Reader Space: Honey We're An Organized Home!

Today's reader clearly has a love for organizing.  And an eye for design.  And I love how she combines the two!

"I'm Megan from Honey We're Home and am really honored to be visiting Jen's blog today.  I'm all about keeping things neat, clean, and organized in our home, which isn't always easy while juggling life with my husband, a lively 2-year old son running around, and a full time job.  But keeping our house organized truly gives me such JOY!  So let me show you a couple of things I've done with our home.  

 

I've got a solution for organizing your jewelry, specifically, the necklaces.  I don't know about you, but for me, if I can't see my necklaces at a glance, I'm much less likely to wear them.  I had a behind-the-closet-door storage system that worked really well . . . pre-baby.  Now, one of my son's favorite things is to pull the necklaces he can reach off the wall.  So, I needed to get them higher. 

I wasn't sure if my idea was going to work, so I didn't photograph it step-by-step, but all I did was apply my pretty paper to a piece of foam board and attach pushpins at the top to hang the necklaces on.  {The pins actually poke through to the other side- you could obviously use a cork board too, but so far, my pins are staying strong}.

WalMart had a really cute selection of push pins in different sizes and colors {hot and pale pink, light and dark aqua}.  I chose the shiny silver here.  

Now I can see my most favorite necklaces right where I get ready in the morning. 

Since I had a shelf handy, I added my watches and some bracelets too {contained in bowls from Anthropologie}.

 

And since I know Jen is fond of RAINBOWS, I had to share this easy, colorful design project with you!  

What began as a Valentine craft project turned into a broader crafty art idea.  Does that happen to you?  You start out with one goal in mind and then once you get into it, the project takes a different direction?  Originally, I collected paint chip samples in varying shades of pink and used a Martha Stewart heart punch to cut out a bunch of hearts that I planned on attaching to a single square canvas.  Since Valentine's day is all about love, I thought it would be cute to hang some hearts in our kitchen or entryway.

 Then I got carried away...

I ended up collecting all colors of the rainbow and punching out hearts in all of them.  The punching is easy (and quite addictive), taking just a few minutes to punch out a gazillion. And since I had more canvases, I spread them out onto four squares. To give the art dimension, I used adhesive foam circles to affix the hearts to the canvas.  I just eyeballed the placement of the hearts and tried to keep the lines straight.  

There are 90 hearts on each canvas.  It took about 2 hours to stick 360 hearts onto these canvases.

Then I had to figure out where to put them.  James' room?  Too much on the walls already.  The hallway?  No.  But my office happily welcomed them!

Who says hearts are only for Valentine's Day?!

 

Paper clutter!  One of the worst enemies of a productive and otherwise clutter-free household.  It drives me crazy how quickly the mail piles up in our house!  I have started making a point to address the mail each day, instead of waiting until it's out of control.

Now, as soon as the mail comes in, I toss the trash, set aside the bills, and sort the magazines until I have a chance to read them.

I like to keep magazines by my bed so I can read before going to sleep.  Also, I can never read a magazine while James is awake.  {The basket is from West Elm}.

As for the rest of the paper clutter in our home, it's nothing a few file organizers and my trusty labeler can't handle!

My principles for organizing the paper clutter are really simple.  It's just hard to get going sometimes, especially if its gotten really out of hand.

Don't run out and buy any new organizing supplies until you've sorted through things so that you can better see what you need.  You can go buy the pretty organizers later, think of it as your reward for all that hard work!

1. Gather all the papers into one large surface area
2. Sort into piles, putting like categories together
3. Break the categories into subcategories for filing 
4. Create labels! 

Here's my process put into action with a few major categories in our house: 

 Here's the whole big mess before I sorted through it.

Then I sorted and put post-it notes on top in anticipation for labeling.

And finally, using a file from The Container Store, I made labels for each section.

Is it just me but are coupons all the rage these days?  I'm obsessed with Extreme Couponing, in the same way I'm fascinated by the Real Housewives.  I don't want to be them, but it's fun to watch.  I do like to save money though, but have been terrible at using coupons, despite my best efforts.  It seems I'd checkout and the in the car on the way home remember I had a coupon or the one I wanted to use was expired, but now I'm determined to be more organized with my coupons.  

This goes for all those discount codes the retailers offer too.  Since those "30% off" or "save $50 for every $100" deals comes along every month, I don't buy clothes without them at places like Express, Banana Republic, and Ann Taylor Loft.

I got a mini accordion file at The Container Store for receipts, coupons, and gift certificates.  I keep the coupons I need for the week in the very back so I can find them easily.  And I edit the folder every few weeks and trash the expired coupons or the receipts I no longer need.  Long-term receipts I need to hold on to {like furniture or electronics} are moved to our household file drawer.

The file isn't tiny, but it fits easily in my purse, so I keep it with me all the time.

 

I created a file for documents pertaining to James before he was even born, but the papers still pile up as he grows.  If I'm not ready to file things away yet, I'll at least put everything in a basket together so that it's contained until I can get to it.  

Then I just sort it into his files, which I currently keep on his bathroom counter.

The file is from Target, but I added a piece of scrapbook paper to the inside and some stickers to make it more fun.

I hope sharing how we deal with some of the paper in our house helps you in your own home!

Jen, thank you so much for having me!"

No, THANK YOU Megan!

I super love her blog and home and ideas!  You can check it out here.  Here is a preview of some more goodness you will find when you hop over:

Feeling as inspired as I am?

ATTENTION!!  Want to be featured in a Reader Space edition?  Have an awesome organizing story to share?  I am looking for projects that have made a positive impact to your life.  Please send your story and photos to iheartorganizing@gmail.com and I would heart to feature them right here, on the blog!!  Photos should be high resolution and unedited.  Please include a description of the project, including any costs, inspiration, and how it has changed your life and routine for the better!  Oh, and no worries my friends, we will NEVER judge "before" pictures because that just wouldn't be nice!  Only love goes on at this blog!  More info HERE.