Despite my profession, I do not always do the best at putting my things away immediately.  Especially if their 'home' is located upstairs.  It seems fairly standard in most homes I work in, the objects that need to go up, generally sit around begging to be put away.  And then the clutter pile begins. For me and my family, especially for my littles, I found that adding a simple tool at the bottom of the stairs helped us in remember these items, preventing them from being a nuisance. Enter the basket.

One for each of my girls, a joint for my husband and I, if it needs to go up, it goes into the basket.  To prevent the clutter from piling and overflowing out of the basket, we empty them nightly on our way up for bed.  The size of the basket and the nightly ritual helps us get into the habit of returning objects to their rightful place. When the girls were smaller, we labeled the baskets so they knew which was theirs.  As time has progressed, the labels have come off as now we have formed a great habit.

And that's it for today, another simple solution to getting you and your family organized! How do you keep track of the items that need to return back to another level? Do you use the basket method or do you have another ingenious idea? Tag me in your photos on Instagram, @organized_simplicity, I would love to see them!