Last month I was trying to find a movie to watch before bed. I pulled out our entire movie collection from where it was stored (in our buffet, located in the dining room) and became frustrated when I couldn’t find anything I wanted to watch, because everything was all mixed up.

Comedies were mixed in with horror films, kids movies were mixed in with dramas – it was a mess. When I did finally find a movie that looked good, I became even more frustrated when I realized that the movie that was in the case was not actually the movie I wanted to watch.

Needless to say, I didn’t watch a movie that night and the next day I set to work, organizing out movies.

While there’s nothing wrong with having a large movie collection, there is a problem if you can’t find what you want because your movies are not organized. By organizing your movies, you are telling yourself that these items are important to you and you want to be able to find them when you need them.

If you have a big stack of movies in your home that are in dire need of some organizing, this post is for you!

Movie night is a fun event for many families (ours included), but the fun can only happen if you don’t end up getting frustrated going through your disorganized movie collection to find something you want to watch!

Organizing your movies is one organizing task that really doesn’t take much time at all. Set aside an hour or so one day and go through your collection. Get rid of what you don’t want and organize what you do – then enjoy movie night with your family more often!

Are you a book lover? Do you have mountains of books all over your home and no time to read them? If your answer is yes, this article is for you.

Books are a great tool for learning and although you can find a large amount of information online these days, books are still valuable.

If you feel like your books are taking over your home, it may be time to take charge and get the situation under control.

Following are some tips to help you organize your books.

Keep, toss, or sell/donate.

As with any organizing task, the very first step you should take is to go through your collection and decide which items are the most important to you.

If you have any books that are tattered, stained, or simply falling apart – toss them. If there are books in your collection that you know you will never read again, donate them to a local charity or try selling them.

Decide where they will go.

It’s recommended to keep books in the areas where they are likely to be read. Cookbooks in the kitchen, reference books in the office or living room, children’s books in the childrens’ room(s), etc.

Store books on shelves so they are easy to get to. If you have them packed away in boxes or storage totes, odds are, they are just going to sit there and are not likely to be read and enjoyed.

Organize.

There are many ways to organize your books. You can organize by colour, size, type, or even alphabetically. Choose the way that works best for you.

I also recommend reserving your easy to reach shelves for the books you enjoy frequently. For those books that are read, but not often – keep those up high or down low.

Take good care of them.

Be sure to wipe down your book shelves and dust your books often to keep your books in the best shape possible.

It’s also a good idea to switch up the way you store your books from time to time. For example, stand your books up for a few months, then lay them flat, then stand them up again. Doing this will ensure that your books see an even amount of wear and because of that, they will last longer.

Purge periodically.

Make it a habit to go through your collection of books every 6-12 months and get rid of the ones you no longer need to hold on to.

Also, whenever you bring a new book into your home, make sure you only keep it if you plan to read it again. Otherwise, it doesn’t need to stay.

Organizing your books is not a difficult task and it’s something that should be done every so often to make sure you are avoiding clutter in your home.

Only keep the books you know for certain you will read again – if not, they’re just taking up space and collecting dust. Let them go and enjoy the space they leave behind!

How do you organize your books?

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An organized home ensures that life will run more smoothly, and I’m sure that’s something you would love, right?

Organizing isn’t hard to do, it just takes some time.

If you have large organizing tasks to complete, such as re-organizing your garage or paperwork, break each task down into bite sized pieces. Don’t try to do everything all at once or you will just overwhelm yourself.

Below are 7 ways that you can start getting organized today.

1. Make the bed.

Making the bed first thing in the morning leads you in the right direction for the rest of the day.

Every single time you walk past your freshly made bed, you will be inspired to clean and organize other areas in your home.

2. Eat your frog.

Like Brian Tracy says, the very first thing you should do in the morning is “eat your frog”. What he means by this is that you should take care of your most hated task first.

If you’re not a huge fan of emptying the dishwasher, do it first. Don’t like mopping the kitchen floor? Get it out of the way right after you wake up and make your bed.

When you eliminate your most mundane task first, the rest of the tasks on your to-do list seem like no big deal at all.

3. Keep your kitchen sink empty.

This is something I do all the time, and I can’t tell you how much it helps with the crazy amount of dishes we seem to go through every day.

After each meal, wash all of the dishes you used (or place them in the dishwasher) and wipe down the kitchen counter.

I used to leave all of our dishes in the sink until after dinner and rarely wiped down the counter (unless it was really dirty), so that always meant an hour long clean-up time in the evening. Now that I clean throughout the day, it only takes about 15-20 minutes to clean up the kitchen after dinner.

4. Do laundry every day.

I used to wash laundry once per week. With only 4 of us, I figured we didn’t need to do it any more often then that – but when I realized that it took me 12 hours to do all of our laundry one week, I decided right then and there that I was stopping with that laundry schedule.

I now do one load of laundry every single day, and let me tell you, it has made a world of difference. One load of laundry takes about an hour and a half from start to finish (including folding and putting it away). I’d much rather do this once a day, then to sit around for 12 hours one day per week doing laundry.

4. Never leave a room empty-handed.

Whenever you get up to leave the living room, bedroom, office – or any other room in your home, take a look around and see if there’s anything you can bring with you to the next place you are headed.

Perhaps you are leaving the living room and there is a pile of paperwork on the coffee table. If you are headed to the office, bring it with you.

I can find something to bring with me when I leave almost any room in our home – usually an empty glass or some garbage.

5. 10 minute tidy.

Set aside 10 minutes every night, right before you go to bed, to do a quick tidy of the house.

Put away any toys, books, garbage and paper that is strewn about your home.

Waking up to a clean home is much more encouraging than waking up to a messy one. 10 minutes per day is not much time at all, and it can really help to significantly control the clutter in your home.

6. Clean the bathroom daily.

Spend just 5 minutes tidying up your bathroom every day and you will always have a clean bathroom to use.

Keep a small basket of cleaning supplies in your bathroom cupboard and wipe down your countertops, mirror, toilet and floor, once per day. Don’t worry about being thorough – that’s what your weekly chores are for.

Remove anything from the bathroom that doesn’t need to be there.

Wipe down the shower and/or tub right after you are done using it, to keep your bathing area in tip-top shape.

7. Organize your inbox.

Email seems to be one of the biggest organizing challenges that many people face, myself included.

In order to stay on top of your email, you need to set up a system that enables you to respond to and keep track of your messages easily.

I have talked about this before – keep your inbox empty, create folders and schedule reading time for your email. Those are just a few ways to keep your inbox organized.

Organizing your home is something that is done with time, and something that requires constant maintenance. The goal is not to live in a spotless, pristine home, but rather to live in home that is more functional.

If you put the above ideas into place, I can assure you that you will simplify your life and be able to enjoy more calm, quality time with your family and loved ones.

Please share your organizing tips in the comments!

Organizing your vehicle is something that I think everyone needs to do at least once a year. Our vehicle is an extension of our home and we need to treat it that way.

You wouldn’t leave take-out containers and other garbage all over your living room floor – why is it okay in your vehicle? It’s easy to clean trash out from under the seats and off the floor, but what you should really be focusing on is making sure that the garbage doesn’t end up there in the first place.

Following is a checklist, showing you how to easily organize your vehicle.

Clear it out.

The very first step is to completely clean out your vehicle. I suggest having 4 different piles/boxes that you clear stuff into:

- Keep (Items that will be going back into your vehicle)
- Sell/Donate (Items that will be donated or sold)
- Move (Items that don’t belong in your vehicle)
- Trash

Don’t forget to check under the seats, in the glove compartment and in the centre console (if you have one). Everything has to come out.

Clean it up.

Now that everything has been removed from your vehicle, it’s time to do some dirty work. Remove your floor mats and give them a good wash or vacuum.

Wipe down the inside of the doors, the dashboard and the centre console.

Use some glass cleaner to clean all of your windows. Don’t forget the rear-view and side-view mirrors.

The last thing you should do when cleaning your vehicle is to vacuum. Get rid of all the crumbs, hair and dirt.

Decide what you need.

Think carefully about the type of items you want to keep in your vehicle at all times. It’s important to keep a first aid kit and some facial tissues, but what about a book or a beach bag? Do those things need to be kept in your vehicle all the time?

There are two kits that I like to keep in our van. One is a vehicle emergency kit and one is my vehicle essentials kit, which is there I keep things like facial tissues, wet wipes and lip balm. I also have a small re-useable bag that I use to hold extra diapers/wipes/baby power and a change of clothes for the kids. I consider this part of my essentials kit – it’s just in a separate bag.

Here’s what you may want to include in your vehicle kits:

Vehicle Emergency Kit

- Jumper Cables
- Lighter/Matches
- Candles
- Flashlight
- First-Aid Kit
- Road Flares
- Poncho
- Blanket
- Heavy Duty Gloves
- Snacks (granola bars are great for this)
- Bottled Water

In the winter you may also want to include an ice scraper, collapsible shovel and non-clumping cat litter (to help with traction).

Vehicle Essentials Kit

- Facial Tissues
- Wet Wipes/Hand Sanitizer
- Disinfecting Wipes
- Hair Brush/Elastic
- Lip Balm
- Hand Lotion
- Gum/Mints
- Pen & Paper
- Sunglasses
- Plastic Shopping Bags (for garbage, soiled clothing… or in case someone is car sick!)
- Small Child’s Toy and/or Book
- Extra Diapers/Wipes/Baby Powder/Change of Clothes

Of course, what’s included in your essentials kit will vary between families. Those of you without children probably won’t need diapers in your vehicle. If you have a dog, you may wish to include a small plastic bowl to use for water.

Make a plan.

Now that you know what types of things you want to have inside your vehicle, it’s time to make a plan for organizing those items to make your vehicle less cluttered.

- The glove compartment is a great place to keep your vehicle owner’s manual and insurance.

- The centre console is perfect for storing items that you want close by at all times, like facial tissues and your sunglasses.

If your centre console is a big giant hole like ours, pick up a cheap little basket or two from the dollar store and put that/those in your console to help keep things organized.

See how Laura from Organizing Junkie organized her centre console. Brilliant!

- The trunk is a great place to store things that you won’t need very often, such as your vehicle emergency kit.

- Pick up one or two seat back organizers to store things like books and maps.

Put it all together.

When you have figured out your plan of action for how you would like to organize your vehicle, start putting that plan into place.

Go through the items in your “keep” box and give them a good cleaning, then put everything away in the pre-determined spots in your vehicle.

Make sure to organize your vehicle as often as possible to keep things in tip top shape.

It’s so much more relaxing to get inside a vehicle that doesn’t have crumbs on the floor, smells good and has everything you need when you need it.

How do you organize your vehicle? Let us know in the comments.

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