- Remember all those beautiful ribbons that came on your kid's birthday gifts that you feel almost guilty about throwing away? Don't! Use them to tie around your sheet sets in the closet so you'll never have to look for stray pillowcases or bottom sheets again.
- Keep your old bank check boxes and use them as dividers for the dreaded junk drawer. It's still a junk drawer but at least it will look nice and help with your sanity.
- Keep all of your instructions and warranties in a three-ring binder so you won't be stuck sifting through paper stacks.
- Hang collapsing shelves from a closet rod and prepare your child's outfits for the week on Sunday nights. Think of the blissful peace when no one's screaming about finding matching socks…
- Use a wine rack to store magazines and newspapers you want to save.
- On a tiled bathroom wall, hang a mesh laundry bag from suction-cup hooks to store bath toys.
- Designate each kid their own cup and say that it's their only cup. Attach magnets on the back of the cup and keep its "home" on the fridge door. This will reduce the amount of dishes and teach your kids to keep track of their belongings.
- Use a dollar store shower caddie in the car for any time your family is having meals on the go. Take your kids’ meals out of the bag and into the shower caddie to reduce spills and lost fries.
- Have more than one child? Instead of writing names on tags, use the dot method to separate clothing. The oldest child gets one dot, the second – two dots, and so on.
- If you're still in the infant stage, stick a plastic hook on the back of a high chair to hold bibs.
- Use old shoe boxes to hold your kids crayons and colored pencils.
- Use a shoe caddy to store games and snacks on a long road trip. If you hang the shoe caddy over the back of the front passenger seat, your kids will be able to easily reach the toys they want without you having to dig through a never-ending bag. This means more relaxation time in the front while your kids play in the back.
