Let’s get organized!

I’m a big list-maker too. Sometimes I even add something that I just completed to the list, just so I can check it off!

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Ooo, I hate lists except my grocery list. Lists make me very anxious. Really cannot emphasize enough how much I despise them.

I am BEE. Really?

Oh geez. Guess I need to take that quiz to see what kind of organizing insect I am. Hopefully not a stink bug! :wink:

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Another cricket. I totally agree since I know my problem is “finding the right system”. The ones I have that work are great but the areas I can’t get a handle on are a nightmare!

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Thankfully not a stink bug!

I’m a Ladybug. :lady_beetle:

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Couldn’t finish the quiz. Too many “None of the above”.

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Butterfly. The current aesthetic of sparse/austere doesn’t do much for me. But I like to be organized. And things better be very clean.

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Before/after. Not a big change but it satisfies my Lady Bug soul.

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I guess since the rest of us don’t care all that much and had been satisfied with my prior cardboard shoebox and old pencil boxes system and S REALLY wanted this system, we all were fine with it. I honestly had been
happy and fine with my prior system but it made S nuts so this system is fine.

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It pegged me for a butterfly which I think is mostly correct. My kitchen is super organized, but l have lots of open shelves and hooks. I love it and I never ever don’t put things back where they belong. It works really well for me. But I have too much stuff that just doesn’t have a home or does have a home, but seems like too much trouble. (So architectural plans end up on the dining room table instead of their alphabetized drawers for example.)

Since you said above that you’d throw all the things together in one office supply bin, you are most likely a ladybug. You like things hidden and organized but don’t want to separate out each item within a category.

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I’m a Bee…but I also don’t have a ton of “office supplies”. I have pens, pencils, markers and highlighters in the same small drawer bin. And just enough to have them when I need them.

The thing about those shoeboxes full….just remember to test them and toss about everything six months. Where I volunteer, folks donate bags from these boxes or drawers, and most of them don’t wrote and have to be tossed anyway. Even brand new ones in the wrappings.

Guess I’m a butterfly but it wouldn’t let me choose more than one answer! Think I’m a bee too from the descriptions.

Refrigerator organizing tip that really works for us. Th.ree clear bins that go side by side labelled, sandwich (lunch meats, cheese, condiments), salad (all the fixings), and an “Eat me first” bin for leftovers. Instead of rummaging in the the refrigerators different compartments you just pull the bin out and go from there.

Bottom freezer–most things are in large freezer bags, So steaks, hamburger are wrapped and then put together in larger freezer bags. This way it’s more like file cabinet storage and pretty easy to see whats in there.

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There is no reason in my world to hoard multiples of the same item. Putting them in bins is just putting a pretty face on a different problem. In my office, each of those things IS separated in a drawer organizer, but three pens, two pencils, one role of tape, etc.

I really need to get off this thread…

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I am with you. I don’t like a lot of excess. Just what I need for now. Except for TP and paper towels. I haven’t moved on from the need to feel stay overly stocked up on those because of Covid shortages.

I have one friend who is a bit of a, “prepper.” I just don’t have that mindset. If the apocalypse occurs, I’ll just starve before she does.

But, that is why I wrote in my OP that not everything will work for everyone because people have different thoughts on what they want/need or what is appropriate. :slight_smile:

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I’m typically organized in the house (more below), but I’m an information hoarder, so computer files are my problem. I’d be interested in how others organize their computer files. And how do you back them up (interval and method)? If I file something by category, I have to back up my entire system often. If filed by year, it is easier to back-up, but harder to find. I spend far too much time looking for older information.

Some house organization tools that have worked well for me:

  1. We have a second home apartment that is very small. The bathroom has no storage space except for a 21" sink base with no drawers. So we hung a fabric shoe bag with 20 pockets over the door. It works great. Several of the shoe compartments are lined with plastic cups that fit perfectly and are easy to remove and clean. EX: One holds every-day make-up, another hair combs/brushes.
  2. I’m attracted to any furniture with lots of drawers such as old library card catalogues, or antique jewelry cabinets. I own an old dental office cabinet that now organizes home office-type supplies, and more.
  3. We designated one 4’x5’ closet for storage with a system that looks similar to HImom’s. It is filled with cheap clear Sterlite shoe boxes on shelves for the smaller items, and a dresser for the larger items. I label the contents inside the boxes with an index card that is visible on the ends. Easily changed. Contents have changed over the years as our lives changed. EX: Kids art supplies to sewing/craft supplies to computer supplies).
  4. Basements are great! Ours is small, but so valuable for storage. One wall is lined with larger versions (18 gal?) of the clear shoe boxes noted above. Labels on different color papers on the ends - also easily viewed and changed over time. Another wall is a “staging” wall of boxes or bins for items on their way out of the house, ( donated, traded, sold, shared, etc.). There is also a large linear closet that holds all the hardware type items (tools, paints, hardware, etc.).

We do have our share of too much “stuff” though.

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Y’all inspired me to work on the office today while watching football! Man, I found some golden oldie kinds of things that I’m still getting rid of, including my old Rolodex from my job almost 20 years ago. :grimacing:

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Well…there is a piece of me that wishes we didn’t have a basement…because then I wouldn’t own much of what is down there!

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Great refrigerator tips. I need a bin for H “these are up for grab leftovers for lunch”. I get annoyed when I had plans for something that was leftover (like make it into another meal - say an extra chicken breast) and he eats it for breakfast, lunch or a snack!

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