The Mess Specialist

09/26/2021

09/15/2021

Some before & after pictures of simple children's art table organization! Children need quick, easy, and visual organizing solutions to clean up after themselves consistently.

While the two white bins were working for papers and drawing supplies, and the children were able to clean up after themselves pretty easily... The bins themselves became an overflowing mess.

By separating the bin for "artwork" and "paper," finding fresh unused paper becomes quicker than digging through the entire stack. It also streamlines mom and dad's job of sorting drawings (trash, save, share) at the end of each week. Giving simple categories for drawing supplies makes clean up a piece of cake. Labels can also be incredibly helpful for children to see where "home" is for their items. For younger children, you can print out a picture of the item and attach it right to the container!

How much assistance do your children need from you to keep areas like this maintained?

09/12/2021

Dollar Tree transformation!

I posted a few days ago a picture of some new goodies I recently picked up from the Dollar Tree and now I can share how I made them work for our home.

We have a very small fridge. Probably too small for a family of 5. But there's also a section of the fridge that is sooo short and barely fits anything. Smaller items get shoved in here and pushed to the back (never to be seen again while in their prime.) If I adjust the shelves, the things below don't fit. It's just... A mess.

These little bins from the Dollar Tree were a perfect solution for this area. Now I'm able to easily access everything on this shelf without having to pull everything out. And because it's so visual, these items are being eaten and used BEFORE spoiling. My kids especially loved the "ready to eat fruit" container that they can sit on the table to snack on while doing their lessons.

Everyone has different spaces to work with. It can take some creativity and playing around with different items to figure out how to make each space the most functional for your family!

What are some of the most creative solutions that you've worked into your home? Share some pictures or explain them to us! You never know when your idea will prompt am "ah-ha moment" for someone else! 💕

09/12/2021

Adhesive labels: Giving items proper homes since the 1930s.

You're welcome.

09/09/2021

So you've figured out that you need quick easy solutions when it comes to organization. How do you handle laundry and keep your house from becoming filled with piles or laundry baskets? Laundry baskets are quick and easy of course! But they're not visual or easily accessible (especially for children!) And then piles of clothing just stress everyone out!

Laundry baskets should be something you use to transport clothing from the dryer to their homes, not an extended stay hotel for all of your clothing. Finding a solution where clothing can go "home" very quickly and with minimal effort will do so much to streamline your laundry process.

Check out the pictures below to see how I'm managing my kid's clothing. All t-shirts and tank tops are easily accessible, and also easily put in their homes. While dresses and sweatshirts are still hung up traditionally, those items are worn less often and for the one or two that make it into a load of laundry, I can hang those pretty easily in just seconds. No more getting bogged down with a backlog of clothing that I just don't mentally have the drive to hang every day.

How do you organize your clothing? Does it work for you? Drop a picture below!

09/09/2021

If you sometimes forget it's summertime because your kids are dressing themselves like snow bunnies (because that's all they have left hanging in their closets...) This is for you.

It isn't lazy.

It's simple. It's visual. It's affordable. It's maintainable. It's ORGANIZED.

If you don't succeed with traditional organization methods (i.e. hanging and folding all of your clothing into closets/dressers,) you HAVE to come up with your own unique solutions.

Stop living out of laundry baskets, stop working your butt off for systems that fail you time after time, and make your home work for you!

09/09/2021

Ohhhh Dollar Tree... I do love when I find some new amazing organizing bins and items. Who wants to see what I have planned for these items this week? 😍

09/09/2021

🙌

09/06/2021

Who here deals with DOOM bins, baskets, bags, and/or boxes?

🙋🙋🙋

If you have these baskets of random homeless items, you probably just haven't learned your unique organizing style yet. It's also a sign that you're in need of a good declutter session.

Can you imagine a world where there are no random containers of stuff in your home? Because it IS so much more achievable than you may believe.

09/06/2021

Alright, so who is "The Mess Specialist?"

• Formally known as Laurel ☺️
• Wife to bearded wild man 🧔💕
• Homeschooling mom of 3 👧👧🧒
• Mom of 3 furbabies 🐕🐕🐕
• Certified Organizational Specialist™
• Photographer 📸
• Skoolie camping family 🚌
• BS in Psychology 🧠
• Talkative, quirky, and positive 🌞

Your home can't scare me. Your kids can't scare me. Your pets can't scare me. I will however require an allergy pill if you have kitties.

🥳