Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Little Inexpensive Organizational Idea For You

Do you spring clean?  Or fall clean?  Growing up, my mother was a fanatic about spring and fall cleaning.  That meant washing all the windows, cleaning and waxing the hardwood floors, washing walls, and cleaning out closets and cabinets.  Ugh.  I am not sure most people do spring/fall cleaning anymore, but we sure did and the thing I hated most was washing windows with her.

Mom would always do the inside windows and I would get stuck outside on the ladder.  She would tap on the window for any and every place that I missed or was streaked.  Tap, tap, tap in the upper right corner.  Tap, tap, tap in the middle of the bottom window, tap, tap, tap - you get the picture.  Window washing was an all day event.

Unfortunately, old habits are hard to break although I didn't keep the spring/fall schedule and I never made our kids wash windows with me.  Dan and I usually did them when he was out of school in the summer and I NEVER tapped on the windows.  I promise.  A few weeks ago, when the sun was shining I noticed how dirty our windows looked, so out came the window washing supplies.  Fortunately, we now have those lovely windows that you can flip to the inside and wash the inside and outside so I did them all by myself.  Nice.  Wow, where were those back in the day.  Flip windows may be one of the greatest inventions of all times!  It certainly makes the job of window washing a breeze compared to taking down storm windows, cleaning the windows and the storm windows, then putting the storm windows back up.  I don't miss that at all.

I have been doing some spring organizing - cleaning drawers and closets - and wanted to show you this fantastic little idea that I saw on Pinterest a while back from the blog Space Says.  Some people are geniuses and I so appreciate this idea.  All you need is a package of inexpensive shower curtain rings that snap closed and a clothes hanger.  I got a package of a dozen rings at the Dollar Tree for -  you guessed it - one dollar.  You simply put the rings around the hanger and snap them closed.  Don't they make you think of the "earrings" John Candy sold in Trains, Planes and Automobiles?  Please tell me you have seen that movie.  If not, be sure and rent it!  One of the funniest movies ever.  Makes me laugh to just think about it.  
Now, you can use them for hanging scarves, or neck ties, or whatever you can think of.  Would even work for jewelry and belts.  I'm thinking you could even hang tights this way.  Just pull a pair through the ring and you could see the colors and textures so easily.  Yes, I like that idea a LOT!  Note to self.

I can now take a scarf off a ring without them all falling in the floor which is fantastic!  No more chasing scarves all over the closet floor.  You no longer need an expensive organizational hanger system that costs a small fortune.  I have bought so many different kinds of things through the years and they just didn't work.  This really works AND I can see all the scarves and belts when I am getting dressed.  It hangs neatly at the end of my closet on a simple hook and I am thrilled that the entire cost was only one dollar plus tax.

Have you tried the round belt hangers?  Or the multi-layered hangers?  I even tried folding all the scarves and storing them in a drawer, but they would always get so messed up when you tried to find the one you wanted to wear.  I would have LOVED having this system to use in my costume shop.  It would have made organizing all the scarves and accessories so much easier.  Thank you Pinterest genius for this idea!  It's the little things that make life so much easier.  If you have suggestions for ways to use this awesome idea, please share with us!  We will all appreciate it.  It's the little things that can mean the most.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Sharing ideas makes the world a much better place.  Donna