Getting It Together

I'll let you in on a little secret: I love to be organized.  Like really, really love it.  

I think it has something to do with my inner control freak and my outer chaos, which results in the freak trying desperately to rein in control on the chaos whenever possible.  If my environment is under control, then I can be more in control as a mother and homemaker.  Same was true in college--I could not study for a test unless my room was anally in order.  Then I could get to work and focus on the matter at hand.  

All in all, this love of organization is fine unless control becomes an idol.  Bring in 5 kids under 7 and the OCD thankfully has to take a backseat.  You just can't be organized in everything, all the time.  It is not remotely possible and I would lose my mind trying to make it happen.  I have to give things up, learn to go with the flow, roll with the punches, and allow messes and mishaps throughout my home and life.  Having oodles of kids is actually really good for me!

These days if organization happens, it's usually in a small corner of my life--a drawer de-cluttered, the van vacuumed and detailed, my closet purged and reset.  These are small celebrations of organization in which I delight.  They are my chances to celebrate one small area of control in the madness of life!

So here you have it, some recent triumphs of organization and accomplishment in my little world...

1) Toy Decluttering

Of our three kid bedrooms, each has toys, legos, and books particular to the ages of children in the room.  We also have a general toy area in the attic for train sets, etc. and a different space for books on the first floor.   Having all of these spaces for play is awesome because it allows everyone personal room to spread out, but it is totally crazy for a mom who's trying to make sure the right pieces end up in the right rooms.  They seem to migrate from room to room somehow??? ;)

We often end up with a lot of bins that look like this:

Nothing but bits and pieces of just about everything.  How do the kids play with junk?

So while the boys were away, I took it upon myself to start finding homes for all the pieces.  This actually wasn't too dismal of a process--our annual pre-Thanksgiving toy purge has really helped to keep down the excess, but we'll be ready again in November!

Here I was mid-sort

And by the end, everything had a home!  Hooray!

Imagine a set of instruments that are stored together?  Amazing! ;)

Or a piggy bank and a cash register with... coins?!  Outstanding!  These toys are suddenly popular again!

2) Shelving
We have been looking for a way to store some beautiful dolls my in-laws have brought back for the girls from their worldly travels.  The other month (possibly year?) we spotted a hunter green wooden shelf in their attic and asked if we could re-purpose it for the baby's room.  Many, many, many months later, I finally spray-painted the beaut white to match...

My sweet baby model

This is the wall where we will hang the shelf.  Haven't gotten that far, but you can imagine it up there with pretty little dolls adorning its shelves.  I predict it will take at least another 3 months to get it there. lol  ;)

3) Project Gift Bags

I'm apparently a crazy gift bag hoarder (that or I don't give enough gifts in return!  Yikes!!) It was so out of hand that a good portion of a large upstairs closet was devoted to the excesses of our gift materials.  It was getting totally ridiculous.  So, over the weekend I cleared out the closet and brought everything down to our main floor.  I really wanted a gift set-up nearer to our everyday life where I could grab a gift bag, tissue, and go, rather than have to rummage around in an upstairs closet when we're running late to a birthday party!  

Thankfully, I had two cabinets in our butler pantry that were being ill-utilized.  It was time for a change.    After much gift bag purging, bada boom, bada bing, I give you our new gift station:

The best is that each drawer pulls out for easier access.  This side has regular and birthday gift bags, tissue in the top drawer, and ribbons/random items in the bottom (and yes, that is a balloon blower for making balloon animals--you can hire me for your next party! ;)

The other side has Christmas and baby shower gift bags, Christmas boxes, contact paper, and the flags for the front of our house (random but it was a flat spot to store them!)

So there you have it, folks!  Organizational successes to be celebrated.  Where will you organize today?  It's all in the little things!!