Welcome to week one in this three-week series about “organizing”. I live in a small home (less than 1200 sf) and have found some ways to make use of some our small spaces. Hopefully some of you will be joining the link-up to share your tips as well! By the way, lack of space is one of my nemesis to happiness. Now happiness isn’t exactly found in “organizing” but it sure helps encourage those “happy-hormones” when a home isn’t cluttered. Agree?

Link-ups will be each Wednesday in May: the 11th (today), the 18th, and the 25th. Your post on “organizing” can be for home, office, schooling, small spaces, big spaces or anything else that fits in the “how to organize” theme.

How I’m organizing in small spaces.

This week I want to show you how I’m putting those 3M adhesive hooks to good use. Not all of my hooks are by 3M- the hooks I use in the boys’ room and I think the one holding my necklaces are from the dollar store.

We live in a raised-ranch style home so the only stairs inside the house are from the basement to the first floor- which is where our “living” happens. All the rooms we use for “living” are upstairs on one floor (except the laundry room).

The Landing-Way

At the top of the stairs in a small landing-way, I guess its called, and I added 3M hooks in 4 different places. Two are in the doorway to one room (where there is no door- its just open so I have put plastic across it to make it more efficient when we heat the house). The other two hooks are on the door you see.  We hang my extra totes and reusable shopping bags on these hooks as well as Joel’s insulated lunch bags.

*There is also a metal storage rack that I use for recycling paper, outside toys for the boys, paper bags, etc.

Picture #1: So, I’m standing on the stairs for the picture on the left. The reason it looks confusing is because behind this metal rack you see  is another room, no door between the two- just a doorway. I’ve hung plastic window wrap to keep the heat from escaping the upstairs and there is another larger storage rack behind the plastic. {I see  Spanky ;)}

Picture #2: You see the orange 3M hooks holding my totes and shopping bags. This is has been very handy.

The Boys’ Room

We do have those “hanging hook/rack things” at the top of our bedroom doors to hang towels, belts, and clothes on but that is too high for the boys to reach. I bought the wider plastic hooks that you see in the picture on the left and placed them behind their bedroom door so they can hang their housecoats up. Works for us 🙂

Hanging necklaces or loose items.

I also bought a set of these (at the dollar store I think) quite awhile ago to hang necklaces and other small things. This works great inside a closed door or on a bookshelf. Depends on what you want to hang on it. I’ve used mine for hanging bible-story cards that were hole-punched and held by a key-ring  as well as necklaces.

Well, those are my “how to organize” tips for this week. I think I will share some of my cupboard/shelving tips next week. I’m really looking forward to reading your tips next!