Everything But The Kitchen Sink

Table of Contents for Everything But The Kitchen Sink:

Organized Living    It's All In The Details    Set The Stage    Toast The Season    Party Of Four    The Organized Traveler

Just Add Water    Beautiful You    Perfectly Suited    White Sale    Bed & Breakfast    The Grocery Getter    All Wrapped Up
 

Organizing Tips

DECEMBER

Organize your dressers.  Place like items in the same drawer.  Roll your panties, according to color, in your drawer.  Please get rid of any that are faded, torn, etc.  Line up your bras in another drawer, according to color. Place your slips and silky camisoles in the same drawer, if you have space.

In another drawer, place a couple of small plastic baskets to hold silk flower pins and silk scarves.  Roll your silk scarves.  Roll your socks and place in a drawer according to color.  Place pantyhose in zip lock bags and knee-highs next to them. 

Place all of your nightgowns/p.j's, rolled, in the same drawer.

Fold sweaters and place in a drawer with a cedar block so that you don't get moth holes. 

Place all your gloves in another drawer with wool scarves

NOVEMBER

If you have a fireplace, use it! If you don't want to deal with the messiness of a real wood burning fire, although charming, insert an electric log into your fireplace. The remote will start it and shut it off. How romantic, how easy!

OCTOBER

Stack a few magazines on the coffee table or use a large wicker basket and place magazines inside. Put on the floor, next to a couch or chair. When reading magazines, I take out the information I really want and then I give the magazine to someone else to read and enjoy. There are, however, a few magazines I decide to keep and those go in my basket next to my couch.

SEPTEMBER

Never clean the top of your refrigerator again! Once you have it cleaned, line the top with paper towel. When it gets dirty and dusty, throw it out and line with new paper towel.

AUGUST

Remove from your counters items you don't frequently use. The only appliances I have on my counter are a toaster oven and a coffeepot. (It goes without saying, I cannot do without my coffeepot!) Keep your countertops clean so that you will have space to work. Place a pretty glass cutting board, otherwise known as counter art, on your counter. On that place salt & pepper shakers, bananas, and if you have room, a small candy dish. If you have a canister set, keep them together on your counter.

JULY

Occasionally, wipe out a cupboard. If you spill something, clean it up right then! Several times a year go through your cupboards and toss out old food items or foods that are expired. I don't ever have to clean out all my cupboards at once because I do it one cupboard at a time throughout the year.

June

Instead of putting white shelf paper in the cupboard below your sink, try brown contact paper.  You will need to cut it into two pieces to make it more manageable.  Also, if someone can help you with it then it won't turn into a wrestling match between you and the paper.  I have discovered that the brown paper stays nice a lot longer than the white.

May

Use a sweeper with disposable cloths on wood floors and clean them about every five days.  Vacuum once a week.  However, vacuum the high traffic areas every other day or as needed.  FYI, when choosing new carpet, purchase better quality padding and less expensive carpet.  It's all about the padding!

April

Get creative! Check around your house for items you can use without purchasing new ones. Wicker baskets of all shapes and sizes, along with different size plastic baskets can be used in a variety of rooms.  Cheese baskets, fabric covered hat boxes, undivided relish trays, crystal sugar bowls, soup tureens, candy dishes, and small decorative containers can be used in other rooms as well.

March

Let's begin with the mail.  My husband and I have a system that is quite efficient.  When I bring in the mail, I automatically toss out the junk mail.  Since I walk past the trash cans in the garage, I usually stop and toss out the junk mail before I get in the house.  Then, I put the bills and anything I think my husband might want to see, on our kitchen counter.  Anything my husband does not take by the following morning, I put in a plastic file tray, on the top shelf of the bookcase, in our library.  It is out of sight, but he always knows where it is at.  Find a place in your home and do the same thing.  It's perfect! With the bills, I write on the outside of the envelope the date it is due.  Actually, I put the date a couple of days before it is due.  That way, it is never late.

February

Always have your home picked up.  Before going to bed at night, put the books/magazines that are out in a wicker basket or stacked on a coffee table.  Put any coffee cups/snack dishes in the dishwasher.  My kitchen counter and sink are cleaned after each meal and my cupboards and drawers are tidy.

January

Don’t clean your home all in one day.  What drudgery!  Clean something each day, so that by the time a week is up, you will have cleaned your entire home.  Then begin again.  It is a never ending cycle, but it is an easier way to handle the workload and your home will be clean and tidied up at all times