Williamson County Free Shred & Medicine Disposal in April!

April 17, 2010

The Williamson County Sheriff Dept, Franklin Police Dept. and HomeInstead Health Care are holding a medicine collection from 9 a.m. to noon, on the square in downtown Franklin.

Don’t throw expired medicines in our water system – take them here and have them disposed of properly!

Barbies, Legos & Crayons, Oh My!

Attack of the Runaway Playroom!

Playrooms can be a fabulous part of your home, but for so many people, they can quickly become a nightmare. Kids aren’t naturally inclined to put things away, and most of the time when a playroom is set up – things either are just sort of set around for kids to play with or the furniture is bought for cuteness factor rather than practicality (not that the two can’t go hand in hand).

When setting up a playroom, here’s some tips:

• Really evaluate your children and their playing preferences. Just because you think the dollhouse is adorable doesn’t mean that it actually gets played with. And if your child never touches the art easel – it’s probably not something that needs to be there.
• Really evaluate your space – it really doesn’t matter how large or small it is – it depends on how it is set up and used.
• Create zones for play and bring all items that belong in that zone to that space. For example if you have a play kitchen, all kitchen items should be in that zone.
• Make items easy to access and easy to put away. In the kitchen zone, open stacking bins are great, as is a small table, and baskets for transporting “food” and dishes. In an art zone, set up the easel, bins for paper & supplies (tall plastic drawers are great for this), drawing table, etc. in one area that has some good light.
• Label each bin, basket and zone. Use pictures if necessary. Kids “forget” really easily where things are supposed to – don’t give them any more excuses than they need!
• Make sure the space is well lit (consider recessed lights), has an open space in the middle to play, and that each zone is not overloaded with stuff.
• Do NOT be afraid to get rid of things. In my experience, most of the time, children only really play with 25-40% of their stuff. The rest? Unwanted gifts, broken things, inappropriate for their age level or interest, and those junky toys you get from birthday party goodie bags.
• Say “NO” to the mother in law who continually brings over gobs of plastic stuff or age inappropriate toys, and restrain yourself from shopping the Dollar Rack at Target. Stop going to all of the consignment sales and getting games & puzzles because they are such a great deal. Are they really a great deal if they are ruined or not used because the kids can’t find them?
• Look at the room from a kid’s perspective. Get down on the floor and see it from their eye level. Can you reach everything? Can you see clearly where it belongs? Remember, everything needs to have a home – and children really understand that when it is your playroom (and household) policy.
• Be creative with storage – think outside the box. Use pop up laundry hampers to corral stuffed animals or balls, use chalkboard & magnet paint for creativity on the walls or furniture, use cubbies & shelving in closets for storage instead of the hanging bar. Don’t get locked into what it “should” look like – as Tim Gunn says on Project Runway “Make it work”.

The main goal when organizing a playroom is to make it a space where kids can find what they want, have an appropriate place to play with it, and be able to put it back where it belongs by themselves. Give thought to what is in the space, and more thought into how to store & access the ever evolving and expanding STUFF that can take over any room.

One final note: this is not a finished product. Children are ever changing, and so are their needs and wants. Evaluate regularly – and be ruthless! Save only the special items and ditch the rest. There are plenty of people out there that will get better use of these unwanted and unused items than you are now.

Visit my Organizing Photos page on A Fresh Space to see slideshows of two recent playrooms I organized.

The Story Of Stuff: timely and fascinating video about, well, stuff

I came across this video “The Story Of Stuff” on twitter (thanks @organizergal), and thought it was just terrific. I often talk to people (whether they want to or not) about how much stuff there is in the world, in their homes and in their lives. Most of my job is helping people either get rid of, or store, stuff. This little movie explains where stuff comes from, how it is made and where it goes. It’s pretty hard core on the environmental bashing and social issues of large corporations and the government, not that there’s anything wrong that, I say.

Here’s the blurb from the site:

“From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It’ll teach you something, it’ll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.”

Check it out: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

book sale at the Franklin library April 2-4!

The downtown Franklin branch (1314 Columbia Ave., Franklin, TN 37064) of the Williamson County library is having a book sale April 2-4! This is a great way to discover some new books AND help raise funds for the library. My daughter and I love to spend an hour browsing and we always come home with a few new ones for our collection. I’ve always loved libraries and here’s another reason why.

BUT, from an organizing standpoint – this is a great way to clear out books you no longer read or want and feel good about it! Yes, you can donate for these sales. Well, probably not for this one, but you can bring in books anytime and just drop them off at the check out desk. They’ll even give you a tax receipt so you can write them off on your taxes! I can’t tell you how many I’ve brought over there for clients, and for myself – so I can clear out my shelves for more!

Here’s the link for more info: http://lib.williamson-tn.org/
And I’ve cut and pasted from the website:

The next Friends Book Sale will be held Thursday through Saturday, April 2-4. Hours are: Thursday, 9:30 am-7:00 pm; Friday, 9:30 am-4:30 pm; Saturday, 9:30 am-4:00 pm. Books are half-price on Saturday. A Friends Members-Only Preview Night will be held on Wednesday evening prior to the opening day of the sale from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The April Friends Book Sale will showcase some older and some quite valuable items. Comic books, older issues of Life and other magazines, older books you may remember from your childhood days, or books that were favorites of your parents and grandparents. All of these are priced to sell, lower than E-bay listings. Come early to view these goodies at the table dedicated to you collectors.

Ways to reduce junk mail & catalogs plus Green Dimes is now Tonic Mailstopper…

I’ve been a member of Green Dimes for a long time and they’ve changed the name to Tonic Mailstopper. Apparently Tonic is an overarching branding of a lifestyle. I’m not sure how I feel about the rest of the brand but I use Green Dimes as an example of a way to reduce paper coming into your life. It takes a lot of the effort out of reducing catalogs and junk mail by removing your name from lists all over the place – from credit card offers to grocery store circulars. Plus it plants trees when you sign up.

I’ve been doing it for a long time, and our mail has reduced dramatically. Yes, we still get the flyers from the local dentist or florist but I’d say it’s dropped by 90%. I do go out of my way to stay off of mailing lists. It’s a company I feel comfortable recommending. If you want to reduce your paper & junk mail, go to: Tonic Mailstopper.

Here’s some more tips to reduce your paper:

• don’t bring it home – my husband is notorious for picking up all of the free newspapers and flyers – wouldn’t be a big deal if he actually READ them – instead, they just get piled up
• do not sign up for any mailing lists – this seems obvious but if you get a frequent buyer card or sign up for a discount or promotion at a store – make sure they are NOT adding you to a mailing list
• anyplace you have an account such as a bank, credit card, retail store – these places have online account management where you can opt out – do it or you will be bombarded with solicitations from them
• do not send in those “registration forms” for your new electronics, toys, whatever – it’s pretty much for the purpose of sending you junk mail – hang on to it in case you need it for a return but why give the company a way to track you (this is only my opinion, but I’ve never had a problem with a return or tech support because I didn’t send in that card
• if you get a catalog you don’t want – call or email them to be removed – it may take a few months but once you get the hang of it, it’s easy enough to do
• don’t put your information on those drawings for free stuff unless you want to get added to their mailing list – if it’s a local company and you would like to receive their information – that’s one thing but if not – the reason companies do this is to collect names of potential clients, not to give you free stuff

Reducing the amount of papers that come into your home can reduce time spent wasted on dealing with it. So check out Green Dimes/Tonic Mailstopper and put your own plan into action to reduce the paper that takes over your life!