Monday, June 01, 2009

Restoring Order

I don't know about you all, but I'll tell you that I've fallen way behind in this idea of restoring order! Survival is more our theme right now - but this week is pretty clear on the calendar and I'm anxious to get some things tidied up and organized around our home.

Things I want to accomplish are:

* Tupperware cabinet
* my nightstand area (yes, again)
* do something crafty
* clear the table and counters
* prepare food for David while we go out of town next week

What's on your list for the week?

Oh, and remember me mentioning the great shoe idea my mom had? When she was at our house, she noticed the girls taking their shoes off as soon as they came in the front door and leaving them there. I have a shoe bag on the back of their bedroom door, but it was such a challenge to actually get them to put their shoes there.

We found this basket unused in my laundry room (I recently removed it from the pantry to make room for my buckets of wheat) and moved it to the entry way. Now, I simply ask them to place their shoes in there when they take them off! We do keep the nice Sunday shoes in the shoe bag in their room still - this is for play shoes, sandals and tennis shoes.

We've had a few stray shoes - but overall this has been considerably more successful! Thanks for the great idea, Mom!

12 comments:

aspiritofsimplicity said...

We have a huge plastic laundry basket behind a chair by the front door. It doesn't look any where near as cute as your shoe basket and I'm so envious. However, I have three teenagers and one of them is a 19 year old male with a size 11 foot. Those shoes just will not fit into a cute basket.

Mary Ann said...

Cute shoe idea! Last week, tired of always stumbling on our "dirty work" shoes in the laundry room, I set an unused trashcan out there to keep the shoes in. Works great! One of the toddlers reprimanded me though, "Put trash there, not shoes!" LOL!!!

Wendi said...

Love the shoe idea! I especially like that they are in a cute container.

Jessica said...

We use a red bucket (like the kind you get for building sand castles at the beach). I was sick of the shoes sitting at the front door in a pile. It's been working great. Even my 18-month-old knows where to go when I tell him he needs to get his shoes. ;)

Ruth said...

This is a great idea for the shoes. I love the wire basket. I am also working on some reorganizing and cleaning out. My nightstand seems like it's always a mess. My cupboards could use a good going through and getting rid of things. These will summer projects for me now that we are done with homeschooling.
Ruth

Anonymous said...

Yes! A shoe basket is a wonderful idea! I just have a plastic laundry basket in the kitchen by the back door, but it contains the clutter.

I am working on organizing my books. George has been trying to tell me for sometime that my stacks of books everywhere are really getting on his nerves! So I am coming up with a better shelving system and also sorting them to give some away. I'm enjoying it---it is very freeing, and most importantly, it is making my husband happy.

Anna said...

The basket is a great idea. We have a small bench that has shoes above and below, and a organizer that hangs on the back of the door. I have assigned my oldest one this area as "his area" to keep clean. So far it has worked pretty well.

Amanda said...

Thank you for a needed tip on the shoe basket! Our stairs sometimes look like a veritable shoe shop LOL!

The Hooper Family said...

I do the same thing to corral our kids' shoes. We use a big plastic tub similar to this:
http://www.target.com/Plastic-Tub-Set-4-Aqua/dp/B001LWZZBK/sr=1-1/qid=1243944928/ref=sr_1_1/189-7476094-9147704?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&index=target&field-browse=1038576&rh=k:blue%20plastic%20basket&page=1
ad keep it in the hall closet, but I really like the idea of a pretty basket to sit next to the door.

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

Since you're doing your storage containers, have you seen this contest?
http://www.easyfindlids.com/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=budurl&utm_content=budurl&utm_campaign=EFL

Sarah said...

I love your shoe storage idea, too. We have been working on training Pk to leave her shoes on the mat just inside the door but since our entrance hallway isn't that big, it isn't a great solution. I love your basket idea.

Aubrey said...

We *heart* our shoe basket! I have had to replace it a time or two over the last four years (occasionally a kid will actually sit IN the basket to put on their shoes) but fortunately I have found some really cute baskets on the cheap at yard sales!