Ann, I'm with you on the W&D. It is now rare that I have a back up of laundry. In addition to the efficiencies of the new W&D, I organized and decorated the laundry room and it is more pleasant when family members have to do their laundry. It is bright and cheery.

Here is a link that might be useful: Organized Laundry Room

It isn't technically an organizer but - the Flylady ostrich duster. It really motivated me to declutter each room just so I can dust! I can dust the whole living room in literally seconds! Man, I love that thing, and I'm so grateful for Flylady!

Same with my Swiffer Dusters rosieo! (and I found out you can wash them once a reuse successfuly!)

There are a few semi-organizational things that make life easier:
In the bathroom: 4 smallish, lided, stacking, semi-transparent, rectangular boxes from IKEA where I keep grouped painkillers, other pills, ointments, drops. Before that I was standing medicines by hight so we could see everything and it was a pain trying to get something from the back.

In the kitchen:
* 2 small shallow plastic baskets in the small utensils drawer. I have them divided by use: table or kitchen.
* no-skid liner in the big utensils drawer (no crock on the counter for me!)
* aluminum foil/plastic wrap/paper towel dispenser on the wall.
* 2 plastic grocery bag dispensers (small bags for the bathroom, big ones for the kitchen) mounted inside one of the undersink cabinet doors (the other door opens the trash can).

In the livingroom: Last but NOT least, the 4 hanging-file drawers at the bottom of my custom made bookcase.

Maria

Mustangs, where did you get the jars for your laundry additives? Very nice laundry room!

I use ziplock bags for many things. Hefty makes a 2.5 gallon too. Not just for the freezer around here.

Bought a crate yesterday($10) and wondered where all got theirs. They seem expensive on the web.

Wing

Loriellen, Thank you. I got them at Big Lots so I'm thinking they aren't available any longer.

I too loved Loriellen's jars and hit Target for some knockoff of them. They had nothing. Then I went to BigLots for odds and ends and I saw them there or I thought that was them. I saw them at my Biglots on Friday afternoon(Feb 4) and they had them. Cute as a button they are, but since they are ceramic I am convinced DH would break them. Still pondering getting them though.

oops, I meant Mustangs laundry room. Very nice!

ComputerKlutz, wow, I'm surprised they were still there! I went to Big Lots last week and they only had the short ones. I did buy one, then went to the flea market and had a decal made to match the other canisters. I put Oxyclean in the new one.

I have a laundry job aid on the inside door of the cabinet above the washer for DH, just tonight he said that I made it so easy for him to do his laundry. I have had the canisters for a year and, much to my surprise, he hasn't broken them yet. Although I had to retrain him that when it comes to detergent, less is more.

I bought several white/clear plastic shoe organizers, the kind that hang (16 clear see-through pockets). I hang them on the inside of the closet doors. They hold several sizes of batteries, extension cords, flashlights, light-bulbs, measure tapes, etc. Also great for pantyhose, underwear, etc. They also come in smaller sizes (12 pockets).

Bought heavy clear plastic (fabric store) and cut it into pieces the size of the glass shelves of my fridge (hardly noticeable). You can also use clear or flowered place mats. Easy to take to the sink and clean one at a time, makes keeping the fridge clean a breeze.

Joy

Joy,

Great idea! I have always hated cleaning out my refrigerator shelves, so putting place mats or clear plastic would make life much more pleasant:)

Thanks for the idea!

Sounds good Joy!

Yes, I like that idea of the custom fitted clear plastic place mats in the fridge. I can see where this could be set up so you could do a "quick clean" more often and then a more thorough cleaning every other month or two. And yes, I like the fact that it would make the "thorough cleaning" a lot easier as well.

--Alice

Our new wall cabinet over our washer and dryer for all our cleaning products. The sewing center I made for a wasted "nook" in our bedroom. I bought the wood and made a center that holds all my fabric and has a place for me to sit and sew (I will post someday.)

My wish list is still to get bins on gliders for under our bathroom sink. I think I will try the clear plastic idea for the shelving on our frig. Great concept!

Brenda

After reading about Palm Pilots on this thread, I decided I needed one to corral those tasks and lists that have been swimming around in my head (and occasionally floating downstream). EBay has a slew of them for sale, and knowing nothing about the models I emailed my daughter for advice. She replied that she has two Palms and will give me one.

So thanks, guysÂgreat idea! :-)

Susan

Susan, what a great deal!

I also love my Palm.

My favorite feature is the Notepad. I can quickly jot down things so I won't forget... dog groomer, call Chris... even while I'm stopped at a traffic light! It's also useful for remembering a list of things... like the toppings that everybody wants on their Subway Sandwich. (I just can't seem to remember them all on my own!)

I also love an add-on app called SplashID. It's password protected and stores personal identification information like user names, passwords, credit cards, calling cards, bank accounts, PINs, etc. The only thing I need to remember is my SplashID password!

Here is a link that might be useful: SplashID

I just bought some shallow wire two-tiered shelf units for underneath my sink. Those help me stack things in a place where things usually get tossed in and forgotten, like cleanser, sponges, dish towels, soap, etc. Thanks Talley for the idea!

The best idea I've ever come up with was baskets for all the junk under the bath sink. I had a large counter with drawers on both ends, and the baskets made it so easy to pull out the whole thing and be able to see what I was looking at. (so dark down there) I've put them on the shelf in the hall for things I don't use much at the new house, and it works fine for me. I also had bought the wire shelves that snap together, for the upper closet. Sweetie could never find his choice of sweaters until I bought them, and he always made a mess of all of them attempting to get one down to wear it. Now all of my sweaters, legging and jeans, all his sweaters are all nice and neat, and it's easy to see what is there.

What a great question. I am doing some bathroom work - heavy redecorate, with a closet redo, so I will keep some of these ideas in mind. But the most consistent idea is the Palm - I'll start a thread just for that.

I've been away for about a year; good to be back.

I do use a Palm organizer, but the thing that REALLY keeps me on track is a small Olympus digital voice recorder. It only weighs 2 or 3 oz. and isn't much bigger than a BIC lighter. It's perfect for the car, since it's easy to operate without looking at it.

I paid about $40 for it at Costco. It holds about an hour of notes and automatically records the date and time on the display, which is perfect for keeping track of time with clients. You can even sort the files into 4 different folders, and has an alarm function built-in. You can use an earphone with it, for privacy in public, and the batteries seem to last forever.

I call it my "brain", because I seem to forget everything, but the recorder never does!

I love my new Kenmore front load washer and dryer set. The washer takes huge loads, and uses a fraction of the detergent, bleach, softner and water. My laundry room was cramped, and my old set never really "fit" into the space. Now I have my dryer stacked above my washer, and enjoy having the extra floor space. Even though the set cost more up front, I think they were worth every penny, and I know they leave fabrics in better condition. And no, I don't even know anyone at Sears! I just love the product.

1. Palm Pilot, now upgraded to a Blackberry combo PDA and phone. Just go to your contact list, click on a name, and it will dial the number. Great.

1b. Online banking. Pay the bills, shred them and toss them. No more paper.

2. California Closets, in the MBR - especially the two top drawers, which have velvet lined jewelry organizers.

3. Not done yet, but we are clearing out the garage to have Valet Organizers put out there for pantry items. I do a lot of cooking and have run out of space in the kitchen.

Lynne

Let's see:

1) California Closets did the closet in our office/guest room -- worth every last frigging cent -- every inch is useful -- both for office use -- and for guest use too!

2) Putting our household files into plastic "milk-crate" style holders -- and those fit onto the shelves from California Closets. Amazing and easy! Just lift out to sort and file. We simply did not have room for regular file drawers. That was supposed to be a temporary solution -- but worked so well that we kept them.

3) Measuring the backs of each door in the house -- and spending time at Container Store to find just the right wire shelves to fit. Wow!! Just added tons of storage to the laundry closet doors (our laundry is in a large closet with two large doors); to the tiny kitchen pantry door; to the linen closet in the hallway and in the guest room closet. Simple but very useful!

4) Sorting through jewelery (I like vintage costume stuff) with plastic dividers from Container Store -- and other stores too. Divide and conquer!

LOL!!!! :)

I purchased 2 plastic racks for lids at the Dollar Store. I use one for the pots' lids. The other one I use for the lids from all my plasticware. It's made it so much easier to find them this way since they are organized by type and size in the lid holder. I keep this on a cupboard shelf and have all the containers on the shelf below this one.

My favorite is the tubular metal rack on castors with three laundry bags hanging in it. I actually have two iof these racks, and I put FOUR of the bags in one, and the other has two bags and the trash can! It was the best way i could figure out to make my laundry room work. I have four children, and each one has a bag. When I take someting out of the dryer, I do a quick fold and stick it directly into the right bag. The one that holds two bags is for towels and sheets/blankets. My husband's stuff and my own stuff go striaght into laundry naskets on shelves over the racks. My laundry room is not perfect, but it works really well.

If I ever build a house, I will have a large central laundry room where everyone's clothes live fulltime, along with all the linens.

1. Large white cabinet in laundry room - top half holds cleaning products, bottom has 4 shelves (one for each family member) and a space for hanging items. Clothes are folded out of the dryer and placed on the correct shelf or hung so they don't wrinkle. (purchased at walmart for $100 and worth every penny)

2. Oversized plastic lazy susan for all cleaning products (fits inside top of white cabinet). I can turn it to find whatever I'm looking for.

3. Two hanging racks hung just behind the laundry room door that hold the broom, swiffer, schmop, wet mop and dust pan. I made sure it was hung low enough for my children to reach it.

I like the foldable laundry baskets and I'm going to find some. I currently use regular baskets and house them in the bottom of my white cabinet. They are okay but I would prefer something that would take up less space.

For me, with our tiny little closet, it was going to a retail fixture store and buying slatwall / slatboard in MDF for our closet walls.

Here's an example:
http://www.fixturedepot.com/category.cfm?Category=64

We had the MDF cut to size for us (they still goofed it up, but whatever... We cut one of the boards down to size). We painted it the same color as the wall color in our closet, bought some brackets & MDF shelves of different depths (deeper for higher shelves). We also purchased some of the hanging wire baskets for socks (can anyone say "I think that there's a sock problem here?").

Another handy item for us b/c our closet space has so many angles in it, travelling salesman's racks. These racks are stainless steel, height adjustable & on casters. They're 5' long. We can fit two in the space. When we want to access the back rack we reach through. When we want to access the attic crawlspace, we pull them out. We just shift some of the wire baskets over towards one side & then we have enough clearance to pull the racks out of the closet & into the bedroom.

Here's another example:

http://www.storefixtures2000.com/GarmentRacks/salesman_racks.htm

They hold a ton of clothes.

-a

Wow, Andrea--those are cheap, but they look really sturdy (they'd have to be for a real salesman!)

Very sturdy, Sue. Very. I've got both of them packed pretty well & not a bend in site. I'd suggest 'em for even normal closets just because that bar can hold a ton!

We've had the slatboard in for nearly two years now. The shelving was sized to hold shoes, toiletry items from the bathroom overflow & just stuff. The painted MDF slatboard is holding up very well. I don't have any damage on the lips despite the weight & stuff moving around.
-a

you know, I shouldn't have glossed over that slatboard. It wouldn't be strong enough for books, but I bet it might hold toys! I see their shelf brackets come up to 16" deep!

Too bad they don't make baskets that slip into the slatboard lips!

Talley Sue -
They do make wire baskets to go onto the slatboard. I use that to store my socks (now nicely weeded through). Also, I just put a bunch of books up on one of the shelves, yup, the slatboard is doing fine. That was one of the 30" wide shelves in the photo. No bending, no sagging. The bar supporting the the shelf probably distributes the weight across the vertical support. It's not "hanging off" the slatboard, it's just using the slatboard for vertical position. Here's some pictures:

Here is a link that might be useful: shelving & baskets on slatboard

thanks for all the pics, Andrea! I love the idea of using the pros' stuff in the home. Doesn't always work, but often it can, as in your home. What inspiration!

(and congrats on the socks; I'm getting behind on mine and the kids')

Another vote for SplashID software on a Palm PDA. You can get it by itself or as part of a "suite" of software called Splash Wallet. In addition to SplashID, which is invaluable, Wallet contains SplashShopper, SplashPhoto, & SplashMoney.

SplashShopper is a great list organizer, not just for shopping. I have a list for Groceries, and just have to tap to select what to buy, and it's easy to change quantities. At the store, I just tap the checkbox to remove it from the "need" list; the master list is untouched. I have packing lists, gift lists, clothing sizes, to name a few.

SplashPhoto is an easy way to load & display photos on your PDA. I haven't used the Money program, but it's an electronic checkbook that links with Quicken.

I have actually seen palm pilots on freecycle on occasion. If someone wants one, they might try asking there if anyone has an older basic one they don't want. You will need the software, too, of course. Some people update them, and their phones, every year or every other year. Worth a try...

Marie, where did you get the pop=up garbage bag holder? that sounds exactly like what I want.

I had purchased it in a K-Mart or Target type of store quite a few years ago. I've been looking for a second one recently and can't find it. It is a bigger plastic version of the pop-up hampers that these stores sell. I suppose they'd work just as well since you put a garbage bag in them. If you find the one I have, please let me know where so I can buy another one.

I'll start looking marie. I did a quick search on ebay & came up with this & think maybe I could make something similar. http://cgi.ebay.com/Lawn-Size-Trash-Bag-Holder-Portable-Garbage-Can-Stand_W0QQitemZ290135518529QQihZ019QQcategoryZ3186QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

marti, that's not it. Mine is a hard plastic, the same dark green colour as the trash garbage bags. It is round and stands up and collapses like a pop-up hamper. I think it is made by Rubbermaid. It might have been with the garden supplies to be used outdoors but it's been years and I don't clearly remember exactly which department I found it in.

Oh I know, I just couldn't find the one you described. I found several that are pop up style but they have mesh around them or some kind of fabric. I don't want to have to mess with keeping one clean & the kind you have or the pvc would work better for me.

This might sound funny but for me it is...a large box of 30 gallon heavy duty trashbags!

Nate

I'm kind of with Nate - my best purchase for organizing is garbage cans...the kind you actually use! Plastic trashbags for donations and garbage cans for garbage or recycling - now those are good organizing purchases!

I totally LOVE my iPhone! It makes life soooooooo much nicer!!!!!

Laundry room - Wire basket tower on wheels. Each basket holds a color eg Tan/browns, Reds/pinks/ Blacks/blues, Whites, Greens.

This way everyone just brings their laundry to the laundry room and throws items into relevant basket. I just sort for delicates or specials!

Another tower for folded clean items including socks etc. Family just come and get their basket. Each person has a basket and they return it empty. Saves me travelling to each room and putting on their beds etc.

My favorite stacker wire tray organizer on wheels is my Gift Wrap Organizer... Take a look at The Container store for all the aforementioned items.

Now that I got rid of most of my dust and surface collecters in the bedroom (dressers), my latest improvement has been the largest, nice looking rectangular clothes hamper with lid or dh. Dh has actually been using it and grouping his clothing in that corner of the bedroom instead of all over. I bought a smaller hamper for my 4 yo dd at the same time. She uses hers too.

We moved into this house last year. We're still doing things related to making the house 'ours'. I painted the kids' bedrooms this spring. We decorated back in August. Since we decorated and I initially helped them clean the rooms, they have been using the rooms and keeping them clean. I think they now have a sense of ownership. I offered the kids a reward of goldfish last weekend if they cleaned their bedroom and the playroom. There were less than 20 items to put away in the boy's room. My 5 yo cleaned it by himself and put things away into the correct places. Dd picked all of the babies and put them on a bench and threw all the rest of her toys into a toybox. My 7 yo even vaccumed.

so adella--would you say that GOLDFISH are your best organizing purchase lately, then?

How neat that your kids are buying in to the idea of an ordered home so spontaneously.

I didn't buy this particular one, but bins like these have made it 100% easier to find and reach things in my fridge:

LauraG

Here is a link that might be useful: plastic shelf bins

I have similar bins that I use in my pantry. I hadn't thought of using them in the fridge but that's a great idea. Thanks for sharing!

Well, until I can have a laundry chute installed, pop-up mesh laundry bags have been a huge help for me. My washer and dryer are in the basement, and at times I avoid going downstairs if my knee is bothering me. Laundry can pile up quickly for me, but now it is both easy to sort clothing, into separate featherweight containers and easy for me to get up and down the stairs when I'm able. Regular laundry baskets are bulky and awkward for me to handle, and take up too much space in my small rooms. My closet is tiny and when my wicker basket is filled, any overflow would pile on the floor. Now I just pop open a mesh container and poof! - instant extra laundry space that doesn't look MESSY! As a bonus, if I can't get a load of laundry put away right away, it looks much better to have one of these colorful, neat tall rectangles in my room rather than a tower of clothing sitting around! Additionally, these fold flat when not in use or with a twist, become smaller than a DVD case. I keep six on hand. Laundry has become so much easier!

An over-the-door spice rack for the pantry door. Similarly, a set of shelves in the garage that were only 4 inches deep.

Both had very narrow shelves, so that things did not get lost behind one another. Sometimes having less storage space is better.