Ways to organize your home...

Garages are tough, I think, because we don't live amongst that stuff, so it's easy to forget it's there.

Are you guys having me on?

Yah. Right.

Don't ya'll know how to turn one sock over the other so that the elastic on the sock holds everything together?

My garage is cleaner, and WAY more organized than my house...

but I might spend more time in mine than is healthy

(lotsa shelves out there, not so much in the house)

Good luck to you with it, mismi! (& good luck to me with it, too! Been doing a lot of throwing out/reorganising myself!)
On threads like this I really miss Noddy's input. She would have heaps to say on this topic!

If you do that, the elastic in the socks gets stretched out.

Hey, mis,! Great topic! I am an avid organizer. Sometimes I'm better than others. My family, however, is not! They think I'm a "neat freak"! So, I try to have them put / keep things in the same places like counters, shelves in their rooms or our common family area. I've got some baskets and stuff depending on what it needs to hold. One of my favorite things is a cube organizer like this:

I use it for all kinds of things - shoes on the bottom (a pair for around the house...) homework, goo-gaws... It helps!
I have a filing cabinet in the office where I put folders of stuff we need to keep.
Toys in the basement also go in an organizer thing and colored tubs, sorted by what type of toy.
I also try to go through stuff every once in a while, and have them do so as well. Some stuff I have to do once a week, but it keeps the junk down! Plus I'm big on recycling & not keeping extra paper - mail, homework, artwork, whatever lying around. It's not perfect, but I do the best I can. Hope it helps if only just a little.

I did not read all the replies Mismi, but I must tell you that I had the same battle a year or so ago and now it is gone!!! Has my 8 yo transformed himself ?
Nope!!
I have!
I understand that your kids are good kids. 8yo is a very complicated stage for them. Just when we are expecting them to be more helpful , their whole world is changing, school is expecting them to do a lot. They are beginnning to form their own private world and any criticsm or nagging could mean so much more than what we intend it to.
I think my frustration comes from trying to stay organized and stay on top of my game. All I can do is role model for them and of course if they messed up what I had just cleaned I deserve that they clean it. If I force them to do chores and keep their rooms tidy when they are not really capable of doing that ) what implications it will have on their personalities later on?
My favorite author on authentic parenting is Naomi Aldort. She believes they will develope their own sense of order as they grow up. All we can do is role model, assist when needed, and make their lives less complicated. There is really no way to make them more organized.
If I want them to do something, that is coming from my past and is getting in the way of being present for them in that moment.

I don't know if I am making the concept clear or confusing you, but this philosophy has taken struggle out of parenting for me. The stuff, the clutter and the kids are the same but it does not bother me.

Allow me to say that it is "your"need to be not tied to the house all the time making you feel "They" should act differently. They are busy doing what 8 and 5 year olds are supposed to do.

The new possibility I am creating for myself is being present for each and every person in my life and that's not what I am being when I want them to do something for me.