The importance of organization around the house can not be over-stressed. You, your family and your home will run more efficiently and therefore less stress and more joy in your life. You will end up having more time to enjoy the pleasures of life. It really takes very little time to put the things in place that will help you do this. It will be given back to you many times over.

There are a few things to consider when formulating your individual plan of attack. You need to start out by asking the question. Where do I see the problem areas in my home and life? Are the keys always missing? Is the sports equipment always strewn about? Do bills go missing and therefore unpaid, perhaps piling up with junk mail? Have you tripped over that pile of shoes – again?

Sometimes the best way to “fix” these problems is to stop fighting them. Stay with me, and I think you will understand what I’m trying to say. Work with your family’s tendencies, and you will see more positive results with fewer headaches. Some things may take a bit more willpower, but once you incorporate them into your routine, you will wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

- If your family likes to leave their shoes like landmines by the back door instead of taking them to their rooms, perhaps you could place an attractive basket there for people to kick their shoes into.

- If you need a place to keep your keys or your work badge, think of a bowl or hook by the door. Another thing to try is a tray on your dresser, if you find yourself coming home and rushing to change into something comfortable. Work with what feels natural; then enforce it.

- If you sort the mail each day and promptly get rid of the ads and junk mail, you will save yourself a great deal of grief. Wherever you do this, have a waste basket or blue box nearby to collect the throwaways. No more desks or kitchen tables or catch-all baskets swimming in useless papers – you can see the few things that do need attending to with ease.

Consider different storage solutions and shelving everywhere possible in your house. Use baskets and bins to corral items anywhere. And if your solutions are as attractive as they are smart you will appreciate them even more.

- In the kitchen and pantry you can use plastic storage containers to keep your spices, sauce packets together in fact anything you see causing clutter.

- In the bathroom on the vanity, sassy baskets can hold hair products, lotions, makeup – whatever you see jumbled there. You can also use baskets on the floor to contain rolled up towels ready to use.

- In the den, look to rein in toys, blankets, books, music, etc, with a beautiful trunk or basket matched to your decor – a storage ottoman answers many needs at once!

If you set your mind to making your home function as easily as possible, every little step you take will get you closer. Soon you will be able to enjoy it and your family, and they will thank you for it.

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It doesn’t seem to matter how big our home is, it could always be a little bit bigger. Whether you’re trying to find spaces to stash your kid’s toys, or you’re starting a home business, you could probably use an extra room or two. One way to get more space is to buy a whole new house. For those of us in the real world who have to work hard for every dollar, a far more economical and practical solution is to finish the basement.

Yes, that unattractive, unfinished space you like to avoid can be turned into a playroom for your children, a recreation room for the weekend’s big game, or a home office for your new business.

There are some things you’ll need to do like cover that cold concrete floor and hide those foundation walls. Then there’s the pipes hanging from the ceiling that you’ll want to hide, and make separate rooms for the washer, dryer, furnace etc. and storage areas you will need.

OK, so maybe this project is going to be a bit of work but actually, despite the time and effort that goes into it, finishing your basement is basically easy and cheap, if you go about it the right way.

There are seven key considerations that will help you decide if finishing your basement is what you really want to do as well as they’ll help you figure out how to go about it.

1: How much value will the finished basement add to your home? Having a finished basement will make a “buyer” want to offer more for your home but how much? To really make it worthwhile it should increase the value of your home more than what you spent to finish your basement. Talk with your real-estate agent to see what houses are worth in your area, with and without finished basements.

2: Think about how long you plan to live in your home after you finish the basement. The longer the time to more value it is to you. It’s great if the finished basement bumps up the value of your home, but you also want to get some value out of that new space for yourself.

3: Be realistic about the costs and work time. Depending on your basement and your abilities, finishing it off will probably be more time consuming than you think. Also can you afford (or borrow) $10,000 or more to complete the work? Maybe the question is do you want contractors in your home for two weeks?

4. Who will do the work? You may think you don’t need a contractor to do work, that you can do it yourself! Even handiest men or women can get themselves in over their heads when it comes to a project like this. Don’t get me wrong. You may be capable of doing all of the necessary work. But do you really have the time and energy to do the work? We all live pretty busy lives what with work and your kid’s sports etc.

5: Whichever way you decide, doing it yourself or hiring a contractor, you will have to comply with local building codes for the work. Sometimes a neighbor who has recently done a similar home renovation can be a wealth of information. Following such regulations may seem like a pain, but they are there to help you get things done right so you don’t have problems down the road.

6: Once you decide that finishing the basement is a good idea the fun begins. First you need to determine what exactly you are going to do. What rooms you want down there. Will it be a spare bedroom, a playroom, work-out gym, office, home theater, etc.? Next is coming up with the plan. This is not only how to lay the rooms out but what materials you are going to use. You need to be realistic about your plans. It might be great to have a fitness room down there, but do you really have the room and don’t forget about the head room. Do you have the square footage for the couches, easy chair and that 60-inch high-definition TV?

7. You have determined your basement can handle your vision, great, now make it happen. Start your research by shopping around for materials, fixtures and furniture. Look for the best price, selection and value. In some cases you can save a lot and still get quality by buying used.

Working through these seven steps can help you get your house that much closer to being the home of your dreams.

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