the hardest thing for us is changing needs, as i imagine it is in every household.
when we moved into our 2 bedroom apartment i was pregnant with our son & a year & 20 days later we welcomed our daughter. with my husband constantly deploying, his shift changing, countless doctor appointments, maintaining bills, vacations {what are those??} out of town family visiting & keeping track of mundane things our 4 monthly wall calendar was created.
originally, i had 2 monthly calendars, along with a yearly wall calendar on the bulletin board. as the end of the 1st month ran out i put those dates on the 2nd calendar & replaced the 2nd with the next month. but when i needed to plan ahead i found that having 4 monthly calendars was a lifesaver.
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| bulletin board of 4 montly calendars, pencil cup, 2 wall mounted mail organizers, standing magazine/cookbook holder, my son's car chair from grandma & grandpa, hats, hoodies & last years halloween outfit {because you never know when you need to be a monster!} |
i create my own yearly calendar {in a monthly format} in a word document & i tailor it to my needs. to make it fun i choose a cool font & vary the colors for months/seasons/holidays. makes sense? our bills are listed on the date they're due. for example: t-mobile $120.
doctors appointments are written in the shortest format, as space is limited. i put the time first, child, dr name, reason for apt & location {if that office has several locations}.
like: 0930 ella dr wright weight check
all of the times on our calendar are in military time as we're a military family. it might seem confusing @ first, but once you get accustomed to it you won't want to switch back. it avoids confusion as to am, pm??
our calendar is also color coordinated. i chose bold colors that are easily visible on our white printer paper.
bills: green
doctors appointments: orange
holidays: red {occasionally i alter this for the holiday}
birthdays: purple
son's stuff: blue
daughters stuff: pink
household/reminders: black
we have a grey pencil cup holder attached to the wall {with 3m mounting tape} it was purchased at target & holds more than enough pens. i like how the divider keeps the pens from falling over the place.
below the bulletin board are 2 white mail organizers that are attached to the wall with molly's & screws. the 3 hooks hold a hoodies , hats, etc. for $17 a piece at target they were a steal!! & much cheaper than pottery barn.
one holds scrap printer paper that would normally be trashed but gets re-used for to-do lists, shopping lists, reminders, phone notes, etc.
the other holds important papers for upcoming doctor appointments, our rent check & anything else that is critical {like notices from out apartment office about working being done that week}. everything else gets filed away in my desk.
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| then....... way too school teacher for my taste. apple anyone? |
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| now.... sleek & simple. holding my most used cookbooks |
since i bought it on impulse i had no idea where to put it or if it would be a perfect fit in a particular spot. actually i remember telling myself that i didn't need it & put it back on the shelf, but then somehow it ended back in my cart as i told myself if i didn't buy it i'd always regret it. i was very much right. i love it & would love to find another match :)
to my luck it is a perfect fit behind our laundry room door at the end of the kitchen & the door doesn't hit it when it opens. so voila, wasted floor & wall space is used to the best capacity!!
so there you have our command center. it works for us & is never a mess. i'm not an expert on organization, but the one thing i've learned is that you have to find a system that works for you & your family & one that you'll be able to maintain.
:)
