my favorite online organizing & cleaning resources

Hi, ladies!

I thought if any of you are in "organizational mode" and had any down-time this weekend, you might enjoy peeking at some of the following resources.  They're good sources of inspiration and motivation even if you're not ready to tackle any big projects right now. 

• First of all, our Jenny L. just recently reminded me that our kellicrowe has a couple excellent videos over at YouTube that offer some great ideas for organizing a craft/scrapbooking space. Kelli homeschools, and it's very interesting to see how she keeps all her stuff in order.  And she is cute and funny! :) (You might be interested in her other YouTube videos, too. She is organized AND creative, which is a really nice combination.)

• Looking at photos of Lisa Brown's old scrap space always gets me motivated to clean and organize prettily. :) (Hey, our Shelley L., looking at your old scrap desk when you had it in the corner of your bedroom, and then your newer desk in your house entryway (is that right?) also got me motivated, but I can't find them to link to them.)

• Aby Garvey over at Simplify 101 is also both organized and creative, so her solutions are practical AND pretty. :)  I love that.
  
  I have taken her "Quick + Simple Cluttter Control" workshop and recommend it, but even if you can't take a class, you can learn a ton by reading information on her site. 
  
  She has a blog called Creative Organizing, and you might start by simply clicking on the "organize" category (in the sidebar at left on the blog) and scrolling through those posts. Just look at the cute pictures! Stop and read when you see a subject you're interested in.
  
  She also has a good directory of articles here, great tips here (look at the sidebar at left for the categories of "home," "office," "life," and "scrapbooking"), and she sends out a really great e-newsletter regularly. (I am always happy to see it in my inbox.) 

• The organizing and homekeeping sections of MarthaStewart.com are very inspirational. Many of the ideas are too labor-intensive or expensive for me, but looking at the serene, beautiful photos gets me motivated to clean and organize around here. :)  And some of the ideas are more down-to-earth.  The organizing tips of the day are also interesting.  (There's an interesting one here titled "100 Reasons to Get Rid of It," with a list of places to donate almost anything you can possibly think of getting rid of.)

• The Home & Organizing section of RealSimple.com is also inspirational, although they are stingy with the size of their photos, which are too small to be very helpful. I also like the Solutions Directory.
  
  If you click on the mauve-colored Television tab up top and then on "Organize by Topic," you'll currently find 45 articles, 18 checklists, 68 photos, 24 how-to guides, 17 recipes, and 9 videos. (We've already watched two of them!)  Lots of good stuff, and most of it more doable and accessible for a regular gal than some of the Martha stuff.  I like the room makeover pictures. :)

• As far as putting the "pretty" into organizing goes, The Container Store is fun. So is See Jane Work, for stylish office supplies. And Kangaroom Storage.  And of course the storage and organization sections (which I've linked up) of these shops are always fun to look at: Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, Land of Nod.

• I have several friends who absolutely swear by Fly Lady for staying organized.

What are your own favorite organizational and housekeeping resources?  I know there are some really good organizing books and blogs that I know nothing about.