houston’s shirt + similar jeans  ||  white charger + black portable chargers

One of my favorite hidden gems in our home office is our charging station.  It’s really nothing extravagant, but it is something we use daily and something I think more families would love to implement into their home system. With growing kids and teens, I knew we were going to be entering the technology stages. I wanted all the devices to be safe with me at night or when charging and I am so glad we kept that in mind when we were building. If it is something you are interested in implementing, I’m sharing all the details below! 

: HOW DID YOU SET IT UP?

When we were building, we had the electrician add a power source behind our office shelving. With that hidden outlet, we are able to plug in a power strip that has become our “charging station” or hub for all things electronics. It is a place for all  iPads, watches, phones, and other small devices to take a break and recharge. I love having a place where everything goes at the end of day not only because it helps keep things from getting lost, but also the peace of mind of knowing when kids have technology. 

: WHAT ARE  THE BENEFITS?

There are a lot of benefits to having a charging station or hub in your home, but I will share my top 2.

First up is the sleep benefit. How many of you go to sleep staring at your screen? Pretty sure I could raise my hand more often than not. But if I am good and take advantage of the charging station instead, I am so much happier. Plugging in your phone in another room before bed not only gives you more time to read or have meaningful conversation, but reducing blue light before bed is great for reducing stress and increasing healthier sleep.  I love to have quality time with Joe and the kids before bed and eliminating devices from the equation has been so helpful. 

Another big reason I love having a charging station is that it helps us “patrol” the devices in our home better. Joe and I are able to keep better watch and know that our children aren’t overly using devices or using them unsupervised in bedrooms. Just like we go to bed at night, all our devices do too! 

: HOW CAN I MAKE MY OWN CHARGING STATION? 

First things first, I’d recommend gathering up all of your charging cords, blocks, and docks.  As you go through your collection of cords, assess whether any of them need to be replaced.  Frayed plastic coatings and exposed wires are not only likely not charging your device well, but they’re dangerous.  Amazon carries most common charging cords.

Decide where you’d like your charging station to be in your home… and if you only want it to be accessible to adults or also accessible to children.  If you’re a parent that regulates access to devices, I’d recommend finding a place for your charging station that is somewhere where you or other adults in your home can control it.  For many, a master bedroom or bathroom is a great spot.  Like I said, we keep ours in our home office. The kids know the rules and have set timers on their devices as well.

Now let’s talk about concealment.  Cords in general can tend to be an eyesore so if possible, I like to keep them concealed.  In some kitchens or offices, there will be cabinets or drawers with access to power outlets.  This is perfect.  If that’s not an option in your home, you can create your own. If you’d like to create your own concealed charging station, you can use a shelf or drawer in a TV Stand, drawer, dresser, buffet or console and feed the cords through the back so that they are not seen.  Utilizing a long power strip with multiple outlets is key.

Amazon also makes charging blocks with multiple USB ports so that you can plug in a few at a time.  And if access to a concealed power source and shelf isn’t something you can easily find in your home, there are many products available on Amazon that are their own charging stations. 

. . . SHOP MY FAVORITE CHARGERS . . . 

Most importantly, set this up as a family. Make sure the rules are agreed upon and well known so it is effective!  When can devices be used?  When do they need to be plugged in and put away?  Does everyone have the right cord for their favorite devices so there are no arguments?    I’ll link a few of my favorites here!

my top + jeans + hat + bracelets  ||  harper’s top + shorts + bracelets

Our home office is honestly one of my favorite spaces in our home. It’s clean lines, floor length windows, and relaxing design are my favorite. When we built our home, I knew that I wanted our office to be able to be a versatile workspace for the whole family. Our kids can do home work and projects. I can do work calls and meetings. And Joe can do research and planning. It was important to me that we had plenty of storage space that blended seamlessly with the overall design.  The built in cabinets worked perfectly for us! With them being floor to ceiling, we are able to utilize that wall for storage space for kids arts and crafts, paper storage, gift wrap, and more.  

Aside from that wall of storage, I really wanted to keep everything else simplistic. We utilize house plants to bring a natural and homey element to the space, but everything else is clean and sleek.  Here are three ways I think we’re able to achieve this clean, organized look in our office space.

: GO PAPERLESS WHERE POSSIBLE

This may be the most important tip of all. I’ve spoken about it before when I talk about our home intake stations. Eliminate what you bring inside the house.  It is the most helpful thing you can do.  When you get your mail, stand by your recycling bin and/or shredder and get rid of 90% of that junk mail.  There are very few things that you need to keep. So, my biggest tip is to opt for paperless billing and statements. Get more organized in your email inbox, so that you don’t need to have stacks of papers all over your home and office.

similar rug  |  chairs + similar  |  art  |  desk planter

: INVEST IN HIDDEN STORAGE 

Our floor to ceiling cabinetry is on one end of the spectrum, but there are so many ways that you can incorporate hidden storage into your home office space. Keep items that are normally on your desk hidden away. It helps the space to feel more clarifying.  The more you can see, the more overwhelmed you may feel.  I definitely recommend having a desk with drawer(s) so that you can store things like pens, notepads, staplers, blue light glasses, etc. Many times you can find bureaus with pull out drawer storage for files as well as cabinets for baskets or bins of materials and those can make beautiful centerpieces for an office with artwork above and plants on top.

: KEEP FILE FOLDER TABS ON ONE SIDE 

This is an easy tip that I think many overlook.  When you clean out and organize your file storage, instead of alternating where the “tab” is on the folder (many packs come with left, middle, and right adjusted tabs), put them all on one side so that you can easily skim through to find what you need or alphabetize.  Not only does this streamline the look of your files overall, but it’s much easier to find what you need!

Are you working from home?  What’s your favorite hack for keeping a clean office space at home?

hat  |  top  |  jeans  |  grey baskets

If you are growing your family, you know what a time and money saver it can be to recycle your children’s clothing for the next one.  Especially in the baby stages, they grow out of things so quickly that most clothing only gets a few wears anyway.  But saving baby and children’s clothing for another child poses the task of storage.  So today I’m sharing a few tips + tricks to storing kids clothing to help your home organization up! 

Before you make a plan for storing kids clothes, take into consideration a few things. First, how quickly are you planning on adding another child to your family? If you don’t have plans to or its going to be a ways down the road, your storage options are going to be much more long term. Another question to consider is if you have the space to store the items as well. 

Storing your kids clothes for the future  may not be for everyone, but it certainly is a cost-effective way to clothe and care for multiple children! If you’re ready to store and save, here are my top five tips for making sure it is as useful as possible!

under the bed storage bins:  here  |  here  |  here + here

: CONDITION MATTERS 

Hand-me-downs get a bad rap, especially if they look like hand-me-downs.  The way I make sure that my younger children are excited and feel like they are getting new clothes like their older siblings is by making sure that anything that is saved is in like-new condition.  This means it cannot have stains, stretches, fading, or tears.  

: BUY QUALITY 

When buying clothing for any of our children, I’ve learned that buying quality is key (but not always).  I feel like there have been years when my kids are in a new size of clothing every three months and so to be able to keep up with that can be pretty pricey, especially if you’re buying high quality items.  But I think that it’s important to choose pieces that are built to last, especially if you’ll be saving them for multiple children. 

It should be noted that I don’t think it’s important to buy expensive pieces for babies.  Because they grow so quickly, there really isn’t opportunity for the clothing to get overly used anyway so it’s easier to save for another.  I’d recommend considering this route after the size 2T:

Buy To Last:

• Jeans and Denim
• Dresses
• Nice Shirts 
• Coats
• Hats
• Shorts and Skirts
• Sunday Clothing

May Not Last:

• Pajamas
• Socks
• Leggings
• T-shirts
• Loungewear

some of my favorite weatherproof bins

: WEATHERPROOF BINS 

Once you’ve gone through the clothing your child has gone out of and made sure that what you’re keeping is in great condition, I’d recommend folding clothing carefully and placing it all in weatherproof bins.  Whether you’ll be keeping the clothing in or outdoors, it likely won’t be touched for at least 1-2 years so it makes sense to make sure that the bin you use will not be affected by elements.  You can even place mothballs or anti-deterioration products inside the bin for added safety.

: LABEL EVERYTHING

You know how I feel about labels! Make sure you can easily see from the outside what size of clothing and what gender (if applicable).  This makes it much easier to pull what you need and not go through unnecessary bins. 

: STORE SHOES SEPARATELY 

Depending on how wild your kids are in their shoes, my boys can tend to destroy their sneakers, you may or may not be saving shoes for the next child.  I’d recommend making sure they’re in good condition and storing them in their own weatherproof bin.  Because it’s not apples to apples that a child will fit in the same size clothing and shoes as the last, this is the best option I’ve found to easily store clothing and shoes.

. . .

. . . SHOP MY FAVORITE ORGANIZATION BINS . . . 

I hope these tips are super helpful when it comes to storing your kids clothes! What are you go to tips?

similar top  |  jeans  ||  harper’s bow + moccs  ||  hangers

Tis the season for spring cleaning and today we’re talking about closet space.  Have you ever tried to find a top or a jacket in a jam-packed closet?  It’s like pulling teeth!  Even the crowded clothing racks at stores stress me out.  I love to be able to easily find what I need, when I need it.  No frustration necessary.

We can’t talk about having a clean, easy-to-navigate closet without first talking about only keeping things that you use and love.  Here are a few questions I think may help you determine what to keep and what not to keep:

• Is this in good condition?  No holes, tears, tatters, or fading.
• Does this item fit me right now?
• Is this something I will definitely wear in the next 3 months?
• Is this something I love?
• Would I repurchase this item?

Keeping only items that are in good condition, fit our bodies, and that we love will automatically create a curated closet that you love walking into rather than one you dread.  And this makes it easier to put clothing away, to find what you need, overall it is an amazing time saver!  So, first things first, go through your closet and do a donate/trash purge.  

Next, let’s talk about my five hacks to keep your hanger space clean and easy to navigate!

: FOLD, DON’T HANG YOUR JEANS

Hanging pants and other thicker heavy fabric items on hangers can create a lot of unnecessary bulk between your hangers. If you have the space, I recommend folding and stacking on a shelf or keeping in a drawer. 

: SKIRT HANGERS 

If you’re the type that loves to hang your pants or skirts, but need to save space, try snagging a few of these stacking hangers. These work great for those pieces so that you can layer up on space and easily find what you need with ease.  If you prefer to keep the flow with one cohesive look, you can hang your skirts through the hanger. 

: MATCHING HANGERS 

This may seem like a no-brainer, but having multiple different types of hangers can actually create quite a bit of chaos when it comes to your hanging clothing.  Wire hangers mixed with plastic mixed with ones with clips, can make your clothing easily tangled and hanging at different levels.  An easy fix is to use the same type of hanger for all of your hanging clothing! It may not seem like a big deal but this will make a world of difference when it comes to your closet!

: WORKOUT CLOTHING 

Are you hanging your workout clothing?  If so, I’d opt for a few of the stacking hangers for things like leggings or even sports bras! If not, I would opt to keep these all in one drawer so that you can easily put outfits together. File fold your sports bras, workout tops, leggings, shorts, and even workout socks or undies so that you can grab and go without using extra hangers.

: STORE SEASONAL CLOTHING

If  you’re living in a climate where you experience a variety of seasons, a great way to keep your closet clean and simple is to store away clothing that is out of season but that you are keeping for the next season.  Clothing that fits this bill (winter coats, sweaters, swimsuits, rain boots, etc.) are a perfect item to store in under the bed containers so that you don’t need to worry about the elements of cold or outside storage.

. . . SHOP MY FAVORITES FOR CLOSET ORGANIZATION . . . 

. . .

I hope these tips and tricks help you clean out and simplify your closet with ease! What are you go to hacks for saving hanger space?