Organizing Chaos - Baskets and Stations

Hi everyone. Part 2 of my organization series today, the last post I focused on my planner system. I thought today I would focus on my “Command center” and my basket/station system for staying organized.

I started doing this when my son was born, after reading several suggestions for using little basket centers for nursing and diaper changes to help make life easier with a new baby. I liked it so much that I eventually extended to other areas of my life. Now that I have a new baby again, I am back to the original baskets I started with as well as some new ones I adapted over the last couple of years.

My command center happened a little more organically. We have a small apartment with two little kiddos and I am no minimalist, so I needed a way to keep everything handy without using up too much of our limited space. Most of the organization tips and strategies I have come from a place of necessity. The focus is not on beauty but rather on function.

So let’s jump right in.

Command center

I have seen a lot of blogs about "Mom's Command Center", it usually comes fully equipped with a bulletin board, and beautiful cubbies for each family member. This is the command center of my dreams! Neither of my littles is school age yet so I do not need such an elaborate system right now. As we don’t have a ton of space mine is located on an end table next to the spot I breastfeed most often, as I spend a lot of time there anyway these days.

It is a fairly simple set up, I keep my planner here, along with my holiday journal if we are near any holidays, I will go deeper into this in the next post. I also keep my phone charger and my binder of miscellaneous sheets and info tucked down by the side. I go into this a little more in my earlier post. I keep a cup of multi-coloured pens and highlighters here as well. This would be a simple way to add something beautiful to the corner, but I use an old plastic Spiderman cup instead. No need to buy something new if I can use something I already have!

I also keep a small tray in this corner with several items I find useful to keep near my journal and also just handy to have around in general. A pretty little tray would work lovely for this, I use a small wooden tray that I received as a gift. It originally housed tea I believe. Now it has a couple tiny pocket notebooks, some spare earbuds, stamps, hand lotion, chapstick and some blotting papers. I actually love the blotting papers, it’s a quick way to feel a little better when I’ve been stuck nursing for a while. I use Clean & Clear oil absorbing sheets. Not exactly an organizing essential, but still a handy tip, especially in the summer.

We have a little one right now, so I keep a couple of baby combs and brushes, some baby nail clippers, a couple of pacifiers and a thermometer here as well. I also keep some face cream for my toddler, as he tends towards chapped skin, we use Mustela and love it.

Because this is where I do my nursing I keep vitamin D drops and some baby probiotic drops here as well. This way I can easily reach anything I may need while nursing and also have everything I need for my planner.

That is pretty much it for the “command center”, this will change and grow as our needs change and grow, but for now it is simple and efficient and works well for us.

Breastfeeding basket

This was one of the first baskets I used with my first born and it worked so well and has been super efficient for us. I have a 5 month old baby girl now so we are back to the baby baskets we used with my son. I keep my nursing basket in our living room next to the chair I usually nurse my daughter in, but the fact that it is a basket makes if easily mobile if I have to move it. I keep at least one sanitized pump in a clean and sealed bag here, as well as my nursing pads, a couple of burping cloths and some nipple ointment.

With the basics taken care of I also keep some extra baby wipes, and some snacks, usually granola bars and such.

Post Partum Basket

After baby was born I also had a post partum basket I kept in the bathroom, I kept some witchhazel soaked pads and perineum spray, along with a travel bidet, and extra underwear. I always find this basket to be super useful. As it has been 5 months and I no longer use this basket, I have transitioned this into a slightly more useful basket, it is now our potty training basket for my 2 year old.

Potty training basket

I keep a few basics in this basket and I keep it by the potty. This has extra training pants in it, so we don’t have to run around looking for them. It doesn’t hurt to keep a book or small toy here either. Potty training especially at the beginning can be a little time consuming. I also keep wipes here, as they are much easier on little bums than toilet paper. I also keep some dish soap and a bottle of Shout, so that I can scrub out any diaper blow outs my daughter may have.

Diaper basket

With two little ones in diapers (potty training being in limbo these days, more on that here) this is my most useful basket at the moment. I keep diapers of all varieties here, little ones for my girl, and pullups and nighttime diapers for my boy. I also keep baby lotion, two kinds of diaper cream, cornstarch baby powder and very large packages of wipes.

I have found it handy to keep an old towel on hand to cover our changing pad with in case of blow outs, this cuts down of the scrubbing of the pad's cover, and as we don’t care about the condition of the towel, saves my hands from extra scrubbing.

Fun baskets

All of the other baskets have worked so well I have started a few fun baskets as well. I keep an old galvanized tub I had on hand to house all of our spring summer outside toys. This way at the end of the season I can just move it up onto a shelf and it is put away until next year. I keep things like buckets and shovels, bubble sticks, a kite, a small foam bat and ball. All at the ready for outside fun.

I have a similar basket that holds my gardening tools, a trowel, some gloves, seed packets etc.

Kitchen station

I have a little kitchen organization station set up as well. Though it isn’t particularly elaborate I do find it helpful. I keep a running grocery list on the fridge with a pen attached next to it. I find keeping running grocery and to do lists save paper a bit, in that I do use the entire sheet before recycling it. I just take a picture of the list on my way out to the house.

I also keep a stack of post it notes, some tape, a marker and some scissors next to fridge. This makes labelling leftovers or freezer meals really easy and helps keep us on top of what’s in the fridge and freezer at a glance. No opening unlabeled containers to find out what’s inside.

I find the basket/station system very adaptable and I am sure I will be able to continue to adjust it to our needs as we grow.

I'd love to hear any tips and tricks you use to keep on top of day to day life!

Until next time, be safe and be kind!