Start with the pantry

Forget designating sections for canned food and dry food and instead set up your pantry and cabinets in a way that is functional and efficient by organizing the items inside it by meal: store all breakfast items together; store all snack or entertaining items together; and keep dinner items together. This not only makes for quicker grabbing of ingredients when you’re cooking, but also makes meal planning and putting together your grocery list easier.

Tame those flat items

You know — like trays, cutting boards, and the always-annoying pot lids. Because while they may seem unobtrusive, they are utterly impossible to neatly stow away (and yet retrieve easily) and are instant space-eaters.

By far the coolest idea I’ve seen to solve this problem is by using spring tension rods normally used for curtains (like these). In a cabinet or pantry, simply use appropriatley-sized rods to create slots in which you can slide these hard-to-store items into. Or, if you have a deep enough drawer, do the same thing by positioning the rods from front to back inside the drawers. Presto! Your pot lids are kept separated and neat.

Find extra storage space

A simple skirt attached to a pedestal-type sink creates instant, pretty storage for things like towels, cleaning supplies, and extra toiletries — keeping them out of sight yet close at hand.

Here’s how to do it.

Don't forget the back of the door

The back of your bathroom door is an often overlooked space that can hold more than just your towel and robe: think hooks for jewelry, shallow shelving for extra toiletries, or hanging caddies for all sorts of loose beauty goodies.

Keep a calendar

Keeping a calendar may seem obvious; but what I’m talking about is REALLY keeping a calendar. Check it every day; write down birthdays, anniveraries, doctor’s appointments, where you go and what you do…anything and everything that’s worth noting and remembering.

Whether it’s a big ol’ wall calendar (like this super cool Stendig one from Crate & Barrel), a small, portable pocket calendar, or — yes — even your iPhone, you’ll be thankful that you don’t have to endure another “You missed your sister’s birthday!!!” call from your mother again.

Make a daily to-do list

I, personally, live by the to-do list. When I get lazy and don’t keep one, I’m all over the place; I get overwhelmed and, as a result, I’m totally paralyzed. So nothing gets done.

A daily to-do list helps in many ways: first and foremost, it empties your brain of all the little (and big) things you need to do and gets them down on paper. Lists also help you plan and priortize your day, and they also give you a sense of accomplishment as you cross out each item as it’s completed.

Whether your list is old-school and on paper (as mine is), on your computer, or online (like at this super-cool site), just make sure it’s convenient and in-your-face, so that you pay attention and adhere to it during the day.

Neaten your accessories

Nothing is worse than digging through deep baskets for a belt or a scarf — when it comes to flair, you need to SEE what you have. And, believe it or not, the easiest (and cheapest) way to do this is by mounting paper towel holders onto the inside of your closet to hang your scarves or ties. And, while you’re in the kitchen aisle, grab a kitchen utensil rail with S hooks for your belts.

[Via Martha Stewart]

Re-think your drawers

Believe it or not, your dresser drawers can end up being a black hole of insanity. To keep them neat and to make your folded clothes easier to find, try this trick: arrange your clothes folded-end up in the drawer, rather than flat (as above). Metal bookends can hold them in place and upright, letting you see all of your inventory, instead of whatever’s sitting at the top of the pile.

[Via Martha Stewart]

Keep 'em separated

Two giant canvas tote bags can serve a purpose other than just lugging stuff to the beach. How about this: throw two of them into your closet and, once and for all, end the daily game of “is-it-dirty-or-is-it-clean?” Designate one bag for laundry and the other for dry-cleaning, and you’ve saved yourself many minutes of sorting and sniffing. Bonus: simply tote the bag filled with dry cleaning right to the cleaners. Easy!

[Via Martha Stewart]

Make cleaning a daily task

I used to clean my house every Saturday morning. Not only did it end up being a half-day event (and really NOT what I wanted to be doing during my precious weekend time), but it means that by Friday, the house was a complete disaster area (so forget being cool with last-minute guests).

So rather than designating one day a week to clean, do a little bit every day. Think about it: giving the kitchen a quick wipe-down and sweep-up for 5 minutes after dinner every night keeps it tidy and manageable. Running the vaccum for 20 minutes on a Wednesday is easy enough. And so on. By breaking your chores up into smaller tasks that you can do a bit each day, you’ll be able to stay on top of impending messes and will always have a presentable place when friends stop by.

Ruthlessly organize paperwork

Although you most likely enjoy the convenience of doing some (or all) of your banking and bill-paying online, it’s inevitable that you’ll have hard copies of financial and personal paperwork that you’ll need to keep; not to mention the daily task of dealing with whatever comes in the mail.

First, you need to know what you can throw away, and do it on a daily basis. ATM slips can be tossed once the withdrawl or deposit is recorded to your account; sales reciepts for minor purchases can be thrown away once you have used and are happy with your purchase. Keep receipts for major purchases.

If you’re still getting paper bills, paystubs, and/or other account statments in the mail, you’ll only need to keep them for a full calendar year, after which you will probably be able to throw them out after receiving your final year-end statements.

Keep mail and reciepts organized by either throwing them away immediately or setting them aside for filing. Keep bins or baskets (like this cool wire basket from Cox & Cox) handy for anything that needs to be dealt with (i.e. a bill that needs to be paid) or filed away.

The rule of thumb is to keep all final account statements, along with your W-2s and 1099s, for at least three years and, preferably, for seven. The Internal Revenue Service has up to three years from the date you file your tax return to examine it for errors and as long as six years to conduct an audit, so you’ll need to keep your tax returns and any corresponding paperwork until that audit window closes.

And don’t forget about all of the other documents you’ll always need to keep: things like your birth certificate, marriage certificate, insurance policies, and other permanent records. Store these with your finacial papers, so everything important is in the same place.

Make paper-keeping easy by creating designated files for your stuff, like this expanding file from See Jane Work. Your files should be labeled and purged once a year of things you no longer need to keep.