Product Review - Hecht Of An Organizer

For the past couple of months I have had the pleasure of trying out the Hecht of an Organizer. I waited to review this one because I wanted to give it a good test run to see how well it has worked for us.

First let me give you a proper introduction. The Hecht of an Organizer was created to be a portable office that could go with you. The organizer consists of two polyester covers that slide over all sides of a cardboard box. You do not see the box at all, it is completely covered. The cover is sturdy, water resistant and machine washable. The cover has 18 pockets to store all of those loose items like pens, scissors, tape, keys, etc. The organizer comes assembled with the box, you do nothing but start using it.

For portability there are two carrying handles with Velcro tabs that you can unfasten when not in use.

Personally, I did not use it for it's office on the go capabilities. I found a need for it at my house and it has worked wonders. I use it as sort of a command central. I have a file tote with hanging file folders for each family member. When the mail comes in, it gets separated into each person's file folder. (after the junk is tossed of course!) When my oldest son gets home from school we go through his papers and he "downloads" all of the keepers into his file folder.

I keep all of my son's homework needs in the organizer so he can easily find them all in one place. Right now we have paper, pencils, crayons, glue, pencil sharpener, calculator, and post-its stored in the pockets. Oh, and daughter's hair bow clipped to a pocket. The pockets are great to keep everything organized and in its place for easy access. He does not have to rummage around to find what he needs to complete his homework. We keep the organizer on our kitchen counter and when guests come over all we have to do is tuck it in a cabinet below to clear off the space.

I had intended to also try the organizer as a car caddy for the kids and their toys, books, ect. My daughter leaned on the organizer one day and I saw the box start to buckle under her. I really don't think it would have held up to my little ruffians in the car. But the good news is that if you register your organizer replacement boxes are available "for years to come."

Extra bonus here! If you are all about helping the environment, and who's not, Linda Hecht the creator of the Hecht of an Organizer received the Green Award at this years LA Organizing Awards ceremony for Most-Eco Friendly Organizing Product. Way to go Linda! Not only was the organizer designed to be super durable and very portable, it was also designed to "help support the environment by facilitating the use of recycled cardboard boxes, and the use of new boxes made from renewable material."

For $35.00 this organizer is top notch and I would definitely give it two thumbs up!

Stairway Storage

Kari & Kijsa wrote a post asking their readers to share what they do with that "potentially fabulous" space under the stairway.

All to often that space under the stairs is wasted or at least half of it ends up as a coat closet like ours. Our home builder also thought it was the perfect place for a thermostat and a huge air vent. In our next home I am hoping we will have a space under the stairs that we can actually use. I personally think it is prime real estate. There are so many options and here are a few I have been collecting.

Built in shelving under the stairs with a pull down work table.

Shelving with baskets to hold table linens, magazines, and toys. Or what about using this area as a recycling center and line the baskets with plastic so they do not get ruined. The large baskets on the bottom shelf would be perfect for newspapers.

Pull out shelves used in a basement for storage. However, I would love having a pull out drawer like this near the entryway for shoes.

A built in office space with drawers next to it for supplies. Maybe even build in a file cabinet. Wouldn't that be lovely?

And let's not forget about Benita's lovely closet space under the stairs.

What other ideas can you come up with? Great topic Kari & Kijsa!

[photos from top to bottom: 1) Better Homes & Gardens 2) Better Homes & Grdens magazine January 2008 3) Storage Projects You Can Build, 1977 4,5) Taunton Home's New Built-Ins Idea Book]

Works for Me: Keeping the Kitchen Tidy

OK, I'll admit it. My kitchen is not always spotless. Here is where husband starts laughing hysterically. (Organizing is my thing not cleaning, remember!) Just so you know, I do dishes and clean up after dinner because hubby cooks. It works for us and we are much healthier for it. :)

I have a new rule for myself when it comes to kitchen cleanup. I clean until every plate is in the dishwasher. Piece of cake right? Well not exactly. Some nights that means my job is over rather quickly. I am not a stickler for putting every single thing away every single night. Everything has a home but sometimes family life happens and I would rather be hanging with them than making sure every last item is clear from the kitchen.

And then I have nights like tonight. Twenty extra minutes to clean until that last plate made it to the dishwasher. We have a picky eater! My dear son, my first born, wrinkles his little nose up at anything green, anything mixed together, anything foreign, and the list goes on. We have worked with him for years and he is finally eating new things without crying or gagging but some nights it takes him forever to eat it. Tonight after we were done and he still had most of his food left we told him our usual "7 more bites because your 7" bit. So twenty minutes later he got the last bite down and by that time I had the kitchen in tip top shape. I even had time to wipe down some cabinets and clean all of the finger prints off of the stainless steel.

Most nights I get the dishes done and the counter tops cleaned off and I am done. I save the little details for those nights (which are more often than not) when the wait is a little longer. It helps keep the kitchen tidy and easy to maintain.

[In case you don't already know about Works for Me Wednesday over at Rocks in My Dryer, go check it out. I am always stumbling across interesting new blogs and great tips there.]

Downsizing Dishes

We have a neighborhood yard sale coming up in three weeks so we are starting to talk about what we want to sell since we plan on downsizing. The whole idea is liberating to me.

At last count I think I have moved 13 times in the last 17 years. Each time I moved I shed more belongings. It felt like the weight was literally being lifted off of me. So, now the process begins again. Since our house is not yet sold we are taking baby steps. We are doing things that can benefit us now and will eventually have to do when it is time to downsize.

Here is our first obstacle: DISHES! The classic case of his, mine and ours. We have always had the room for them so we never bothered getting rid of any.

Here we have his, Corelle with green ivy. I'm not a fan of the ivy at all but love the Corelle because they are virtually indestructible and great for the kids. We have enough for 8 place settings but that really isn't enough for our family. We do not use paper plates and a family of five can go through quite a few dishes in a day.

Here is the set of dishes I came with. I love them but they are too heavy for the kids. They all are bringing their plates to the sink now and I want to make it as easy as possible! I only have a place setting for 4 so they have to go.

Here we have ours from the wedding registry. When we picked this Pottery Barn set we thought we would love them. We are big fans of Pottery Barn but as we buy more of their product they start losing a little more points with me. The quality is lacking. Two plates have been broken so far. My husband found out the hard way that the plates are not microwaveable and another time he just put the plate down on the counter a little harder than usual and it snapped in half. With 3 kids I can't have my plates snapping in half. I don't like the plates because they are more bowl like and I don't like when my food runs together. (I know, I know it all goes to the same place)

See, they all fit quite nicely. This won't be the case in the next house. So far we haven't looked at any with 42" tall cabinets.

While I'm at it I will throw in the cups as well. We all use the cheap plastic (again, indestructible) cups.

These are my lovely little goblets we bought from Pier1 last year but they have been tucked away in a box ever since. I think it's time for the grown ups to break away from the plastic! Needles to say no matter what dishes we buy this will be the glass that goes with them.

So, this is what we eat on until the yard sale. All of the dishes will go and we will buy one set that the whole family can use but it still has to look nice. Top priority is that it has to be nearly indestructible and second fairly inexpensive. Corelle is still an option if we find a pattern we can agree on. I am almost wanting to do something a little retro in the next kitchen.

Here is where you come in. I have been scouring websites looking for indestructible fairly inexpensive dinnerware and I would love to get some input from my readers. What do you use at home? What do you like and dislike about your dishes? I would especially love to hear from those with kids.

The yard sale is April 19th so I have less than a month to find new dishes. The next couple of weeks I will continue to search my house for items that have extended their stay. It is time to shed a few more inches.

Laundry In Kitchen

Here is a goody I pulled from my idea file. One of the biggest problems we run into when house hunting is a small laundry room and small kitchen. Or my biggest pet peeve is when you have to enter from the garage through the laundry. Who wants to be reminded of doing laundry every time they walk in the door? Not me!

One of the first things we think is "How can we open it up?" I believe the kitchen is the hub and when we have guests they usually end up there. We want the kitchen as inviting as possible. I know this is starting to sound like a post about a kitchen but its really about what they added to this kitchen. A laundry room!


This laundry room is from the Better Homes and Gardens Idea Kitchen (8/07 issue). The laundry area is across from the range. It is all concealed behind cabinet doors. The counter space also serves as a buffet or extra prep space. The dining table is also centered in the room to be used as an island.

I like the openess of the room. They did not provide actual dimensions but here is the floor plan layout. It would be easy to measure out and give it your best estimate.

Next to the washing machine is a pantry pullout used to store soap and fabric softener. The drawer next to it actually houses a pull out ironing board. I don't know if I would personally have the dining table in the kitchen but the rest I would love.

Flickr Group: Pretty Organized

I could get lost in these pictures forever. Today is our second installment of Flickr Group photos. I hope the photos I have shared with you so far are inspiring you to tackle the clutter. I know I am getting some great ideas myself.

The group I am going to share with you today has over 2000 pictures posted and 1715 members. I am going to split this one up into two days. Today I will share some inspiring spaces. Tomorrow I will show pictures of new creative storage ideas I came across in this group. Welcome to the Flickr group....

Pretty Organized

Here we have Gail's craft shelf. A place for everything and everything in its place. I find the colors very soothing. She has more pictures in the group so go check them out.

This is where Moline keeps her embroidery supplies. I love to see people go beyond boxes and baskets and trying different containers like mini suitcases and hat boxes.

I think I may have to just do a whole post on Chez Larsson. I posted one of her pictures from Organization is for Squares yesterday. I am drawn to her pictures. I love the simplicity of it all. The best way I can describe her home is organization meets art. Every nook in her home is artfully organized.

I am not brave enough to have open shelves in my playroom. I'm not even worried about the older two it is my one year old who would surely scale to the top and pull everything down in her path. I am hoping the doors will deter my little angel for now. Molly, however has done a great job with the toy storage. I'm sure it always stays this beautiful as well. ;)

What a cheery kitchen! I love the open shelving and if you look close you can see the drawers are even labeled!

I have had so much fun with this little project so far. This post really could go on forever and ever. There were so many great pictures it was hard to pick only a few. Remember, I will be back tomorrow with a few creative storage ideas from Pretty Organized.

Meanwhile, if you have any pictures to share of your own organized spaces, please feel free to share.

Related Posts:

Flickr Groups: Inspiring You To Keep Clutter Away

Chest of Drawers

I just found this beauty from WIS Design posted at Poppy Talk. A place for everything, and everything in its place. No longer would socks have to share the same drawer with lingerie. You could have a designated drawer or two for the jewelry. Maybe, a special place for those comfy t-shirts you wear around the house. No more wasted space.

This chest is so beautiful it could also be used as a sideboard in the dining room. Plenty of storage available for the silver, china and table linens.

A Product for Your Pantry

When selecting containers for you pantry choose a clear container that allows you to see what is stored inside. For a uniform look to your pantry I suggest the Click Clack stackable airtight storage containers. If you visit the All Bright Ideas website they give you a nice list of storage ideas for each size of container.