As I mentioned before, moving to a new house always has its challenges. In addition to finding new spots for our ocean of toys, I’ve also had to come up with a new solution for our mudroom. In our new house, the entryway from the garage is a small mudroom/laundry room. It’s only about 5 feet wide and the washer and dryer take up a significant portion of the width. I needed a place to store backpacks, keys, jackets, purses, and other ‘out the door’ essentials without interrupting the traffic flow.

As I was wandering the aisles of Target searching for a cheap solution, I came across these awesome peg boards. Yet another successful Pottery Barn knockoff from our friends at Target, these square peg boards are a perfect solution for tight spaces. In addition to the cool peg boards, they also offer coordinating dry erase boards and cork boards to allow for tons of configuration options. But of course, the best part is the customization. Much like their garage wall predecessors, these peg boards offer tons of flexiblity. Target sells a wide variety of hooks, boxes, racks and clips to help you create a perfect spot for all your must-haves.

On our board, I’ve got several small silver key hooks, a few sturdier hooks for my purse, a box for things like sunglasses and sunscreen, and a 4-arm swinging hook for the kid’s backpacks and jackets. At first, the hooks seemed a little loose and tended to pop out if I pulled at the wrong angle. I solved that problem by picking up a pack of ticky tack and placing a small dot of it around the peg of each hook. Now everything stays in its place and can the hooks can stand up to my kid’s toughest yanks.

In addition to mud rooms like mine, they’d be a great addition to any kid’s rooms, garages, craft areas and much more. We’ve used the system for a few months now, and it’s held up beautifully. The total set up cost me around $35. Considering I haven’t lost my keys or tripped over a backpack yet, I’d say it’s well worth the price. Just thought I’d pass it on.

[ratings]

Share This

As you may have noticed, my posts over the past few months have been a little irregular. Belive it or not, I actually have a really good excuse for my procrastination…I’ve been writing.

Earlier this year, I was approached by a new national magazine to write an organizing article for their inaugural issue. The founders of the magazine had read my blog and thought that my overall approach to organization fell in line with the mission of their magazine…to offer doable organization projects for real people with real lives. Naturally, I was thrilled to have the opportunity.

Several months and many edits later, I am still writing (hence my lack of posts lately). I am currently working on my third article for ORGANIZE magazine. It’s been a lot of work, but the result is well worth it. The magazine is fabulous and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

Granted, I’m a bit biased, but I can honestly say that after seeing the preview for the inaugural issue I would subscribe in a heartbeat. Not only are the articles down to earth and doable, but the advertising for various organizing tools and websites function as a great resource as well.

Please don’t misunderstand my intentions here; I’m not trying to sell you anything. I don’t make any money from this plug and the creators of the magazine did not ask me to promote it on my blog. I just love the whole concept of the magazine and wanted to recommend it to my readers. The first issue comes out in June. Although it will be carried across the nation by various distributors, I highly recommend getting your own subscription. The price is only $20 for the entire year.

If you’d like to see a preview of the magazine or if you’d like to subscribe, just visit their website: http://www.organizemag.com/. I hope you enjoy it. Just thought I’d pass it on.

-MeckMom

[ratings]

Share This

Why spend hundreds of dollars to rent an inflatable castle for your kid’s birthday when you can make a cardboard version for next to nothing? This great site has tons of how-to’s and inexpensive products to help you create some fantastic play places.

I read about this site on another blog and had to pass it on. Mr. McGroovy’s very affordable box rivets offer a quick any easy alternative to more traditional means of connecting cardboard. As a side benefit, his site is loaded with simple plans and creative ideas to make your next birthday party memorable. The site even offers tips on how to get appliance boxes for free from your local shops and dealers. Be sure to check out their customer testimonials area. It’s amazing to see what kind of creations their customers have come up with. My personal favorite is the huge pirate ship.

I haven’t tried the rivets yet, but from what I’ve read from the previous customers, they look like a great solution. I can’t wait to try them. Here’s the site link in case you’re interested.

Share This

I hate to clean my fridge. Next to scrubbing my kid’s bathroom, it’s my least favorite job. It’s not that it’s particularly difficult, it’s just time consuming. Pulling out and replacing all the contents takes almost as long as the actual cleaning itself. I used to use small plastic baskets to hold bottles and jars, but they looked bulky and forced me to pull out the whole basket to find what I needed. Then my mother-in-law passed along this helpful tip.

Pick up a few inexpensive ‘lazy susans’ from your local super store. I found mine on the clearance shelf at WalMart for $2 each. Place them on your fridge shelves to hold misc. small items. The rotating base makes it easy to find exactly what you’re looking for…no more knocking everything over to get to that big jar of applesauce in the back. It also speeds up the cleaning process significantly. Now when a spill hits, I just pick up the lazy susan, wipe the shelf with a Clorox wipe and set it back down again. Simple, cheap and functional. Just thought I’d pass it on.

Share This

About a year ago, we added a TV to the toy room in our basement. The kids loved having it, but I hated going up and down the stairs over and over again to help them find a good channel. One afternoon I came down to find my 6 year old watching a steamy soap opera and decided I needed to do something. We almost got rid of the TV; then I found this handy solution.

I bought this universal kid-friendly remote on eBay for around $9. It’s called a Weemote and it’s made by Phillips. It’s designed to allow you to program up to 5 mom-approved channels. The remote has big, colorful, numbered buttons that are very easy for the kids to learn; even my 3 year old can do it. For example, if they want to find the Disney channel, they don’t have to remember numbers, they just push the yellow star. There’s also a power button, volume control, and a channel changer that will only rotate through the 5 approved channels.

It can be programmed to work with any TV. The set-up was incredibly simple. It took me about 2 minutes. My treadmill is downstairs too, so if want to bypass all the Weemote programming I just grab the original remote or manually push the buttons on the TV. I noticed online that they also make a DVD player version, but I haven’t tried it yet. If any of you have, make a comment on this post so I can find out if you like it as much as I like this one.

To help my kids keep track of their remote, I stuck some sticky-back velcro on both the back of the remote and the side of the TV. Now it has a place and doesn’t get swept into the toy bucket on clean-up day. Sadly, it won’t stop the fighting over who gets to hold the remote, but I haven’t changed a channel in over a year which makes it a keeper in my book. Just thought I’d pass it on.

Share This

Unfortunately, we don’t have a guest bedroom in our house, so when we have company I have to be able to put a bed together in a hurry. Rather than stuff my linen closet with the extra sheets, pillows and blankets, I came up with this handy solution.

I created my own bed-in-a-bag by using these giant Ziploc bags available at any superstore. Fancier vacuum-type bags would also work really well, but they were too expensive so I went for the cheaper version.

First, I labeled them with a magic marker according to size (twin, queen/king). Next, I folded the sheets and pillow cases according to size and added them to the bag. For the twin bedding, I was also able to fit in the blanket and pillow. For the queen/king, I fit the sheets and both pillows but used a separate bag for the quilt and duvet. Finally, I added a few dryer sheets to the bags to keep them smelling fresh.

These bags seal so well, that I’m able to stash them in the basement and save the linen closet for my day-to-day towels and sheets. When I have a guest coming over, I just run downstairs, grab one of these bags, and set up the room. It’s quick, convenient, and hassle-free. Just thought I’d pass it on.

Share This

I’ve used these blue “shop towels” in the garage for years. Then one day, I ran out of paper towels in the kitchen and used these as a backup. I was amazed at how well they held up under water. They have the convenient disposablity of paper towels, but never fall apart when wet; even after a full sink of dishes. You can ring them out and reuse them over and over again. In fact, one of these towels usually lasts me the entire day.

They worked so well that eventually I pitched all my old germ-carrying dishcloths and bought a paper towel holder for under the sink. I still keep paper towels on my counter for little spills and touch-ups, but when it comes to dishes and wiping down kitchen surfaces, I always grab one of these. I buy mine in bulk at Costco, but you can find them at almost any super store in the automotive section. Just thought I’d pass it on.

Share This

School is starting again…which means seas of pastel colored papers coming home in backpacks. Of course the problem is that we get a random assortment each day. Homework, reminders, permission slips…it’s tough to keep it all straight. Rather than let my counter clutter up, I created this inbox system in my kitchen cupboard to help me manage the clutter.

Since the kitchen is the hub of our home, most of my organization centers there. I devoted the lower shelf of one cupboard to keeping the family organized. On the right side are my many binders (mentioned in a previous post). On the left, are these inexpensive inboxes I purchased from WalMart for around $10.

I labeled one inbox for every member of the family. Essentially the inboxes are temporary storage. As the backpacks come off, the kids put any homework on the fridge. Everything else goes into their inbox. Sometimes I get a minute when the kids are in the tub, but generally I don’t get a chance to go through the boxes until the kids are in bed. By then I’ve usually got a little time to sign things, write checks, and add notes to my calendar. Then I return stuff back to their backpacks and look forward to a slightly less hectic morning.

I also use the inboxes to stash lots of things for myself and my husband. For example, If I’m going through a catalog and see an idea I like, I rip it out and stick it in my inbox. Later, when I have time, I add it to my Design Ideas Binder. They also come in handy when I find a pile of my husband’s random papers and post-its. Rather than try to figure out what they are, I toss them into his inbox and tell him to look there first.

It’s a simple system, but it works…and it’s well worth the cupboard space. Just thought I’d pass it on.

Share This