Today marks the first full week of 2011! Like pretty much everyone else on the planet, we are planning on making 2011 bigger and better. We’re also going to focus on keeping things a little more organized. Not that we were un-organized before, but now that we have more things going on (ie: house renovations, this blog and so on), we have more to keep track of. So today, we though we’d share a few of our favorite things, old and new, that help us stay organized around the house…

I’ve been buying one of these little guys at the beginning of every year for the past three years or so. The Paper Source Mini Date Book is perfect for keeping tabs on your day-to-day schedule, birthdays and special events. The cover is made from recycled leather which gives it that oh so yummy leather smell (weird thing to point out, I know) and it’s filled with 100% recycled paper making you stylishly organized and eco-friendly. It also comes with some super cute appointment stickers that I love using.

At least two of these things end up in our cart every single time we take a trip to IKEA. Ranging from $5.99 to $12.99 for two, these handy Kassett boxes are affordable and so nice to have around. They take some time putting together and they are a little hard on the fingers, but it’s totally worth the effort. We use these to house important papers, extra computer cables, CF cards and lots of other goodies. We used the bigger models during our move to keep track of things like Bentley’s toys, office stuff and important books/papers so we could get to them easily rather than digging through random boxes in the storage unit.

Yet another great find from Paper Source! This Wall Art Calendar isn’t ideal for keeping track of your day-to-day schedule, but it works if you are looking for something to simply keep you up to date or even some monthly wall art. Every month brings unique colorful artwork that would be the perfect finishing touch to any kitchen, home office or utility room. And if that isn’t enough to make you covet this one-of-a-kind calender, on the back of each page are templates and instructions on how to cut and fold the sheets to create pillow boxes, file folders, note cards and square boxes. How cool is that?

I pretty much love anything from Russell+Hazel. It’s just a fact, Jack. These days I’m particularly loving their Index Dividers. Some of you may have realized by now, we are notebook people (hence the blog design!). We have a notebook for everything form interior design ideas to Bentley’s medical records. These particular tabs are super durable and don’t bend or tear easily like other tabs we’ve used — which is a major plus. Aside from being handy, it’s about time someone is making dividers in fun, stylish colors rather than the office-norm neon or primary colors!

After four years of college and three years of apartment-living, we are now that we are unpacking every single thing we own, we’ve come across a lot of things we want to keep but don’t necessarily need inside the house year around. Things like seasonal decorations, keepsakes and whatnot. So we’re planning on keeping them in the attic. Coming from an apartment with minimal storage (though it had pretty good sized-closets), this is a luxury to us first-time-home-owners. In order to keep things organized up there, we are using these Sterilite storage containers. We purchased the clear/tinted ones so we can easily see what’s inside without having to dig through them. To make things even easier, we are using certain colors for certain things: Red for Christmas decorations, green for other seasonal decorations, purple for keepsakes and clear/gray for home decor items that we don’t want to put in the “yard sale pile” but we aren’t ready/wanting to use yet. Since we were already on a storage-box-buying rampage, we decided to go ahead and pick up a few blue containers for future things we might want to store. So far, the system is proving to be a good idea and it gives us peace of mind to know that if we need to get something from the attic, we know exactly where to look for it.

Our last, but most certainly not least favorite thing that helps us stay organized is the Dymo LetraTag Plus Personal Label Maker. It’s safe to say that we use this little guy on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis these days. Greg uses it mainly for labeling his many many containers of computer parts and guitar stuff. I use it for… what do I not use it for? I use it for a ton of things and am finding new ways to use it all the time. Most recently, I’ve started using it to put purchase dates on specialty spices from Tom Leonard’s or Trader Joe’s that may not have an expiration date. Either it’s a good idea or I’m just looking for things to label. I may need help.

So there you have a few of our favorite things that help keep us organized and will hopefully help 2011 to be full of organized, color-coded, labeled bliss.

The most commonly asked question we get from our friends and family is, “How do you manage without a kitchen?” Surprisingly, it hasn’t been all that difficult, and it’s actually been kind of fun. Don’t get me wrong; we long for a full-sized refrigerator, an oven for baking, and a stove and not to mention, a dishwasher. However, going with out a kitchen hasn’t been as hard as we initially imagined.

The main thing that has been making life without a kitchen easier is keeping everything organized. Of course, organization is key to enjoying any room in the house, but it’s absolutely critical in our temporary kitchen.

We set up our kitchen on two six-foot folding tables that we borrowed from Ashley’s mom and dad. Rather than taking up a bunch of space with lesser-used appliances, we decided it was best just to keep a few out and store the rest. Our “top five” list of appliances boiled down to the microwave, coffee grinder (which I use daily to make delicious coffee in my Aeropress), electric griddle, slow cooker and toaster. Having these out in the open makes doing things in a small, makeshift kitchen relatively easy.

On the other side of the “kitchen”, we have other necessities like paper towels, cutting board, knives, a few canisters (which are storing a handheld can opener and our daily vitamins) and last but not least the mini refrigerator.

We ended up storing the boxes that contained kitchen stuff under the tables. That way, if we ever need to dig out a platter or dishes of some sort, it’s right there at our fingertips.

The fridge situation hasn’t been as bad as we thought it would be, either. We just have to remember to keep things small. For the most part, we keep condiments, deli meats, single-serving meals (in the freezer) and drinks in the fridge. Oh, and Bentley’s dog food. We can fit a 12-pack of Diet Coke and at least two half-gallon containers of some sort (this week’s half-gallon beverages of choice: milk and grapefruit juice) in the fridge, still leaving room for other items. Remembering to think small/single-serving helps to eliminate the frustration of getting something home from the store and realizing it doesn’t fit.

Then we have the pantry. Seeing as how the pantry is currently serving as a storage space for items not typically kept in a pantry, it’s nothing special at the moment. Ashley is really eager to get her hands on it once the kitchen is done and turn it into a shrine to organization like Shelley’s pantry over at House of Smiths. We’ll get there one day, Ash.

All the way at the top, we have our mixer, juicer and food processor. Since we don’t use them on a regular basis at the moment, we decided to stash them up here for now so they are out of the way. Plus, they’re easy to get to (for me, at least! Ashley isn’t nearly as tall as I am, haha) if we ever need them for something.

The next shelf down is home to oatmeal, crackers, popcorn, bread etc. You know, the usual stuff. We try not to stock up on a ton of stuff at one time so that we can keep everything simple and organized. Any more, and keeping everything organized would get rather complicated.

Then we have spices, sandwich bags and a bunch of grilling extras. We tend to have a lot of grilling sauces and such on hand these days because we use the grill a LOT. Not having a stove forces you to find other options for cooking, and sometimes the microwave just won’t cut it. It doesn’t hurt that I absolutely love to grill, either.

Smore’s supplies (which is pretty much a staple around here during this time of year), leftover Christmas candy, plastic utensils (washing silverware in the bathroom sink got really old really fast), Rubbermaid containers (for leftovers), and a few dishes (just in case we get tired of using paper plates now and then).

On the bottom shelf, we have extra paper towels, napkins, our go-to cook book, containers that we’ve been collecting from our local Chinese delivery place (Ashley “has a plan”) and mixing bowls. We have a pretty hefty collection of cookbooks, but we decided to keep only those who have mostly recipes that can be done in a temporary kitchen like ours. There was only one.

So this is how we’ve been surviving without a kitchen. Keeping things simple, uncluttered and minimal has proven to be the best way to enjoy our temporary kitchen. It’s not ideal, but it’s definitely not as bad as I had originally thought. And it’s definitely a good experience overall; we’re really going to appreciate our new kitchen once we get it finished.

Do any of you have any stories about living without a kitchen? Did you just do take-out all the time, or did you try to make a temporary kitchen function like the real thing? Let us know in the comments…

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One thing is for sure, each room will undergo a multitude of phases until we declare the room “finished”. Or “done done” as Greg says. Now that the holidays are wrapped up, we’ve been focusing on the living room. We unpacked some more accessories, replaced the Christmas tree with the chair in our bedroom, hung some wall art and reconfigured the furniture arrangement. Here is the way things are looking now:

Yeah, it still needs some work and we’re getting there. But we’re going to live with it like this for a few days to see how we like the set up.

One thing that is bugging me is the sofa table. It’s too short for the sofa. But since the jury is still out on the sofa and loveseat, we’re going to hold off on hunting for a longer sofa table for now. Other than that, we need to hang something over the fireplace. It is in dire need for a mirror or large piece of art.

Nevertheless, things are changing around here and resembling an actual lived-in house.