Rocket City Digs » Organization

Product Review: The Applecore

Jody — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:00:31 +0000

As followers of this blog no doubt have realized, we have a cord problem in our apartment. The building is a pre-war, which means we have exactly eight outlets for all 680 square feet. How pre-war is it? So pre-war that it was originally built without electricity, meaning all the outlets are on the OUTSIDE of the wall.

We have a power strip for every outlet, an extension cord for every power strip. Cords run along our wainscoting and hanging bar, along the floors and doorjambs; half of the time spent on decorating in our apartment involves hiding cables. So when someone from Applecore contacted me and offered to send a few free cordkeepers for review, I said YESPLEASEANDTHANKYOU.

Of course, that was months ago, right when I started back at work, when I thought I’d have more than five minutes a week to think about blogging. The good news is, we’ve had plenty of time to test out and implement the new cord-keeping system.

The concept is pretty simple: the Applecore is shaped like (you guessed it) an apple core. It’s made of silicon (I think), and has two notches to lock the cord in place. They come in a variety of colors, and when I brought home my bag, I realized the first drawback for us: they’re adorable, and therefore they look like toys. As electrical cords are not a desirable plaything for a toddler, I realized we’d have to implement them out of reach.

See the blue guy?

You can see the cord problem in Eliza’s room. Our orange art backdrop hides the extension cord running up from the floor, and into that one cord, we have to plug the fan, the white noise machine, and her nightlight. Attractive, no? I used the blue, small-sized applecore to wrap the thin white noise cord. It worked well enough.

Place #2: The bottom of the extension cord, hidden behind a nightstand.

Ah, tape. Pretty, no?

This was a medium-sized applecore, and I probably could have used a bigger one. The notches for the cord were just a wee too small for the flat cord. But it certainly cleaned up the space and prevented me from needing to tape more cord to the back of the art backdrop.

Generally speaking: they’re fine. They’re colorful, inexpensive and clever enough in their way, and I like that they come in a variety of sizes. They work better than velcro cable ties, but I don’t know that they’re superior to the Cable House Cord Organizer, which hides the cords a bit better. Or the Cordkeep’r, which I find to be extremely useful, although not as attractive.

I think their best use would be for small items, like iPad or headphone cords. And at this time of year, when we’re dealing with even more cords and cables for the tree, it’s a good small investment that won’t break up the look of your decorations.

But I’d need to buy quite a few more of them to tackle the mess behind our television set.

Aren't we in a wireless world already?

Metro Shelving: The Bedroom Goes Industrial

Jody — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 17:39:13 +0000

I keep saying we’ve been crazy around here, and we have been, but we’ve also been doing mad upgrades to the apartment, mostly in the form of Metro shelving. It’s not just for industrial kitchens anymore.

You might remember our former free-hanging closet in Eliza’s room, the one for which I made a curtain. Since then, this happened:

She doesn't actually sleep in it.

Of course, she still sleeps in her Pack’n'Play. And Gillian still sleeps in the hallway nursery. (The bonus of having a well-laid-out one bedroom is that we now have a three-bedroom.) But we’re working up to the toddler bed, and in the meantime, we had to shift around some furniture to continue upping our storage, increasing our closet space, and getting Eliza’s damned car seat out of sight.

So we did this.

Pay no attention to the carseat behind the curtain.

Obviously, I need to finish the second curtain. And we anchored it to the window sill, our version of seismic retrofitting. Behind that curtain is all of my dresses, David’s sports jackets, Eliza’s carseat, and a few other miscellaneous items.

This is a perfect example of why we love Metro shelving; it breaks down easily, goes up fast, and is eminently scalable and modular. It’s not cheap, but because it’s so storable, when we don’t use in the girls’ room, we can break it down and put it back up in a pantry. Or an office. Or a garage, should our life ever include any of those things.

All of her toys are on the bottom shelf, and the green Bigso box on the right contains her “dress up” clothes. All the blue Bigso boxes on the top are assorted storage items–my purses, our football jerseys, tchotchkes, and even some dishware.

I’m thinking about getting some fabric that matches the curtains here and sewing over the blackout curtains so the whole wall looks more uniform. I’d like to use the same fabric, but I’m not sure how much I want to spend. We’ll see.

Coming eventually: More Metro shelving. More Elfa. And a Murphy bed.

A Tale of Four Strollers

Jody — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:00:57 +0000

I’m mad hectic these days, but I’m trying to, at the very least, take some pictures of what’s happening lately at the RocketDigs. One thing is lots of shifting of stuff. Another thing is erecting Metro shelving, and also a toddler bed, and more computer items. But I thought I’d share a picture of the closet in Eliza’s room, and how we finally Shifted Enough Stuff that all of our strollers (count’em, four) fit into her closet.

I majored in Tetris.

That’s an infant Graco Snugride 32 carseat, a Graco Quattro Tour Sport something-or-other, a double stroller, also Graco, that fits the carseat, a Snap’n'Go, also that fits the carseat, and a cheapass Walgreen’s umbrella stroller that replaces the nice Chicco umbrella stroller that someone stole and I have personally cursed. Not shown: Eliza’s Radian carseat and GoGo Baby Kidz Travelmate, which are finally hidden away in the Metro shelving we’ll be displaying at some point.

Bottom line: when you have no car, the crap’s gotta go somewhere, and you better have a way to get it to where you’re going.

Spring Cleaning Order #4: Start an Annoying List

Jody — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:34:32 +0000

I’m cheating at the moment. We spent the weekend at a lovely vacation rental in Point Reyes, sipping mimosas on the deck and spending time with my mother-in-law and her partner. Right now we’re hip-deep in unpacking from our little weekend jaunt and I’ve nothing for you but some plans for a vacation report later this week.

So your assignment this week is simple: you may have read about our Annoying List: a list of things to do that will make your life marginally less irritating. Spend a half hour walking around your house, pen and paper in hand, and no matter how small it is–”Clean toothbrush holder” or “Creaky toilet seat”–mark it down. Then, by next week, mark at least one thing off the list. Your life will be less annoying in no time!

Here’s a taste of our weekend.

It's 300 steps to the lighthouse. We opted to stick with the view.

Spring Cleaning Order #3: Tan, Baby, Tan!

Jody — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:20:23 +0000

You may have already covered this task during Use It Or Lose It week, but given that we’re heading into summertime, I thought it was worth mentioning on its own! We keep all our sun and outdoor products in one box, and what with constantly forgetting to pack them, the box gets mighty full mighty quick. Of course, with all the rain everyone’s been getting, everywhere, it seems unlikely we’ll ever need the stuff again, but it’s good to be prepared.

Suntan lotion, sunblock, aloe sunburn care, bug spray...

You could choose to follow all steps or just the first, but I’m going to go for all of’em!

Check the expiration dates. You knew that was coming. Chuck the expired items.
Check the texture of the remaining bottles. Even before expiration, lotion can get watery and gross. Chuck it if you’re grossed out.
Marry the remaining bottles if they’re the same SPF. No need to have three half-full bottles of 15 SPF!
Guarantee you’ll never forget it again. If you have some empty travel-size bottles around (or even small bottles of the lotions) pack a bottle wherever you’ll need it. For us, that’s the diaper bag, my awesomely awesome everyday bag (the Custom Eula Tote from Timbuk2), and our picnic backpack.

Fun in the sun, folks!

And don’t forget to record your entry in the Corner Clutter Challenge!

Spring Cleaning Order #2: Kick Out the Drugs!

Jody — Mon, 09 May 2011 16:13:11 +0000

So last week we purged all our excess bath products, right? If you’re anything like me, the act of seeing the back of your medicine cabinet for the first time in months should have spurred you on to whip through the rest of it then and there! But just in case you stopped with the shampoo, let’s move on to my second super-easy spring cleaning order: drug disposal!

We tend to accumulate over-the-counter drugs in this household. It’s a combination of not spending enough on my flexible savings account by the new year, and therefore stocking up like mad all at once; finding myself at a home with wall-to-wall carpeting, three cats, and no allergy medication; and buying cold medicine every time I have a cold, because I’m too fuzzy-headed to remember that I already have three packages of TheraFlu stashed in the bottom of a drawer somewhere. Not to mention the occasional well-meaning purchase of some supplement or another, the medicinal equivalent of buying wrinkle-free thank-you-note-writing cream.

Newsflash: drugs, like bath products, expire. And while I don’t think many drugs become lethal past their best-by date, they, at the very least, lose potency, and I don’t want to be taking sub-standard Claritin-D when I’m surrounded by mommy’s little Persians. Like all spring-cleaning efforts, cleaning out the medicine cabinet is also just an exercise is updating your business: I remember looking for something to clean a papercut at my grandmother’s house, and found a bottle of peroxide that had expired three years before. Don’t let that happen to you.

Drug Disposal

The problem, of course, is that drug disposal isn’t that easy. You’re not supposed to dump them in the toilet anymore; putting them in the trash is also a no-no. What you’re supposed to do is go to Walgreens, get a “Green Bag,” and then bring it back to the store so they can safely dispose of the drugs. I tried this last week and was annoyed to find out that said green bag–which holds about a gallon, by the looks of it–costs $2.99. Each. I know environmentally-friendly products don’t come cheap, but that seemed a bit over-the-top. The pharmacist recommended I go to www.baywise.org, which told me to dump all the pills and whatnot into a bag and bring it to a local recycling center (fortunately, there’s one within two blocks of my apartment). For those of you in the boonies, you might have to go with the local chain drugstore and buck up the cash. While the site asks that I dump pills into a Ziploc directly and recycle the bottles myself, I’m guessing it’ll be OK to just toss in the ointments without squeezing the tubes dry.

After gathering up all the expired items (along with cleaning out my nail polish drawer, something we should all do once every two years or so), I had a nice little pile on the floor.

Yes, you can see about four rolls of crappy athletic tape in there.

Time to purge!

Check expiration dates. If it’s expired, chuck it. If it’s more than five years old, chuck it. You don’t use it enough to warrant the space it’s taking up.
If the item doesn’t expire, have you used it in the last year? If not–or if you can’t remember when you last used it–chuck it.
Divide everything by ailment. Once all the painkillers, cold medicines, first aid, etc., are all in a pile, further divide by what actually works. We all have tried-and-failed drugs cluttering up our closets. Chuck what doesn’t work.
Put it all back, still grouped by ailment. Whether it goes in your medicine cabinet, a drawer, or under your bed, make sure everything’s grouped together so you don’t have to go poking around for that bottle of Benadryl you’re sure you have. Better yet, if you’re so inclined: make a list of everything you have left and keep it with the drugs.
Dump all the pills, medicines, etc., into a large Ziploc bag and take to your nearest disposal center, or head to your local pharmacy and inquire as to how to get rid of the drugs. Why bother? Because drugs have been found in the groundwater and in streams. Bad news.

Now look in your medicine cabinet and revel in its spare beauty! And don’t forget to record your entry in the Corner Clutter Challenge!

Spring Cleaning Order #1: Use it or Lose it!

Jody — Mon, 02 May 2011 17:09:17 +0000

We’ve all been there: standing in the skincare aisle of Walgreens, looking for new soap, when the eye catches a new miracle lotion that shaves your legs, removes cellulite, and writes thank-you notes. Or passing by a bath product store advertising a new double-chocolate chip cookie scent, and wouldn’t that be fun in a bathbomb?

Here’s your first assignment for the month of May: Scour your medicine cabinet, bathtub, closet. Look in your night-table drawer, your purse, your gym bag: anywhere that you may have stored a bath product, whether it’s shower gel, moisturizer, exfoliator, or an African clay mask. Hotel shampoo. Gather up all the bottles and jars and stare at them, and now ask yourself: WTF are you doing with THAT many bath products?

Here’s evidence of my collection, although it does not include anything from my Devil-Ettes makeup bag or Dopp kit, so it may be missing some sticky travel-size bottles of hairspray.

I'm pretty sure that Cape May foot lotion is older than my niece, who's in kindergarten.

Take a deep breath: you’re about to be brutal. And possibly thoroughly grossed out.

Check expiration dates. If anything is expired, chuck it.
Check for duplicates. If you have any duplicates, marry them, restaurant-style, and chuck the spare bottle. If any of your travel-size bottles are at half-mast, marry them, too, even if they’re different scents. Really, will it matter if your hair smells like Fresh Breeze AND Basil Mint?
Set aside your frequently-used products. Your daily shampoo, conditioner, body wash, moisturizer, etc.: set them aside. They’ve already passed the usage test. Tip: if you have a beauty mask you haven’t used in a month, it does NOT go in your frequently-used products pile.
Finally: use it or lose it! You have from now until May 31 to plow through all the rest of the bath products in your pile. If you don’t finish the bottle by the end of the month? Chuck it.

OK, I can be merciful here: if you find that you really do love that Super-Firming Thank-You-Note-Writing Lotion, and you use it every day but haven’t gotten through the whole bottle by June, then you can keep it. But ONLY if you use it regularly. Otherwise, the SFTYNW Lotion goes in the bin.

So that’s your first Spring Cleaning Order of the month! Hop to it!

Elfa to the Rescue (Again)

Jody — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:57:26 +0000

Before I dive into today’s episode of How We Keep Shifting Things Around, I want to announce a giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY! to my gorgeous niece, Sadie, who turns the unbelievably mature age of 6 today. She’s brilliant and funny and beautiful, to boot, and she’s the best cousin and big sister a kid could ask for. You’ll be getting a gift in the mail sometime in the next few weeks, dollface, I promise!

Back to the RocketDigs. Early last week, as David and I began making an arm’s-length list of things to do in the apartment, I said, “I’d just like to get off the hamster wheel.” We’ve been treading water for months, space-wise: we move a box from one room to another, shift some things into storage and pull out other items, constantly making what we thought were upgrades, but never really getting ahead of our growing mountain of stuff. What’s worse, Eliza’s room, which was converted from our room some five months ago, still stored all of David’s clothes and an Elfa wall unit that was not at all suited to a room for two little girls.

You’ll all be thrilled to know we made some actual headway this week, on a number of fronts (thanks in no small part to tackling The Annoying List again). The biggest project was moving the Elfa unit from the bedroom into the sunroom/our bedroom. “Modularity” has been our motto for some time, and this week’s construction project bore out its importance in spades. When you rent, a true built-in is difficult, so you have to make do with temporary, movable solutions. See if you can follow this next paragraph; I feel like I’m describing a game of Tetris.

We’d already moved a standalone unit from the bedroom closet to the bedside; the other standalone unit, we moved into the hall closet (which had some extra space after David built an extra “closet” in Eliza’s room, which I’ll feature in a later blog). He built a second rack of hanging clothes in the sunroom, which we’ll be covering at a later point, as well, and then moved the entire Elfa wall unit above the original standalone unit. The process wasn’t pretty.

And I can't even lift anything heavier than ten pounds.

Fortunately, the standalone unit makes an excellent clubhouse.

She was unhappy when we began putting the drawers back in.

After a few hours and a missed nap on my part, the project was done. We still plan to hang a curtain of some kind in the front, and I’m not thrilled with the fabric cover for the standalone unit. But all in all, I think it looks pretty darned organized. And it’s not visible from the living room, either.

Still loving those Bigso Boxes.

Elfa to the rescue!

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Organization Cure-Alls: The Binder Clip

Jody — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:00:07 +0000

Every family has its own Band-Aids. My mom loves Scotch tape. A friend of mine would use a cable tie to repair his shoelaces. We have binder clips. They’re the Mary Poppins of fasteners: practically perfect in every way. They’re metal, so they’re magnetic. You can buy them in a variety of sizes; you can fold them out for more secure users, or use the metal loops for hanging.

I don’t know exactly when we started using binder clips for every use in our home, but I think it may have started with a bag of potato chips. Why buy one of those oversizes plastic things when you can just use a medium-sized binder clip to keep your Ruffles fresh? That advanced to using a small-sized clip to close up our bags of frozen peas. And things just spiraled from there.

Here’s a quick pictorial of how we’re currently using binder clips on the space station.

A few weeks ago, we moved some of our Elfa drawers from the former hallway nursery into our bedroom (which, of course, is the former sun room). The open drawers were far too tempting for toddler’s hands, so I found a giant piece of fabric leftover from my snake project. That worked for a few days, until she figured out she could just pull aside the fabric to get at my jewelry. Enter the binder clip.

My night table/dresser

This map hung above our bed in our bedroom, and we moved into the sun room shortly after moving the bed. At some point we’ll get actual picture hangers. Probably.

...the map above our bed...

When we’re not binder-clipping down pages of cookbooks for recipes, the clips are equally useful for hanging recipe printouts.

...and in the kitchen.

And fortunately, the recipes hang barely a foot away from our primary binder clip storage center.

We hide the really big binder clips in a toolbox.

What’s your household Band-Aid? We could always use a new one.

Product Review: Bigso Boxes of Sweden

Jody — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 16:40:29 +0000

If you’re a regular reader, you know for the last few weeks I’ve been promising a post about attractive storage solutions. Specifically, the Bigso Box of Sweden. The Container Store has a wide variety of Bigso Boxes, all brightly colored, most for media or paper storage, but we never bought any until we came across their bigger sizes, aptly named the Bigso Bold Box and the Rectangular Storage Box. At $14.99 and $12.99, respectively, they’re not cheap. You can get similarly-sized boxes at your local post office for a fraction of the price. But these boxes aren’t just for holding things; they’re for making your room look nicer. And when you have a small home, eventually, you’ll use all the under-bed, under-dresser, closet storage and require some visible storage.

Both boxes are sold folded, so they require a little assembly. The smaller Rectangular Storage box uses four screws–real screws!–and the Bold Box uses eight. (The four extra screws are for additional stability and the metal handles you can install. We don’t use the handles.) Each box takes no more than five minutes to assemble, and the result is a sturdy cardboard container with two label holders and a metal-trimmed lid.

Our local Container Store sells the boxes in white, black, aqua blue and lime green. After some experimentation, we decided that 1) we like the blue and green; and 2) stick with one color per room. We use several of the large and smaller blue boxes for storage in the baby’s room–haven’t yet made the full transition from our bedroom to hers, but we’re working on it–and the green boxes for what has become my craft corner.

Fabric, fabric, fabric, crafts, current projects.

The green is sunny, and is fairly unobtrusive. But when I look in the corner, I no longer see stacks of fabric, a few odd-shaped boxes and my plastic tackle box of sewing gear; instead, I see five cheerful boxes, waiting for the moment when I have time to sew again. I’m waiting for you, too, my pretties.

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