The best way to save your sanity is to teach your kids the art of being organized from very beginning. In this regard, one of the rooms in any home that can get out of control is the bathroom. Things like lotions, toothpastes and brushes and towels can easily scatter over the expensive countertops and can also stick to the mirrors in case of toothpaste.

Following lines explain how you can make your family stay organized by following simple storage techniques in the bathroom.

A Laundry Hamper:
Dirty laundry and towel can easily convert your well designed bathroom into an eye sore. Therefore, if you install a laundry hamper inside the washroom, your spouse, children and you yourself can present no excuse when it comes to cleaning and clearing things.

Conceal Unattractive Items:
In addition with laundry and towels, you should also conceal other unattractive items such as toothbrushes and the best way to do so is to place small baskets on the shelves. This will also provide extra storage to you making your bathroom clutter free and more organized.

Free Standing Open-Shelf Cabinet:
If your bathroom is devoid of any storage space, you should consider placing an open-shelf cabinet in the bathroom. You can easily keep washable clothes and similar things in the lower shelves. Use upper shelves to place things that you want to keep out of reach of tiny hands.

Install a Magazine Rack:
A magazine rack installed directly above the tank of the toilet can totally transform your dull bathroom into something spectacular. It will give the room a cleaner look by freeing up the space above the tanks making your bathroom look spacious.

Sectioned Storage:
Small items like hairbrushes, pins, curling irons and hair dryers can really tangle things up and cover a lot of storage area. In order to overcome the problem, it is a great idea to allocate a section to each item within the same cabinet. If you cannot spend too much on remodeling your existing cabinet, consider using plastic boxes within the drawers to get the same functionality.

Storage Above the Tub:
Soap and other bath items are also very challenging to store properly in the bathroom. Therefore, keeping them right above the tub is the perfect storing solution as it will not only make bathroom cleaner, you can easily access them while you are bathing.

Toiletries and Medicines:
These small items are most difficult to be contained properly and are often very difficult to be found when needed. Therefore, if you are lucky enough to have a closet in your bathroom then why not use plastic over-the-door shoe organizer. It will make your items easily visible and accessible whenever you need them. However, never forget to store medicines out of the reach of children.

Glass Jars Storage:
Finally you should store the items you most frequently use in glass jars placed over countertops. They will not only serve the decoration purpose but will always be in easy reach as well.

I hope you find these tips helpful to organize your bathroom and in turn help you to teach your family how to live a focused and organized life.

Scarlet Paolicchi is a wife, mother of 2, and a Nashville blogger. She founded Family Focus Blog where she blogs about parenting, green tips, and giveaways!

Has the warmer weather got you into a spring time mood? Are you thinking about your yard, flowers or garden you want to plant this summer? What about taking a few dollars off your grocery bill and growing your own herbs and peppers? Poketo, an on-line store, is offering a Foodie Garden Kit to help you go from a skin colored thumb to a green thumb in no time. The Foodie growing kit lets you grow your own herbs and vegetables easily at home, making it much more effortless to cook, eat healthy, and help with the grocery bill. A stylish rectangular tin planter comes nicely packaged with a kraft board wrap brightened up by funky drawings. The kits come complete with coco fiber wafers, seeds and instructions. Once planted, all the plants can be transplanted to patio containers or the garden to fully mature.

Check out the three different kits available; Peppers, Basil, and Tomatoes.

This would be an awesome gift idea that keeps on giving the entire summer. This product was highlighted on CoolMomPicks.com.

The cookies are eaten, the gifts are unwrapped and it’s time to de-clutter the Christmas fun in the home. That also means it’s time to “de-decorate” and get the house back in order after a fun-filled month of celebrations.

These tips will help you to begin the process:

To de-decorate:

1. Take photos of this year’s Christmas decorating – Do you set up those lighted porcelain houses? Did you create an arrangement this year that you like? Did you figure out where to display all those snowmen around your house this year? Take pictures, both inside and out, so you can easily decorate next year and avoid having to reinvent the wheel!

   I really do this and it helps me each year when it comes time to decorate. I can easily recruit help from my children who can look at the pictures and know where each of our Christmas decorations should be displayed.

2. Enlist help – The entire family can help in the de-decorating process. Assign family members jobs that they are able to do. From removing ornaments from the tree, to placing the nativity back in boxes, your de-decorating will go quickly with the help of others.
3. Use labeled storage bins – Before you drag all of your boxes back to the garage or up to the attic, label and number them so you can easily find them next year. This will help you know if you have missing boxes of decorations next year when you begin decorating.

To de-clutter:

1. Pick-up – Move from room to room gathering items that need to be put away, like gifts received for Christmas. You know those piles that have accumulated during the Christmas celebrations? Assign your children different rooms or items to help pick-up.
2. Put-away – Return each of the picked up items to their usual place and find new homes for items received as gifts. The children can help put away all of their belongings and help determine new homes for things they receive for the holidays.
3. Speed clean – Now that things are picked up and put away you can speed clean.

• Wipe down surfaces that are in desperate need
• Vacuum, dust and mop the floor
• Wipe bathrooms down with disposable wipes
• Change loads of laundry during the process of getting your house back in order

Doesn’t it feel great to have your home de-decorated and de-cluttered?

Trisha writes about numerous topics for 24/7mom.com.

Do you find yourself left with lonely socks after the laundry is finished? Here are a few tips to give your socks a new purpose.

1. Use them as dust rags: Slip your hand in a sock, spray with furniture polish, and clean away!
2. Make a homemade ball or hacky sack: Kids are always looking for balls to play with. Fill a sock partially full with beans, beads, or rice and sew into the shape of a ball.
3. Make puppets: Use felt, google eyes, permanent markers, and more to turn a sock into a funy puppet.
4. Make a cat toy: fill with cat nip and sew the end together. You’ll have a happy kitty.
5. Make a Rice Sock: Fill a medium sock with rice. You can also add flax seed to keep the heat in longer. Sew the end up or use a piece of yarn or string to close off the end. Put it in the microwave for about one minute to warm it up. Use it to ease aches and pains.