Feburay is Organization Month

Each week in the month of February(and perhaps some of March as well) I am going to dedicate one post to getting organized. Now, I don't feel all that qualified to be doling out advice on how to do things but I will tell you this, I am obsessed with organization. I feel like if my things are unorganized then my life is unorganized so I devote alot of time (perhaps too much time) to making sure everything is in its proper place. I am also always looking for ways to maximize my use of space since, as you will see, I have a limited amount of space and WAY too much stuff.

Here are some general organization tips I have:

• Always be on the look out for something you could use as an organization tool. I have found some of the best things for my room in the Kitchen section, or bathroom section of stores. You never know when something will just fit!
• Gauge your space first, and then the things you want to put in it. Look at your desk drawers, or closet and focus on how you want it to look, then figure out how much, and what kind of stuff you want to fit in that space.
• Make it easy to use. If its hard to put your things into, you wont put them away. So make the area accessible.
• Label everything, it will help cut down on clutter and provide everyone a reference for where things belong.
• Ziplock bags are great for keeping small things together. Plastic ties (like the ones found on sandwich bags) can be used to keep the cords of electronics from getting tangled and out of the way. The pop tops from soda cans can be a great way to create extra space in your closet. Tools can come from things you already have.

So this week I am focusing on my desk, or work area. Now you don't have to do exactly what I did but I want to show you guys since this is the way it works for me and perhaps you will get some ideas! Below are pictures of this space, hopefully I will have some videos to upload soon. Enjoy!



My Desk setup. The desk is from Ikea and has two drawers. The chair is from Walmart. On the top of my desk I keep my computer, a desk lamp, a set of coasters and a small organizer.  

Keeping my school things organized can be a challenge, but I keep everything in a bucket under my desk.




I use one drawer to hold most of my face makeup (Foundation, primers, bronzers, highlighters etc...). I found these containers a couple of years ago in the kitchen department at Target. They came as a set of 6 with a large one, two mediums (like you see here in the drawer) a long one and two small ones.  



The other drawer I keep all of my school things in as well as some grooming tools

I use a small desk organizer on top of my desk to keep things I use often. You can find things like this in the organization or school supplies section of major stores.

One thing I forgot to mention in the video was that I have a recessed window behind my desk. I use this area to keep my printer, as well as a basket where I put all of my mail. Every other day I go through this basket and toss, keep, or take care of. I also have a Cactus and its spay bottle in this area.

Hope you guys found this useful. A organized space can lead to a less stressful life, and lets face it we all could use more time, if you don't have to search for things or spend a ton of time putting things away, you just might give yourself some extra time!

Laters!!!

*UPDATE 2/11/2012


Over the weekend I changed somethings up on my desk area

I found these stakable containers at WalMart in the school supplies section, Thery are the perfect width to hold my note cards and take up a small amount of space. I moved everything that was in the organizer on the corner of my desk into these.

I replaced the organizer that was here with the mirror I use to put my makeup on, and my small ring holder. And of course my Eiffel tower bank!