. 

The posts in between the shelves are actually landscaping stones.

We lined the four end post up vertically and offset the middle ones for a different look. 

We can even store games and folders on the shelves.

Because our boards and landscaping stones weren't perfect, we added little scraps of cardboard above a few of the wobbly stones to balance everything out. And for safety, we added brackets on the top shelf to prevent toppling. We figured that the weight of the books on the lower shelves would keep them from going anywhere, but you could bracket every shelf if you wanted. 

It even looks pretty cool from the top!

Functional...just the way we like it. 

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˚tutorial˚ Book Sling

When my sister-in-law was about to pop with boy #2, I asked her what she wanted. She had been eyeing the book slings that have been around blogger world, so I made her one. She wanted something neutral for boy #1 and something that they could share when boy #2 was old enough. 

The cloth acts as a sling for the books while a dowel slides into each end and mounts on hooks in the wall. 

This is an easy project (even for beginner sewers. Just straight lines.)

I used the applique technique from here to add the letters.

You can find a great tutorial for this book sling and many different examples here.

Happy reading!

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˚organizational tip˚ Winter Blankets

In the winter, do your beds ever have piles of quilts on them like this?

Mine do! So here in Texas, it is warming up quite a bit. We no longer need all the layers on the bed. But, where should one (with limited storage space in an apartment) stash the excess quilts? Well, here are two places I have used that work just great. 

First, we like to put our down comforter in between our mattress and our box springs. And with the help of another person, it is not hard at all. Just lift the mattress up and slide the quilt in on top of the box springs. Make sure it is laying flat and replace the mattress. 

Need a different option? The first couch we owned was free, and about 15 years old. After being loved for that long it sort of swallowed anyone that sat in it. We removed the cushions and laid out our extra blankets nice and flat. After a few days, the blankets were smashed under there nice and flat. Not only did it add a little lift to our couch, it also hid our extra blankets. We just kept adding more and they flattened out. Eventually, we had quite a few under there. 

Happy blanket hiding!

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˚organizational challenge˚ The Never Ending Paperwork

Let's be honest. Paperwork is a doozy. It's never ending and annoying. But, when it is organized, life is so much better. Mr. Candid used to make fun of the fact that we had a filing cabinet. Now, when he asks where something is, he just smiles when I tell him to check the filing cabinet. 

I have recently found the best method of filing for us, but every once in awhile I have to doctor it a bit. 

Here is the before: (Not too bad right?)

Here's the action: (this is definitely a project for nap time if you have little ones)

And after:

A couple tips: 

If you have a lot of receipts or information regarding a specific topic, use labeled envelopes so that all of the info is easily accessible in one place: 

I like to have broad categories for the larger green file folders, and then subcategories for the manila folders. I have a "spending folder"...

That contains manila folders labeled important receipts, budget sheets, and coupons.

You will need to have a few folders for your taxes (I think you need to keep 7 years worth):

And a miscellaneous folder is okay, as long as you actually know what is in it:

 Don't let the bottom of your manila folders look like this. It makes all of your papers stick up over the labels. 

Instead, use the little folds at the bottom to flatten them out like this:

And lastly, get rid of as much junk as you can! You might be surprised at what you saved that you thought you needed. Be sure to shred the docs with important info on them. 

And when you are done and the Mr. asks you where something is, you might get a little smile out of him when you say, "In the filing cabinet". 

Happy Organizing!

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