A SIMPLE HABIT TO MAINTAIN THE LIFE YOU HAVE ORGANIZED

You didn’t save the ferns from last summer…did you? Probably not. If you did how many times did you sweep up those miserable tiny leaves? To me, there are two perfect days in a Boston Fern’s life. The day we proudly admire the porch ready for summer and the day we get to toss them in the trash! It’s a love/hate relationship but one with a lesson. It’s the One In One Out theory in reverse.

Spring Organization

Every fall we ditch the plants and posies that have served us so well. In our gardens, and in our planters, they have been show stoppers and proved to the world we have two green thumbs. We tried some new things and counted on old favorites to make it thru the season. When the time comes to say farewell there is no remorse because we know we can replace them again next year when we need them. It is cut and dried. In this case its One Out One In. This is a system that works for nearly all of us and we are happy to repeat year after year.

Repurposing Is A Form Of Organization

This photo is from the blog Sacramento Street. This shows a nice way to reuse some of the clay pots your babies may have come in this spring. Here an organized system has been created to reuse and repurpose. Herbs, when used often, do have to be replaced. The ones I buy at the market usually come in either compost pots or plastic. How nice to have a set spot, something that is part of the decor, to rotate these delicacies in. This is another One Out One In with purpose. The time, energy and money spent lives on and becomes a happy habit to look forward to. Organization systems work!

Motivational Monday

The One Out One In example with our spring flowers may not work for everything. However, One In One Out organization system is a breeze once you get into the happy habit. Our friend and fellow blogger, Lorraine at Minimal-lol, also wrote a post about this same subject. It’s uncanny how she and I can write about the same topic, even use the same words, without knowing what the other is doing. We laugh about this all the time from accross the pond!

Making Organization A Habit

How many times are your hands full heading into the house. ALWAYS How many times are you carrying an item out to dispose of or donate? SELDOM Editing and purging items we no longer need, or want, can give us plenty of items to fill up our cars in reverse!

Clothes, Shoes and Accessories – Buy new things, use the bag to place the equal number of items in to put in your car and drop at Goodwill the next day. Apply this to everyone in the family.

Sheets, Blankets, Bed Linens and Pillows – Most of us do not need all we have on hand, or have inherited when someone else cleaned out! Social Programs and Animal Shelters are great places to donate.

Towels – Unless you do not have laundry in your home…you probably need far fewer of these than you have crammed in places. Plus, these things wear out and get dingy quick. There is nothing like new towels several times a year. TJ Maxx here we come!

Candles – How many partially used do you have around. Use them all the way and get new.

Pillows and Accessories – and other home decor items. What about trading with your friends? The new cookie exchange!

Spices – Buy smaller and store only the ones you use. It’s great to ask a friend or neighbor for an odd one you need. They have the same over abundance as you do. Spices have dates to also consider.

Freezer/Pantries – This is a hard one but very rewarding. Be creative and try to spread out shopping days until you can see (many) empty spaces in the freezer and pantry. Be creative and use what you bought. I needed a jumpstart and donated the things I bought on impulse to the shelters. Now we do not throw away any food. We keep spares only on the items we know we use repeatedly.

Cups/Glasses/Travel Mugs and Water Bottles – Our motto is a full cabinet or a full dishwasher…not both!

Plates and Bowls – Ditto!

Pots/Pans/Bakeware – We all have our favorites. Pretty sure when a new item jumps in your cart (online or otherwise) you will have a pan at the back of the cabinet to donate. Do you still have some of your mother’s that she replaced? Sidenote: Be careful giving adult kids the one thing going out. You don’t want to be an accomplice to starting the cycle in their homes.

Makeup and Toiletries – This one seems simple, but it can be another hard one to break the habit of keeping partial things. If something is not working, you don’t like it, or are too lazy to use it (moi) then ditch it. It’s worth the $20 or so to get it out of your site and aid in a smoother routine in the morning.

Books and Magazines – No explanations here except to think of them like the newspaper. Read it and get it out of the house. If you are digital (good for you) then you probably need to follow the One In One Out to free up storage space.

to free up storage space. Remember slow and steady wins the race and with organizing this one rule is easy to use for a lifetime.

“It’s nice not to have to spend whole days, or surges of energy, organizing the same areas over and over!”-LB

“Organized clutter is still clutter.”

The wise words of Ashley Organizes (Her Post It Takes a Village)

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