Organized Homework Station, Office & Command Center

It's back to school time in our neck of the woods and we are pretty set as far as homework and school supply organization go.  I thought I would share our homework area, "office" and command center. Basically, they are all one area in our home.  My kids do their homework at our kitchen table.  The table is right next to my "office," and most of the homework supplies are in our laundry room which is right off of the kitchen.  Sorry that some of the picture are a bit dark, as I took them later in the evening.

On top of my desk is a magazine file where I keep my receipt accordion and a few file folders with different items in them, the printer, a small desk organizer, pens and our tablets.  The white wall system is from Pottery Barn and I absolutely love it!  The calendar has all of our sports, events and appointments on it, while the board on the other wall is where I put invitations, birth announcements, photos, etc.

I keep a container of wipes here simply because I have four children under the age of 8.  I use these every single day, so it's handy to have them right near the kitchen table.  

I shop too much and I return things just as much.  Therefore, it's imperative that I save all of my receipts and keep them organized in this accordion file.  

The cabinets under the desk hold all of my office supplies.  That includes extra supplies such as tape and staples, printer supplies, computer software, small electronics, hole punchers, blank CDs, my laminator, notebooks, binders, sheet protectors, folders, printer paper, cardstock, construction paper, etc.  

Pardon the ugly magazine files.  I had other labels on them before and they ripped during removal.  

All of the kids' supplies and arts and crafts are in our laundry room.  I keep the majority of it in our 9-drawer Alex unit from Ikea.  This is where they can pull from when doing arts and crafts at home.  I have a separate container of supplies that are specifically for refilling their school pencil boxes throughout the year.  The blue container on top of the shelves is their new homework caddy.  

Crayons, markers and pencils.

All types of glue, including a hot glue gun in the pencil case.  

Paint.

Stickers.

Tattoos.

Miscellaneous arts and crafts.

The bottom three drawers are for coloring and activity books.  

 I keep all of their pencil box refills in this two-tier container.  I also have the pencil sharpener plugged in behind this shelf.  That little container in the back is for collecting Box Tops.  

This thing is well stocked.  The kids are constantly being asked to bring new supplies in throughout the year.  I refill everything as needed.  

This year I also decided to put together a homework caddy.  I plan to set it on the table during homework time.  This way they should have what they need right there and then I can just put it back in the laundry room when they're done.  I found this caddy at Target and it's perfect!  I just popped in a few mason jars to hold the pencils and markers.  

Lastly is the kids' command center.  I did a complete post about this here.  You don't see their backpacks there yet, but the kids hang them on these hooks when they get home each day.  The Thirty One wall organizer is where I keep all of their calendars, newsletters, reminders and homework.  This year I will have a 2nd grader, 1st grader and a preschooler.  They each have a pocket for their homework.  I usually take everything out of their backpacks when we get home and stick any homework in their pockets until we have homework time.  

It's in the perfect spot, as we often come in through the garage and they can hang up their backpacks right away.  

That about sums it up!  Our whole setup worked out really well last year, so I have high hopes that this year will be the same.  I feel very prepared as far as school supplies and a homework "station" go.  Best of luck to all of the kids, parents and teachers embarking on a new school year!

Weekend Touch-ups

I didn't have any plans for this past weekend, so I made big plans to clean and organize some spaces in the house that were getting a bit out of control and needed to be touched up.  Don't get me wrong, I love a good weekend plan with friends and family, but I also love when the schedule is clear and I can work on things around the house instead.  I am one of those people who can always see those messy areas in the back of my mind even when I should be focusing on other things.  Anyway, this weekend I made a list and I accomplished a lot and it felt great!  I will just take you on a quick tour of what I worked on.

The laundry room was getting a bit out of control and just needed some straightening up.  Also, that Ikea 9-drawer Alex unit needed an overhaul.  That is where I keep all of the kids' art supplies.  You can read how I originally set it up here.  I never planned for it to stay super neat and organized with four kids under the age of 8, but I need to do a better job of looking into it and straightening it up more often to keep from having to completely empty it like I did this weekend.  Some of the photos were taken with my phone, so please excuse their blurriness.

Everything came out and I wiped out the drawers.  I filled a whole garbage bag of broken crayons, old art projects, leaky glue, used coloring books, etc.

I checked all of the markers and threw out the duds.  I put the keepers into Crayola tins and pencil cases and put everything else away as well.  

I was keeping all of the kids' extra school supplies in a small white box (which you can see in my laundry room post), but when they brought their pencil cases back home at the end of the school year, everything didn't fit.  I had a plastic stacking bin lying around in the basement that works perfectly for storing the supplies.  

I have a cabinet in our laundry room that is dedicated to my candles, vases, etc.  It also needed a bit of cleanup.  I even filled a small diaper box with things to donate.  I added a few more baskets and now I don't fear things falling out when I open the door.  

Once the art supplies and candles were organized, I just swept the floor and wiped down the washing machine and dryer and the laundry room was looking much better!  

My desk was also starting to look unsightly, so I went through it and got rid of what didn't belong or things that I never use.  Seriously, what's with all of those scissors?!  These pictures are mid-organizing, but it typically does get messy like this with all sorts of stuff.  

The after picture never disappoints!

I also updated our medicine cabinet.  Got rid of anything that had expired and wiped off the shelves.  Just a few minutes later, it was much better.  You can read a full post about our medicine cabinet here.

I had frames and wall art stacked on our dining room table for weeks now with intentions of getting them up on our living room wall.  I dusted and vacuumed the living room and then hung everything up.  Can you tell that I am going for a coastal feel with this space?  Unfortunately, our hideous dark green microfiber sofas just keep sticking around and will until we can afford new ones.  Also, we have a 2, 3, 6 and 7 year old, so new sofas probably wouldn't be the best idea at the moment anyway.  But they are the farthest thing from coastal.  Bleh!  

Everything looks much better on the walls than they did on the dining room table.  Speaking of the dining room, I also updated our seasonal bucket list.  It's my favorite season to do!  You can read more about that chalkboard here and here.  

That's about all I have to show with photos.  I also touched up our master, linen and hall closets, my craft room, the game and puzzle cabinets, my makeup organizers and the pantry!  I also finished all of the laundry, though by now I am sure there is another load (or two!) ready to go!  I was a woman on a mission this weekend and would you believe I didn't even cross everything off of my list?  What can I say, my list is never ending, but what are you gonna do?!  I feel so accomplished and I woke up this morning feeling a lot better and refreshed knowing that all of those spaces were clean and organized back to where they should be.

My Organized Purse

I am not big on purses.  I definitely used to be, but just haven't being going crazy over them as much as I did before I had kids.  Don't get me wrong, I still love purses and love to add to my collection, but I just don't very often.  For awhile now, I have been carrying a cognac tote from Nordstrom's website.  I saw it on one of my favorite blogs, Hi Sugarplum!, and went for it when it was on sale.  It is by the line BP, which I believe is from their Junior's department.  Anyway, it's cute and I do like it, but it lacks structure and there are absolutely no pockets inside.  It definitely does the trick when I need to take more than my usual items.

My stuff was all over the place.  When I have that much space, it's obviously easier to just throw things in instead of having any kind of organization.  I was finally getting over that purse, at least for day to day use.  I needed something that kind of forced me to keep it organized.  Enter the Merona Dome Satchel from Target.

At $34.99, it's inexpensive in the world of handbags, but it was even more than I would have liked to pay.  It's obviously not top quality and I am sure it won't stand the test of time, but I am happy with it and have finally discovered the shape of handbag that I prefer for whenever I do find myself shopping for a replacement.  Now, let's see how I keep it organized!

The things that I absolutely need in my purse are my planner, coupon accordion, makeup bag, wallet, keys and phone.  

It's like the bag was made for the specific items that I like to carry with me, because they fit so nicely.  The four bigger items have their spot in the middle and then I usually pop my keys in the side zipper pocket and my cell phone in one of the side slits.

I have had this bag for a little over two weeks now and I am absolutely loving it!  There is just enough space to fit what I want and not too much space to allow me to just throw things anywhere.  It kind of forces me to put my cards, receipts, makeup, etc. back where they belong right after I use them.  

Now, you ask, where do I keep all of the stuff for my four children?!  I am currently using a Zip-Top Organizing Utility Tote from Thirty One as a diaper bag.  We have one child who is still in diapers and I like having a place for a tiny first aid kit, snacks, sunscreen, etc.  I always grab that if I am heading out with the kids.  If I am going somewhere that doesn't require me to have my entire wallet, planner, makeup, etc., then I just use a small wallet and throw that in the diaper bag and leave my purse at home.  Otherwise, I just take both.  Not a big deal.  

I definitely suggest looking for a bag with more structure if you are hoping to keep it organized.  It definitely helps when you only have just enough room for what you like to carry along.  

In case you are wondering about some of the items I keep in my purse.... My wallet is actually a personal sized Filofax organizer.  I purchased mine from Amazon a few years ago.  My coupon accordion was from Office Depot, but those things can be found anywhere.  My makeup bag is a Coach outlet find, also from many years back.  My planner is an Erin Condren Life Planner.  There is no way I could keep the schedules of six people organized without a planner that I love.  Should you ever find yourself interested in ordering an Erin Condren Life Planner or anything from the site, please use my referral code to get $10.00 off of your first purchase!  

At some point, I may do a post about my organized wallet and a post about how I use my Erin Condren Life Planner.  Hopefully I can get to those sooner rather than later!