BTS - Part III

Mudroom or Front Hall

This part of your home is crucial to ensure smooth ‘traffic circulation’ and should be organized and school-ready from day 1! Be sure to place hooks at a height that is accessible to small children so they can hang coats and foodies (as opposed to let gravity do what it does best... attract them to the floor!). Labelling each child’s hooks gives them a sense of ownership, and kids love to see their name or initials. Other essentials; a good mat for wet footwear, a mirror, and a place for school bags. Here's a good exemple of open hooks & shelf with organized essentials for a busy Mom.

In my experience the best mats are simple plastic mats which are lined with rocks; they help dry the soles of shoes by draining water away. Have fun making your own. Get kids involved and create unique rock arrangements on your mats.

A shelf or table comes in handy for sunglasses, keys and cell phones. Add good lighting! An organized space makes a rushed exit a lot less stressful.

Make sure everyone’s shoes have a place (the same applies to accessories such as scarves, hats & mitts); it’s exasperating playing “match the pair” when you’re in a hurry! There are many practical and stylish organisers available so find the one that fits your family’s needs. Do some research and don’t be afraid to have an impartial 3^rd party provide an assessment. Sometimes we’re just too married to our usual patterns and habits and need a little push in the right direction.

Shoe lovers, there's hope!

Kitchen

Is your kitchen space working for you and your family? It's easier than you think to replace chaos with fun and functionality! Make the most of what you've got!

Lunch boxes, lunch bags, whatever you call them, need to be wiped out and stored – but where? Dedicate some space to lunch box needs on a kitchen shelf or drawer, keep everything you need to pack lunches together and easy to access! Same applies to containers and water bottles: You don’t need hundreds of them! Just a few do the trick. Many people are eliminating plastic containers altogether, replacing them with non-toxic and reusable sandwich wraps and containers.

BTS - Part II

BTS - Part II

It's easier than you think....

Bedrooms

Is your child’s bedroom ready for a new school year? If your child’s work area is in her bedroom she should be ready to go before school begins. A desk or a table with practical organizational solutions, good lighting and appropriate supplies should do the trick. A minimalistic approach tends to work wonders for young kids in their work space – too much visual distraction is just plain too distracting!

Special Items, special storage

Some items are what I call ‘on rotation’; these include library books and gym clothes. Here are some tips: place a special use basket for books in his bedroom and reserve it for library material – it will save you from hunting all over the house on the due date! As far as gym clothes go, I like to use a labelled bag that goes straight to the laundry room, repacked there and then and heads straight to back to the school bag.

Closets

As you purchase new clothes for this school year, it’s a perfect time to purge, reorganize and revamp your closets. It’s important to keep clothes visible – what you can’t see you won’t wear. Do your children need new clothing or do they need to go ‘shopping in their closet’? Keep clothes sorted, organized and you might save some money and simplify your life!

Is your closet feeling Zen?

Sometimes, we just need to let go!

Be sure to store off season clothes out of the way in sealed bags or boxes to maximize space and eliminate clutter. If you just can’t let some treasured pieces go, be sure to have them drycleaned and properly stored to ensure good preservation.

BTS - Part I

The real New Year begins in September... are you ready?

Order and good organization are essential in busy households especially as we kick off a new school year. How’s your home? Cluttered? Needs some fine tuning? Now is the time to get going! Investing effort now guarantees a smooth transition from summer to back- to- school routines! Children in particular benefit from a home that is organized and answers to their basic needs. If you don’t know where to start or just the thought of getting started overwhelms you, an impartial person can help you prioritize while taking the emotion (and sentimentality) out of the equation. In Part I of this three part post I’ll discuss the critical areas you need working smoothly to help reduce clutter and stress as we begin a new school year.

Work space

Notice I didn’t call it office? Right! You don’t need to have a whole room to create a functional working space because in the end, it’s all about functionality! A small table, a wall unit, even a few shelves can do the trick as long as they serve a specific need in an efficient manner. It’s easy to create a good work station! Regardless of what you call your work space, each user needs dedicated space; a drawer, a shelf or a simple box will serve to keep personal material organized. General office supplies should be sorted into containers and made readily accessible. Good lighting is critical so you might as well make it functional and interesting. Remember, when it comes to work space, it’s not about size, it’s about functionality! Be creative, put a creative spin on things and get sorted out!

If you do have an office, are you making the most of it? How could it be more functional? Could it use some reorganizing, more functionality or even a splash of colour? Make the most of your space; it’s wonderful to work in a space you love!

PC & Electronics

Is your PC ready? If your family shares a PC, make sure everyone has clearly identified folders to save data, and don’t forget to show your kids how to access it safely and efficiently. Keep your desktop free of visual clutter for easy use and access to relevant programs. Clean up electronic documents and pictures by sorting them in appropriate folders - clutter comes in electronic forms too! Well-organized data will save you time and effort, and will help little minds stay on track!

Make sure all passwords and parental filters are on, so Jr. doesn’t have access to inappropriate content! It’s also a good time to upgrade memory and software as we begin a new school year to avoid inconveniences (and lost essays!) later.

If your child needs a cell phone take advantage of family packages to both save money and to ensure seamless communication.