In and Out: Entryways

I've talked a lot about the importance of having a place to go with all the things you bring in the door. You need to be able to "stage" things so that you can sort and redirect them.

At the same time, there's an equally important need for figuring out what to do with stuff that needs to leave your house. Not only does this include your keys, phone, coat, purse, etc. but can also include other items that are easier to forget about: clothing to donate, cloth grocery bags that need to go into the car, items to return to family members, gifts you need to take somewhere, and so forth. You get the idea.

Room by Room: Office

Well, we have exciting news...baby #2 is due in November! I guess this is a partial excuse for my infrequent posting the past few weeks.

As we prepare to welcome a new little one, we will soon say goodbye to our office (the third bedroom). Truthfully, we've been working towards this goal over the past year. We have gone virtually paperless, paying bills online and scanning documents that we want to save. Still, losing this space has me thinking about what is really essential when there is limited space.

For my home office needs, I've narrowed it down to a laptop and mouse, flat workspace, a file box, a safe, a scanner, shredder, router and one shelf of a cupboard for office supplies. I really didn't think we could pare down from two desks to this little. It was refreshing to cut down on files and realize that I really only need to save the most recent bill from the water company, the electric company and so forth.

One tip from a friend: Lest you become too zealous in getting rid of paper, make sure you have at least one copy of recent bills (electronic or paper). If you need to call for service, they will want your account number, and you don't want to be left without it.
Do you have pictures of a condensed workspace that you want to share? Please post a comment; I'd love to spotlight some of your ideas!

Room by Room: Laundry (Products)

Ah, the smell of fresh, clean laundry. There's nothing like it, right?

Well, unless you get that fresh scent from hanging your clothes and sheets on the line, you may want to think again about why it smells that way. (There's one particular baby detergent that makes me sick to my stomach because of the artificial fragrance they use.) The more I get away from using mainstream cleaning products, the worse the others smell.

I've been saddened to learn that a lot of commercially available detergents use things like optical brighteners to make whites look whiter, and can also contain a host of carcinogenic ingredients. A lot of fabric softeners coat your clothing with chemicals and the dryer sheets are polyester, so once you throw them away, they don't really break down.

Here are a few more eco-friendly products that I've checked out in the past year or so, which you might want to give a try:

My wool dryer balls

• Seventh Generation detergent and biodegradable dryer sheets
• Maggie's Soap Nuts
• Dropps Baby Laundry Detergent (what I use on my son's cloth diapers)
• Wool Dryer Balls (I just received these as a Christmas gift courtesy of my mother-in-law!)

Finally, I can't entirely vouch for objectivity of this article, or find out enough about the financial ties between organizations, the information about dioxane is interesting. I keep hoping the Environmental Working Group will come out with a database like their Cosmetics Database, where you can learn the ingredients and relative safety of a large percentage of cosmetics and toiletries.

Room by Room: Laundry (Troubleshooting)

Today's entry includes a hodge-podge of information abut laundering your clothes and troubleshooting some common problems.

Room by Room: Laundry (Pre-Sorting)

Confession: I love doing laundry. I always have, even when I was a teenager. Perhaps it has something to do with sorting, folding and putting away, all of which feels organized. Or maybe it's the fresh smell of clean fabric. Whether you enjoy laundry, or merely tolerate it as a necessary chore, I hope today's tip will save you some time.

Consider getting a laundry basket or dedicating a bin of some sort to laundry in each bedroom. Also, have a few extra in your bedroom. (I don't want to get in a habit of suggesting you need to buy "organizing supplies", since that's not usually necessary. Repurpose a storage tote, canvas bag, etc. to save money.)


Here's what I do with my five baskets:

• Whites
• Darks
• Towels and rags
• Delicates/dress clothes
• One basket in my son's room for his laundry, which I don't separate by color. His dirty towels and washcloths go in here.

We simply put clothes in the right basket as we take them off. It gives me quick visual so I only have to launder full loads (eco-friendly). I will combine loads if I'm close (say, adding towels in with whites) or adding my son's clothing to a load of darks. Plus, I can fold and return clothing using the same basket.

What's really great is that I can do laundry throughout the week when I see that it's accumulating.  No more mountain of clothing to sift through on Saturday morning. That's precious family time nowadays!

Room by Room: Pantry

The pantry is a natural extension of keeping your kitchen organized. It holds non-perishable canned or packaged goods that you want to keep on hand for common recipes.

Not everyone has the luxury of a pantry closet or extra cabinet space. You might have to create a space: shelves in the basement or on the stairway to the basement, a rack in a somewhat climate controlled garage, or even in part of a hutch or other piece of furniture in your dining room. We converted part of a hallway coat closet by adding shelving, and then hung a coat rack in our foyer for coats.

Here's a snapshot of what my pantry looked like after a quick organizing and before I went to the store to replenish stuff that was low or used up. (In other words, it looks better here than on the average day.)

The top shelf holds a real mishmash of items. Some are too big for other shelves, but there is no real rhyme or reason. The next shelf down has baking supplies. Then we move down to kid food and soups. Then pasta and tomatoes, then sauces, beans and other miscellaneous staples. The bottom shelf has PB&J supplies and at this point in time was a temporary storage place for another container. (One of the things I realized when I organized the pantry was that I had five jars of jam! Another good reason to keep things grouped by type.)

There is no magical way to organize your pantry, except for two basic principles: (1) keep similar items together so that they are easier to find, and (2) practice first in, first out rotation. In other words, use up the oldest stuff in the pantry before you open the newer packages. Refer to the "best by" or "use by" dates on most items if you aren't sure what's oldest.

A few other ideas to make sure that you have a well-stocked but not oversupplied pantry:

1. If you aren't sure how often you will need to replenish an item (baking soda, for instance) write the date on the bottom of the box in Sharpie marker when you open it. If you find you use only one box a year or less, don't bother purchasing another box until the current one is empty. On the other hand, if you find you are going through something often, stock up when there is a sale.
2. Refer to the cool grocery checklist that I pictured in a previous post. Going through this list jogged my memory about some things (beans, broth) I would need for fall/winter cooking.
3. Don't be afraid to buy a large quantity of something if it's offered at a good price. I had a coupon for my favorite cereal in addition to it being on sale. So I bought five boxes. When I need to, I use the floor of the pantry or rearrange other shelves so the purchases fit.
4. If you have more items than you will realistically use before they pass their date, set them aside for upcoming holiday food drives. I always put out a really interesting combination of things, though I am sure to include some of the suggested items on the list!

Room by Room: Kitchen Makeover

Before

My friend Rachel is one of the two lucky winners of the organization giveaway that I did in August. She and I had a blast reorganizing her kitchen one Saturday morning while the daddies took our boys to the park.

Challenges:

• An older kitchen with limited counter space. 
• A cabinet needed to be emptied and eliminated so that she could install a permanent dishwasher. Her hubby then built a tall narrow cabinet aside the dishwasher to store items like cookie sheets.
• Finding a good place for small appliances like the breadmaker and mixer that she uses regularly.

Solutions:

• A new microwave cart that also holds pots and pans, linens, and spices. This is placed where a portable dishwasher used to be.
• Removing everything from drawers and cabinets and evaluating them. When putting them away, we consolidated them and regrouped the items by use. More frequently used items are closer to the sink/stove areas.
• Donating unused hand-me-down dishes and promotional drinkware to the thrift store.
• Moving a few boxes of infrequently used items to the basement, and dating the box. If she doesn't need anything from those boxes in a year, she can safely say they aren't needed.

All in all, we felt it was a very successful morning's work. After having to relearn where everything is, Rachel says she is now really pleased with a chance to get an "outsider's perspective" on the space and loves that we found ways to free up counter space.

After

More pictures

Room by Room: Kitchen (Grocery Shopping)

Key idea: Food shop (strategically!) once a week to save time and money.

I'm sure it's no surprise to you that grocery store owners and food distributors would like to help you part with your money. Here are a few notes and tips on how to get some bang for your buck next time you go food shopping.

Did you know that stores make money when:

1. Necessities like milk and bread are placed at the far back corner of the store so that you have to walk past displays and quite a bit of other merchandise first?
2. House brands are labeled in less attractive colors and are usually not at eye-level like name brand products? (You have to crouch down to get the insanely cheap three-pound package of frozen mixed vegetables at my store, whereas the $2.99 steam bags are in easy reach).
3. They run promotions like 5/$10? Why don't they just say the item is on sale for $2? You'd be amazed how often I catch myself thinking I have to buy five. 
4. Smaller quantity packages are sold at the same price as the larger packages that used to be available? Remember when your ice cream came in a half gallon carton? Mysteriously, it now holds 1.5 quarts.

Suggestions on how to combat these plans:

1. Eat before you go and refuse free samples. Just a smell or taste of a sample gets you in the mood for a meal and will tempt you to buy more. Plus, those Oreos won't look as good if you are satisfied.
2. Build your list throughout the week as you notice things that need replenishing. Also review the sale circular, inventory your pantry and plan your menu. Then, if needed, recopy your list in the order you travel through the store. This will keep you on track and greatly reduce impulse purchases. See the nifty checklist at left.
3. Limit the amount of time you have at the store so that you don't find yourself browsing. Get in and get out.
4. Did you note that I mentioned you should plan your menu? This takes discipline but I can usually plan a week's worth of menus in 20 minutes on a Sunday afternoon. Pulling the recipes and identifying needed ingredients will save you frustration later in the week and eliminates last minute trips (a.k.a. additional opportunity for impulse purchases).
5. Ignore the items placed on endcaps, strategically positioned in the aisles and in the checkout lane. They aren't hiding the bargains there.
6. Know the store(s) you shop at and what their regular and sale prices are for the items you use. Some products will be on sale at a better price if you can wait another week or two. For instance, our favorite chips can be advertised for 2 for $6, 2 for $4 or buy one get one free (the best deal).
7. Take some time to calculate the unit cost of items, even if it means using the calculator on your phone. The 24-pack isn't always a better deal than the 12-pack. Also be sure to compare the volume or weight of competing brands. For instance, two cereal boxes that are the same height may not be as wide or thick, so one may hold less.
8. Stock up on pantry items if you have room. Stores often have good deals around the holidays on flour, cream cheese, crackers, etc. for holiday entertaining. There are also a lot of coupons issued in November and December. A warning from my mom: the price of butter is always higher in time for holiday cookie baking, so buy yours in October and keep it tucked in the back of the fridge for a few weeks.
9. Leave the kids at home if you can. They will only find more to add to the cart.
10. Take your reusable shopping bags in with you. Most stores give you a few cents off for each bag you use.

Readers, do you have any other tips to share?

Room by Room: Kitchen (Gadgets)

I'm going to dedicate the next number of posts to ideas for each room of the house. We'll start with one of my favorite places...the kitchen.

Utensil Drawer Before

I mentioned last time that I was going to sort through my kitchen utensils and gadgets. It feels so good to have this finished! I have a whole drawer dedicated to my gadgets as well as part of a silverware drawer and a utensil crock on the counter. Honestly, I had a problem pulling the drawer all the way out to empty it. There was too much stuff jammed at the back. I finally got it out and carried the drawer to the dishwasher so that I could run everything through a fast wash (see below). As I loaded, I counted. Though I thought I'd have more, there were around 75 gadgets, spoons, and serving pieces. And yes, I'm a Pampered Chef-a-holic!