It’s back to school time and you just can’t prevent things from being cluttered. With all those school projects, homework and other school-related activities, managing your kid’s mess could help them and you! Managing clutter at home should start with having everyone on board to keep things tidy. Sit down with your kids and talk through a plan that will work for the entire family.

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Whether it’s in their bedroom or in the living room, you can deal with their clutter by doing the following:

Provide them a message board

This can be very effective for kids to be organized all by themselves. You can have a cork or magnetic board hang on the wall. Guide them on how to divide the space with their daily schedule, project deadlines and other necessary to-do-list. However, you should allow them to customize or demonstrate their creativity in using this billboard.

Install a rack for holding backpacks

You can purchase this rack in a hardware store or improvise and build a rack. All you need is a place your kids can hang their bags when they arrived home. Hopefully this will deter them from throwing their bags on the floor or anywhere at home. With a backpack rack, your kids will slowly appreciate how beautiful it is to keep their belongings well-organized. This rack can also serve as a place for athletic equipment, hats, coats, and umbrellas.

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Add storage that will help kids

This is very useful especially for kids who wanted to move from one place to another in doing their school homework. Mobile storage comes in different sizes and partitions that your kids can work on. It helps them organize their own school supplies and materials and have it secured in one storage or area. This storage can also store their reference books and laptop.

These are just a few of the things that you can do to manage the clutter during back to school time. Help your home and sanity by using these helpful tips for creating an organized home for back to school time.

For more back to school ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Happy DIY Saturday! Today we are talking about safeguarding your home’s belongings from fire or water damage. After a house fire or after a flood or hot water tank leak, most homeowners lose valuable contents in the process.

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Today, watch a video on fire safe boxes. See how important it is to read the box when purchasing and see how a ‘fire retardant’ box is different from a ‘fire safe”. Watch this You Tube video to see which holds up in a house fire, and which one doesn’t.

You Tube Video – Protecting your valuables from a house fire

Guest Blogger – How to Protect your Belongings from Water Damage

Let’s face it, storage units are awesome. They’re a great way to get rid of clutter and still keep your stuff. However, if units aren’t climate controlled, moisture is a problem. Moisture brings with it mold, mildew, corrosion, and general destruction of your stuff – no one wants that. Here are some options to keep your stuff dry:

Image via: Joanna Goddard

Option A – Upgrade

Upgrade to a climate controlled unit, especially if storing furniture. These units are usually more expensive but generally keep your stuff dry. For a little extra monthly expense, you can save a lot more in the long run by not having to replace damaged goods.

Option B – Plastic Containers

The best option for using these in your unit is probably to go with watertight totes. Not only can you keep your clothes and electronics organized, they’ll stay dry to boot. Sizes range from tackle boxes to larger totes.

Option C – Plastic Bags

There are two choices here: Space Bags and Ziploc. Space Bags come with the advantage of compressing things like clothes, comforters, winter coats, etc. However, they’re generally more expensive than Ziploc bags. Ziplocs are simpler to use, too. Just remember to double-bag. There are also bags specifically for mattresses and box-springs.

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Option D – Pallets and Boards

You can’t actually put anything in them, but they will keep your furniture and boxes safe from minor flooding. Not really the best option, here, but they’re great if you’re worried about rising water.

Option E – Plastic Sheeting or Tarps

Wrapping furniture tightly in plastic is not a good idea. Plastic traps moisture, mold, mildew, etc. up against the wood. Your furniture will rot. Furniture of any type is difficult to keep away from water. Wrapping your furniture loosely in a tarp is a good way to keep new moisture from getting at it. It’s not water-tight, so it won’t solve the problem completely.

Option F – Airing Out

Visiting and airing out your storage unit every once in a while is a great idea that helps in a couple of ways. You can remove anything that’s obviously been water-damaged and reassess what you’re keeping in the unit at the same time.

As you can see, there are a lot of ways to keep your stored stuff dry. These options can be used everywhere from storage units to your home. Don’t let moisture and mold infect your stuff, keep it dry and mold free.

Sasha Smith is a blogger with EZ Storage self storage facilities. EZ Storage offers units in many sizes with locations in the Boston area, including Framingham, Newton and Natick.

For more DIY ideas on Stagetecture, & Stagetecture’s YouTube Channel, click here.

For most of the world that can’t stand to see another snowflake, or even me in Jacksonville, Florida that can’t take another 20 degree night, today’s organization post is for you. If you are trying to find a way to keep track of your gloves, your son’s mittens, and your daughters earmuffs, this storage organization rack from Martha Stewart will help! She calls is a winter wear organizer… nice.

Avoid mismatched gloves and misplaced scarves by keeping each family member’s cold-weather gear in a wire gym basket. Label the baskets, and attach them to two wooden rails (60-inch lengths of 1-by-4 lumber); use 1 1/2-inch round screw hooks at equal intervals down the center of each rail. A 1 1/2-inch screw eye in the end of each rail allows the basket rack to be suspended from 2-inch round screw hooks that have been screwed about 13 inches apart in the bottom of a coat rack. The rails are painted the same color as the coat rack.

For more home organization ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

 

Today, I’m talking about moving your belongings and when is it worthwhile to store them at a storage facility, rather than move them.  The reasons not to move them could be numerous – furniture is too big, move is temporary, inherited furniture that isn’t your decor style, etc…

Over the past 10 years, this subject has been near and dear to me. I had a relative that relocated from one state to another and chose to pay for a storage unit. With hopes to retrieve the belongings in a few months, easily turned into 5 years and they spent $100.00 a month for 5 years. You do the math, $6,0000 and the contents of the storage unit were not worth more than $500.00!

I found this great article on Unclutterer – a reader asks if she should move her inherited furniture. Read on, the answer may surprise you!

I am moving across the country (probably just for a few years), and would like to take just the essentials. However, I have three large pieces of antique furniture bequeathed by my grandmother that I can definitely see wanting to have in a more permanent house when I move back in the future. So… what do I do with them for the next few years? (Or am I deluding myself — will I ever want them?)

Lisa, your question brings up a number of different issues, so bear with me while I take a few twists and turns to get to a definitive answer.

To start, you seem more uncertain about life than you do about a few pieces of furniture. You use the phrase “probably just for a few years,” which speaks volumes about why this decision is difficult for you. Stop thinking about a possible future, and focus on right now. Are you moving across country? Yes. Do you want to take this furniture with you? No.

Since you don’t want to move the furniture across country, you need to decide what to do with it. Is there someone else in your family who could use the furniture now? What would the repercussions be in your family if you sold the furniture to an antique dealer and used the money to set up your new home on the other coast? If someone would be upset that you sold the furniture, are they willing to take it off your hands? (If not, don’t allow yourself to be guilted into keeping it.)

Maybe you love the furniture, and are considering storing it in self-storage? The reality is that you would likely pay $100 a month to put the three pieces of furniture into a storage locker. If you stay on the other coast for three years, then you’ll have spent at least $3,600 in rent for unused furniture. Would you pay that amount to buy this furniture if you saw it in a store? Could you even insure the furniture for that amount? The possibility also exists that you’ll love the other coast and decide to stay out there permanently. If this happens, then you’ll either continue to pay to store the furniture or you’ll have to pay to have it shipped across country. Whatever way you look at it, using a public storage facility will cost you … and it will probably cost you stress and worry in addition to the price tag.

The future is uncertain, but the present isn’t. If I were you, I’d give the pieces to someone in the family who wants them more than you do. You can admire the furniture every time you visit that family member, and know that it is being useful. And, remember, it’s just furniture, it’s not your grandmother.

For more moving tips on Stagetecture, click here.