Maridel Willer

I have been updating the storage plans for a couple of rooms in my home this week and thought I would share a few tips on how a good storage plan can help you keep your home in order and spend less time doing it.

One of the best ways to banish clutter and reduce the time it takes to clean your home is to have a storage plan for each room of your house.  Creating a storage plan is simply assigning a logical and convenient home for everything you use and keep in that room.  It will take some time and energy to implement a good storage plan in your home, but it is worth it.  The benefits of a having and maintaining a storage plan include: 

1.  An orderly home is peaceful and helps you to be more productive.

2.  You will not waste time looking for things.

3.  You will know when you run out of supplies and need to buy more. 4.  It will be easier to train your children to clean up after themselves. 

Before you run out and buy lots of plastic containers to house all of the things that are now cluttering up your closets and counters, put some thought into creating a plan that will work for you.  Here are some tips to help you get started. 

1.  Don’t take up valuable storage space with things you never use.  Sell or donate surplus items to make room for the things you really need. 

2.  Consider the all of the activities you do in each room and store items near the locations that you use them the most.  3.  Choose the right size and type of containers.  Put only one type of item or items that are used together in a storage container. 

4.  Use open containers for things you take out daily.  Use closed containers to keep dust out of things you use infrequently.  5.  Keep the filled containers on or in an appropriate storage unit such as a drawer, shelf, or cabinet. 

6.  When choosing a storage location, try to make it easy and convenient to put the items away.  7.  Store frequently used items in the most convenient locations.  Save the top shelves for storing rarely used items. 

8.  Include margin in your plan.  Leave some extra space in those closets or on those shelves to make room for new items.  9.  Try out your new storage plan for a few days and make adjustments as necessary to make it easy to maintain. 

10.  Update your plan once or twice per year to clear out items you no longer need and make room for new things.  A good time to do this is when the season changes at the beginning of the summer and the winter.

The quality of your life will never be better than the quality of your relationships.  Investing time in healing and growing your primary relationships will reap an abundant harvest in your life.

 A hierarchy of relationships, in order of importance, is

God

Spouse

Children

Other family members

Friends

Acquaintances

Strangers (may be future friends and acquaintances)

The bible is a book about relationships.  God desires relationship with us and for us to have loving and productive relationships with each other. 

When working to improve your relationships, start at the top and work down.  The motive of our relationships should be to serve God through them, not to serve ourselves. (more…)

I just returned from visiting with my mom who is in the hospital today.  This is the third time in a month that I have taken her to the emergency room.  How thankful I am that I have the margin in my schedule to be available for my mom or other friends and family when emergencies arise.

My definition of margin: 

Something held in reserve.  Having extra time or space or energy.  Living within your limits rather than living up to or exceeding the natural limits placed upon you.

Simplify your life and gain some margin today!  You can be available to be a blessing to others.

Will your family be traveling for a vacation this summer?  The extra responsibilities of planning for and preparing to travel can add stress at this time of the year.  Here are some timely tips to simplify and organize your vacation planning, packing and traveling. 

Travel Planning 

You should plan ahead as much as possible for better rates and more choices for your transportation and lodging arrangements.  If possible, make these reservations a month or more ahead so that you can focus on travel preparations the last 2 weeks before you go. 

If you are driving, book your reservations for overnight stops in small cities located an hour or more from a major city to get lower hotel rates.  Generally speaking, you can reserve a 3 star hotel in a small city for the same price as a 2 star facility in a large city.    (more…)