Organzing Drawers

I'm still trying to figure out how to blog more frequently while holding down a full time job and having  a one year old and an eleven year old.  If anyone out there has any tips, please let me know.  I always think about tons of ideas to share with you all but can't manage to find the time to take pictures, upload them, edit them and write the post.

For those of you who know me, you know I have a lot of hobbies too. Jason and I both love to work out and I enjoy all kinds of crafts -- so balancing everything is a bit overwhelming at times.

But I truly enjoy this blog and all that goes along with it - the creative process, the friendships I've created all over the world, the sharing of ideas so I truly would like to make it a more regular part of my life; I just haven't figured out how.

I admire those who have.

Anyway - I've been trying to get organized around here.  I've gotten a lot of questions from people on how to stay organized with kids -- especially with all of the toys and "stuff" they accumulate.  I'll try to share some of what's worked for us in the coming weeks. 

For those of  you who have kids who are a bit older  - this post is for you.

Imani is constantly getting her nice clothes dirty by playing outside in them. Don't get me wrong, I want her to have fun and get dirty -- I just don't want her outside in a brand new pair of pants that we bought less than an hour ago sliding in mud (yes, this really happens).

Imani is the kind of girl who defies all gender stereotypes. From the time she was a toddler, I had buckets of Oxyclean  around my house with her clothes soaking in them because she found sticks and mud much more interesting than barbies and doll houses. I can't say that I blame her.

My nickname as a child was "Grubby."

Thankfully, I outgrew that.

What makes this more frustrating is that Imani chooses to grub up her clothes and then chooses those exact same ripped jeans and stained shirts to put on before we're about to go to dinner at a friend's house.  She has a little bit of trouble determining when it's appropriate to wear stained versus not stained clothes.

So I decided to try to help her with a bit of organization.

I busted out the good ole' label maker.

And labeled her dresser drawers accordingly:

We also labeled the inside of all the play clothes with by writing "PC" on the tags so there wouldn't be any question about what clothes belong where.

Imani usually puts her own laundry away so this makes it much easier for her to know where everything goes - and she knows what clothes to wear depending on what she's going to be doing.

After I finished with Imani's drawers, I realized I wasn't exactly setting a good example with my own disorganized drawers.  While I didn't need to use the label maker, I did need a new system. I have a lot of clothes and I tend to just cram them in my drawers.

I've confessed several times that I am not the organized one in the house -- Jason is. 

He's the Type- "A" - the one who cleans constantly and makes sure everything is in its place -- the one who neatly puts his clothes away and makes sure every dresser drawer is closed - the one whose hangers and shirt collars are all facing the same direction in the closet.

I'm the free spirit - the one who carelessly crams all of my clothes in my dresser and attempt to shut it with clothes hanging out -- the one who lets my closet become a disaster and then,  after about a month of living like a slob - decides its time to get organized.

This was one of those months for me.

I had seen an image on Pinterest that showed clothes stacked or "rolled" rather than folded and stacked.  Clearly the traditionally way wasn't working for me.

So I rolled all of my sweaters:

And stacked my t-shirt drawer too:

And after about three weeks, I'm happy to say that my drawers are still (fairly) organized.  It makes so much more sense this way because I can see all of my shirts.

What's worked for you to keep your drawers organized? Got any tips? I'd love to hear 'em!