Maybe it’s the whole organize-everything-because-it’s-spring thing or even a bit of last minute nesting, but lately I’ve been all about whipping things into submission. As in, finding a place for every last paperclip and utensil… even putting every single one of our photos into coordinated leather albums and chronologically numbering them. Yeah, it’s a little crazy but I’ve always been a nerd for organization. And looking at those nice little hand-numbered tags just makes me smile. It’s the little things, right?
The first stage of the project was to go through all my mismatched old falling-apart albums (and stacks of sad album-less photos) and put them all in chronological order. Then I grabbed some nice-enough-but-not-bank-breaking albums from Target and filled ’em up. I could have stopped there but I wondered if they might be hard to differentiate and sift through since they’re all so similar looking (which I like for consistency, but it’s not as easy to remember as “the moving photos are in the yellow sunflower album”).
And so the idea of numbering the albums was born…
One trip to Office Max and a few dollars later I came home with these metal-rimmed white labels. They actually were meant for labeling valet keys or something (so I removed the little key loops) but the loops would actually be handy for hanging them off of baskets in a linen closet. Gotta love a multitasking accessory like that.
Anyway, I just scribbled a number on each one using a regular old ballpoint pen and relied on a loop of scotch tape to secure them to each album (a dot of Liquid Nails would probably hold them in place even more securely). What do you think? Does it make you want to slap me? Or does it make you want to organize something? I’m one of those people who watches other people clean their house on TV and immediately wants to clean mine. Here’s hoping my obsessive organizing rubs off on a few enthusiastic storage freaks like me!
And since many people write to us to ask how we organize and store our photos on the computer along with our hard copies, here’s more info in that regard. We keep a folder for each month on the computer (since all of our pics are digital) and we dump them into the right month as we take them. Then every few months we go thought a few months at a time and pick the ones we love and get them printed at CVS on the cheap and stick them (chronologically) in our newly-matched-and-numbered albums. Then we toss the rest into the computer trash and hit “empty.” We definitely like editing down our photos (instead of printing every single one that we take). And burning the remaining photos that we thought were good enough to print at the end of the year on a CD labeled as “Photos 2009” gives us a nice little photo backup system that’s easy to maintain (we’re left with one small CD of annual pics to store in our fireproof safe, while the identical CVS prints are displayed in our numbered albums).
So that’s what works for us. And speaking of organization, what have you guys corralled or chronologically arranged lately? Any junk-drawer-clean-outs going on? What about paring down clothes or donating all those unused cans of food in the backs of your kitchen cabinets? Do tell. You know we live vicariously through you guys, right?
Psst- Wanna see other “Easy Upgrades” we’ve implemented? Here’s one and here’s another.
Allison K says
I am not ITCHING to organize my photos. I so need to. I love your idea.
Melissa A says
Ever since I found your site while rounding up info for an organization/de-junking class that I’m teaching this Thursday, I have visited nearly every day — reading the daily posts as well as going through the archives. I LOVE a great home reno project, and I definitely am a bit of a de-junking, organizational freak. Love it.
I use blurb.com’s booksmart program to make picture books with journaling to preserve our family photos. For me, it’s as fun as scrapbooking with a WAY lower price tag to deal with. (I love a good deal!)
Anyway, thanks for a fun place to veg out while baby is sleeping! :o)
Jenna says
I’m addicted to organizing. DH and I are getting a new home in exactly a month and I can’t wait to DIY everything in it! My only problem is I have two dogs, both under a year old, so I have to be VERY careful about where I put book cases and albums, because my great dane can reach anything!
Dandy says
It’s like you are speaking directly to me. I have boxes of photos from high school and college and now I have file upon file of pictures on my computer. I like the monthly idea. I need to buy some albums and start doing that. I still haven’t put our wedding pictures into albums and we’ve been married for 5 months… and now we have a little one on the way.
Target here I come!
liz @ btb says
I don’t feel the urge to clean when I see people on tv but I do feel it when I read about how y’all are organizing or cleaning around YOUR house. Ever since I read your daily/weekly/monthly cleaning tasks, I’ve tried to keep up with the same sort of schedule. It has made my life A LOT easier! So thank you thank you thank you. I’d love to see more posts on how to simplify household cleaning.
: D
Tovah says
Wow. The albums are amazing but I don’t think I’d have the patience for them. I used to like scrapbooking but I find keeping a blog is still a nice way to preserve memories and doesn’t cost nearly as much.
I really appreciated the tips I’m getting from the comments though–I didn’t realize backing up on CDs wasn’t foolproof and I’m glad my husband has been backing up on a hard drive (he probably knew but it’s good I know now too.)
I’m always learning something new from you all, thanks!
tasha roe says
i love this kind of stuff!
containers, storage and organization are an addiction.
i found some albums like this for my photos and put rub-ons on the front of them. i ended up making my own with a cool font i found online –
directions here:
http://scrapbooking.families.com/blog/make-your-own-scrapbook-rub-ons
its addictive!!
callie grayson says
oh my, takes be back to when I first moved to Chicago and I was working at Harpo Studios! one of the female executives asked me to organize her photos into matching albums! I said, “sure, no problems” well, she brought over her loose photos in BOXES! from her birth to present day! at least they were somewhat in order.
my fingers were bleeding!! But they looked fab in new matching leather albums.
Love the number idea!!
callie
Elyse says
Oh boy. My big project to finish before I have my baby was to finish editing my wedding photos and get them printed….well I am due in 5 days and I never finished it. It drives me nuts when I think about it, but it is way too time consuming to finish before the baby is here. Your post really made me wish I had finished! Hmmm, I suppose one day it will be done :).
Lauren says
Love it! I’m do in late October so its good to know that I’ll have the energy to tackle that project once and for all. My best friend is my label maker so I love all the organization posts. Plan on using your wrapping paper storage idea this month!
brett says
what i think is quite amusing, aside from your CDO tendencies (that’s like OCD, except it’s in alphabetical order), is that when i first started reading your blog you would have said “a dot of hot-glue would probably hold them in place even more securely”, but now i see you’re reaching for the liquid nails before the hot glue. a true hallmark of many years of successful DIY projects under your belts ;)
Briel K. says
Great job! No wanting to slap you here! :) I REALLY need to do this. I have a ton of mis-matched albums and a couple containers of loose old photos from my childhood. Maybe once I get back from Europe in July I’ll be able to find time! Which reminds me (totally off topic!), have either of you been to Europe. Where and what were your favorite things to do/see? I’m going to England, Wales, Paris, Venice, Rome, Florence, and Cinque Terre! First time ever!
Profit From My Closet says
I love this idea!
I have begun cleaning out my junk draw aka nightstand. I love spring cleaning as much as you do.
Alisha Landreth says
Hey there!
I love the whole organization idea!! We are adopting and I am in the same nesting behavior right now. Everything is getting an overhaul on the organization factor. It’s crazy how many things you can find to re-organize or clean when there’s a little one coming into the house.I’m sure like me, you are finding things you’d never even given a second though to and want to scrub it down just to make sure!!! I am so happy for you guys and thanks for all the ideas!! I love it!
– Alisha
Lydia says
I’ve kept scrapbook/photo albums using spiral bound books for years now and it helps me weed out the photos and only get the best ones printed out and saved. It also lets me put captions to all of the events and pictures so I can remember the stories behind some of the shots!
Here’s a link:
http://www.lydiasnextstep.com/2010/03/making-memories.html
Caysie says
Dont judge me- I dropped my daughter off at preschool a few months ago and as I was pulling out I saw the CVS Pharmacy employee across the street throwing away all of their left over Valentines Day flowers! So I waited for him to go back inside and I saved them from the trash!! they had so much life still in them and they were beautiful, it seriously made my week.
K (Barking BabyMama) says
We live in Tucson, Arizona, where the weather in the spring is too wonderful not to want to spend every moment we can outside enjoying it, especially since we know that in a month or two the temps will be 100+ degrees! So this year, my husband and I decided to do Summer Cleaning instead of Spring Cleaning! That way we can enjoy the great outdoors now and enjoy the air conditioning this summer while we clean out closets and drawers!
Amanda Sevall says
Word from the wise…. burned DVDs or CDs can fail over time. You might want to consider uploading your pics to an online storage site like Shutterfly or Picasa to keep a second backup. I only suggest Shutterfly and Picasa because that’s what I’m familiar with. Shutterfly is free, Picasa is free up to a point on storage. Picasa will allow you to print to most major online photo retailers (Kodak, Shutterfly, Snapfish, maybe even CVS?). Just a suggestion from having lost some pics to a failed DVD we burned!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Amanda! We also regularly back up our computer and all it’s contents (including photos) on an external hard drive and have many of our most meaningful photos stored on an off-site photo library like Flickr. Definitely worth the effort!
xo,
s
Marta says
I organize all my photos in the photo books – although its pricey twenty something per book it looks awesome and has the way I want it. Each book has a year on a side so its easy to keep it clean and neat :D Blurb.com is the best so far!
Funmilayo says
Hey there,
Great idea with actually printing out your pics. I used to be such an album girl, till I went digital, and my hubby and I rarely print out pics…we just take so many it’s hard for me to pick just a few.
Anyway, A suggestion for you, check out this free program called Picasa http://www.picasa.com . It’s the greatest thing that’s happened to us as far as organizing pics goes. It automatically creates folders for your pics on your computer, and categorizes them by year..it also allows you to label them, so that you can find all the pics with a particular person (or doggie :)) in them. So you don’t have to worry about them being online or anything. Anyway, it does a lot more than I can type. Give it a whirl, I think you’ll like it.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the suggestion Funmilayo! We actually have iPhoto which does something similar. But we’ll have to give Picasa a go!
xo,
s
ashley says
ummm totally inspired me! thanks for the great ideas, especially re: organizing digital photos!
cris says
I have a love affair with photos and organizing so this post made me smile. Might I recommend that you use some Glue Dots (basically little premade dots of something like Liquid Nails) to adhere those tags (seriously, your baby’s gonna climb whatever it takes to rip those suckers off and eat them!)?
Also, for a scanner recommandation – I own the Epson All-in-One Wireless Workforce 610. Best money we ever spend. The Boy’s mom passed a couple of years ago and we uncovered a bin filled with hundreds of photos and everyone wanted copies. I have slowly been weeding through and scanning them a stack at a time. The scanner is great because I can haul it in front of the TV and mindlessly scan as I watch documentaries on serial killers – uh, I mean, as I watch informative programming.
Lisa says
This reminds me so much of my mother. She has all of her photo albums (I think she’s up to 47?) numbered like yours, and in chronological order on a bookshelf in the family room. She even takes it two crazy steps farther…she has the event and date handwritten on the back of each and every photo, and on the front of each album has that album’s start and end dates neatly printed on a label. I’ve always wanted to have mine organized in such a way, just haven’t gotten around to it :) Thank you for the reminder! Super cute.
Linda says
I love your idea about printing out the photos! And you reminded me that I need to do a backup of the photos on our computer to an online site!
seansmom says
Sherry, You’re definately “nesting”. My son was born on New Years eve and I spent the last week or so of my pregnancy re-arranging the ornaments on the Christmas tree. Nutty, I know! It drove my poor husband crazy, but I just couldn’t stop myself. ha ha!
I haven’t done any organizing lately, however just as soon as I finish my latest sewing project, I intend to go through the bins of my “stash” material and resort them by color. In my hunt to find the perfect color match for this latest quilt, I’ve torn them all apart and they need to be put back so I can find what I’m looking for the next time.
Cindy says
I’m an obsessive organizer and cleaner as well. Almost to the point that my husband doesn’t want to touch anything in the house for fear he might “move something and inch” and then I will “Have a freak out.”
At work, I can’t stand to have things strewn about on my desk and am often asked, “Are you doing anything in there?” My friends get into my five-year-old car and ask, “How does it still smell like-new in here?”
It’s nice to be able to find things, to be clean and organized, but it can also make me feel stressed when things get out of order or there’s a spot on the kitchen floor. I’ve often found myself cleaning closets in the middle of the night or scrubbing the foyer on my hands and knees because I can’t sleep.
Some of my friends envy my highly-organized lifestyle but in a lot of ways, I envy their ability not to freak out when their husbands miss the laundry basket and there’s a sock on the floor.
Linda says
I hope you keep those high up somewhere because those cute circle tags are just two enticing for 1 or 2 year olds. And tape and liquid nails wouldn’t be much of a deterrent. But you have a dog…so you know that already right? Cause 1 and 2 year olds share a lot of similarities to dogs (I can say that because I have them :))
YoungHouseLove says
Linda,
Not to worry, they’re up on two very high shelves in our hall closet above the hanging bar so neither Burger nor the Beanette will be anywhere near them!
xo,
s
Kate says
Lisa, you reminded me, every one of my mom’s pictures (she has at least a couple dozen albums full) have the date, location, and names of everyone in the picture (including last names if not an immidate family member and if known) written on the back. She’s really into geneology and she wants to make sure that people 100 years from now know exactly who is in all the pictures.
Amanda says
Do you have one dedicated to Burger?
This is a cute idea, and it’ll be nice for your little one to have when she’s older to look back on.
YoungHouseLove says
We actually do have a mini album that we made for Burger with all of his newborn and growing up pics. We love that little man. Of course he also has a blog where we share a ton of photos too: http://www.hamburgershouse.com
xo,
s
{The Classy Woman} says
I’m so like that, see a someone cleaning on TV and feel the need to do it myself! Too funny, at least I’m not the only one. ;)
I really need to print more photos out. I feel like everything is on my laptop and hard drive which is great for me to see them but it would be nice for others to enjoy them. I do like the idea of the digital picture album too. A friend has one and had it on at a New Year’s party, they had a lot of fun photos to share with everyone.
~Karla
Cat Alford says
Haha I’m exactly the same way. If someone on HGTV or some similar station is organizing, the fever hits me! Now if only someone doing their homework/writing papers on tv could have the same effect on me…
Brandi says
Great idea! I might just try it myself. Thanks!
Carol N. says
Hubs and I are in organizing/cleaning out mode right now. We try to tackle one area a night when we don’t have other plans and so far it is working well. It is amazing how quickly things can accumulate! Right now I’m working on cookbooks which is hard – I love to just read those almost like novels. So far this month we’ve cleaned out closets and a bunch of kitchen cabinets and the pantry and laundry room. I’m working on the sunroom storage right now too and getting rid of the old/stained placemats and cloth napkins. You certainly inspire me to try and keep things organized and neat – as well as pared down.
Angela says
My mom took atleast one picture of me everyday until I was about a year old. She has stored them chronologically in albums and they come in really handy when looking for a photo! Especially when there are like 291892189 photos to go through!
Deanna says
These are my favorite posts – quick, easy, organize-happy…. love it! Simplifying and organizing my house are my favorites right now!
Megan says
I think you’re on to something with the combined hard copy + digital archive. I keep thinking about old e-mails and class papers from the early 1990s, now unreadable because they were created using ancient software and floppy disks. I think a handwritten letter from 1894 is more likely readable than an e-mail sent in 1994!
We use an off-site automatic backup service (Carbonite) for our archiving. It makes me feel safer than relying on an external hard drive at home (which we also have). We have tens of thousands of pictures and really should try to delete at least the out-of-focus ones… :)
And I second the suggestion for Picasa. It rocks my socks off. I can spend an entire afternoon face-tagging my Picasa pics….
leah says
i remember that. It’s called nesting. it happens right before the baby comes and disorganizes everything.
Mary says
So embarrassing, I actually own those same albums and have had the same intent for OVER A YEAR. They currently reside in a giant, ugly cardboard BOX in my bedroom. The cats think it’s a permanent sleeping area. Thanks for the inspiration….;-)
Jackie says
Love it! I need to be better at this and perhaps this is the motivation I needed. Thanks for the post!
As for recent cleaning and organizing projects, a group of my far-flung friends and I decided to start a blog called “Our 10 Things” with the premise that throwing away (or donating, recycling, selling, etc) 10 items every day could make a big impact in your home. We’ve been at it for a month today! http://www.our10things.blogspot.com
Love your ideas! Thanks for sharing them!
Jackie
Sophie says
I love the albums, and they’re so nice and organized with the little labels (:
Though personally, I’d like to have my photos organized in bright colored or patterned albums. I’m an ‘organized chaos’ kinda girl, and I’m a big fan of bright colors and prints (:
Amanda L says
I totally admire your organization. I am always saying I will get there. But knowing that we are moving in a few short weeks and that another move will shortly follow makes it hard to get motivated. Maybe I’ll find some inspiration to tackle my 2 years of back-logged scrapbooking. Thanks for another great post and idea!
Michelle says
This is a great idea! I love photo albums and having hard copies available, especially in chronological order :)
Great organizing tip, thanks!
Jessaca says
Wow. You go! This a project I’ve been thinking about forever. And it really stresses me out.
I love the metal rings, and it would be really cool to put them on white string and attach them to the inside of the spine and let them hang down. Thanks for the idea!
Carla says
Gorgeous albums!! Funny about your post because I just blogged this weekend how I took out my mismatched albums and put them in photo boxes. I used my armoire in my bedroom that held my unused old TV to make a new home for photos, baby albums, and scrapbooks. You can see the armoire here: http://in-time-out.blogspot.com/2010/05/organizing.html
I also use the metal rimmed tags to label my scrapbooks. I use black cardstock for the tag and stamp in white with my kids initial. You can see that here: http://in-time-out.blogspot.com/2009/07/projects-365-announcement-to-make.html
Melissa says
Can’t believe no one has mentioned the photo book-making companies like Blurb! I’m crafty and like making albums but you can’t beat these books for convenience, space saving, or quality. You download the software and just drag and drop your digital photos into their book templates. The books themselves are great quality– coffee table style and the different layouts available make more interesting books than standard albums. It also saves the hassle of printing out your photos, plus the books come out at least 1/4 of the size of regular photo albums so it saves TONS of space. We’ve made one for our anniversary every year, and when we have a baby we’ve already decided artwork and everything else is getting scanned and put into a book!
Kathy says
Just thought I’d share my latest fun photo project: Creating iphoto books that you can get published.
I’ve really gotten into creating published iphoto books lately as keepsakes and gifts for family. I think it’s a fun and not-too-expensive alternative to putting together photo albums. I recently made one to commemorate my mom’s life, using lots of very old photographs–which look so much clearer when they’re scanned into the computer. (And my husband used Photoshop to repair the damaged ones.) I also put together an iphoto book with photos of our trip to China to adopt our daughter.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kathy,
That sounds like fun! Friends of ours made a book of their one year old daughter for their parents and it was a huuuuge hit.
xo,
s
Lindy Frill says
I have to second (or maybe third) the photo book idea. I have always thought it would be fun to have a family “year book.” Only, that takes time, and I am already five years behind. Maybe someday. But Shutterfly’s 4×4 brag book makes a great Christmas gift for the grandparents.
And iPhoto rules when it comes to easy organization.
And Sherry is definitely nesting! I am jealous, I did some of my finest organizing while nesting.
Ashleigh says
God I love you guys.
jja says
Have you guys ever found yourself with a plethora of petals throughout your home?
Yes, once when I was ill and got a room full of bouquets and last birthday I wanted only flowers and ended with ten biggest bouquets I ever saw…
…what do you prefer when it comes to bringing the outdoors in? Do you like all-the-same-flower arrangements?
Is possible.
Clear glass vases only? Clear or white. No other version.
Atd the bloom hast to be closed at least when tulips are the subject…
Tiffany says
I love your photo albums! Don’t worry, Sherry, I’m just as “crazy” as I recently organized my photos in chronological order and bought matching photo albums b/c I thought the random assortment we had was an eye sore! I have been searching online for how to label them (I was thinking engraved plates but those are $) and I’m totally going to steal your fab idea! Thanks!