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I bought a huge bin from Home Outfitters for laundry. It has a divider in the middle and is about 4'x2'x3' (so a large rectangle). They had a ton of them with different colored fabric to match your decor. It has a big flap that you can swing over the whole thing to cover it up, or just leave hanging to throw your clothes in. It's really handy when guests come over because if I have unfinished laundry piled up I can hide it in there and my laundry room still looks nice :) It was like $34.00
FI has a bad habit of throwing things everywhere, so I've started purchasing items that can off set this and make the house look organized. One example is a mail holder that I bought from Urban Barn. It was $12.00 on sale. It's pretty much a mirrored rectangle that sits about 9 inches high and 3 inches wide and we just chuck our mail in there until it's time to sort, and it's pretty :) Also, I have some really nice faux leather bins for above cupboards for him to throw stuff in. If he's going to be disorganized might as well look nice!
Edit: I sort through everything at least one sunday a month. If we don't get our sorting done than FI and I aren't allowed to purchase alcohol, which is almost every weekend or two. lol. Make some incentives that work for you and stick to them!
The best I've seen is my Mom's ability to organize my youngest sister. She has massive amounts of stuff, so there are bins and whatnot.
There is one of those large square 3x3 with the pullout drawers. I cropped a pic with them in it.
EDIT: Also, the hanging drawers, separate laundry bins and toy bins and whatnot. It helps to keep things sorted.
58042_1229811000948_1699291837_435105_.jpg (21.1 KB, 39 downloads) 1 year old 
I live in a teeeeeny tiny space, and the best organization tool with which I am familiar is the trash bin. The less stuff you have, the easier it is to keep track of and the less time you need spend picking it up.
We cull our closets ruthlessly once a year, and go through file cabinets about every six months. Mail gets sorted as soon as it's delivered and anything that isn't a bill is trashed. Magazines are tossed once a month or placed in storage binders. We also try very hard to dispose of one old thing for every new item we buy. Sometimes that doesn't quite work out, but it keeps us from purchasing stuff for the sake of stuff.
I use organizational bins. They are organized inside too. Bills to be paid monthly and imortant forms are put in there in a hanging file system inside the bins. I have more bins than these, these were when I first moved, but now there are quite a few. A label maker is also a good thing. Once you get things in order, you won't want to mess up the system...but this is coming from a woman with the garage tool holder labeled with an inside broom and an outside broom.LMAO
Stackable cabinets fill our closets! Under the bed containers are awesome. I have canvas containers that i keep all our important papers in and i got a shredder last month to dispose of all the unnecessary stuff we don't need to have piled up!
Also i assigned one bedroom to my messy husband. I filled it with all his stuff - office clothes etc. So know he can throw things around and it wont interfere with my space. I can't stand the chaos of it lol I go in every couple days and tidy up.
We have a box in the floor of our closet. Instead of doing a big "clean out the closet" project, we just put things in the box as we run across them. Every couple of months we purge a box or two!
Not sure if you read Young House Love, but they have some great tips on organization in their projects section. I read through all of it about 6 weeks ago and have spent my time since then organizing our house (culminating with 9 hours completely reorganizing/cleaning out our office, which had become wedding central, earlier this week). It feels SO MUCH BETTER! I love their philosophy of "A place for everything and everything in it's place." It sounds so straightforward, but I was NOT accomplishing it before and now I am. Check it out: http://www.younghouselove.com/how-to/#organizationoptions
This is embarassing, but our office went from this (post-wedding and part way through the organizing process, so not a true "before" pic):
To this (after). Now it looks too sparse and I'm planning some serious accessorizing!:
@hergreenapples: OMG i looove them ..... They are ruthless. I'm trying to be more like them! they do have some clever ideas on keeping tidy & organized
Ditto on Young House Love -- awesome blog. Fly Lady can also have some good tips for the kitchen. Also, I find if the laundry is overflowing, it may be time for a good closet clean out. Do you really NEED all of those clothes? Fewer, high quality clothing items seems to be the best solution for us. We wear it, wash it and wear again. There's no time/opportunity for big pile-ups.
And with the holidays around the corner, now is an EXCELLENT time to purge all of the unworn clothing, shoes & accessories as well as household stuff (half-burned candles, unwatched DVDs, old books you'll never reread) to make room for the new items that will be coming in very soon!
I just found this blog on organization today actually! http://ariannabelle.blogspot.com/
I bought a file box that has been amazing at helping me keep up with papers. It's pretty small and was only $10 at Office Depot at back to school time. It's a plastic tub, not the cardboard box kind.
@hergreenapples: my house looks exactly like your before picture, not just one room!!! thank you so much for posting that!!! i am going to check out that blog now!!!
@MsMamaBear: love those bins!! i totally have an outdoor and indoor broom but not organized they are jus different colors lol!!! and I have a label maker already but more for my wedding crafts than anything else.
Looks like I need to stock up on the canvas totes and some under the bed thingies. I really am thinking i need under the bed risers to store things as well...
Anyone have any idea on where to get totes etc for a reasonable price?
@teaadntoast: Exactly what I was going to say.
Get rid of crap before you start storing it!
I love love love younghouselove!
@crebre80: I find reasonably priced totes at target, christmas tree shops (not sure if they are in your area?), home goods, and once in a while at walmart. I am also a big fan of baskets for storage. You can throw a bunch of crap in there but it still looks neat and organized.
@crebre80: I just bought a few totes as part of my office cleaning project. The cheapest I found were at Home Depot. I think I paid $3.99 each for the clear plastic ones in quite a big size. I also got that little white shelving unit in my photo from Home Depot along with the baskets that go in it. The totes, shelving unit and baskets all came in at around $75, which I thought was a great deal. (Gotta love Home Depot giftcards...they always come in handy!)
I love flylady!!!
I think the thing that really got me organized was preventing clutter from entering! I have outlawed specialty gadgets just because they clutter everything!!!
You know what works great for closets for things that you dont need all the time? Printor boxes. They stack great and they can be written on. They dont look pretty, but their size is perfect for closes for say mittens, wrapping and gift supplies, old mementos you dont want to give away, pictures etc. If you work at an office they are free. Now that is frugal!
I Agree that baskets etc work great for everything. Also I found that finding dual puposes furniture pieces helps. If you are goign to buy a coffee table, look for one with drawers, or if you are buying a wall unit, make sure there are some doors to hide storage.
Those low rolling plastic containers are great for under-bed storage. I keep my not often used nylonds and slips in one.
@lefeymw: i will definitely look into those under the bed storage things. We definitely don't have clutter, it is more of not a place to put what we already have if that makes sense? Our kitchen doesn't have enough closets and we dont' have a dresser. When we downsized from our house, we had built ins in our master closet so we have been off kilter since then.
I agree with the repurposing of printer boxes. Shoe boxes also work well. If you want them to look pretty you can wrap them in inexpensive wrapping paper or contact paper.
But you were also looking for decor, to which I say find a local thrift store. Now some thift stores are more "high end" than others so it depends on what you're looking for. I found a great local place run by the Mennonite Church which actually has high end things and a monthly "50% off sale".
@puppymom2006: I work at the post office so no fun boxes there... :(... I have thought about the thriftstore and craigslist. I actually purchased a cool toy box on craigslist for my boy's room. I am sooo excited for them to get their things out of the bins and crates that they have it in. With that being said I could probably repurpose one of the crates for my daughter's room... Hmm the possibilities are endless. Do you find that the thrift store has better pricing than craigslist?
@crebre80: Not all thrift stores, but this one does yes. I suppose that you have to do some comparison shopping when in comes to thrift stores just as with anything else. I will say that my BFF is a thrift store diva and she tells me to always check out local stores run by churches for the best prices. Some of my good buys: a cotton table cloth, hand cross stitched around the edges for $5; a bunch of those "Franklin Mint" type plates with nature scenes for $1 each, then you buy plate hangers at Lowes for $2 ea and have some inexpensive wall art. They also sell household items and storage containers for pretty cheap too!
I have not done much with Craigslist. My DH's friend is an avid Craiglister, but has a habit of purchasing things before checking to see if they work . . And usually they don't! The thift store where I shop actually has you test anything electronic before it leaves the store.
@crebre80: Have you thought about installing a cheaper metal closet organizer? I have done this at the apartments I have rented even because they dont cost a lot and are a life saver when it comes to room!
http://www.amazon.com/RUBBERMAID-CLOSET-3D4900-WARDROBE-ORGANIZER/dp/B000OAD62A
and this is what I meant by underbed plastic storage, but I have found it cheaper than this, a lot cheaper. I think at home depot.
purge.
getting rid of crap can be such a freeing experience. i lived with little more than a suitcase's worth of stuff for years and it was a great feeling. married now, and starting to fill our house with "stuff" but we're still definitely purgers... if something isn't worn or used within the last 6 months, it's in the donate bin.
as far as frugal decor... i love to decorate with nature. finding rocks and "cold pricklies" on nature walks with my husband and filling mason jars (ie. repurposed spaghetti jars) with them and a votive candle here in there in one... it's simple, earthy and free.
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Anyone have any great organizational tips? Our house seems to always be overflowing with laundry and cluttered with papers.
As of now I am trying the 15 minute timer trick. Anyone have anything else?