I love the start of a new year. New beginnings mean clean slates, endless opportunities, and a renewed energy to make things happen. I try to take on a few self-improvement projects, implementing habits that make me feel better and add a bit of order in my life. Now, I’m not talking about a go-to-the-gym-and-do-100-squats type of self-improvement (I mean, let’s be reasonable), but my small changes contribute to a better quality of home life without much effort.
The Kitchen Pantry
My boys love the kitchen pantry; my youngest would bring in his pillow and camp-out in there if I let him. I am constantly asked about food. What do we have to eat? If we eat all of the crackers, when will we get more? Do grocery stores ever run out of our favorite snacks? How many cereal bars constitute a complete breakfast? It’s endless and it drives me crazy.
To shift some of the work for me onto the little dudes who spend most of their days claiming that they’re starving, I devoted the bottom of the pantry to mommy-approved snacks. Because I feel compelled to take any individually-packaged item out of their boxes anyway (don’t ask, it’s a strange quirk of mine), I arranged these items into bowls, trays and canisters for easy access. Now, rather than ask me to get them something to eat every five and a half minutes, my boys ask permission to get themselves a snack and I know, based on what’s stocked on that shelf and the family-sized supply of bananas that rest on the kitchen table, that the snack they choose is appropriate and will keep them happy… for another five and a half minutes.
The Mud Room
Within a month of moving into our house, the mud room closet became the catch-all space. There was no order or intent – random coats and sweatshirts dangled without being put properly on their hangers, art supplies were tossed onto the top shelf, soccer cleats were usually tucked away in a corner, along with one shin guard whose counterpart will be found inexplicably in a backpack or the laundry basket. The closet was a complete mess and not living up to its potential in terms of family storage.
Quick fix – I decided to take a few canvas hanging sweater and shoe organizers to maximize storage vertically. One organizer is devoted to art supplies, books, and go-to games. The second is devoted to sports equipment and a few miscellaneous items that the boys are always looking for. The shoe organizer is great for storing the endless supply of baseball caps that exceed the number of hooks we have in the house tenfold. Now, not only does the closet live up to its potential, but I don’t cringe every time the doors are open because the mess is relatively contained and gives the illusion of organization.
The Random Hallway Closet
I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for anything cute and tidy. If I lived within driving distance to a Container Store, my bad days would be spent strolling the aisles looking for the perfect shoe organizer to store the new pair of impractical stilettos that I bought on my last bad day. I decided to put my love of cute containers to use in my hallway closet, a space devoted to bins of cold medicine, Band-Aids that had fallen out of their box and a ridiculous number of travel shampoo bottles that I buy before trips because I’m convinced that we don’t have any. With nothing more than little buckets that I picked up for a few dollars at the hobby store and labels, I transformed a free-for-all hodgepodge of items into easy-to-find storage. Focusing on products that we have a lot of, but don’t need often, I organized them by theme – Bon Voyage (travel-sized items), Summer Fun (sunscreen, etc.), and Ouch (first-aid supplies). My closet is now functional… and oh so cute.
The Laundry Room
I have learned a few lessons the hard way and this is one of them – do not, under any circumstances, allow uniforms, costumes, or any other irreplaceable item of clothing to leave the laundry room. The mystical force that kidnaps random socks from the dryer is also present in any child’s room, its sensory abilities strong enough to identify soccer shorts or baseball jerseys and suck them into the sock-filled oblivion of lost clothes. If you don’t want to spend valuable time looking under the bed for the cape to a Three Musketeers costume needed for the school play, keep all such items in the laundry room after they’ve been washed, fluffed and folded. Save yourself the frustration and keep anything that you need to easily find away from the mystical force and safely where you can see them.
, but some small changes can contribute to a better quality of home life without much effort.){kind=link}