I have a confession: At home I am an un-organized mess. Being organized is not my strong suit. There, I said it, I feel better now. Lately though I have been frustrated by wasting time that I could be doing something by looking for the tools and hardware that I need. This has led to things just not getting done or worked on. For example we have a cute little sit up/step down stool in our bathroom for the girls when the brush their teeth. A few MONTHS ago two of the screws came loose and it started to fall apart. Because it would take me 20 minutes to dig through our bucket of tools to find screws and the drill there it sat, broken.

A few weeks ago good (super organized) friends of mine moved and asked me to come help with hanging up some planter hooks and tapestries. When I went over my super organized friend not only had a list that kept us on track but she had small plastic bins that contained various hardware items (screws, hooks, anchors, bolts, etc…) so that if we needed a ceiling hook, wall anchor, screw, allen wrench, etc… she knew where to look and it only took mere seconds to get the right piece. We got through tons of things on her list without ever having to search more than a minute for anything. It was an eye-opening experience for me. I always knew, logically, that being organized saved time but her I was confronted with it. Because of her planning and organization we were able to get a mountain of things done. This inspired me.

A quick aside to tell you a little bit about our home. We have no attic or basement and my mother in law lives with us, occupying the lower half of the house. So we are four people living in less than 1,000 square feet. Everything we own is also contained within that same sub 1,000 square feet. Our tools are kept in the hall closet, mostly in a bucket, some on the floor, some on a shelf, etc… This often caused problems with being able to close the closet door. We recently went through a culling of board games and gained some shelf space in the closet, this was my chance. I headed out to the store and picked myself up six small plastic containers with snap on lids. I took everything tool and hardware related out of the bucket and laid it out on the floor. I then sorted the items into the six bins. I divided them into Nails & Staples, Picture Hanging Supplies, Tape, Paint & Glue, Screws & Anchors, Miscellaneous (a little disorganization with my organization), and Light Bulbs & Large Misc. I then placed all of the items where they belonged. Once I was done that I then organized all of the tools in the bucket. The bins now stack nicely on the shelf in the closet, the bucket fits nicely on the floor and the door always closes.

Since my tools and supplies are nicely organized I have been able to make small repairs around the house quickly and easily by simply pulling out the container I need. I even hung our broom and mop (also stored in the same closet). Finally the other day, while the girls were brushing their teeth I grabbed the drill and the bin of screws and had their stool repaired in the time it took them to brush their teeth. Score one for organization.