ORDER - Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time. [Order week begins here. Click for this week's Bliss Initiatives.]
Organizational Nirvana
It might not be immediately obvious why Order is one of my distinctions of bliss. As you can tell by the photo's I shared yesterday, I'm really not that good at it. I think about being organized, a lot, but from the time I was a little girl I just haven't been very good at it. Ben Franklin put it on his list of virtues because he felt it would help him lead a better life. My reason for putting it on my list isn't nearly so lofty. I just LOVE organization tools. I could vacation in the container store. I can walk up and down the isles for hours envisioning the beauty those magical things could bestow on my home. I adore all the little boxes, baskets, shelves and gadgets designed to make my life run more smoothly. I routinely buy one or more of the cool things promising me the clutter free live I crave, but usually after a short test run my new tool ends up a part of some clutter pile it's majesty unrealized.
How about you? Do you have a fascination for organizational stuff? What tips or tools have worked for you? The one that has worked best for me is to have file boxes for my scrapbook stuff. I haven't done anything scrapbooky for years but I have been keeping all the potential filler, photos, ticket stubs, brochures etc. filed nicely in a file box for when I do start again. When I have a craft area set up, when the garage gets finished, after I clean it out... oh back to the same old dilemma.
Today I thought it would be fun to take a little cyber tour of the sites that offer organizational expertise. If you know of any you think we should add to this list please let me know!
Unclutterer a very informative site promising "Unclutterer is the website for home and office organization. It’s not just for the helplessly disorganized who would lose their heads if they weren’t attached, and pack rats looking to put their stashes on a diet, but also for obsessive compulsive neat freaks looking to squeeze even more order into their lives. We hope we can make getting and staying organized fun and informative."
Organized Home is a site chocked full of great cleaning and de-cluttering ideas. While perusing this site I cam across an article entitled The clutter within: What's your clutter personality? Finding out that I am a combo between a deferring and perfectionist clutterer I was given tips on how to break my cluttering cycle. Pretty interesting stuff!
Organized Home is a site chocked full of great cleaning and de-cluttering ideas. While perusing this site I cam across an article entitled The clutter within: What's your clutter personality? Finding out that I am a combo between a deferring and perfectionist clutterer I was given tips on how to break my cluttering cycle. Pretty interesting stuff!
Over at Get Organized, Carmen promotes an organized "lifestyle" and while perusing a few of the articles I felt her ideas were very approachable. She says her blog "provides organizing solutions -- tips, tools, products, websites, fun facts -- all to help you find the motivation and know-how to get organized and stay organized."
Linda over at I'm an Organizing Junkie has compiled a ton of useful information. She has de-cluttering contests and all sorts of motivational stuff. I was lost on her site for an hour before I knew what happened! I particularly like her Links Page which can easily serve as a definitive guide to all things organized.
OK with Linda's link list there really isn't any reason to give you any more! Spend a few minutes perusing the sites above and I think anyone would become motivated to start cleaning. Even me! I'm off to visit my garage now!
Have a great day everyone!
Next Post: So how is it going?!
Next Post: So how is it going?!
Have something to say about organization? Written a a fun post about your foibles while keeping your house clean? This is the place to share it!
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I've got something to say about Order!
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Oh I love containers, boxes, baskets, wooden trunks with lids, pirate chestd, chests of drawers, you name it...but I'm terminally untidy! The difficulty for me is HOW to organise items- by topic? colour? usefulness? uselessness? size? and then how do I remember where I put it when its 'away'? So really its much easier having everything out and visible...And yes, I'm the one who puts her head in a cupboard and asks the contents to tell me where such a thing is...
ReplyDeleteGosh, I wish I had something to say about order...other then "what order?"
ReplyDeleteGreat post, though.
And your header just made me catch my breath.
That is lovely!
Thanks for visiting me today, too! It is appreciated!
Great post--some really good tips here. I also love baskets, bins, and containers, and I also have trouble buying them but not using them appropriately. Organization is a good goal, and one that I try really hard to maintain, but sometimes it gets tough--it seems clutter just has a way of popping up!
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm a procrastinator. Also, I share Heckety's problem - I have trouble deciding on categories for filing my papers. I'll have to get on that one of these days. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting me to participate in the conversation Kathy! Great resources!
ReplyDeleteI, myself, was never wonderful at organization. I am more of a "Don't touch my desk. I know where everything is...even if you can't see the actual desk!"
I try very hard to keep up with all the stuff that accumulates in our house. One of my major issues had always been "kid stuff." Clothing, toys, gear...you name it!
My son's room became a museum to every birthday and Christmas he ever had. It was insane. Our kid clutter was beginning to take over our lives.
I did not feel right throwing these things away. I tried to imagine how long an exersaucer would be sitting in a landfill somewhere...hundreds of years? More?
I was not organized enough to have a garage sale and listing things on auction or classified sites was way too time consuming for this busy mother of three!
I thought I was destined to be overrun by "kid clutter" when my sister and her sister-in-law (big happy family) introduced me to the world of consignment sales.
I had tried consignment SHOPS in my area only to receive very little return.
A children's consignment sale brings parents together, twice a year, in one place over a series of days. Consignors prepare, hang, tag and drop off their new and gently used kids items. The consignment sale organizer takes care of all the details like marketing the sale to the public.
Parents are making money, saving money AND being green all at once. Trifecta!
After one sale, a huge portion of our kid clutter was recycled!
It was then that Be Green Kids Consignments was born. (www.begreensale.com)
Be Green Kids Consignment Sales are events where parents can prepare and drop-off their gently used or new children's items to be sold for up to 75% profit.
By participating in a sale as a consignor, you will be able to free up some much needed space in your home without adding items to the local landfill. You will also make money to add to the family budget, to add to your vacation fund or maybe just for a much needed spa day!
Buyers have the opportunity to purchase gently used, name brand items at a fraction of the cost you would see in retail stores or on-line...saving your family money.
In terms of organization, children's consignment sales, like Be Green Kids, are a dream come true.
You can find out more information about children's consignment sales at: www.begreensale.com
or follow us on Twitter @BeGreenKids
These are great resources! Stopping by from SITS!
ReplyDelete