A Year Ago on Adventures In Organization - January 2009

It's amazing how a year can go by so quickly but the work day never ends ;)

Today I was reviewing the posts from a year ago and was shocked to see the post "My Garage Makeover - Six Months Later". It seems like only yesterday I was working on this project. But even more amazing is my garage is still organized. Guess that goes to show what proper planning along with continuous "5-minute pickups" can do.

 

Some of the other highlights from January 2009 include the following:

• Q&A with a Professional Organizer - Brandie Kajino: I've known Brandie for a while now and when she pops up in my Tweet Deck it always makes me smile. Brandie specializes in Home Office Organization. Be sure to check out her website at www.thehomeofficeorganizer.com. She has a new VIP program that will help you get your home office organized. Be sure to check it out.

• Another great post from last year was a cleverly titled post called "An Aesop's Fable for the Modern Day World". This is a great real-life story from the perspective of a frustrated husband.

• To finish off the January 2009 highlights Lauren wrote about completing a closet makeover for her friend Randi. It's a great post to read. It will help inspire you to get your closet in order.

If you're interested in reviewing all of the January 2009 posts, click here to see them all.

Happy New Year!

A Year Ago on Adventures In Organization - October 2008

It's time to look back 12 months and see what we were writing about last October. I know I keep saying this but looking back is so much fun! We had a bunch of great posts last October. Below are just a few that stand out.

• Halloween Pumpkin Dip Recipe - October is always such a fun month. Fall is beginning, Halloween is coming soon, and the holiday's are right around the corner. In this post we featured a really great Pumpkin Dip Recipe that is sure to please.
  
  
  

• Kitchen Cabinet Clutter – Organizing the mess under my counter - I remember this post and project really well and I have to say I'm very glad I organized my kitchen cabinets. If I were to take a photo of my cabinets today they are still as organized as they were the day I completed the project. Be sure to check out the project as it may help inspire you to clean our your kitchen cabinets.
  
  
  
• Organizing My Craft Room - Here's a great post from Lauren on how she organized her craft room. There are some really fun, creative tips here. I'd take just an ounce of her creativity and energy.
  
  
  
• Out of Site. Out of Mind. Garage Makeover Result - In this post, Brian Miller from our Canada office, showcases the results of a garage makeover project. This is a wonderful example of how you can get your garage organized.

I hope you enjoy this look back. Like the old saying goes... "Oldies but Goodies".

A Year Ago on Adventures In Organization - September 2008

I'm going to start this post by admitting I got too busy in August to create the 'A Year Ago in August 2008' post. But I'm back for September.

Once again I get a kick out of looking through our posts from last year. We had posts from guest bloggers, our consumer services team, product managers and even a post about Lorie Marrero, a professional organizer.

Enough with the intro. Let's just dive into some of my favorite posts.

Food Storage Drawer: Before & After by guest blogger & twitter follower @benag
In this post you'll see how the Easy Find Lids food storage containers were used to organizer a kitchen storage drawer.

 

Under-the-Sink Recycling Storage
Do you need a convenient way to keep recycling under you sink? Here's one way to tackle the problem.

Organizing the Attic & Preserving Memories
Here's a post with numerous comments on how to keep your attic organized and how to keep precious memories safe.

Other Popular Uses for Trash Cans
Trash cans aren't just for trash. They can even be used as a Halloween costume.

 

Those are just a few of my favorites.  Be sure to check out the whole group because there are lot's of good posts. I hope you enjoy browsing them.

A Year Ago on Adventures In Organization - July 2008

The year is zipping past quickly. I can't believe it's July already. It seems like just yesterday we were easing into 2009. Anyway, the 1st of the month we do our 'Year Ago on Adventures in Organization' blog post. This month we're looking back at July 2008 to see what we were talking about last year.

Browsing through the July archive it quickly became clear I was very busy last July. From the start of the month through the end of the month I was working on my garage makeover project. Steps 2/5 through 5/5 all took place this month. Below are the posts associated with this project.

• 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
  

In addition to my garage makeover project, Jamie Baker posted about how to assemble a deck box. This is one of the most common questions our customer service team receives during the month of July.

Megan Murphy posted a Produce Saver - "How to" Usage Guide. This post originated from some of the comments we received on the product reviews & ratings on rubbermaid.com.  She was finding some people where not using the containers properly which resulted in their produce not lasting as long as it could.

Brian Miller, from our Canadian office, did a post on the results of a garage makeover contest his team held last year. The results were wonderful and the winner ended up with a really nice garage.

Once again I hope you enjoy looking back through these posts.  I would also like to thank Harry Hoover (@mycreativeteam) for giving me the idea to do these posts. I had asked him early last year how he came up with some many good blog posts and part of his response was to reuse existing content because often times it's still relevant, valuable and of good quality (or something along those lines).

A Year Ago on Adventures In Organization - June 2008

With our 'A Year Ago on Adventures in Organization' series we take a look at some of the blog post highlights from last year.  Although this is only the third month we've done this series I've come to REALLY enjoy doing this post.

It's extremely fun to go back in time and see what we were working on or thinking about. It's also a great opportunity to reflect on how far we've come with this blog.

So, what were we writing about last year at this time.  Below are just some of the highlights from Adventures in Organization June 2008.

• Organize your Desk Drawer: This post was really fun. Although my wife did not enjoy this post nearly as much as I did.  In this post I organized my desk drawer using an Adjustable Silverware Caddy. It worked perfectly. Additionally I showcased my wife's still messy desk drawer.

• We also posted a video from YouTube that showed a couple installing a Rubbermaid Shed in 5 minutes and 28 seconds. You've got to check it out.

• Brian Miller from our Rubbermaid Canada office finished up his series on installing a Rubbermaid Configurations closet kit in his Fiancée’s closet. The results are wonderful.

• And my favorite post of June (I can't believe it's been a year). Was post #1 in the 'My Garage Makeover' series. This was the beginning of a five part series on my adventures organizing my garage. If you've ever thought about organizing your garage you should read this series.

Again, thanks for reading our blog posts. We hope you enjoy them.

A Year Ago on Adventures In Organization - May 2008

Today my Outlook calendar popped up a reminder to post a new blog for our series "A Year Ago on Adventures in Organization".  The purpose of this series is not to just repost an old blog but to take a look at what we were talking about one year ago and discuss how things have changed, lessons learned, and so on. This post is the 2nd in that series.

When I opened my browser to check out the posts from a year ago I had no idea what to expect (actually I didn't even try to remember what I blogged about last May).  I was very pleasantly surprised to see these posts again.  They were still very relevant and I was proud of the content.

Below are three of the posts from last May I'd like to call out.

#1 - Sunday Morning Espresso
Absolutely nothing has changed here. I still make espresso and cappuccino drinks at home and I still store my ground coffee in a TakeAlongs container. I'd recommend this to anyone.

#2 - I Love My Produce Saver
I love my Produce Saver containers more and more every time I use them. I keep strawberries in the medium sized container and blueberry/blackberries in the small container. I can't even imagine how much produce would have gone to waste if I hadn't been using these containers the past year. These are without a doubt my favorite Rubbermaid product.

#3 - Help guide the direction of this blog - Comments wanted
I was really excited to see this post. Although there weren't many comments on this specific post, we have taken feedback from our readers throughout the year and incorporated as we could. This blog is for you and we want to continue to provide content you feel is interesting, helpful and sometimes even fun. If you have any suggestions we are all ears.

Thanks for reading.

One Year Ago on Adventures in Organization - April 2008

How time flies. I'm amazed the Rubbermaid Adventures in Organization blog has officially been up and running for a year now.

In honor of our one year anniversary I'm going to start a series of blog posts called "One Year Ago on Adventures in Organization".  I'm hoping to post one a month. With each post I'm not just going to rehash the post but I'll try to add insight as to how the organization project turned out one year after. I can assure you there will be many good insights and we'll all learn a little something.

So, without further delay. The first "One Year Ago on Adventures in Organization" blog post.

ONE YEAR AGO POST:
04/11/2008 - Messy Kids Closets - Gone Forever (at least I hope)

POST SUMMARY:
Erin (10 year old daughter) and Shannon (8 year old son) don't really have neatness or organization at the top of their list.  I however was extremely tired of clothes, stuffed animals and Pokemon cards bursting from the closet doors.  I wasn't really sure what to expect but I figured I had to try something......

......The result.... WOW! I was totally amazed at the before and after difference. Before each closet had one shelf to hang clothes.  Now, two unique rods to hang stuff and tons of shelves.  The best part about the whole thing is that moving rods and shelves around is super easy.  Just slide a couple clips and you can move a shelf anywhere you want.  It's perfect for the picky daughter who inevitable doesn't like where dad put the shelf and rods.

ONE YEAR LATER LEARNINGS:
Since this post was early on in my organization adventures I had missed a few key steps. The closets are certainly better now than they were before I installed the new closet system but they are not as organized as the could be. I didn't really take the time to consider exactly how the closet was used, we didn't clear all of the clutter, and I didn't involve my kids in the process of deciding how they wanted to use the closet.

To make their closets work even better my kids and I should take the time to remove additional clutter as well as review the areas that are working and the ones that are not working so we can make adjustments as necessary. One of the great things about the 'adjustments as necessary' statement, and this WAS NOT PLANNED, is the Configurations closet system is extremely adjustable and can be reconfigured easily.  This will be extremely useful when we make updates to the closet.

SUPER BONUS LEARNINGS:
To stay organized you do need to maintain the space by spending a few minutes every once in a while to clear clutter, reorganized and put things back into their place.  I need to get the kids in the habit of spending 5 minutes a week picking up and organizing their closets (anyone got a magic wand).