Happy New Year!
I hope that 2013 has been good to each of you so far! I love this time of year because everyone is so committed to self improvement. There seems to be a whole lot of introspection going on. People pondering how and what they need to do to make this their best year yet.
Without doing a whole lot of research, I can guess that most want to live healthier lives by exercising daily and improving their diet. Next, I would venture to say, many want to get organized. I know I would!
Last year we did a few home improvement projects which forced us to do an exorbitant amount of purging. And for the record, it felt great to get rid of all the stuff we just weren’t using. Organizing one’s home is like putting your house on a diet! And by exercising what we really need and don’t need, our lives are more simplified. It’s easy to have excess. And that excess can weigh us down without even knowing it. Although my home may not always reflect perfect organization, I’m determined to get there and understand that it is always a work in progress.
In an effort to become more efficient with my time and use our space more wisely, I’m reading two books to help set me on the right track.
Clutter Rehab is full of easy, straight forward tips and Absolutely Organize Your Family is a little more in depth about the entire organizational process. Both are very good. {I will do my best to highlight some of my favorite tips and tricks from these books in future Getting Organized posts. Stay tuned.}
Every January, without fail, all the big women’s magazines capitalize on helping people get their lives in order. Their covers shout “GET ORGANIZED WOMAN!!!” from the shelves of the checkout lines at the grocery store!
Just take a close look at Good Housekeeping’s January issue:
And one of my favorite magazines, Real Simple:
They do motivate. They do give me a sense of direction. Other than books and magazines, I get a ton of home organizational ideas from…yep…you guessed it…Pinterest! There are so many amazing suggestions out there. Being well organized has major perks. The best one, in my opinion, is you actually end up with spare time! And I have a feeling we could all use a little extra time in our lives, since everyone seems beyond busy these days! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say, “If only there were more hours in the day!” Well guess what? If we get our lives in order, those additional hours we dream of having will be there for us when we need them most. And more importantly, increased downtime means more quality time spent with family and friends. Which I have found, through a little research, is actually the number one New Years resolution for 2013.
I have been analyzing what needs to be done in my own home to make it run more smoothly. My Organizational To Do List of drawers, cabinets and closets which need a little tender loving care, is a long one! However, I can’t wait to tackle these jobs and feel the satisfaction that comes with successfully completing a goal. Because as we all know, the New Year is all about resolutions and setting goals. As I mentioned in my previous post, everything I set out to do in 2013 will involve more FOCUS on my part. As a mother and wife, it’s my ultimate goal and desire to have a happy, peaceful, orderly home. In the process, I hope that it teaches my children important life lessons that they will take with them when they leave for college and head out to explore this incredible world we live in.
It’s time I find a place for everything in my home. Because when everything is in its place, I’m 100% certain life will run a lot smoother for everyone!
You’ll have to excuse me now. I have children’s closets to sort through.
Now go get organized everyone!!!!!! I’m going to help one lucky winner do this by giving away a $50 GIFT CARD to The Container Store.
Hopefully it’ll help the prizewinner get a good start on their organizational journey for 2013.
**TO ENTER**
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT TELLING ME WHAT IT IS YOU’D LIKE TO ORGANIZE THIS YEAR! It’s that easy. One entry per person. Contest will end at MIDNIGHT SUNDAY JANUARY 20TH! I will announce the winner Monday January 21st! GOOD LUCK everyone.
Happy Organizing!
I would to win this. We just remodeled our kitchen and as a result I got a little nook area!! I have a small desk and chair but need some stuff to help organize my well stuff!
I have many rooms that could use some organization and it certainly would make me happy to re-organize the ENTIRE house. But topping the list would be the toy room. Board games, craft supplies and toys…. I’ve seen some fantastic ideas on Pinterest. It’s time to follow through
This would be awesome for me to help organize our kitchen!!! Thanks, Lisa.
I want to organize the closet in our master bedroom. God lord do we have one too many things to purge! Once we finish unpacking all the boxes from moving (I’ve got about 6-7 to go!), I plan to get organizing that closet!
we built a room for our son in the garage, leaving us almost no storage space. i could certainly use this gift card, and all the organizational knowledge/info youre willing to impart! thanks lisa
I’d looooove to figure out how to organize our bedroom… especially the closet!
This is something I constantly battle with! I really, REALLY need to organize our storage space. We now have a very narrow ‘path’ that you have to carefully maneuver in order not to fall! Thanks for offering such an incentive to help me get motivated! Happy New Year to your family! 😃
I want to organize several things. A backpack station for my kids, medications, the “junk drawer” in the kitchen my bedroom closet and my craft closet. So much to organize….I’m exhausted just thinking about it.
The play room. So full of toys and messes that the kids have out grown.
Well, we are living in a 650 square foot apartment where we still carry on all of the normal activities like paying bills, filing important papers, storing a little food storage, three-day packs, luggage, Christmas decorations, tools, etc. Add three wheelchairs, two walkers, a lift chair and other necessities and the space seems very limited and in need of organization! I desperately need to organize my files and important papers.
I own my own baby business. I handmake blankets, pacifier clips, burp rags, teethers and chalkboard mats to name a few. I have material everywhere, lol! I need to organize all my business sewing material, thread, bobins not to mention all of the 100′s of yards of ribbon I have. All the pacifier clip hardwhare, bias tape and oh so much more. Everytime I go to make something I have to pull everything out because it is stashed in several different places because it all wont fit in the same container all together. I sure would love to get all this organized!
How fun Lisa!!! I’m hoping to organize my pictures that have been in zip lock baggies for way to long! Id like to get each one of my kids their own photo album.
I so need some laundry room organization, and some baby room organization. Or maybe my closet…oh gosh so many things need organizing around here. I’m tired just thinking of it!
What an awesome giveaway!! I love it when everything has a perfect place. I have done a fairly good job purging and organizing over the last year (we moved last February). I really want to reorganize our garage storage. We used to have a trailer and when we sold it everything got stuffed in the rafters. I need to find old kitchen stuff, linens, emergency supplies, etc. And it’s a huge project cause the garage is “man’s” zone, but it has to be done.
I would organized the hall closet and make more room for our ” surprise,” who by the way is now a running toddler.
There are many things I would love to organize. Like you this is my year to get things done & to run more smoothly. The main thing is our garage. Good luck everyone!
Ummm… my life! Hoping this gift card will help! Lol. Aniston’s clothes and toys would be a great place 2 start! Love this post! Feeling fresh in this new year! Happy happy 2 u an ur beautiful fam. Xo
I’d like to get my craft room organized. I’ve already started a bit but I have a long ways to go.
I’d also like to keep my studio/office organized this year. it seems like every day I find a magazine clipping, newspaper article or some miniscule piece of paper with some kind of creative idea or inspiration that I simply must keep. They keep piling up and I need to keep up with all the creative ideas that inspire me so that I can actually try them!
Wow. Just about everything! I guess I could start small with my spice collection and work my way up to my walk-in-closet!
Hmmm… So many places (that need organizing) where to start? I’m sure the hubs would say the garage. But, I think both my kids rooms need some organization in their closets! (think, abyss!)😜 Anyway, thanks for doing this Lisa! Love and hugs to you and the family!
I would love, love, love and I do mean LOVE to organize my husbands workshop!! He feels like its the last room in the house that gets any “attention”.
I would love to organize all the craft supplies/art “stuff” in my home. I feel like it is all over the place all the time.
What a great idea Lisa! I desperately need to organize my home office. I spend so much time in there and I think if it was not so cluttered I wouldn’t mind being in there all the time.
Love the post today Lisa! I’ve been mulling this topic over lately & I think the first project I’m going to tackle in 2013 is organizing my kids’ closets.
Love this! Organizing was my big resolution this year (though I probably should add weight loss to the list!). My goal this year is to fully organize my entire house, bedrooms, closets, cabinets, playrooms..all of it! So far I already went through my girl’s toys and donated/got rid of at least 1/3 of them, that was a big one for me! Now Im working on their clothes, having two girls is nice because once my oldest outgrows something I can put it away for my youngest but I haven’t been keeping the hand me downs organized so I have a huge task ahead of me! Hopefully by the end of February Ill have their closets fully functional and can move on to my closet!