With the Grain » organizing

Importance of a Home Management Binder

Jenn Greenleaf — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:32:32 +0000

In addition to paying bills, keeping track of dates, organizing coupons, and writing out grocery lists – there is a lot to keep organized and “in place” with regards to home paperwork. Do you know where all of your product manuals are? Are you certain you kept that warranty? Did you remember to make note of product code of the tile you want in your kitchen?

Create a home management binder to keep track of all of these various details. You should also consider tabs for:

Home improvement projects that need to be completed
Budget worksheets for planned home improvement projects
Information and business cards for contractors
Wish lists of items or future home improvement projects
Contact information for people who are willing to help with projects

This tool not only will be well used, but it will become an important part of the running of your household. Here is another article to check out specifically pointing out the in’s, out’s, and other important details about creating a home management binder: LifeHacker.com: Create a Home Management Binder.

Do You Know Where Your Family Is?

Jenn Greenleaf — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:48:17 +0000

Nine times out of ten, it’s pretty easy to round up family and figure out where everyone is because it seems like mobile phones are a constant in most households. What about those days when you just don’t have time to make a dozen phone calls to track people down? What about those days when everyone’s mobile phones seem to be on the charger?

Create a family message center.

These message centers should be located somewhere in the house where everyone gathers frequently, like the kitchen or a mudroom. Construct your message board from cork board, as well as a dry erase board. There are a number of great options in office supply stores, as well as in super centers. The cork board portion can hold print-out’s of on-going schedules, frequently needed phone numbers, a wall calendar, and other notes. The dry erase portion can be for the “I’m here today” type notes.

This home improvement not only will save a lot of hassle, but it will also help keep the family’s schedules better organized. Good luck!

Start Spring Cleaning Now

Jenn Greenleaf — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:19:23 +0000

Rather than waiting for the spring weather to hit, why not start going through things now? I don’t know about you, but I get a bad case of cabin fever every year. Part of what helps get me through that is preparing for the warmer weather by hauling out a bunch of what I no longer need or want.

I put things aside for future yard sales.
I start going through closets to see what I can donate for clothes.
I start sorting through what is trash and what is not.

This is all preliminary sorting, donating, and purging. I do a complete overhaul of the whole house once I can start putting things outside without having to worry if it’s going to freeze or get wet. This is a good start, though. Good luck!

Garage Organization – Get it Done!

Jenn Greenleaf — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:36:00 +0000

Wouldn’t it be nice if a a garage just all of a sudden wasn’t a clutter magnet and was built with ready-made organizational features from the get-go? It would also be nice to have a magic wand, but that won’t be happening anytime soon either. In the meantime, you need to get cracking!

This home improvement project will dramatically increase the efficiency of your garage, as well as save a lot of time when it comes for searching for what you need. Because everyone’s garage serves each individual home owner’s specific needs, it’s important to set up zone that work for you rather than following a cooking cutter recipe for organization.

There is a plethora of organizational tools and supplies just a click away:

Isn’t it funny how quickly a garage can become cluttered full of things you didn’t know you had . . . and it takes what seems like an eternity to clean it all up? Creating an organizational system will prevent this from ever happening again . . . hopefully! Good luck!