Simplify Life Idea #1

Monday, October 1, 2012

I've been following a "Home Organization Challenge" from abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com.

It started in September, and I have actually successfully finished all 4 weeks of the challenge thus far (which included the kitchen, the garage, the pantry, and the home office). The blogger includes a printable checklist for each new task, and I've printed them out and done what they said. (Sometimes it's nice to be told what to do instead of always being the one to tell!). This week, we are in the laundry room. To simplify the decorating process in there, since I really don't have the time or energy to paint, I have a cork board up. My husband likes that there are only two nail holes (nail holes in the walls stress him out; we'd have zero wall decor if he was in charge) and I can change it. In the past, I've put up the kids' large art projects. Then, when we started homeschooling and the large projects stopped, I put up old pictures from calendars. Today, I changed it again. Technically the last step of the laundry room challenge is decorating, but I did it first. Here's what I did:
1. Used coordinating scrapbook paper to cover the board. I started with one full piece in the center (like you do when you put down tile) and then fit other pieces around. I just folded the paper up against the frame and cut on the fold for the edge pieces. I stapled the pieces which brought back memories of doing bulletin boards when I was a teacher.
2. Tied a piece of brown string to the top nails that also hold the bulletin board up.
3. Clipped our socks without mates to the string using clothes pins.
4. Made a sign, "Seeking Sole Mates," on my computer and "framed" it using a mat. I taped it to the back of the mat and then used one tack to hold it on (the beauty of using a bulletin board!). This idea came from Pinterest:
http://dejongdreamhouse.blogspot.com/2012/07/seeking-sole-mates-missing-sock-holder.html

5. Cut tiny "clothes" from sheets of felt. Pinned another piece of brown string to the bottom of the bulletin board and used tiny clothes-pins (all from a craft store) to hang the mini-clothes. All in all, this took less than an hour and has added color and character to an otherwise dull room. I may put an arrow under "Seeking Sole Mates" to differentiate between the top "clothesline" and the bottom one. The mini-clothes idea is based on a Christmas craft from Family Fun many years ago:
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/yuletide-clothesline-672207/
So, now I need to move on to cleaning out and organizing the cabinets : (.

How this simplifies my life: can change up the laundry decor, by myself, anytime I want. Also gives me an easy way to deal with the "left-over" socks.