Okay, today’s your turn.

There’s a little organisational nightmare going on in my house.

To be fair, I’m being just a tad dramatic because at least it’s working about 50%.

I’m talking about my little Kendra’s hair accessories. This is one of those times I thank God I’m not a girly girl (although I do like hot pink!) and don’t actually buy this stuff from choice because there’d be three times the amount of “pretty”. Everything she owns is mostly practical (I know, some of you are thinking, poor kid!)

I have long hair but I have about six stretchy scrunchies and they live inside my bedside table drawer in an upcycled formula can.

We have a few headbands (the stretchy ones), Alice bands, a few clips/ grips/ barrettes (I think that’s what you call them) and then, my nemesis, a gazillion ponytail holders.

In theory I love this idea… it’s attractive, has nice, clean lines and is very organised.Very, very nice but too fancy for me.

but this is more my style because I’m a very lazy organiser … toss in and hope for the best.

We currently use a small, 3-drawer plastic system – one for the ponytail holders, one for the headbands and one for grips and it’s okay.

But I find these things lying around all over the house, taunting me.

As I’ve been writing I think my system is actually the best for me. Open the drawer and toss in – that’s it.

I just need to bribe train Kendra to collect all those things and return them to her wardrobe.

Tell me, how do you store your hair accessories?

Quick question – do any of you have a slash life where you’re a something/ something else? Like I’m in financial services/ time management coach

Thing is I always thought I was a little bit odd but there’s actually a book out on this very thing called One Person Multiple Careers and I’m keen to explore it more by writing about it on the blog. Just a little bit.

Are you interested?

Tell me about all the “slashers” you know

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I have no idea what happened but while I was away on holiday with my family, but it suddenly got unseasonably warm in Jhb.

While I relish the cooler weather, this has actually been lovely, especially because we’re catching up on laundry and my default is always line drying over tumble drying.

The only thing is I’ve been scrambling to find clothes for the kids to wear because I’d already packed the summer clothes away.

The one time I felt just a tad annoyed with myself for being a bit too fast.

Then again, I would do it exactly the same next time because having both seasons out drives me a little bit more batty every day.

Fortunately, I keep exactly 3 sets of in between clothes out while we’re transitioning

From summer to winter that means leggings plus a normal t-shirt (not sleeveless) for Kendra and some capri pants in the surf shorts material plus t-shirts for Connor.

I have no problem with my clothes because they now (after about 3 decluttering sessions over the last 2 years) all fit very comfortably in my ONE cupboard.

top

bottom – see all the free space

enough for a little boy to play hide-and-seek

Do you have a seasonal wardrobe switcharound routine?

Do you keep out some transition clothes for yourself or your kids?

I found these absolutely adorable name tags and knew they’d be perfect for our kids’ church bags.

I typed their names, printed, laminated, cut and punched.

At this point you could use ribbon to attach them to baskets, school backpacks, etc.

Aren’t they gorgeous?

They would also make very nice gifts for kids if you already added the binder rings.

How have you used free printables lately?

Ashley Shelby says:
Hi! I need to know how to organize kids’ clothes. I have 3 kids that share one room and its so hard to separate play clothes from school clothes. Desperately in need.

So I thought I’d show Ashley how I do our kids’ clothes since my two also share a room.

They have a small chest of drawers and about 0.5 m of hanging space for jackets, warmer clothes, etc. now that it’s spring.

On the top there are two smaller drawers which we use for vests and leggings. I have short and long-sleeved vests for days when the weather’s cooler.

The next drawer is Connor’s and the bottom one is Kendra’s (no particular reason – just how it worked out)

In both their drawers, I have one of those baskets on the right with their babygrows (for sleep) and pj’s.

Let’s look at Kendra’s drawer first.

Can you tell I like neat piles?

I make sets of clothes so that ALL the clothes get worn. I found when I left it up to their nanny to dress them she let them wear the same stuff and they never got a chance to wear everything, so then I stepped in. It’s easy for me to put their clothes ready when they’re already organised in sets.

I also have piles of clothes that are slightly inappropriate at the moment – it’s not blazing hot yet (really high 20′s and early 30′s) so the kids don’t wear sleeveless tops and really short shorts yet.

That’s the pile in the front.

This is where Nanny V puts the laundry that is ironed but unsorted by me into sets.

I generally get to it on the weekend.

Since my kids don’t go to pre-school, I have sets of clothes for home and different sets for going out, so that they look slightly more decent when they see other people.

and sometimes we have cool weather so I keep about 3 – 4 long-sleeved t-shirts out – they’re not all packed away til it’s “proper” summer of 28 and up. Celsius.

Connor’s drawers are very similarly arranged except he seems to have more shorts than t-shirts. I think it’s because we got lots of stuff from my sister and he outgrows clothes quicker on the top than on the bottom.

It’s worked out though because he also often needs a change of shorts sometime in the afternoon if he’s messed while playing.

This is what I use to organise their clothes for the week. It’s a fabric organiser I bought years ago at Sheet Street (for the South Africans).

There are 6 “shelves” – in winter we wear such bulk because our houses are not air-conditioned so I can only do 3 days’ clothes at a time. I would then layer it Connor, Kendra, Connor, Kendra, Connor, Kendra.

In summer the clothes are light so I can put both C & K’s clothes on the same shelf and put out 6 days at a time – LOVE that convenience.

Here is a pic of two days’ clothes to show you.

Melody says:
My biggest organizng question is how to keep my kid’s rooms organized? I have closet shelves, hanging organizers, baskets, totes, etc. However, still their rooms are a mess75% of the time. I give away toys regularly, but it seems that there is always still too much left behind. The rest of my house stays neat and tidy most of time. I have family members who hoard so I am very aware of too much clutter and actively try to remove and control clutter.

And then a friend, Julia, also emailed me a similar question. She has a hard time getting her 11-year-old son to keep his room clean and asked if I had any ideas.

These are my suggestions:

Agree on what a clean room means
Yours might be vastly different from his definition but come up with a list of about 5 things (clean carpets, dirty clothes in laundry basket, clean clothes folded and in cupboard, books on shelf, toys away, etc)

Make a checklist
You can reprint it if you like but I hate paper (yes, really!) so I’d prefer to laminate it and re-use the same list

Print a monthly calendar to mark off progress
There are tons of cute, free calendars on the internet otherwise don’t get caught in perfectionism – the blank option in Outlook works just as well.

Once you’ve done your daily inspection, tick in the daily block.

Agree on a reward according to the child’s love language
Determine your child’s love language or currency, as Dr Phil calls it and choose an appropriate reward.

Julia’s son’s love language is quality time so I suggested that after every 2 weeks, they have a “date with Mommy” and after the next two weeks, a “date with Daddy”.

Keep decluttering
Please remember to always declutter before birthdays and Christmas.

I sound like a broken record but if you live a simplified life, there is not that much to mess up a room

Those are my suggestions.

What are your tips to keep your kids’ rooms organised?

I’m going to be doing a talk later this month on organising for children.

What are your biggest challenges in this area?

I’ll also be hosting a free teleseminar and I’ll share the 5 most common areas, so have at it – let loose with your frustrations, concerns, challenges or where you’d just like some ideas.

P.S. I thought I’d show you my minimalist children. When we get to them in the mornings, their beds have nothing but the sheet and maybe a book.

Connor started this trend and I see he’s taught his sister well

Congratulations on having the twins. I have twins also and they are so special. its fun!

I’m trying to organise toys.. what’s the best method to use??

Chandelle, Qld Australia..

Here are my 7 top tips for organising (and keeping) children’s toys organised

1. Keep toys to a minimum by decluttering regularly. Schedule decluttering sessions before birthdays and Christmas.
2. After birthdays and Christmas, hide some toys and reveal a new one every couple of weeks.
3. Rotate favourite toys so that the children actually play with the ones that are out.
4. Keep a toy basket in each room of the house so that it’s easy to put things away instead of having to constantly return to another room.
5. Use appropriate kid-friendly containers. Don’t buy storage containers with difficult lids to open but do buy square, clear-lidded containers. Labels are your friend!
6. Store things you don’t mind being “messed with” at the children’s height. And things you want to control at adult height.
7. Train your children to put toys away after playtime… and allow for clean-up time….or they get taken away, permanently if you’re very strict or otherwise for a certain period. Yes, there will be crying but think of the long-term gain and the life lessons you’ teaching your children.

What are your favourite tips for keeping toys organised?

I could use strategies for how to get an overwhelmingly disorganized house under control with two small kids.

I often comment that when I got into one room and get some things organized, I come out to find they’ve trashed a different room. I have fantasies of ordering a dumpster, parking it in the driveway, and just tossing everything but the furniture out the window to be carted away by my friendly garbage man.

Shannon from Ohio, USA.

Shannon, believe it or not, before I got organised, I used to feel the same way. Especially about my wardrobe. I’d hope that we’d get burgled so it would all go and I could just start afresh.

I still feel like that in small areas of my life – like before I did a major wardrobe declutter last year and when I see all the babies’ clothes!

But here are my suggestions for you and the kids:

Have a toy basket in each room
Even if there are things that technically don’t belong, they’ll be contained.

Enlist the children
They made the mess, they can tidy up. Start getting tough with them and make sure they understand that when we’re done playing, we tidy up.

Even though my babies are so small, I already make them tidy up. Joking! But I do drape one baby over my one arm and tidy up with the other hand. While I’m doing this I tell them, “now we’re putting your toys away and we’re taking the glasses back to the kitchen” because the minute they can start doing it themselves, they’re going to do so (children as young as 1 can throw toys into a basket).

Have consequences for not tidying up
They “lose” the toys for a certain period of time if you find them where they don’t belong.

As for the whole house being disorganised, start with a master plan by using a master to-do list or a mind map.

With the Organise your Home ecourse, we do just that – tackle one room at a time until your whole home is organised and we set up routines so that you won’t have to ever completely organise everything.

Usually people see big results even after week 1.

Just one of your ideas has been worth the price of the e-course alone! Everyone in the family is so excited by it.

Thank you so much – this has really been money well spent, and I really look forward to the rest of your emails every week!

Fran Kerrigan Hartford, WI

How do you keep your house organised if you have small children?

You can teach your children to be organised. The earlier you start, the earlier you can delegate

While they’re organising, they’re learning valuable life skills. They can learn to sort, to return toys to their homes, to make decisions while decluttering.

What to use
ice-cream tubs
clear shoe bags
wastepaper baskets – for tall, thin items like swords, cricket and baseball bats, etc.
ziploc bags -for puzzle pieces, legos, etc

How
Make things easy. If you use a basket without a lid, it is easier to put things away.
Label clearly with pictures.
For smaller children, use the bottom bookshelves and free-standing storage bins on the floor.

Declutter regularly. Now is the perfect time right after Christmas to go through those rooms and get rid of the old stuff

How do you stay organised with your children’s toys?