Organized Kids Archives - Blue i Style

Organizing Kids’ Art Supplies with a Rolling Art Cart

blueistyle — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 13:55:01 +0000

Kids and art supplies seem to go hand. Whether they are flexing their creativity over the summer or completing their homework assignments for school, hardly a day goes by without one of my boys sitting at the kitchen table with crayons and markers. A few of years ago, I created an art cart to organize kids’ art supplies in our kitchen, and this organizing project has definitely stood the test of time.

This week, I’m joining 10 talented bloggers to help you get ready for the new school year. I’m sharing all the details about my art cart on wheels, and they will each be sharing their fabulous back to school organizing projects throughout the week, as well. I’ll continue adding links at the bottom of this blog post!

At this time last year, like many families, we were prepping for a semester of school from home. I shared our remote learning cart and showed you how we organized our school supplies, Chromebooks, headphones, and much more. I was blown away by how much you all loved our rolling school cart, and it reminded me that I should share the details of our rolling art cart.

This post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

Both of my boys have always loved to color, draw, and create. It all happens at the kitchen table, so I needed to find a way to keep their art supplies close at hand without letting them take over the kitchen! I turned to one of my favorite organizing tools… a rolling cart!

I own quite a few rolling carts, and they all look and function just about the same. The Container Store rolling cart I used is nearly identical in size and style to the popular IKEA Raskog carts, but it was a bit easier to assemble by myself.

Whether you’re creating a Container Store art cart, an IKEA art cart, or a Michaels art cart, the most important thing is to organize kids’ art supplies in a way that will be easy for them to find what they need and to clean up after themselves!

This plastic caddy makes a perfect crayon and marker organizer! It provides eight sections to sort out lots of different art supplies, and the handle makes it so easy for kids to carry it to the table and put to back when they’re done. It even stacks (as I’ll show you below).

One of my favorite features of this crayon organizer caddy is the removable dividers. I removed the back center divider to make room for my boys favorite stencils – the ones they use most often.

After initially starting with just one art supply caddy on the top shelf of our kids’ art cart, I realized I could double our storage and create room for additional, smaller art supplies and accessories by purchasing a second, stacking caddy. In order to stack them together, the lower caddy can’t have anything talk in it, but it’s perfect for erasers, pencil sharpeners, tape, scissors, and more!

I bought these aqua art supply caddies from The Container Store, but unfortunately they’ve since been discontinued. I did, however, find a very similar stacking caddy that’s sold in sets of two.

These aqua file boxes make the perfect coloring book organizers. I could have definitely selected cheaper file boxes (these were a bit of a splurge), but since I knew from the start that this art supply cart would be on display in our kitchen for years to come, I decided it was worth it to select organizing supplies that fit my aesthetic.

Not only does the aqua color look good with our decor, I also like that these file boxes are very durable, and not translucent. Many of the alternatives I looked at were transparent or semi-transparent, but I didn’t want to feel like all of the coloring books were on display in the kitchen. Additionally, most of the non-transparent file box options were made of cardboard, and I knew that wouldn’t end up holding up over years of use from my boys. The investment paid off, because we’ve now had these file boxes for several years, and they look as good as new.

I use these same aqua file boxes to store drawing paper on the art cart as well. I used my Cricut machine to cut vinyl adhesive labels, which I added to the front and sides of each file box, making it easy for the kids to find exactly what they need. Labels are also a really effective way of making sure the kids put things away in the right place as well.

To save space on our art storage cart, I used zippered pouches, rather than file boxes to contain the boys stencils and stickers. If we had more stencils or stickers, the file boxes would have worked well, but for the size of our collection, the pouches easily held what we needed without taking up extra space. Of course, I also loved that the aqua zippers matched the file boxes. They no longer sell these in aqua, but the version with the black zippers is the same in every other way.

Purchased individually, the best deal I’ve found on these pouches is at The Container Store, but if you want to buy them in a larger quantity, you can get a great deal on sets of 16 or sets of 24 with a variety of rainbow colored zippers Amazon.

When it came to art cart organization, the one thing I didn’t label was the crayon organizer caddy. I knew that the art supplies in this caddy would change and evolve over time, and I didn’t want to have to change and update the labels. You’ll notice that the crayons, markers, and colored pencils in this photo (taken a few years ago) are different from the art supplies currently in our art supply caddies in the more recent photos. Now that the boys are older, for example, I give them access to more markers (although the Sharpies I still keep out of reach and only allow them to use with supervision, because… permanent!).

When the boys do use Sharpies, we always put a mat underneath to ensure that we don’t end up with their drawings bleeding through onto our white kitchen table. I simply cut two pieces of thick, plastic shelf liner for the boys to use under their drawings. When not in use, I store these shelf liner drawing mats in the drawer with all of our placemats. {Check out this post for lots more tips on creative uses for shelf liner.}

Our rolling art supply cart lives in our kitchen year round, throughout the school year and the summer alike. Of course, I do love that this art caddy on wheels can be rolled away into our pantry or coat closet if I want it out of sight for a party {remember the days when we used to actually entertain?!}, but since the cart is organized and looks nice, it stays on display in the kitchen nearly 365 days a year.

Our kitchen chalkboard wall gets lots of use throughout the year as well. We create large countdown calendars for Christmas and birthdays on this chalkboard, and of course the boys also have free reign to draw on it to their hearts’ content. Since we used magnetic primer under the chalkboard paint, this wall is also a fun place to display the art work that the boys bring home from school.

In all, our cart holds: 2 stacking art supply caddies, 5 file boxes, and multiple zippered pouches. I love having everything the boys need to get creative all in one place.

I hope our rolling art cart helps you with how to organize kids art supplies. If you’re also looking for tips on organizing additional school supplies, like laptops and iPads, headphones, school assignments, and more – check out organized rolling homework cart (which also lives in our kitchen throughout the school year).

GET MORE BACK TO SCHOOL ORGANIZING IDEAS

The Organized Mama :: SKG Designs and Style :: Kate Decorates :: Global Mindful Journey :: Small Stuff Counts
Simple Joy with Ann :: The Modern Minimalist :: Practically Perfect :: The Tidy Dad

The post Organizing Kids’ Art Supplies with a Rolling Art Cart appeared first on Blue i Style.

How to Stay Organized During Distance Learning with a Rolling School Cart

blueistyle — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 10:08:59 +0000

There are so many different variations on what school will look like this fall, but for many of us, we are preparing for “back to school at home.”

The start of a new school year is always a good time to get organized and create new systems to keep things running smoothly, and this year that’s more important than ever. I’ve joined with 15 talented bloggers to bring you lots of tips and tricks for back to school organization and decorating ideas for your school HQ. You’ll find all the links to all of their fabulous back to school projects at the bottom of this blog post!

As of now our boys will be doing school online at least through mid-October, and then it will likely be a hybrid of in school and distance learning after that. Creating an organized remote learning set up is one of the few things I feel like I can control right now, so this weekend I got busy and put together a cart to keep all of our virtual learning necessities in one place.

How to Set Up a Learning Space at Home

Organizing a virtual learning environment at home starts with the questions of where your students will do their work. At the kitchen table, at a desk in their room, in your home office, or in the living room perhaps.

Back in the spring, my boys worked at the kitchen table, but for fall I debated on getting them each their own small desk. It turns out that kid’s desks are pretty hard to come by right now, but I was able to find some small, affordable in-stock desk options, and I shared them in a post last week.

After weighing the pros and cons, I decided that we’re going to stick with the school-in-the-kitchen set up once again. Since they boys are both young enough that they still need quite a bit of support with both the technology and the school work, and since I also work from home, it just makes sense for all three of us to work in the same space. It will also allow me to support them while fixing lunch or prepping dinner.

The downside of making our kitchen table home base for online learning is that at the end of the day, the table is covered in computers, papers, and school supplies that need to be cleaned up before dinner. To make this as quick and easy as possible, I decided to create an organized, rolling homeschool cart.

This cart will allow us to keep all of the boys’ school supplies right in the kitchen without taking up every surface, and we can easily roll it away into the hall closet anytime.

Of course, a cart like this would work just as well next to a desk in a kid’s bedroom or home office!

How to Organize a Rolling Cart for Remote Learning

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

I looked at a lot of homeschool organization ideas on Pinterest, but I found many of the photos overwhelming because it’s hard to see everything that is included. Rather than just showing your our cart all put together, I thought it might be more helpful to show you how I filled up and organized our cart, step by step.

I own so many IKEA Raskog carts that I’ve lost count, but I’ve recently become an even bigger fan of this 3-tier rolling cart because it’s much easier to assemble {seriously – I assembled my new cart in under 5 minutes.}

As an added bonus, this particular cart has some great accessories that make organizing a breeze. I chose a white cart to match our kitchen, but this cart also comes in six other colors.

After assembling the cart, I added a pegboard to one side. This pegboard is designed specifically for this cart, and it simply slides into place.

I started by adding hooks to the pegboard for the boys’ headphones, then added three cups for pencils, dry erase markers, scissors, and glue. Other available pegboard accessories include shelves and long shallow bins.

Once I had our basic school supplies organized on the pegboard, I moved on to organizing the top tier of the cart. To make the best use of the space, I purchased the same clear file-sorter that I use on our kitchen counter to organize mail and papers.

The boys’ online curriculum will be provided by their school, but {just like me as a kid} they both love workbooks, so we always buy them a Brain Quest workbook at their grade level to provide extra practice.

While the boys will be doing much of their work online, based we’ll be printing some of their worksheets and they’ll be writing as well, so we’ll use a few folders to organize their papers by subject.

My boys have always used small dry erase boards in their classrooms to practice spelling words and math problems while following along with their teachers, and in the spring, we found dry erase boards ideal for practicing along with online instruction as well. These boards fit perfectly in the clear file sorter, and I’ve also ordered some primary ruled writing paper that I’ll store in this section as well.

Last, but certainly not least, the front two sections of this clear file sorter are perfect for holding the boys’ Chromebooks. Their laptops have 14″ screens (referring to the diagonal measurement), but they are just under 13″ wide, which fits just right in the 13″ openings of this filer. IPads would also fit well in this set up.

One of the challenges we ran into in the spring is that both boys’ computers look identical, so they had to turn them on to figure out whose is whose. To solve the problem for this fall, the boys each chose a design, and I used my Cricut Joy to cut vinyl labels for their laptops. {I’ll share the full tutorial soon.}

Moving on to the middle tier of the rolling cart, I started by adding a narrow, clear bin (4″ w x 10″ d) to hold the boys’ computer chargers.

Since the boys love workbooks, we have a variety of other workbooks {many purchased from the Target Dollar Spot} on topics such as outer space, state capitals, flags of the world, and more. Since these workbooks don’t directly align with their school curriculum, I’m storing this on the center of the middle shelf, rather than with their schoolwork in the file sorter above.

This spring, I also introduced the boys to one of my favorite childhood activities – learning wrap-ups {yes, the nerdy genes run strong in our family}. They loved my old math wrap-ups so much, that I ordered them more in other subject areas, and I’m storing all of them in a wide, clear bin (8″x 10″) on the right side of the middle shelf.

Another of the boys’ favorite learning activities is their OSMO. Since they ask to play so often, I decided to store the OSMO base and their various game pieces on the bottom shelf of their at home learning cart in two clear bins (each 6″x10″). Also on the bottom shelf are sight word flashcards and Brain Quest flashcards.

Once I had everything organized in the cart, I added a black bin clip to each tier of the cart and printed some quick labels.

I am so thrilled with how this cart turned out, and I can already tell that it’s going to make school at home run much smoother around our house this fall!

This cart does a terrific job of corralling everything we need. The pegboard on the side adds tons of extra storage space, but I think the Chromebooks stored in the clear file organizer is my very favorite part!

While I was tempted by some of the fun colors that this cart comes in, the white cart blends in very nicely with the white storage cabinets in the dining area of our kitchen.

My sons were so excited when I showed them their new school cart. It’s a proud mom moment when my boys love an organized space as much as I do. But kids really do love order, and the independence that comes with being able to find things on their own.

MORE BACK TO SCHOOL (AT HOME) ORGANIZING & DECORATING TIPS

TUESDAY
Small Space Homework Station – Kate Decorates
How to Set Up a Homeschool Space for Three Kids – The Organized Mama
Organized Rolling School Cart – Blue i Style {you are here}
Back to School Playroom Makeover – The Goat Abode
8 Tips for Back to School (At Home) – Sweet Digs
WEDNESDAY
Create a Kid Friendly Work Space – Home on Poplar Creek
Tips for Making the Best of School at Home – Cassie Bustamante
Built-In Desk – Love and Renovations
Portable Homework Bin – Small Stuff Counts
SKG Designs and Style
THURSDAY
Organizing Tips for Arm Chair Classrooms – Natural Born Organizers
Home Classroom Setup – Organize Design Create
Organizing for School in the Kitchen – Making Home Base
Another Rolling Cart Option – Practically Perfect
Virtual School Parent Planner – Casa Watkins Blog
Organized Home School Area – Two Twenty One

A COMPLETE LIST OF ORGANIZING SUPPLIES & EVERYTHING INCLUDED ON OUR VIRTUAL LEARNING CART:

3-Tier Rolling Cart
Black Clip Labels
PEGBOARD & SUPPLIES:
Rolling Cart Pegboard
Pegboard Hooks
Headphones
Pegboard Cups
Dry Erase Markers
Pencils
Scissors
Glue Sticks
TOP TIER:
Clear File Sorter
Brain Quest Workbooks
Folders
Dry Erase Boards
Primary Ruled Writing Paper
Chromebooks
MIDDLE TIER:
Computer Chargers
Narrow, Clear Bin (4″ w x 10″ d)
Workbooks
Learning Wrap-Ups
Wide, Clear Bin (8″x 10″)
BOTTOM TIER:
Two Clear Bins (each 6″x10″)
Osmo Genius Kit
Osmo Creative Kit
Osmo Detective
Osmo Pizza Shop Math Game
Sight Word Flashcards
Brian Quest Flashcards

The post How to Stay Organized During Distance Learning with a Rolling School Cart appeared first on Blue i Style.

Affordable Student Desks for Remote Learning and Home Schooling

blueistyle — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 22:59:45 +0000

As information from school districts around the country continues to evolve regarding the return to in-person school versus remote learning for the fall, I’ve heard from many friends who are struggling to find small, affordable desks for their kids to create a dedicated school-at-home work space.

Just about everyone I know has made IKEA their first stop, which makes sense because you can’t beat the price, but from what I’m hearing, desks at IKEA are almost completely out of stock. In fact, it seems that small desks are the new toilet paper, because they are sold out just about everywhere. A quick Google search yields frustrating results, because most of the inexpensive desks that pop up at the top of the search are also out of stock.

Since I know this is a challenge facing a lot of families right now, I decided to dig a little deeper, and I’ve come up with more than a dozen options for kids’ desks to fit various space, style, and price needs. In the list below, you’ll find student desk options broken down by price category, including under $100, under $150, and under $200, and I’ve included basic size details. Each of these desks are in stock and available as of the publishing of this post, but obviously desks are going fast!

Struggling With How to Fit a Desk Into Your Kid’s Room?

If you are struggling to figure out how you’ll fit a desk into your kid’s room, or even how to create a dedicated work from home space for yourself, consider using a small writing desk in place of a night stand.

In this post about home office ideas for small spaces, I show you how I created a compact but efficient work space for myself in the corner of our guest room, including tips on organizing the desktop to make the most of the small space.

Affordable Small Desk Options for Remote Learning and Homework

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

SMALL DESKS UNDER $100

Photo Credit: Target

Hair Pin Writing Desk

The open storage on this 40" wide desk provides a convenient space to tuck away laptops, iPads, and school books. It's currently out of stock online, but available in stock in many Target store locations.

Photo Credit: Wayfair

Moyle Two-Drawer Desk

At just under 36" wide, this compact desk still offers two drawers for school supplies, and plenty of desktop space for school work.

Photo Credit: Wayfair

L-Shaped Bookshelf Desk

This L-shaped desk features a built in bookshelf that is perfect for small spaces. At just 36" x 23", this desk is great for a corner and provides students with a lot of storage in a small space.

Photo Credit: Wayfair

Parsons Desk In Multiple Colors

This simple, Parsons style writing desk is 39" wide with one drawer, and it is currently in stock and available in 4 different color options - white, black, oak, and black oak.

Photo Credit: Target

Wood & Metal Writing Desk

This 40" wide desk has a very spacious drawer with plenty of space for school supplies, and the back panel helps hide cords. This desk is not available online, but is currently in stock at numerous Target store locations.

Small Desks Under $150

Photo Credit: Bed Bath & Beyond

Dean Vanity Desk

At only 28" wide, this two drawer vanity desk is as mini as they come. If you're extra tight on space, this desk could be a great option!

Photo Credit: Wayfair

Turville Writing Desk

This 43" inch wide desk has two large drawers for organizing school supplies. It also comes in two other colors, but at present, only this color is in stock and ready to ship.

Photo Credit: Target

White Washed Writing Desk

This 42" wide writing desk comes in 6 colors, but currently only the white wash finish is available for shipping. However, other colors may still be available for pick up at your local Target store. If you need additional storage, the matching bookshelf is also available for under $100.

Sonoma Mocha Oak Desk

This 45" wide desk has a deep storage drawer, as well as open storage spaces ideal for a laptop and books.

Photo Credit: Wayfair

Cassiopeia Writing Desk

This 39" wide desk is currently available in both white and a fun bright blue color. The X-shaped base adds a little style, and the unique open storage on the end provides a spot to tuck away laptops and books at the end of the day.

Photo Credit: Wayfair

Oldcastle Desk With Center Drawer

This desk is larger than some of the others on the list, at 47" wide, but it boasts both a large drawer as well as open storage compartments ideal for books and laptops.

Small Desks Under $200

Photo Credit: Overstock

Wall Mounted Folding Desk

This wall mounted, folding desk is perfect for anyone who is very limited on space. This desk is just under 24" wide, and only 6" deep when folded up, making it the perfect compact solution in a bedroom, or even in a corner of the living room. The shallow drawer and shelves add additional storage to this very compact work space. The only downside is that the reviews indicate the assembly is a bit more challenging.

Photo Credit: Target

Blue Opalhouse Writing Desk

The detailed legs and gold pulls give this desk a little extra style, white the two drawers provide plenty of storage space in this 44" wide writing desk.

Photo Credit: Overstock

Two-Toned Leaning Desk

At under 34" wide, this two-toned leaning desk with built in bookshelves above provides lots of storage in a small amount of space!

Search Tips If None of These Small Desks Fit Your Needs

If none of the desks listed above fit your needs, try using the search terms “writing desk,” “laptop desk,” and “mini desk” as you shop online. Also keep in mind that many websites will allow you to filter your search results to just those desks that are currently in stock, as well as filtering by those under a certain price or size requirement. Using these tools can speed up your search for the perfect home schooling desk and let you get back to the business of enjoying your summer!

The post Affordable Student Desks for Remote Learning and Home Schooling appeared first on Blue i Style.

How to Store Jigsaw Puzzles In Less Space

blueistyle — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 11:37:00 +0000

If your family has a lot of puzzles, then you know how much space they take up on a shelf. For the past few years, I’ve been organizing our puzzles using an easy, space-saving method, and I decided it was time that I share my tip for how to store jigsaw puzzles.

My kids have aged into more challenging puzzles, so we donated most of their “little kid” puzzles. They recently got quite a few new puzzles for Christmas and birthdays, so I decided it was the perfect time for me to show you my favorite storage solution for kids’ puzzles.

This is the stack of puzzles that I started with. That black box actually had five separate puzzles in it, and I knew it was going to be a mess with the pieces all mixed up if I didn’t do something about it soon!

This post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

Years ago, I saw someone suggest storing puzzles in gallon-sized Ziploc bags and it sounded like a great idea, until I tried it. I liked that I could see easily see the puzzle pieces inside, but the bags were floppy and slippery, making it really hard to efficiently store them in a basket or bin without them just ending up in a pile.

Additionally my kids had a hard time securely closing the bags, so puzzle pieces would end up spilling out and I’d find myself reorganizing them over and over again.

After this experience, I went on the hunt for a similar – but better – way to organize my kids’ puzzles. I purchased and returned a few different options before I finally found these pouches that work perfectly because you can still see through them, but they are stiff enough to hold their shape, making them much easier to store and organize!

I’ve found that the Letter Size pouches are perfect for storing all of our jigsaw puzzles. The ones I’ve shown here are between 100 and 500 piece puzzles, but 1000 piece puzzles fit in these puzzles just as well because the pieces are smaller.

The larger legal size pouches work great for storing wooden kids’ puzzles and some larger preschool puzzles.

This is a quick and easy organizing project. Start by cutting the picture off of the front of the boxes.

Place the puzzle photo in the front of the pouch so that you can see which puzzle is inside at a glance, and then store the puzzle pieces behind the photo.

It’s easy to see how much space it saves to store jigsaw puzzles in these pouches. So much thinner than in the box!

Once you’ve transferred all of your puzzles from their boxes to the zippered pouches, you can file them into a basket or bin.

I love a good before and after, so here’s a side by side comparison to prove why this is the best way to store kids’ puzzles!

The puzzles fit perfectly in a basket, but let me show you where we are actually storing ours. The kids have a play table in the basement with a storage space built in under the table that’s the perfect size for our bags of puzzles. We’ve had this table for ages, and it’s no longer available where we bought it, but here’s a similar table.

Even though the sides of the storage bin under the table aren’t very high, you can see that the bags stay upright on their own – no flopping over like you’d have with Ziploc storage bags. This makes it so easy for my kids to flip through the puzzles to find the one they want to work on. And the zippers make it easy for them to put the puzzle away when they are done.

Here’s another fun side by side, space saving comparison…

This is a really quick and easy organizing project. It only takes about five minutes to transfer a stack of puzzles into the zippered pouches.

Looking for more tips to organize kids’ stuff? Check out these posts!

The post How to Store Jigsaw Puzzles In Less Space appeared first on Blue i Style.

The 13 Best Back to School Organizing Ideas

blueistyle — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 15:51:00 +0000

My boys started back to school this week, so we spent the weekend in back to school prep mode! We shopped for school supplies and new clothes, and of course, spent some time getting the house organized and ready for the fall routine.

I’ve rounded up all of my best back to school organizing ideas, including kitchen organizing tips to make breakfast and school lunch packing easier, tips for organizing homework, schoolwork, and art work, and tips to keep your morning routine running smoothly.

This post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

BACK TO SCHOOL ORGANIZATION IN THE KITCHEN

1. Plastic wine racks work perfectly for organizing water bottles on cabinet shelves

These stacking wine bottles holders are the perfect size for both kids’ and adults’ water bottles. They keep the bottles neatly organized and prevent that domino effect of bottles falling out when you open the cabinet door. Get more cabinet organizing tips.

2. Use baskets or drawers to create dedicated spaces for kids’ breakfasts, school lunch foods, and after school snacks

Organizing categories of food into labeled baskets makes it easier for every member of the family to find what they need. The floor space of a pantry is often under utilized, but stacking drawers can allow you to take full advantage of this precious real estate.

The contents of the stacking drawers on the floor of my pantry change from year to year as my kids’ tastes change, but they are always the perfect spot for storing items that we buy in bulk for packing school lunches and mom approved after school snacks.

Want more pantry organizing tips? Read my full post on our organized pantry with a 5 step organizing process.

3. Keep reusable lunch packing containers in a dedicated space

To make lunch packing quick and easy, I keep all the small reusable containers that we use for school lunches contained in one drawer. It saves time to keep all of the lunch packing containers that are already labeled with the kids’ names separate from the tupperware that we use for leftovers.

I’ve used these same square containers for lunches since the boys were in preschool, but I also recently fell in love with some containers with ice packs that snap right into the lids which work perfectly for keeping fruits and other foods fresh until lunch.

4. Use a freezer basket to keep lunch box ice packs together

I place ice packs in my kids’ lunch boxes each day, and also usecontainers with smaller ice packs that snap into the lids for the snacks that the kids take to school and soccer practice. Until recently, all of these ice packs were just floating around in my freezer drawers and I was always searching for the size I needed.

I recently reorganized my freezer, and these

divided freezer bins are prefect for keeping our ice packs all in one place so that I can quickly grab what I need as I pack lunches and snacks.

5. Hang lunch bags from the wall of the pantry

We have finally gotten into a good routine where the boys empty their backpacks and lunch bags as soon as they get home from school each day, and we hang their lunch bags from on two Command hooks on the narrow wall just inside our pantry. Giving the lunch bags a dedicated spot keeps them off the floor and ensures that we always know where they are when it’s time to pack another lunch tomorrow.

If you don’t have wall space in the pantry to hang lunch bags, give lunch boxes a dedicated basket or drawer in the pantry or another kitchen cabinet so that everyone knows right where to find them.

BACK TO SCHOOL ORGANIZATION FOR SCHOOL SUPPLIES, SCHOOL PAPERS, AND ARTWORK

6. Designate a library book basket

If you’ve ever found yourself searching bookshelves for a library book on the day its due to be returned, you need a dedicated “Library Book Basket.” Just pick a stylish basket and add a label so that everyone in the family knows where library books belong. Keep the basket in the place that the kids spend most of their time reading – whether that’s their bedroom, living room, or somewhere else – so that they are more likely to return the books to this basket when they are done.

Click here for the simple instructions for making a leather label like the one on our wire library book basket.

7. Organize schoolwork and display kids art

Kids bring home so much schoolwork and artwork! Each week, the boys and I go through their papers together to decide what is important to keep and what can be recycled. We then repeat the process at the end of each semester. I find that after a little time has passed, it’s easier for all of us to choose just our very favorites and the work they are most proud of.

I added two magnetic strips and two translucent file boxes the wall space in the corner of the boys’ bedroom to give us a place to display their favorite art projects and keep their schoolwork organized throughout the school year. Get all the details on this quick five minute organizing project.

8. File important school paperwork and documents

I use an acrylic file sorter on our kitchen counter to organize all of the mail and paper that comes into our house on a daily basis, including important school paperwork.

Within this file sorter I have numerous labeled folders – including one with each boy’s name and another labeled “Take Action.” The files with the boys’ names I use for general school paperwork, including school newsletters and the like, while the “Take Action” folder is where we place school documents that need to be signed or other papers that require some action on our part. Read more about our paper organizing system.

9. Create a homework cart

Since my boys are in early elementary school, most of their homework right now involves crayons or markers, so the art cart in our kitchen also doubles as our homework cart. But for older kids, this same rolling cart set up would work perfectly for organizing pens, pencils, writing paper, reference and text books, and other homework essentials. To organize our cart, I used two stacking supply caddies, brightly colored file boxes and translucent zippered pouches.

BACK TO SCHOOL ORGANIZATION TIPS TO MAKE MORNINGS RUN MORE SMOOTHLY

10. Days of the Week Clothing Organization

Once my boys started having strong opinions about their clothes, we needed a way to keep our morning routine running smoothly. There’s just not enough time in the mornings for indecisiveness about what to wear (this is true for the kids and for me, haha). The boys now choose their clothes for the week in advance, and use this shelf unit that we tucked into the front corner of Beckett’s closet to lay out everything that’s needed for each morning. Get all the details, including these printable days of the week letter stickers here.

11. Organize gear for sports and after school activities

My younger son’s closet is quite small, with very narrow, double doors that pull open. We needed storage space for all of his hats and shoes, as well as a way to organize the clothing and gear he needs for after school activities like soccer and swimming.

I found a narrow over closet door organizer with spacious pockets and placed one on the back of each closet door. One of the pockets is large enough to accommodate his soccer jersey, shorts, socks, shin guards, and cleats. On the opposite door, we use one of the pockets for swim trunks, googles, and a rolled up towel. Having all the needed items for after school activities in one place makes it quick and easy for us to pack up everything we need for the day before heading out in the morning.

Organizing on the back of doors is a great way to maximize your storage space. Get 14 more back of door storage ideas!

12. Give each kid their own drawer in the coat closet

We used to be dig through the coat closet each morning trying to find a matching pair of gloves for each kid, or searching for a lost snow boot on the way out the door. It was stressful and frustrating – not a great way to start the day! When we designed a new closet system in the coat closet, my number one requirement was a drawer for each member of the family, and now everyone can always find their own hats and gloves. We also added two shelves on the side to keep boots in place.

If your coat closet is smaller, or you don’t want to install a custom closet system, plastic stacking drawers on the bottom of the closet are a great alternative. And adding a hanging shoe bag to the back of the coat closet door provides lots of extra space perfect for storing hats, scarves, and gloves. Get more small coat closet organizing tips.

13. Use clips to keep name labels in easy reach

I label all of my boys’ water bottles, snack containers, jackets, and other winter gear. I am not a big fan of writing on their things with a permanent black marker. I prefer to order waterproof/washable name labels from Label Daddy. It seems like nearly every day something new needs to be labeled, so I always keep a few clipped to the mini clipboards on our pantry. The mudroom or coat closet would be another great place to clip up name labels for easy access before you head out the door

See how I customized these clipboards with my boys’ art and also turned them into chalkboards for school notes and reminders.

The post The 13 Best Back to School Organizing Ideas appeared first on Blue i Style.

Kids’ Art Display & Organizing School Papers

blueistyle — Fri, 31 Aug 2018 19:44:00 +0000

When designing my boys’ shared bedroom, I wanted to create a space that was stylish and fun, but also comfortable and functional! I added tons of storage for all their toys and books – low shelves that wrap the corner, a stylish cabinet on the other side of the room, and even hidden drawers in the bunk bed stairs.

But with both boys in elementary school now, art and school papers were starting to pile up on every surface. Each week, the boys and I go through their papers to decide what is important to keep and what can be recycled. I want them to be part of the process, and I don’t want to get rid of anything that feels important to them, but it usually turns out that it’s almost all “very important” in the moment.

I’ve discovered that we’re better off keeping most of their art and papers until the end of each semester, and then when we sort through it after a little time has passed, it’s much easier for them to choose just their favorites and the work they are most proud of. In order to make this system work, I decided to take advantage of the wall space in the corner of their room to give the kids a new place to display their art and keep their school papers organized.

It’s been a while since I’ve shared a quick organizing tip for Five Minute Friday, but I’m definitely in the mode of back to school organizing, and this new kids art display and paper organization project was so fast and easy!

You already know that I’m a huge proponent of using vertical space to add function around the house, so the empty wall space in the corner of the boys room, behind their bathroom door, had been calling out to me for a while!

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, you’ll pay the same price, but I may receive a small commission.

A few months ago, I found some adorable animal magnets and I bought them with the idea of creating a magnetic art display in the boys room.

I purchased two magnetic strips for the wall to display art, but then after seeing the other school papers piling up at the start of the school year, I realized I needed a system for the papers too. I looked a few wall filing options, and decided on two translucent file boxes with bright orange file folders {to match the other orange accents in the boys’ room}.

I love to keep things flexible, especially in kids’ rooms because their needs change so quickly. It’s why I made the orange door fronts on their bookshelf temporary {rather than painting them}, and why I always create labels for their toy bins that are fast and easy to update.

Rather than attaching the magnetic strips to the wall with the included screws, I decided to hang everything using Command Picture Hanging Strips. I use these around the house for just about every project, so I knew they would hold the weight I needed for the art display and paper filing, but will also remove cleanly when I’m ready to use this little corner for something else.

One of the keys to using Command Strips is to allow them to be on the wall for a little while before adding more weight. So after hanging everything, the boys and I sat down to sort through their art and paper and decide what to display and what to file.

After we finished sorting, we hung the art with the animal magnets and organized their papers into the orange files.

I love that the animal magnets are such a great match with the white animal knobs that we added to their bookshelves!

And I love that the finished, organized space blends so well with the overall design of their room!

This organized corner adds lots of function, but it’s still stylish enough that it doesn’t look messy or overwhelming in the corner of the room.

And when the door to their bathroom is open, it just disappears from view…

Ready to create your own kids’ command center? Here’s the full shopping list of the supplies I used, and pin the image below to remember this idea for later!

KIDS’ COMMAND CENTER SUPPLY LIST:

The post Kids’ Art Display & Organizing School Papers appeared first on Blue i Style.

Water Bottle Storage

blueistyle — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 16:00:00 +0000

Do you ever flinch as you open one of your kitchen cabinets because you expect something to come tumbling out at your face? That was me with the cabinet where we store our water bottles. Once upon a time, I had organized the cabinet using baskets. That worked well when my boys were using mostly sippy cups, but as we transitioned to water bottles that are bigger around that the sippy cups, they no longer fit in the baskets very well, and we ended up with a scary situation like this…

I knew I needed to find a better solution, and one that would maximize the available space in our cabinet. I started by removing everything from the cabinet so that I could decide what should really make its way back in, and what we should donate.

This post contains some affiliate links. If you purchase something I recommend, I may receive a small commission, but you’ll pay the same price.

The shelves were pretty dirty, so I quickly wiped out the dust and crumbs, and then used a magic eraser to remove the remaining scuffs and marks.

Once I’d sorted through our water bottle collection and decided what should stay and what should go, I took inventory to see how many bottles I needed to make room for.

One of the keys to keeping any space organized is to create a system that makes it easier to put things away in the right spot than to not. For our water bottles, this meant I needed a solution where each bottle had a designated spot so that we never had to rearrange things to make them fit, and where we’d never have to worry about bottles tipping over and falling out of the cabinet.

If you saw my Instagram Story last week, then you already know that the water bottle storage solution I came up with is to use some stacking wine racks! Since we have water bottles of different size and shapes, I picked these solid plastic iDesign wine holders. Most of the wood and metal options aren’t solid and would allow shorter water bottles to fall through, but these solid plastic are perfect and they come in white or clear.

I adjusted the shelves in the cabinet to allow me to stack the wine racks three high on the bottom and middle shelves.

I ended up using a total of 9 of the stacking wine racks {they’re cheaper when you buy them in sets of 2 or 4, so I have one extra that I’ll probably end up using in the fridge}.

I’m still using a basket on the second shelf up for some miscellaneous items that we don’t use often, but didn’t want to get rid of, like a few cups with lids and straws.

But all of the water bottles that we use on a regular basis, as well as a few insulated coffee cups, fit perfectly on the stacking wine racks. I love that I can see everything when I open the cabinet door, and it’s so easy to grab what I need and just as easy to put them away!

To get the rest of the cabinet organized, I’m using a small lazy susan for all of the boys plastic cups. I found that stacking them upside down makes them more stable, so they don’t tip over as I turn it around.

My boys can’t get enough of these super long bendy straws that can be twisted into spirals, or even tied in a knot. I grabbed an extra mason jar to keep the straws up right and in easy reach.

We’ve donated all of our other sippy cups, but I do like having a few toddler cups on hand for friends and cousins when they visit. Our favorites are the dentist-recommended, spoutless Miracle Cups. They don’t stack inside each other very well, but I had just enough room left on the shelf for four of them stacked two deep.

I always joke about how happy an organized space makes me, and that I’ll open the door just to admire it. Well, I think I’ve officially rubbed off on my husband, because Scott can’t stop opening the cabinet door and the silverware drawer {a story for another day} and smiling at the new organized situation.

I love quick and easy organizing projects! There’s so much satisfaction in finding a simple solution that solves a problem and makes life a little easier! This might just be my favorite five minute organizing project of all time!

The post Water Bottle Storage appeared first on Blue i Style.

A Toy Storage Solution That Can Grow With the Kids

blueistyle — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 23:28:00 +0000

The holidays are over and there are SO MANY new toys! It’s a perfect time to purge and donate toys that kids have outgrown, and to come up with a new toy storage plan that will grow with the kids!

There are a ton of toy organizer options out there, but to stand the test of time, you need to find a toy organizer that is flexible enough to change with the size, shape and quantity of the toys through the years.

Around this time last year, I got a call from a friend who said her son’s toys were taking over their family room and she needed help! Putting the toys “away” meant stashing them all behind the couches and chairs on either side of the room, but they really weren’t hidden and they definitely weren’t organized. It was causing stress for the whole family!

I went over to see if I could help, and we walked around together looking for a better place to store and organize the toys. She showed me a big coat closet positioned between the entry way and the family room. There wasn’t much in it other than a few cleaning supplies and some misc boxes and cords… where were all the coats, I asked?

It turns out that they also had a smaller coat closet in the mudroom that was a bit chaotic, but had plenty of potential to serve the family’s needs. With a little work, I helped them reorganized the small coat closet. {Get the details about all the small coat closet storage solutions!}

Once the small mud room coat closet was functioning well for the whole family, and we were confident that the larger coat closet wasn’t needed for coats, she was able to clear out the big closet, getting rid of what was not needed and finding a new home for the vacuum.

I then put together a new plan for this closet that would provide plenty of storage for all their son’s current toys, as well as the flexibility to adapt with new toys in the future. Keeping in mind that this closet might not always be used for toys, we decided to keep the existing shelf and closet rod in place so it could easily be converted back to a coat closet in the future. We felt like this was especially important for maintaining the potential resale value of the house.

Since the closet is wider than the door opening, I chose shelves for the bottom of the closet that were only about half as deep as the closet to allow even the back corners to be easily accessible.

After researching lots of shelving and storage options, we decided to create a custom solution using pieces from the IKEA Trofast system.

The Trofast system comes in lots of options, including different heights and widths, but my favorite thing about Trofast is that it can be used with a combination of shelves and drawers, and that configuration can be easily changed as needed. I opted for shelves on the far sides of the closet, and left the center two sections open for sliding drawers. I also chose some light weight bins with handles for the top shelves.

Here’s the supply list of exactly what I used in this closet:

Don’t have an IKEA near you? Some of these items are also available on Amazon. You’ll usually end up paying more at Amazon then directly through IKEA, but I’ll also include affiliate links to the Trofast available on Amazon for your convenience.

37″ Tall TROFAST frames (I used four side by side)
- Here are two other configurations available on Amazon: shorter; multi-height
TROFAST Shelves (sold in sets of two)
TROFAST Storage Bins: I used 3 Small; 3 Medium; 1 Large
- Numerous Trofast bin options on Amazon
SKUBB Storage Boxes with Handles (I used 6 on the top shelf)
- Available on Amazon in blue
Clear lidded, stacking storage boxes
Self-Adhesive Label Pockets

After sorting all the toys, and adding simple labels to all the boxes and bins, the coat closet turned toy closet was a thing of beauty!

I filled the TROFAST bins with groups of like toys, including blocks, balls, animals, and cars.

What I love most about these bins is that they function like drawers, but can be fully removed from the tracks and carried to the family room rug for playtime.

Then when it’s time to clean up, the family can toss everything back in the bins and slide them back in place in closet.

The sliding bins work perfectly in the center of the closet, where the door opening is, but because of their depth they would have been hard to maneuver into place in the corners of the closet. Instead, I slid TROFAST shelves into the tracks on the units on the far right and left. I then filled my favorite inexpensive, clear stacking storage boxes with additional toys and games and placed them on these shelves.

Other toys I placed directly on the shelves for easy access.

Big toys often pose the biggest organizational challenge because they don’t fit on standard shelves. When planning this toy closet, I specifically chose to leave a large open space between the new storage units and the fixed closet shelf to accommodate big toys.

I used the SKUBB storage boxes on the top shelf to organize additional toys. The long handles make the toy baskets easy to reach and lift down {even for someone short like me}. I filled these boxes with lighter weight toys and those played with less often. These top shelf storage boxes also allow the parents to control access to other items, like art supplies that could be messy in little hands if left unsupervised.

I accomplished the total transformation of this closet from under-utilized coat closet to super functional toy closet for just $250, including the storage frames, shelves, bins, boxes, and labels.

This little boy’s toys will continue to change over time, but this toy storage closet will easily adapt and grow with him! The Trofast storage frames each have six tracks, allowing different sizes and configurations of bins to be slid into the frames over time, and the shelves can also be repositioned as needed. And because the labels are just written on scrapbook paper and slid into the adhesive label pockets, updating the labels will be quick and easy. {Read how to create these easy to update labels.}

The post A Toy Storage Solution That Can Grow With the Kids appeared first on Blue i Style.

Organizing Kids Toys with Labels that Are Easy to Update

blueistyle — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 15:41:00 +0000

Raise your hand if you love to label ALL. THE. THINGS? Me too! Labeling is one of the most important steps in the process of creating an organized space, because it makes it easy for everyone in the family to find what they need, and makes it much easier to put everything away where it belongs.

But not all labels are created equal. A label is only good if it’s accurate, so it’s important to make labels easy to update for those spots in the house where the contents are likely to change frequently. This is particularly true when it comes to any kids space, because we all know how quickly kids grow and change!

This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something I recommend, I may receive a small commission.

The boys had been begging to share a room for quite a while, so back in the spring we converted Cooper’s former nursery in to a super fun shared bedroom, complete with the coolest storage bunk beds. It’s a pretty small room, but we managed to create dedicated play space, and we packed in tons of storage, including hidden behind the doors of this cute Eiffel Bookcase.

I love that opening in the center for displaying some of the boys’ favorite books and toys. But this organizing-loving mom really loves what is behind those doors. SO. MUCH. STORAGE.

This bookcase is a bit on the shallow side, so the style of bins I normally buy for organizing toys {these and these} were too deep. But I found these gray felt bins that are just perfect for the space.

But as you can see in the photo above, it’s a bit overwhelming to look at these twelve bins with no labels. How the heck does anyone know what’s inside? Good question. No one did, and so for the past few months, these baskets became a disorganized mess. It was frustrating the kids because they couldn’t find the toys they wanted, and it was frustrating me because it make cleanup much harder.

Of course, it’s my fault, because I should have labeled the bins when we first finished the room makeover. But it was one of those situations where I was so relieved to have the major decor and DIY projects in the space finished, so details like labeling the bins behind the doors were left for later.

One of the reasons I initially put off this project was that I wanted to come up with a plan to make these labels quick and easy to update, knowing that over the years what’s inside each bin will change many times as they outgrow toys and games, and get new stuff.

I decided I needed to finally make this a priority, and once I came up with a plan, it only took me a few minutes to execute. Here I am kicking myself for not just spending five minutes to create these labels months ago!

Let me introduce you to my new favorite way to create easy-to-update labels – self-adhesive business card pockets paired with scrapbook paper!

I picked out a variety of colorful scrapbook papers {to coordinate with all the color of the other side of the boys’ bedroom}, and I cut each 6″ x 6″ sheet of paper into four business card sized pieces.

I stacked up each matching set of paper labels, and tucked them inside one of the clear pockets, creating twelve sets in all {one for each toy bin}.

Then I used a Sharpie to label the front piece of paper in each set.

Sure I could have just cut one label for each bin, but by taking a few extra seconds to cut three extra labels to tuck into the back of each adhesive pocket, it’s going to be SO EASY to update these labels in the future. When the floor puzzle gets replaced with a different toy or game in the future, all I need to do is discard the front label and write the new contents of the bin on the second label back.

After sliding all of the labels into the pocket…

…all I had to do was peel the label pocket off of the backing…

…and stick it onto the bin.

These adhesive pockets stick really well, but are easy to remove for later.

Now that all the bins are labeled, it’s SO much easier for everyone to find the toys they want! Rather than just having twelve identical bins with a randomly assortment of toys, everything now has a dedicated spot, which means less time searching and more time playing. And it makes clean-up much quicker as well!

For very young kids, pictures, color-coding, or numbered bins, can be a good way to go, but now that my boys are old enough that one is reading, and the other is recognizing letters and words, labeling these baskets with simple descriptions was fast and easy.

I’ll definitely be using these adhesive label pockets more often when I need to create labels that can be quickly updated over time. And spending just a few extra minutes to cut the extra pieces of paper to tuck behind the current label is going to pay off big when the time comes to update!

The post Organizing Kids Toys with Labels that Are Easy to Update appeared first on Blue i Style.

Bookshelf Makeover Without Paint: An Ikea Hack

blueistyle — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 19:23:00 +0000

I think it’s safe to say that I have no fear of color. Especially when it comes to decorating kids’ rooms, I say, the more color the better!

BUT I also have my practical side, and I’m passionate about creating kids’ spaces that can grow with them {I even wrote a post with tips for designing a boy’s room that grows with him}. So when I wanted to add some vibrant color to the bookshelf in my sons’ new shared bedroom, I didn’t want to do anything too permanent. Rather than painting the doors of their bookshelf, I found a way to get the look I wanted with a quick and easy, temporary update.

The basic, cubicle-shaped Ikea Kallax bookshelf is one of my all-time favorite pieces for decorating and organizing alike. It’s so versatile because it comes in lots of configurations and can be stood up or laid on it’s side. And grouped together, two of them work perfectly in a corner.

For my boys shared room, I wanted a combination of open book shelves and closed toy-storage, so I decided to add the Ikea inserts with doors to the lower cubicles of the Kallax.

Since we had a lot of white going on in their room – all white furniture, mostly-white duvet covers, and white frames for all of the art… I really wanted the bookshelf corner of the room to be a fun and colorful space for creative-play.

The Ikea Kallax doors currently come in a variety of colors – including white, brown, black, and even turquoise and yellow – but none of these were right for the room. What I really wanted were bright orange doors to tie in the bits of orange from each of the vintage travel posters I picked for the room.

My first thought was to paint the doors – but I foresaw a couple of problems. The doors have a high-gloss finish, and I was worried about getting good paint coverage that wouldn’t scratch or chip without lots of sanding, priming and prep work. Second, I wasn’t sure we’d always want bright orange doors on the bookshelf. In a few years, when the boys are older, they might want to tone down the colors in the room a bit, so I didn’t want to do anything permanent.

After lots of debate, I came up with a super easy and inexpensive solution… adhesive vinyl!

This is the same type of vinyl I use for lots of DIY projects {like my yard dice}; the same vinyl I use to create labels for many of my organizing projects {like under my kitchen sink and on my charging station}; and even the same vinyl I used to dress up the closet door in my master bathroom!

The standard size roll of vinyl that you can buy at a craft store is 12 inches tall, but the bookshelf doors are 13″ x 13″, so I needed a larger roll. After doing some price comparisons online, I found a great deal at USCutter. For only $12.50, I was able to get a 15″ x 10 yard roll of bright orange Oracal vinyl {color number 034}.

Determining the exact size to cut the vinyl was a bit tricky since the edges are slightly rounded. I first laid a door on the vinyl backing and marked the edges. Then I used a ruler and reduced the size by an 1/8th of an inch. After testing the first one and determining it was a good size, I replicated it to cut the vinyl for the other five doors.

To apply the vinyl to the door fronts, I started by peeling off just an inch or two of the backing.

I lined that exposed adhesive up with the edge of one of the doors and stuck it down. From there, it became a two person job. I had Scott hold up the opposite corners of the vinyl and slowly peel away more of the backing bit by bit. Then I used an applicator tool {affiliate link} to smooth down the vinyl little by little.

Even with this method, we ended up with quite a few small bubbles in the vinyl.

The good news is that the bubbles were much less visible when the doors were upright, rather than laying down. But nonetheless, I wanted to remove as many bubbles as I could before installing the doors on the bookshelf.

The easiest way to eliminate bubbles from vinyl is to use a very thin needle to poke a hole in each bubble…

…and then use a scraper tool {affiliate link} to smooth out the air.

With most of the bubbles removed, the only thing left to do was poke a hole in each vinyl door front to allow our knobs to be installed. By holding the doors up to the light, I was able to see through the vinyl to see where the predrilled hole in the doors was located. I used a screw to poke through the vinyl.

We installed the orange vinyl covered doors on the bookshelf, and then added the white animal head knobs. I just love the bright colored pop of color!

For less than $15 and for less than an hour of DIY time, this Ikea bookshelf hack makes a big impact in the room!

Behind each door we used a blue bin to organize and contain the boys toys.

By placing the two Kallax bookshelves in the corner of the room, we were able to maximize book and toy storage, and create a perfect place for reading and playing. Be sure to check out the full shared boys’ room makeover – it’s packed with lots of other creative storage solutions to make the most of the small space!

In the future, if the boys no longer want this bright orange in the room, I can simply pull the removable vinyl off of the bookshelf doors. I love this temporary decorating solution, which will make it easy for this bedroom storage to grow with the boys for many years to come!

The post Bookshelf Makeover Without Paint: An Ikea Hack appeared first on Blue i Style.