I utilize wicker baskets, rubbermaid containers and laundry baskets in every room. They hold an amazing amount of stuff and they don't look too bad. I keep a large wicker basket on the kitchen table. It is filled with mostly paper - things I need to reply to, notes to myself of things I have to do. We have a wicker basket in the dining room where my husband sits to pay the bills. When the mail comes, I immediately put any bills to be paid in that basket for him to deal with. That's another thing - deal with mail immediately. Put bills in a place for bills, other things you need to call about or deal with in some way, in your "to do" basket. Throw away junk mail immediately. Rather than keeping a lot of appointment cards and other papers hanging around on refrigerator magnets, I put them all on a calendar, then throw away the paper. I keep a laundry basket in each room where I put things that need to go elsewhere in the house. They are all in one place instead of being scattered around the room. Then I tackle it myself or assign someone to do it. I keep a "stair basket" on the stairs to the second floor, where I put things that have to go up to the bathroom, bedrooms, etc. If you google stair basket, you will find that it's perfectly shaped to fit on two steps of your stairs. Much better than a cascading assortment of crap that needs to go upstairs but tends to roll down the stairs as people pass by it while ignoring it. Rather than having one toy box, put a bunch of those big rubbermaid plastic containers in your kids' rooms or in the playroom. Teach them how to sort things out and have a time each day when it's time to put stuff away.Deal with things as they come up whenever possible. Mail that requires you to take some action, like a phone call perhaps, do it right then. If you can't, put it in the wicker "to do" basket but don't forget to go through that basket once or twice a week. If you use a dish, put it in the dishwasher or clean it. And try not to get discouraged when things do pile up. Sometimes I end up with a pile of clean and dirty clothes two feet high on my closet floor. One night, get ready for bed earlier than usual, get into your jammies and just start hanging things up or putting them in the laundry. I have a TV in my bedroom, which helps when I'm doing boring things like that. Take it slow. When you have some spare time, tackle one junk drawer or cabinet at a time. If your kids are older than about 8, they can help. When my son was ten, I found out he was great at re-organizing things. So I started assigning him to clean a kitchen cabinet now and then. He takes everything out, wipes down the surface, and puts everything back in a remarkably logical order. Can't stress this enough - don't let things pile up or you will have such a mess on your hands you just don't know where to start.
