GON Reader Letter #1
No More Over-Stuffed Kitchen Cabinets
I have an older home with a small kitchen and limited cabinet and drawer space. I am not a
terribly organized person by nature, thus I like things that are easy to put away.
I struggled with the fact that I had kitchen towels, potholders, and other such items that overstuffed an entire precious drawer in my kitchen.
The solution? An inexpensive over-the-door shoe organizer.
I simply hang this over the door to my basement (which in many older homes is right off the kitchen) and fill the individual pockets
with kitchen dish towels, dish cloths, hand towels, potholders, napkins, plastic utensils and other items I use frequently.
Friends have commented on how easy it is to put the items away (no more overstuffed towel drawers) and how accessible the items are when needed!
-- Maria Gottschalk, Springfield, IL
GON Reader Letter #2
These Made My Shelves Organized and Look Sharp Too!
I love the look of the stainless steel organizing bins and boxes from the big, brand
name organizing companies, but they are very expensive.
When I redecorated my craft room recently, I asked everybody I knew to save their shoeboxes for me for about three months. I took all of those boxes, bought a few inexpensive cans of chrome spray paint at the superstore, and went crazy spray painting the boxes and covers.
I then bought those little metal organizer labels from an office products store and labeled the sides of each box.
For about $8.00, I got over twenty
"stainless" boxes that look really sharp and organized on my shelves!
-- Carrie Steiner, Oshkosh, WI
GON Reader Letter #3
Organized Memories...Without Over-Thinking
I find it drudgery to sort through photos I have piled in boxes, but I found an easy, fun way to put them into albums.
For Valentine's day last year, I bought a small album with a romantic cover and I inserted photos of me for my husband...in no particular order.
I wrote funny captions with each and also included a poem I wrote for him a long time ago when we were courting.
I gave it to him as a Valentine present in lieu
of a card and he loved it! It was exciting to put it together.
This year, I'm thinking of putting together an album about our two sons and putting in all the photos when they were together. My sons have pulled away from each other, so I`m going to make copies so they can each enjoy the memories.
My next project will be of vacation pictures and funny moments. With this method, you can quickly reduce the piles and you don't have to overthink anything.
-- Wiscelia Gold, Orlando,
FL
