Clear the Clutter: Designate Each Family Member an "Inbox" 

For most if us, the kitchen is household headquarters. If yours too is a repository of possessions that don’t belong, try designating each family member a personal "inbox" to ban the clutter that overwhelms.

1. Shop for cute inexpensive bins that are both portable and attractive to have around your kitchen. 

2. Label one bin for the miscellaneous: magazines, catalogs, books, toys and all those other items (sunglasses, manuals) that should not be stored in the kitchen.

3. Every few days assign one family member (not yourself) the job of putting each item back into its correct place. 

4. Assign and label the next bins to each family member, including yourself. Use them to distribute school paperwork, weekly sports schedules, appointment reminders, etc. 

5. Then make a rule that each bin should be emptied before bedtime and placed back in the kitchen, to gather--yet again, tomorrows clutter! The goal of the contents to each person's bin: throw away or put away! 

Try Container Stores Multi Purpose Bins, $2-$4/each.

For more fab, easy ideas, check out The Home Organizing Workbook by Meryl Starr. 

Check out more of Cari's brilliant ideas in our Shopping and Style section.

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