Getting Organized: Bedroom

I don’t know about you but our bedroom (and even the spare room) becomes a haven for collecting “stuff”.  I mean it is usually a secluded part of the house and is unseen by guests unless of course they are overnight guests.  LOL.

I have found when our bedroom is organized it makes a HUGE impact on my life – I don’t have as much brain fog and I see to be more focused.  The bedroom is the foundation of where you begin every day, an organized bedroom helps you wake up with the mindset to conquer the day’s challenges and enable you to get each day started on the right foot.

Here are a few ways to organize (easy and cost-free):

• Give away or toss what you don’t use.
• Sort out off-season clothes for separate storage.
• Move non-bedroom items out and store them in other parts of the house.
• Make your bed daily – it’s a quick and easy way to declutter the look of your room.

Once you’ve cleaned out some of the clutter,  you will have a better idea of what you need to store what’s left.  To save money, you want to find ways to use your current storage as efficiently as possible and invest in items which will help round out your bedroom set and expand your storage space.

Next step….

Drawer organizers – socks and underwear drawers are usually the messiest, right?  I toss mine in baskets to make it easy.  How about organizing your drawers with drawer dividers or honeycomb-style organizers to keep things moving on busy mornings.  You can pick some of these up in the dollar store.

Closet systems – We have two SMALL bedroom closets.  So for mine, we added an extra rack which helps to keep my clothes organized with long items on one side of the closet shirts and tops are on also on the top rack with pants on the bottom row.

I put the things don’t use often on the top shelf in a Thirty One Your Way Cube. The clear window lets me see what is in there in case I forget!  I store off-season clothing and extra linens in Thirty One’s large utility totes with lids.

Shoe rack, shoe tree or shoe ladder – keep your shoes in their best shape and easy to find with a shoe organizer. Double the space at the bottom of your closet with a couple of shoe shelves.

Another Option is to Add Storage………

Look at your bedroom pieces and add missing items which offer extra storage including a dresser stack, nightstands, chest of drawer, storage bed, storage bench and media stand. Storage beds and headboards – bed frames can boast the bed to product under-bed storage making the most of unused space.  It is also a great place to store extra linens and off-season clothing. Headboards with built in bookshelves and compartments offer valuable space to keep books, clocks and bedside necessities handy and organized.

Swap out your night table for something bigger – night tables keep a few things handy, but they don’t help you stay organized. Choose a two drawer nightstand instead or if you need more storage space, upgrade to a small dresser.

Dresser stack – add a couple of extra storage drawers with a dresser stack, attaching to the top of a matching dresser many offer a contemporary asymmetric look.

Bedroom chest – a chest, chest of drawers, bureau or gentleman’s chest typically have a profile that is taller and more narrow than a dresser. This is great if you are tight on floor space because it increases storage space with a vertical stance.

Accessories and Extra Pieces

Look for extra pieces that might not be part typical bedroom sets to add extra storage and utility to your room. When shopping for these pieces you can choose to match similar wood tones to the furnishings you have already or choose contrasting finishes to create an accent in your room.

Bookshelves – are not just for living rooms and home offices, bookcases can help you keep things organized, utilize baskets and boxes on lower shelves to conceal clutter.  I have one in our bedroom.

Storage bench – placed at the foot of your bed (ours is off to the side), offers the perfect place to keep throw pillows and extra blankets handy while doubling as a handy spot sit when you lace up your shoes.

Hall tree – the one in our bedroom was made by my grandfather MANY years ago.  It is  place to hang tomorrow’s outfit or keep last minute wardrobe changes off of the floor.

Today’s tips are courtesy of Furniture.com.. be sure to check out their bedroom sets and other home furnishings at a store near you.  I did not receive any compensation for sharing their information in this blog post.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!

 

Get Energized for Business & in Weightloss

This is a repost from April of 2013….

#1 – Establish priorities.

As in business, we try to tackle everything at one time. List your priorities and focus on just one or two items at a time. The same thing in your weight loss journey – one step at a time. Eating more fruits & veggies.  Exercise. Cutting out carbs. Prioritizing a list takes the stress off and allows you to focus on one thing at a time with the comfort of knowing where you will go from here.

#2 – Be as efficient as possible.

In my business, this is a little bit easier to do when I avoid Facebook, Piniterest and anything else that distracts me from my goals for the day. I even put a picture of a “security camera” in front of me. This is my gentle reminder I have to practice what I preach when it comes to office hours. In my weight loss journey, the same can be said – excuses or reasons why we don’t have time to take a 10 minute walk, eat the right foods, go to a meeting or as Weight Watchers would say “get active”. Don’t be a computer zombie or a couch potato, move even if it is up and down the stairs or around the block. Get up during commercials and move.

#3 – Combine your work with different areas of your life.

For me as a Thirty One Director, it is an easy to combine areas of my life. I use and carry our bags every where I go.  The best is when I get to combine work with a trip to North Carolina to see my daughter, Belinda. As far as my weight loss journey – it is not just a “diet”! Yes, my goal is to reach my ideal weight but I am also learning how to care for myself by eating right and moving more. Seems basic enough, right?

#4 – Actively manage your time and stop wasting it.

Time management may be easy for some but for me it is a struggle so calendar blocking has become my friend. My monthly calendar is color coded so I can manage time with family, work, my Thirty One business and time for me (sometimes this gets cancelled). Manage your time when it comes to activity or exercise. Add it to your calendar so it becomes a part of your every day life and you aren’t wasting the small amounts of time doing nothing when you could be active. I know, I need to practice this one myself!

#5 – Commit to learning new things.

My professional development is important to me because it is an investment in my business which helps me personally and my team. You can learn new things in a variety of ways like reading a blog, a video, a conference call, a networking meeting or a formal conference/ training. The same is true about my weight loss journey. I continue to learn new tips and ideas from my Weight Watcher meetings.

#6 – Don’t sweat the small stuff.

There are going to be bumps in the road but you can learn from them and then let them go. Sometimes this is easier to do in business then when we are losing weight. If you lost weight but are suffering from a small set-back like some weight gain or a plateau – look back on what worked and what didn’t. Protect your loss. Just because you gained a little doesn’t negate all the positive work that you have done.

#7 – Laugh more.

I have learned to laugh at myself. I LOVE what I do – who wouldn’t love to party every time they go to work, right? The same has been true in my weight loss journey . I have found  finding humor in everyday life makes me a happier person.

This might be lot for a Saturday but the lesson is simple – we tend to look at our lives as separate compartments – business, family, work, spiritual, etc. – very seldom merging together. When they do, it is often in a negative way – why not take the positive lessons we have learned and apply them to every part of our life as we take this journey through life.

Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!