Hi friends, here we are at Friday again. That went quick didn’t it? 🙂 So how are you making out with the challenge? Are you beginning to see the light? What has been the most eye opening for you thus far?
I received some questions on Facebook that I wanted to take a moment to answer here.
1. Quite a few of you have asked me about numbers. How much should you keep of this or that, what is the right number? I can’t answer that for you though. It’s so very personal and will differ for each person. There is no right and wrong here. You will need to figure this out for yourself because it all comes down to what you have the room to store and what’s a priority for you in that space. For instance if you have a love of scrapbooking and want to keep your supplies, you have to have the room to store them (and no piles on the floor don’t count!). If you don’t have the room to store them, then you purge until it fits. If you don’t want to purge them, then you have to be willing to sacrifice something else. For instance, perhaps you could pare down your pantry stock in order to make room for your scrapbooking supplies in there. Does that make sense?
Another trick that I love is limiting what you keep with the use of a “limiting” container. This is your visual to know when enough is enough. You decide the size of the container and limit supplies to what will fit inside. It will help you make future purchasing decisions too because you will know in order to buy something new you’ll have to get rid of something in the container to make room.
2. Rachel asked about the best way to organize scrapbook stickers, should they be put in one huge box/binder/system or should they be sorted them by event (eg, birthdays, christmas, baby). Again there is no right or wrong answer. What I say to this is store them by how you look for them. Pay attention next time you scrapbook to your habits and how you search for things. Store them to what makes sense for you and you will waste so much less time hunting for what you need. Do what works for the way you operate.
3. Mandi asked how to decide what art to keep from kids? What to keep & when to toss? Again a “limiting” container is my answer for this one and let your kid’s choose their favorites! I wrote about how I use memory binders and keepsake totes for my kid’s stuff and it really does put a limit on what can be kept. Another reader responded with a terrific idea. Scan the artwork and create photobooks with the pictures. Fantastic!
4. Cheryl asked for suggestions for shredding because she has a lot of paper to dispose of. I didn’t know this (I’m in Canada) but a reader told us that places like FedEx and OfficeMax have shredding services. Definitely might be something to look into and worth the cost especially if your piles are taking up valuable real estate!
5. Tammy had a question about clothes and what to do with them all especially all the ones she no longer fits into that she paid good money for. I wrote a post about this that might help –>Clothes Purging – How to Let Go.
6. Joan is wondering about how to get her motivation spark back? Joan perhaps you could ask a friend to help you. What you might need is a set of new eyes to give you a fresh perspective. Sometimes new ideas with regards to space planning and solutions are right there in front of us but we get so accustomed to our spaces we don’t even see them. That might be all it takes to light your organizing fires again 🙂 Don’t give up!!
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Finally the last thing I wanted to tell you about is a great new site that helps you find different charity organizations to donate your stuff to. Check it out at The Stuff Shop. Very resourceful!
Please feel free to link up below any progress you’ve made during the challenge so far. Big or little it’s all good! Don’t forget to celebrate your accomplishments!!
**Don’t forget to check out all the amazing sponsors, they are AWESOME!!**
Remember to link up to your specific blog post and not to the main page of your blog. Also by entering your link, you are giving me permission to use any part of your post including pictures in a spotlight on I’m an Organizing Junkie (proper credit and links will be given to you, of course!)
PS: It’s not too late to join in the fun, this challenge goes on all month. All details can be found here and prizes will be awarded based on who links up to the final link up at the end of the month.
Michelle @ Getting Through the Day says
Laura, thanks for doing this challenge this month. I’m loving taking our playroom and schoolroom for a space that was tolerable but not ideal and turning it into a well organized space!
Raven says
I am motivated, but stalled out. The ferrets still haven’t found a home. Circumstances this week meant I haven’t been able to get to the grocery store, let alone the hardware store for the painting supplies. I’m hoping to catch up this weekend when my husband is off work and then link up my progress.
Heather :) :) :) says
I’m not joining the challenge…I would just be happy if I can finally organize/neaten up my walk-in closet 😉 🙂 Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Heather says
Thanks so much for this challenge, Laura. I tend to get sidetracked when I organize and hop from room to room, but this is really helping me stay focused on actually FINISHING an entire room. I’m really proud of what I’ve done so far, but I’m sure the most dramatic changes to the room will come next week when I’m down to the wire. I thrive on deadlines, so thanks for giving me one!
Heidi of Operation Organization says
I completely agree with each and every answer you provided! I would have responded the same way. 🙂 It’s nice to be affirmed in my attitudes/approaches. Thanks!
Every person is different (with different styles of living, working, and playing) and every person has a unique space in which to live out these various roles as well. Finding creative solutions to individual challenges is one my all time favorite parts of being a professional organizer. 🙂
Mel says
I love seeing so much progress being made! I wish I could comment on every single post, but Blogger isn’t letting me. So I’ll just say it here: Whether you’re making tiny progress or massive transformations, it’s so inspiring to see so many people trying to make positive changes in their homes. Keep plugging away!
Samantha says
thanks for keeping us on task each week, laura!!!
we are going to get the pantry painted and hopefully everything put back inside over the long holiday weekend. who knows, maybe our pantry will be done way ahead of schedule. yay!!! 😉
Jen says
I would love to participate in one of these in the future. Do you plan on doing more? I just have way too much going on the next couple months, but I have rooms I plan on tackling soon.
Laura says
I’m not sure yet Jen, it will depend on whether or not I can fit it into my schedule.
Shonda says
I am slowly working through my bedroom. Will take pictures for the last link up! I started with my clothes and I’m done there. The other day I cleared off my dressers and nightstand and picked up a bunch of stuff off the floors. What a difference. My next goals are to work through my closets and drawers. I have hidden a lot of things. My end result will be that my room looks chaos free. I’m not much into decorating and I can’t even afford DIY projects to pretty things up, but maybe someday. I had a rough start, but now I’m gaining momentum. This can be done!
Laura says
Yes it can!!!!
Sophie says
Hey Laura, Im trying to add my link but it wont let me… keeps saying:
The link you entered does not contain a backlink to this site
Please create a backlink to this site to be allowed to enter your own link
I dont understand how to fix it…
Mel says
That happened to me once, because I was trying to link to my dashboard preview instead of the actual public post. Could that be it?
Laura says
Hi Sophie, a backlink is simply a link somewhere in your post that links back to orgjunkie.com. It’s a courtesy to say you are participating and how to find the challenge so others can check it out. Highlight the text you want to link with your cursor and then click on insert link in your editor and add orgjunkie.com. That’s it! Hope that helps 🙂
Sophie says
ah Duh! i knew that! Thanks! Fixed it!
Gaby @ Tmuffin says
Everyone looks so organized already! My room still looks the same. Argh. Hopefully something will click this week! Thanks for all those tips. I love the idea of limiting things to containers. It’s hard, but at least it sets a boundary.
Charli says
Thank you so much for this challenge. I have severe ADD when it comes to anything housework related and I have come SO FAR in this challenge. And I started in a week late!
I’m really starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I’m so excited about the space I’m clearing for my kids.
As I finish up this project I really can’t help but be motivated to start my next one (not until March 1st tho – I am not going to get sidetracked right at the end!)
Anyway, just wanted to let you know how awesome it is that you’re doing this. It’s been a huge motivation for me.
Samantha says
hi laura! thank you so much for hosting this challenge! it has really kept me on task with a big job – our pantry. i’m excited to update and say our wall stencil went up this weekend. looks great! now we just need to get everything back inside the pantry – which is likely going to be more work than the wall stencil. haha! anyway, just wanted to say thank you again for the motivation!
will you do another challenge like this? maybe that will get me going in other areas of our home. 😉
Laura says
I’m not sure yet Samantha, it will all depend on whether or not I can fit it into the schedule.
Marishannon says
I feel like such a slow poke looking at some of these links! While my room still looks disaster-esque, I am making progress and that is what matters!
Shannon says
Speaking of kids art work…our twins bring home so much stuff from preschool it is crazy. Last year we decide to take the huge pile of painting they had done and sort them. I bought 10 large frames from the craft store, then started picking my favorites. I would do a pass through the stack, then my husband, then me, then him…we did this until we had our favorite 10. Then I trimmed them down to fit the frames and hung them up as art in the kids bedroom. I really like that now we see them every day – and to our surprise the boys totally know which ones are theirs! I figure we can get several years of art in the frame by just stacking them – and then when we are ready to clean the frames out we are looking at 10 pieces of art a year to keep – not bad.
Tammy S says
Thanks for posting the link on how to let go of the clothes. I’ve printed it and taped it to the closet door. To clear out all the clothes that were in my spare room, I took over my son’s closet. He moved out in August and left an entire closet with nothing but gun cases in it. One half of the brain is jumping for joy, “I have more closet space”. The other half is screaming, “OMG woman, you have a problem!”