How do you keep your house organized?

@asyria51 (2861)
United States
July 27, 2011 2:54pm CST
especially when you are short on time for 11 months of the year. i have started color coding everything. My husband has green and brown hangers, I have pink and white hangers. I have a white hamper for whites, a blue hamper for darks (mostly jeans which are blue) and a red one for colors. In the basement, I have 3 collapseable portable hampers, I fold the laundry and my clothes go into the red one, my husbands goes into the blue one and my daughters goes into a disney princesses one. my files are color coded as well. regular manilla is household, green is my husbands, yellow in my daughters and blue is mine. I just hope that it keeps me going once the school year gets into full swing.
1 person likes this
8 responses
@Awinds (2468)
• United States
27 Jul 11
That sounds like quite an elaborate system you have there. I hope it proves effective for you. :) I never keep my house organized. My "finding the lost object" instincts works best when things are messy or just in a random order. I have tried before to keep things up in a logical fashion, but I lack the dedication and patience to keep it up for long. Plus, for some reason I find it harder to find things when they are all organized into impeccable orderliness. And finally, Having things just laying about in whatever position I left them in just gives home a nicer feel. To be organized reminds me of a cold, trap like office. I do have a limit though. I have never gotten to the point of not being able to see my floors. I have an avid fear of bugs and this motivates me to avoid leaving food and clothes lying around. Plus, the overboard junky look irritates me to the point of going through the roof!
1 person likes this
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
27 Jul 11
I have three areas of my house organized. the rest of it is up for grabs. my daughters room I have tried to organize, but the items change so regularly that it is hard to have a place for everything that continually stays the same. As I rotate items out, things need to move based on size of other objects in the room. That and my hubby just throws everything into any bin and i can't find anything anyway.
@Awinds (2468)
• United States
28 Jul 11
Well, when it comes to kids, your daughter's room sounds pretty common. ;) I do the same thing your husband does - if the random drawer has space in the object goes! Of course I never really thought that this might be throwing off other people...
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
28 Jul 11
It kind of does throw things off if I am looking for a specific item in the morning. Like she wants her pink dog to take with when we leave, and it is not in the pet net, instead it is under a pile of books in a bin that i would not normally look in because it is supposed to be for books.
@leasmom (101)
• Austria
27 Jul 11
I am not exactly super-organized. However I have found that basic routines like deciding what absolutely needs to get done once a day/week,... and absolutely sticking with that decision goes a long way. I have things that are done no matter what, like dishes for example and whenever these basic things are done, 95% of the days I take some time to do "more". The duration of that "more"time varies according to my other workload and may go from just 10 minutes to an hour or so. In the end what that gives me are the basics done, which goes a long way, plus the possibility for all those extra things to get done as well. If I work like that I have found that I don't need things to be super-organized because they are organized enoiugh, so that I can find my way through the day quite easily.
1 person likes this
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
27 Jul 11
I have a chore list that I stick to. My hubby will get a bee up his butt and scrub the house down in one day and then do nothing for the next month. monday is the main bathroom. Tuesday is the kitchen floor etc for me.
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
28 Jul 11
wow! i just dont have that kind of time to get that organized but until i read your post i thought i was!
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
28 Jul 11
it is only three rooms. and really only my filing system is organized in my office. My office desk is currently a pile. I have books, papers, random office junk, like pens postits and notebooks on it. I really need a new desk, because two of the drawers are broken. Everything that was in those drawers are just kind of heaped up on the desk right now.
@thaMARKER (2503)
• Philippines
28 Jul 11
i don't live in a house, im just renting a room so i dont have that much of a bigger space for everything. in my closet, of course my clothes are folded and filed according to their colors. my shoes are always put where they belong every after use. my laundry/used clothes are folded so it would still look tidy. i always fix my bed before leaving. well basically i just put everything where its supposed to so i know where to find it the next time i need it.
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
28 Jul 11
if it was just me it would be so much easier. I have my systems and i am good at keeping with it, but sharing the house with my husband and daughter means it is more stuff to have to deal with and have a place for.
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
28 Jul 11
To the best of my abilities actually. I think that everything does remain organized enough where it is not a problem. I mean I can find mostly everything, every now and again. At least enough where I am not trying to rip the house apart and upside down, where everything is really found in a way that does not burn up too much time. Granted some people might be appalled, but I don't want things too organized, because its harder to find everything. I do have all my summer clothes in the front of my closet during the summer months. Then obviously the reverse for the winter. In the spring, I try to have a little of each accessible, the same for the fall months really. There is a number of ways where I can remain organized in that way. There is really no complex system for me. However if the system works, than that is more than okay as far as I am concerned.
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
28 Jul 11
I have under the bed boxes for the out of season stuff. my work clothes all stay hung up, just the weather appropriate are in the front and easily accessible while the out of season is pushed to the back. my husband has all of his stuff mismatched in there. He is an adult, and I have tried to organize his stuff, if he runs late in the morning it is his own fault.
@pbbbsra (1214)
• Philippines
28 Jul 11
I also love a clean and organized house but I dont do color coding. I do labelling though especially with files. I have an organized closet and I think I dont need to color code either. I just have a unified design of hangers and i make sure they hangers have a common spacing inside the closet. I make labels for shoes and i make a catalogue to easily find them. I take pictures of new shoes and paste it in the box at the same time add it on my catalogue. I arrange pants and shorts accordingly and according to size and i arrange t shirt and dresses from darkest colors to the lightest. I always make sure everything is in place.
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
28 Jul 11
my files are well labeled. i do not have many shoes and they hang in a clear over the door organizer so i can see them all the time. I put together outfits together, so all i have to do is grab one hanger and i am ready to go most mornings. I would really like to clear off the top shelf in my daughters room today, and have 5 bins up there so sunday night I can put an outfit including socks and underwear, so all i have to do is pull the bin down and we are ready for the day. I am going to be back to full time work, and will have to leave about 45 minutes earlier than I was leaving last year, making the morning that much more hectic.
@nezavisima (7408)
• Bulgaria
27 Jul 11
This sounds very radical and very tidy. in a word everyone knows where things are what are its effects. fixed so your house is pretty tidy naisitna. A big bravo to you. I organize my time so to clear everything at least once a week mainly inavsyakade. but at other times everything has its place and put it there. I think it all depends on educating people around us our family. Have a nice day!
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
27 Jul 11
It is only three rooms so far. I am strapped for cash to get the organizational items i need for the other rooms. It is an issue of educating the family. I do not expect my daughter to sort the laundry by darks, colors, and whites, but she is expected to put them in her hamper. my husband is apparently color blind because he just throws stuff in whatever basket is most handy.
28 Jul 11
I find that the little things really help. We had a lot of crap in our bedroom that really didn't need to be out 24/7. We ended up getting something that could slide under the bed. Out of site out of mind! As for your color coding, it will only work if you're not doing it alone. I think family is really a team effort and without out it you're screwed. They have stack-able bins as well, they have different colors for you too! It might help you with something small?
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
28 Jul 11
the only family i really need to train right now is my hubby. i am sticking to it, he still thinks that the floor is a hamper. My daughter is a good helper when you give specific instructions. All of your blocks in this bin, all of your stuffed animals in this basket, and helping her with the task.