organization help

JLPT830

I have 2 areas in my house that I want to try to get organized this week.  Caleb's closet is one.  We are going to start getting his room fixed up since we haven't done anything since we moved.  His changing table is still out but I only use it to store diapers, wipes, lotion, etc on.  We are planning to put it up and replace it with a bookshelf for his hundreds of books that used to be in a box and are starting to take up residence on the floor!  I'm thinking of putting this type of stuff in his closet.  He has a small walk-in with a single wire shelf/hanging area on each side.  The rest is dead space.  I would love some ideas on how to organize clothes, shoes, the stuff from the changing table.  Maybe even keep seasonal stuff in there.  I'm so bad at coming up with this stuff myself.  If you have an amazing closet set-up I would even love to see pictures!

The other space is the planning desk in my kitchen.  I can't plan anything at this desk because it's the place where all the junk gets dumped.  There are 3 drawers down the side and one drawer where the chair goes.  I also have some cabinets above that I can work with.  The very top shelves are reserved for meds so Caleb can't reach.  I envision this being like the family hub....keep our family calender, pay bills, take care of any paperwork, and store arts and craft supplies for Caleb and office type supplies that we would use regularly.  Got any good ideas???   I need that lady from the show "neat"!!  I love that show!

robnnoel

I bought one of the do it yourself closet systems at Target about two years ago.  It has been great for us. Its one with shelves in it and bars for hanging clothes that you can place at any height.  We have very small closet space so this helped double the amout of clothes we could hang.  The bars you are able to cut down to the size you need.  It also comes with a piece where you can hook the system into the wall so it wont fall over. The lower shelves I have been using as bookselves and the upper one for storage of diapers, wipes...etc.  I wouldnt call it an amazing set up but it has been working for us for two years.

kel716

I'd put the diaper stuff in his closet and leave the more interesting things outside of it. 

I bought this for B's toys:  https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3509991

Maybe one of those book rack things for his books?  https://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3372685

As for the desk, here's my layout that works for us:

I have a small basket on the side for my "in box"- I store unopened mail and other papers there that I need to deal with.  I also have a pencil cup, tape dispenser, etc... 

I have shelves above my desk- one side I store school stuff, the other side I store house stuff.  The middle shelves are for Brandon references (Baby Bargains, toddler book, etc...) along with "cute" stuff to dress it up

My drawers-

1 file drawer is devoted to regular bills.  I have a small receipt billfold for our receipts we want to keep, and it's organized by month.  I then have several hanging files for our various bills.  One of them right now is labeled "Taxes 2009" so we can store those important documents in one place until we get to them.  There's a file drawer in the front devoted to that current month's bills.  When it's time to pay them, I get out that folder, pay the bill, and then file any paper that goes with them.  As more and more of my bills go paperless, this drawer will probably evolve into carry over from the next drawer (read below)

Another file drawer is devoted to household paperwork I need to keep, like our mortgage info, insurance info, important product information stuff, etc.. 

We also have a fire proof safe for the super important documents like our marriage & birth certificates, passports, savings bonds, etc...

I have 4 other drawers- the top center one is for office supplies.  The 2 smaller ones are devoted to other taller office supplies like thank you notes, note pads, stamps, stapler, etc... The other file drawer is not yet filled, but I'm sure it'll get use soon! 

DH and I keep our calendars on our BB's.  I used to store our bills and things in portable file billfolds, but that just got overfilled and difficult to maintain.  I like the hanging system by my desk much better.

Oh, and to free up space, I bought a small square table for my printer.  That also really helped!

adamsbabble

I'm also trying to get our books organized and this is the concept I am going for (but trying to find a cheaper option than this $119 shelf from PBK).  We used to have all of our books on a bookshelf that Ava could reach in our playroom, but we'd rather have something that mounts on the wall so that she has to ask for books.  This keeps her from leaving them all over the place and Charlotte getting them and ripping them up.  Ava really prefers to be read to rather than look at books on her own anyway, so this works for us, but when she does want to look at them on her own she can ask and take them to her room or to her table.  Plus I have a big empty wall space in our playroom and I'd rather fill that rather than take up more room on the floor.