AHHHHH!!!!!
What do you do with ALL the STUFF???
That seems to be the new old question. The more we simplify ours lives, it seems the more stuff we have – how it that possible???
One way to help fend off the stuff blues is to step back and figure out what will work for YOU! I myself have a problem with boxes, totes, bags, anything that things can go inside for “safe” keeping.
I have good intentions that go astray – then go into boxes, bags, totes – only to be sorted again and again. How you may ask can I give solutions when I just let my dark secret out of the bag? (HaHa I love when I can poke fun at myself!) Well, I feel I have a pretty good shoppers sense and am savvy at knowing what will or will not work – I just need to follow through on my end
Soo….. Here’s the beginning of the storage page.
First – step back, take a deep breath, and go get a cup of coffee, tea, or pop whichever you prefer.
Second – Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and pen.
Third – write down what you have (just big groups like suction, oxygen, feeding, OT, PT, etc) This will give your brain some compartments which will help you later.
Fourth – Write down the rooms you have no problem putting items into and rooms that you are “ok” with putting things into if you need to. If you have absolute NO rooms – put those down as well. This is Your goal sheet, so you can’t be wrong
Fifth – Decide what rooms everything makes the most sense in and figure out if you want a stand alone cabinet or if you have a built in solution already. (Keeping in mind this will be your master storage area for that category – you may end up with a “day bin” a little later on) Once you decide the floor space (or pre-existing place) that the groups of items are going to be move onto the next step. Keeping in mind that you may split a major group into multiple places which is fine. Your house needs to work for YOU!
Before you move anything, make sure you have the place to put it!
Now you are ready to start planning. (Remember my list of vendors? I am currently working on this part, which is why having carts that keep the products you are interested in is such an awesome thing. When You are ready to purchase you can without having to redo all your research! Who doesn’t love that convenience?)
For our Master Storage I decided to go with a cabinet from Ikea. I like it because I can add to it anytime I am ready. I will be adding pull out drawers at some point.
I am putting a link to the wardrobe home page since there are soo many to choose from. I went with ones with doors because I turned them into a focal point of a room. I figure if I have to have a ton of supplies, might as well have some fun with it!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/19086/
Now that you may or may not have decided on your master storage area (it’s ok if you haven’t, take your time – you want to make sure you know what you want before you take the plunge. Just tag the site, write down the information and keep in mind what you want to do so you can keep moving – as Dori says in Finding Nemo – “Just keep Swimming”. So don’t stop just because you are not 100% on one thing. Progress is progess and it will pay off in the end
Remember earlier when you wrote down the major categories? Well…. now’s the time to get down to the basics and figure out what you have, need, and don’t need. (Some things you will easily get rid of right now, others will be a wait and see – that is fine because medical stuff is soo expensive. If you need it, you need it but keep expiration dates in mind and don’t hoard because it doesn’t help you in the long run).
My rule – if I can’t use it in 3 months, I don’t need more. I try to keep 3 months of supplies on hand at all times that way I’m not panicked if I have an equipment failure. This took me a LONG time to build up; but has been worth it because I’m not scrambling to find funds to cover what I need.
Now….. how do you separate everything into logical categories? There are soo many ways, I am going to show you what I do but you decide what is best for you and your family
TO BE CONTINUED>>>>>>
After some time off to take care of medical needs, I am working on getting back up to speed.
Since I last posted: we have had some big changes in storage because needs have changed.
We go through a lot of diapers, so I build the closet shelf out so that I can stack the diapers in two corners and three walls. I make sure that the tilt is towards the wall so the packages don't tip over and fall. As I pull the diapers out from the bottom they fall down from the top. The diapers that we are using on right now get taken out of the package and put into a bucket so they are easy to grab.
Have stinky diapers? Keep the diaper packages to put the diapers into. You can tear a piece of the plastic bag to make a tie out of it. Put some baking soda in the bottom of the garage can (before you put the plastic bag in), it won't be a cure all - but it will help.
The other side of the closet is also built out so I am able to put all the syringes, G-Tubes, Extensions, Gloves, and other various supplies without taking up the entire shelf :) Bonus!
In the middle, I have 2 large clear totes that hold the extra larger items. There are 2 rows of sweater boxes. One of these holds off season clothing, while the others hold smaller items. All the bins are clear so it can be seen what is in there. They are kept light so no one gets hurt.
Next up is the clothing, shoes, daily used items, etc....
I took 2 Ikea pieces. Put one on each side and put a shelf from my closet on top of them. The left side holds the daily used items like pulse ox probes, extensions, neb masks and containers, etc. The next holds feeding syringes and the last holds feeding bags. I remove the syringes and bags from their boxes, this allows me to get a months worth of supplies in this one side :)
The middle section is a lowered clothing rack.
The right side is for socks, leg warmers, tights, etc. as well as braces and shoes. To make it easier on everyone the shoes are in one color and the stocking items are in another color. This has helped tremendously.
On top of this is the shelf: equipment that we use on a regular basis goes here in their bags as well as two buckets (diapers and pee pads) as well as a bucket for sheets.. I try to keep the top rod clean so that things are easy to find. One one side of the rod I have all the bag gowns for winter as well as items I want to make sure get worn because I hope they will fit that season. The other side has the empty hangers. I go through clothes as they are folded or hung - this has turned out to be a great time saver with less thought.
Now.....
I know I was planning on posting pictures of my wonderful supply cabinets. I'm hoping I can access them, but many of the items I used where brought into use with the new system. The only thing I didn't use was the shoe boxes. When everything was in such a great space I was able to spread things into smaller categories so shoe boxes made sense.
I will talk about the old system another night.....
What do you do with ALL the STUFF???
That seems to be the new old question. The more we simplify ours lives, it seems the more stuff we have – how it that possible???
One way to help fend off the stuff blues is to step back and figure out what will work for YOU! I myself have a problem with boxes, totes, bags, anything that things can go inside for “safe” keeping.
I have good intentions that go astray – then go into boxes, bags, totes – only to be sorted again and again. How you may ask can I give solutions when I just let my dark secret out of the bag? (HaHa I love when I can poke fun at myself!) Well, I feel I have a pretty good shoppers sense and am savvy at knowing what will or will not work – I just need to follow through on my end
Soo….. Here’s the beginning of the storage page.
First – step back, take a deep breath, and go get a cup of coffee, tea, or pop whichever you prefer.
Second – Grab a piece of paper and a pencil and pen.
Third – write down what you have (just big groups like suction, oxygen, feeding, OT, PT, etc) This will give your brain some compartments which will help you later.
Fourth – Write down the rooms you have no problem putting items into and rooms that you are “ok” with putting things into if you need to. If you have absolute NO rooms – put those down as well. This is Your goal sheet, so you can’t be wrong
Fifth – Decide what rooms everything makes the most sense in and figure out if you want a stand alone cabinet or if you have a built in solution already. (Keeping in mind this will be your master storage area for that category – you may end up with a “day bin” a little later on) Once you decide the floor space (or pre-existing place) that the groups of items are going to be move onto the next step. Keeping in mind that you may split a major group into multiple places which is fine. Your house needs to work for YOU!
Before you move anything, make sure you have the place to put it!
Now you are ready to start planning. (Remember my list of vendors? I am currently working on this part, which is why having carts that keep the products you are interested in is such an awesome thing. When You are ready to purchase you can without having to redo all your research! Who doesn’t love that convenience?)
For our Master Storage I decided to go with a cabinet from Ikea. I like it because I can add to it anytime I am ready. I will be adding pull out drawers at some point.
I am putting a link to the wardrobe home page since there are soo many to choose from. I went with ones with doors because I turned them into a focal point of a room. I figure if I have to have a ton of supplies, might as well have some fun with it!
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/bedroom/19086/
Now that you may or may not have decided on your master storage area (it’s ok if you haven’t, take your time – you want to make sure you know what you want before you take the plunge. Just tag the site, write down the information and keep in mind what you want to do so you can keep moving – as Dori says in Finding Nemo – “Just keep Swimming”. So don’t stop just because you are not 100% on one thing. Progress is progess and it will pay off in the end
Remember earlier when you wrote down the major categories? Well…. now’s the time to get down to the basics and figure out what you have, need, and don’t need. (Some things you will easily get rid of right now, others will be a wait and see – that is fine because medical stuff is soo expensive. If you need it, you need it but keep expiration dates in mind and don’t hoard because it doesn’t help you in the long run).
My rule – if I can’t use it in 3 months, I don’t need more. I try to keep 3 months of supplies on hand at all times that way I’m not panicked if I have an equipment failure. This took me a LONG time to build up; but has been worth it because I’m not scrambling to find funds to cover what I need.
Now….. how do you separate everything into logical categories? There are soo many ways, I am going to show you what I do but you decide what is best for you and your family
TO BE CONTINUED>>>>>>
After some time off to take care of medical needs, I am working on getting back up to speed.
Since I last posted: we have had some big changes in storage because needs have changed.
We go through a lot of diapers, so I build the closet shelf out so that I can stack the diapers in two corners and three walls. I make sure that the tilt is towards the wall so the packages don't tip over and fall. As I pull the diapers out from the bottom they fall down from the top. The diapers that we are using on right now get taken out of the package and put into a bucket so they are easy to grab.
Have stinky diapers? Keep the diaper packages to put the diapers into. You can tear a piece of the plastic bag to make a tie out of it. Put some baking soda in the bottom of the garage can (before you put the plastic bag in), it won't be a cure all - but it will help.
The other side of the closet is also built out so I am able to put all the syringes, G-Tubes, Extensions, Gloves, and other various supplies without taking up the entire shelf :) Bonus!
In the middle, I have 2 large clear totes that hold the extra larger items. There are 2 rows of sweater boxes. One of these holds off season clothing, while the others hold smaller items. All the bins are clear so it can be seen what is in there. They are kept light so no one gets hurt.
Next up is the clothing, shoes, daily used items, etc....
I took 2 Ikea pieces. Put one on each side and put a shelf from my closet on top of them. The left side holds the daily used items like pulse ox probes, extensions, neb masks and containers, etc. The next holds feeding syringes and the last holds feeding bags. I remove the syringes and bags from their boxes, this allows me to get a months worth of supplies in this one side :)
The middle section is a lowered clothing rack.
The right side is for socks, leg warmers, tights, etc. as well as braces and shoes. To make it easier on everyone the shoes are in one color and the stocking items are in another color. This has helped tremendously.
On top of this is the shelf: equipment that we use on a regular basis goes here in their bags as well as two buckets (diapers and pee pads) as well as a bucket for sheets.. I try to keep the top rod clean so that things are easy to find. One one side of the rod I have all the bag gowns for winter as well as items I want to make sure get worn because I hope they will fit that season. The other side has the empty hangers. I go through clothes as they are folded or hung - this has turned out to be a great time saver with less thought.
Now.....
I know I was planning on posting pictures of my wonderful supply cabinets. I'm hoping I can access them, but many of the items I used where brought into use with the new system. The only thing I didn't use was the shoe boxes. When everything was in such a great space I was able to spread things into smaller categories so shoe boxes made sense.
I will talk about the old system another night.....