Rubbermaid - Adventures in Organization

My Fiancée’s Beautiful New Closet

Well, my quest to organize my ‘beautiful yet messy’ fiancée’s closet with the Rubbermaid Configurations system has finally come to an end.

My strategy was simple and yet effective; I built her momentum with the Closet Designer and then made sure the prerequisite closet clean-out went smoothly by storing her “overflow” in roughneck totes in our basement.

The last step was the installation. Now if you’ve gone to our closet microsite and checked out the four step process (if you haven’t…go there now) you’ve seen how easy it is to install. However what you might have overlooked is the opportunity you have to build ownership and pride if you’re installing the system for someone else.

In my case my fiancée had no interest in watching me find wall studs or level and fasten the hang rail. Amazingly she didn’t make time to watch me space out and screw in the uprights. In fact, she would have been happy to miss the entire install altogether ….but she wasn’t that lucky.

You see once the hang rails and uprights are installed (step one and two) you have what I call the ‘skeleton’ of the Configurations system set up. All that’s left now is to snap on brackets, shelves and rods. I brought my fiancée in for this part and she quickly got into placing a shelf at a certain level and then moving it up, down or extending it out.

Even though we’d sketched a rough design she could now visualize the project and started measuring, with her various shirts and pants, what height the rods should be at or just how much of the space should be dedicated to single versus double hang. She became even more passionate when we started adding the accessories…shoe rods here…baskets stacked over there.

For me therein lies the magic of the Configurations system; the opportunities for customizing your space during the installation, ten minutes after or six months later. My fiancée now has an organized closet and I have freed up half of the floor space in our bedroom…mission accomplished.

What do you think?

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Previous Posts in this Series

• Post #1 - Two to Tango: Organizing your Significant Other
• Post #2 - From Kill to Stun

Bloggin’ at the bistro

I don’t know about you, but I could eat out at restaurants for three squares a day, every day. Of course I can’t, but I’d love to. Partly because, many years ago, I worked my way through school as a waiter and learned a lot about food, but mainly because I love great chow served up fresh. And it’s so tempting to eat out, especially since making meals from scratch at home—i.e. with fresh, non-frozen ingredients—during the week isn’t exactly easy for us. (See my other blog about that!) It’s been even harder since the bistro on the corner of my street opened its patio for the season. Seeing all those delicious plates as I trudge past en route to my half-empty kitchen is so disheartening.

Every Friday evening in summertime, depending on the weather, we treat ourselves and eat in or get take-out from the corner. It’s the highlight of my week.

I recently talked with Tommy, the bistro’s general manager, about the importance of providing his customers (most importantly, me) with yummy grub made from the freshest ingredients. Do customers really notice?

“You’d better believe it,” says Tommy. “These days, restaurant patrons know more about food in general. They make healthier choices, and typically scout out menus online and decide what they’re having before they’ve even left home.” Consequently, the bistro sources local, in many cases organic, fare. Having super-fresh ingredients on hand has made Tommy alter the organization of prep food in the kitchen.
“We’ve been using Rubbermaid products for years, especially for catering—nothing is more helpful when it comes to storing food for shipping. But now we use Premier Containers to store ingredients we know will be needed throughout the course of a shift.” (Who knew that my favorite containers at home could also be used for catering?)

At Tommy’s bistro, it’s very important that the accessibility and stacking order of the containers is kept consistent. And not just for the sake of expedience: one of the line cooks, Paddy, has been steadily losing his vision because of a degenerative eye condition. He’s been doing great, working by memory. But every employee—kitchen and wait staff—must vigilantly replace the containers they use for prepping a dish in the exact same spot, otherwise Paddy’s system is thrown off.

It’s so far, so good, for them. (And for me, so tasty.)

My Rubbermaid Garage Makeover (from bad to great) - Part 1 of a series

I've got a BIG problem. My garage is a total mess.

I've got kid stuff all over the place.

My cheap metal shelves are overloaded and ready to fall down.

Shoes are scattered all over the floor.

Ladders and garden tools don't really have a good home. I need help!

Three kids bikes and two adult bikes are taking up way too much floor space.

View the complete photo gallery at Flickr

I've got bikes, toys, ladders, coolers, lawnmowers, gardening tools, vacuum cleaners, brooms, mops, backpacks, paint cans, shoes, junk, junk and more junk.

I'm frustrated and fed up. I'm tired of the clutter. I'm ready to clean and organize my garage the right way. A way that will work for me and my family.

The time has come to conquer this disaster. I'm tired of making excuses. Tired of the mess. I know my garage can be better than it is and I'm ready to make the commitment to get it organized. The best part about this project is I'm going to do it in a very interesting and fun way.

I'm enlisting YOUR help. I want you to help guide me through this process. I want to hear your suggestions and recommendations. What's worked for you? How have your neighbors organized their garages. What tips and tricks have you learned from watching TV or reading magazines. I'm all ears. Just click the comment link below to submit your ideas and suggestions.

From start to finish I'm going to ask for your input and at the end of the project we'll all share in the grand reveal.

There's only one stipulation. I need to use Rubbermaid products when appropriate. That shouldn't be hard because we have hundreds of organization and storage solutions. We've got FastTrack garage organization products, heavy-duty shelving, totes galore, and more.

One final thing... thank you in advance for your help. It's greatly appreciated.

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HELPFUL INFORMATION:

• Rubbermaid Tips & Solutions for Garage Organization
• FastTrack garage systems
• Garage shelving
• Storage Containers
• Rubbermaid.com website
• View the complete photo archive on Flickr

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  My Rubbermaid Garage Makeover (from bad to great)
- Part #1: I've got a BIG problem. My garage is a total mess
- Part #2: Planning is half the battle (or at least some of the battle)
- Part #3: Tackling the installation - One step at a time
- Part #4: My garage is really starting to shape up
- Part #5: I love my garage! I never expected it to turn out this good.

Money saving Rubbermaid coupons

NOTE: These online coupons are no longer available.

Do you plan on purchasing Rubbermaid food storage containers soon?  If so, please be sure to visit Rubbermaid.com for money saving coupons.

There are three $1.00 off coupons available.  One for Rubbermaid Premier, one for Produce Saver and one for Easy Find Lids.

Non-traditional uses for Rubbermaid products

How do you use your Rubbermaid products? Do the kids use the TakeAlong food containers as sand toys? Are you using Roughneck totes as recycling bins? Is there a silverware caddy in your desk drawer keeping it organized? Is there an Under Bed Gift Wrap storage container under your couch with building blocks in it?

We'd love to know the unique and interesting ways you use our products.  Feel free to share your creative ideas.  Next Thursday 'll pick the my favorite and make it a feature post for a few days.  Enjoy!

Are you a fan of Produce Saver yet?

As some of you may know by now, I'm a giant fan of the new Produce Saver food storage containers (see one of my previous posts).

What I want to know now is... how big of a fan are you?  I'd love to hear your experiences and even more, I'd love to share your comments with everyone else. 

If you're also a fan of Produce Saver, let use know and tell the world.  Click the comment link below and tell use what you think.

One last thing. In case you aren't aware, we currently have a sweepstakes running on Rubbermaid.com where you can register for a chance to win a set of Rubbermaid Produce Saver containers. Take a moment to register. You may end up a winner.

Summer Sports Activities & Kids Camp - Tip No. 79 through 84

To continue with our 1,001 Solutions for Better Living series, below are a few more summer oriented tips that you should be able to find helpful.

Tip No. 79 - Use a medium sized, 24-qt cooler, when fishing; it will hold lures or bait and make a better seat than a cold, wet rock.

Tip No. 80 - A water-filled Roughneck tote, equipped with a battery pump, makes a good live well when fishing.

Tip No. 81 - For informal outdoor sporting events, a large wheeled cooler works equally well for storing drinks & food as well as for seating.

Tip No. 82 - Liquid is important for those who work out; pack one or more chug top beverage bottles of water in your gym bag.

Tip No. 83 - A water cooler with cone cup dispenser is great to use at children's sporting events to keep germs at bay.

Tip No. 84 - Store your child's toiletries in a small storage container. This can then be stowed in a camp locker or cubby.

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View tips 1 though 78

Design your Closet with our Interactive Closet Designer

Have you ever just stood in front (or in) your closet and wished you had a tool that would allow you to easily imagine what your closet would look like in a different configuration or layout? Me too!

Often before I start a project around the home I spend a significant amount of time trying to imagine and visualize the best way to complete the task.  Just this weekend I installed some lattice underneath my deck so you couldn't see underneath it.  I don't know how long I stood there figuring out exactly what I wanted to do and how to accomplish it.

Well, Rubbermaid is about to make your life a little easier.  A few months ago we soft-launched (which means we launched but didn't promote) the Interactive Closet Designer on Rubbermaid.com. Now we would like to let the entire world know about this great new tool. It allows you to quickly and easily design your dream closet.  You just drag and drop different closet pieces to visualize what your closet would look like if you "moved this here, moved that there".  You can also generate a shopping list that can be taken to the store to help with your purchase. I think you'll love it!

Below are directly links to the various Closet Design tools as well as a quick video that shows you how simple it is to use.

P.S. If you try the Closet Designer tool, send us your comments.  Let us know what you think.  Did it work well? How can it be better? Enjoy!

RUBBERMAID INTERACTIVE CLOSET DESIGNER:
- Rubbermaid Configurations / HomeFree Interactive Demonstration
- Configurations Closet Designer

- FastTrack Closet Designer
- Direct Mount Closet Designer

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The Leftover Lion

Making dinner. As much as I love eating, it’s the last thing I want to do after the daily grind at the office, picking up the kids at daycare and the crush of traffic on the drive home.

It just seems that making meals from scratch during the week has never been harder, as we try to keep one eye on a crawling nine-month-old daughter, and the other on a mischievous three-year-old son. It can actually be the most stressful hour (or more) of the entire day for us—especially if our son is hungry and impatient. If dinner’s not ready, he relentlessly begs for snacks. (And, of course, we’re not talking healthy snacks, like fruit—he wants the good stuff: cookies, candy, anything laced with sugar. If we cave and give him a treat just so he’ll put a sock in it, he’ll be even less inclined to chase it down with a real meal of, say, meat and veggies.)

Our typical dinner-hour strategy: one of us does our utmost to sufficiently distract him long enough for the other to toggle a meal together. That said, you’d think the evenings when my wife has her running class and I’m left alone to sort out dinner would be all the more challenging. But it’s quite the contrary. Why? Because those are the nights when we have leftovers! It’s just a matter of pulling the desired Premier Container out of the fridge and reheating the sumptuous fare. Take chicken, for instance. We’ll BBQ twice the amount of chicken breasts and store the extra portions to add to a tossed salad or quesadillas the next night. The trick is to make enough food on the nights when we’re both there to make it worth keeping for another night, and stopping short of eating it all in one sitting.

To make it fun for the boy, my wife has dubbed me the Leftover Lion. And yes, on those nights I throw in a roar for full effect. After enduring work, traffic and the unrelenting snack-beggar, summoning a bona fide roar is remarkably easy.

Organize your desk drawers

For some reason Saturday mornings seem to give me great ideas to posts to this blog.  It's probably all the espressos.  Regardless of how these ideas generate I've got another one for you today.

How many of you have messy desk drawers?

Until last weekend I had a messy desk drawer too (and my wife still does). But last Sunday I decided to take an Adjustable Silverware Caddy that I had sitting in my pantry closet (don't ask why it was sitting in my pantry adding to the clutter) and use it to organize my desk drawer.

I wasn't sure if it would work or not.  Maybe it was too big, wouldn't fit, wouldn't work, yadda, yadda, yadda. That was probably all just an excuse to not get organized.  Well... it works REALLY WELL!

My desk drawer is now really neat, organized and clutter-free.  The adjustable silverware caddy worked perfectly. It fit really well and provided the perfect amount of compartments so I could keep items separated.

But wait.... you're saying "the box says silverware caddy". Forget what the box says.  Organizational ideas and tools can come from anywhere. Yes, this product does work well for silverware, but it also works really well in my desk drawer as you can see from the photo.

Just one final thing.  If you happen to know my wife, don't tell her I posted a photo of her messy desk drawer.  That wouldn't be good.