PROBLEM: The mail ends up all over the house.
Someone brings it in, sets it down, things are placed
on top of it, the pile gets moved, and I spend too much
time looking for the bills.

SOLUTION: Have a home for the mail. It’s great to
use a container because it clearly defines the home.
The rim of the container can serve as an indicator –
when the mail reaches the rim, it’s time to process.

HINT: Try to to wait to open the mail until you have
time to deal with it.

PROBLEM: I have an incomplete croquet
set. It belonged to my grandparents but many of
the pieces are rusted, broken, or simply
missing. I don’t want to throw it away …
I think the colorful balls are fun and I have
fond memories of play croquet with my
grandparents. However, I also don’t want
it piled in a heap in my garage.

SOLUTION: Choose a few favorite pieces.
Is there a way to bring them into your
space in a playful, artistic, or thoughtful
way?

HINT: Here the balls live under the chair
and when people sit, they tend to play with
the balls with their feet.

PROBLEM: I really like my Mac products, even the old
boxes, broken computers, and outdated keyboards.
The problem is, I’ve collected a lot of them. They get
shoved here and there and they take up a lot of space.

SOLUTION: Make a display of your favorites and move
the others along. By doing this, you can enjoy these
Mac products everyday while at the same time freeing
up space.

HINT: The display idea can be applied to anything that
is meaningful to you and that is abundant in your space.

PROBLEM: For me, uniformity brings
order but I don’t want to go out and
buy a lot of matching bins. Also, my
cardboard boxes are all different and
they don’t look like a purposeful set.

SOLUTION: The solution comes from
Babo Market in downtown Ann Arbor.
www.facebook.com/babomarket
As you can see, a quick paint application
to cardboard boxes can give them a fun,
fresh, and uniform look.

HINT: Great idea Babo Market!

PROBLEM: There are some receipts that I want to keep
for awhile. I like to keep receipts to verify my bank
records and credit card statements. I also keep some
in case of returns. They are a big mess. Help…

SOLUTION: Be purposeful. Establish a place where you
put receipts and guidelines for when you get rid of
them. In the picture, all receipts for the month are paper
clipped together. As receipts come in they are added to
the paper clipped receipts for the month. WIth each new
month go to the back paper clip (receipts from the 12
months ago) and quickly go through to see if there is
anything you still need. Generally, it is a quick and easy
process and most receipts have served their purpose
and aren’t needed anymore.

HINT: Most recent month of receipts are kept in the front
and so on until you have the oldest month of receipts in
the back.

PROBLEM: It is frustrating when everything
scoots to the back of the drawer.

SOLUTION: Put something in the back of
the drawer to hold this space… empty boxes
or tupperware. You can put less used items
in these containers. Or you can leave them
empty knowing that their purpose is to make
it easier to get things out of the front.

HINT: If the boxes move around, add non-slip
drawer liners.

1. Where Are My Keys?!
2. List of Things to Do
3. Baking Supplies Together
4. Help with Morning Toiletries
5. Hangers Can Be Your Friend
6. Where to Begin?!
7. Lazy Susans up High
8. Worn but not Dirty
9. Children’s Books
10. An Effective Index Doesn’t Need to Be Fancy

Do you agree or do you have a different favorite?

PROBLEM: I can’t find things in my kitchen drawer.

SOLUTION: Use smaller containers to group like
items together. In this picture there are 6 different
box bottoms: tissue, cereal, tea, and a box that
came with a book in it.

HINT: Note the space created between the box
groups – the whisk fits well here.

PROBLEM: I can’t reach the items in the back of my
top cupboards.

SOLUTION: Use a Lazy Susan for your top cupboards.
Turn the Lazy Susan and easily access the items in
the back of your cupboards.

HINT: Put light items on the Lazy Susans in the high
cupboards. Travel mugs are shown in the picture.

PROBLEM: My computer sucks me in. I just want
to spend a bit of time relaxing so I play Tetris or
check Facebook and next thing I know an hour has
passed.

SOLUTION: Decide ahead of time how much time
you want to spend relaxing in front of your computer.
Then set a timer. The “ding” of the timer allows you
to recognize the passage of time.

HINT: It can be helpful to set the timer for smaller
chunks of time (10min.). You can chunk your time into
beginning, middle, and end or play time then 10 min.
warning.