Having an organized home does not mean you have to give up having a stylish home as well! You can easily have both and all it boils down to is picking the right products for your home. One of my favorite home organization products are the Closetmaid Cubeicles. The closetmaid cubes are great because they are functional as well as decorative and they can be used in just about any room. You can get them in a variety of colors like white, cherry, espresso, black and alder, they’re stackable and they come in a variety of sizes such as 2, 3, 6, 7 & 9  cubes. If you want to take your organization a step further, you can buy fabric drawers separately in a variety of colors to match any room and they make storing things a breeze! Here’s a few places I like to use the Closetmaid cubeicles:

The Kids Room: one of my favorite places to put them is in the kids room. The reason I like them for the kids room is because when you buy the fabric drawers you can store a wide variety of toys, school supplies, and knick knacks and it won’t be an eye sore in the room. In fact, if you coordinate the fabric drawer colors you can have a stylish piece of kids bedroom furniture that will last for years. And, as your kids get older and their tastes change you can buy different drawer colors to match their rooms and it’s a fairly inexpensive change. It’s also easy to wipe clean so if you have young kids with messy hands you don’t have to worry about them ruining this piece of furniture.

The Entry Way: Typically when the family gets home from school or work they take off their shoes, throw their stuff on the nearest piece of furniture and then the disorganization sets in! The cubes are perfect at the entry way to store lunch pails, brief cases, wallets, keys, and cell phones. You name it and you can have a cubby hole for it. You can even designate cubby holes for each person in the family so there’s no arguing or confusion about who’s stuff goes where.

Living Room or Den: The closetmaid cubicles can be used for a variety of things in the living room or den. One of my favorite ways to use It is to organize books. I’ve had a few avid book lovers use the cubes as a way to organize all their books neatly. If you have a smaller budget it really makes for a nice looking book shelf. You can also mix and match by having some books stored in a few cubes and add a nice small plant in another or some photographs. Really makes it a nice piece of furniture for the room. You can also use it to store toys if you have children. This way your living room is kept clean and no one will ever know what’s in the drawers! Your living room looks stylish and the kids have a place to put their things.

ClosetMaid Cubeicals® 2 Cube Organizer Espresso

ClosetMaid Cubeicals® 8 Cube Organizer White

ClosetMaid Cubeicals® 9 Cube Organizer Black

The Closet: If you need to get your closet organized you can buy a smaller 3, 6 or closetmaid 9 cube organizer. You can use it to store shoes, purses, hats or purchase some drawers to store intimates, socks and things like that.

The Office: Office furniture can be extremely expensive and so if you are trying to get your office organized on a budget then these cubes will be a perfect solution for you! You can use them to store additional office supplies, paper, staplers, and knick knacks that you want to keep off your desk. You can also use the cubes as a nice way to decorate your office as well by adding picture and plants to give it a warmer feel.

Before you buy your closetmaid cubes, determine where they are going so you know what color to get to match your furniture and the size so that you have enough space to organize everything you need. They really are a versatile organization product that you can move from room to room. I absolutely love them!

A way to organize all the items as well as keeping them safe is to purchase a fireproof safe.  Fireproof safes come in a variety of sizes and price ranges so you do not feel like you have to break the bank to store and protect your documents. Here are a few different types of fire proof safes that you can use in your home or office.

Fireproof Wall Safe – This type is often a small fireproof safe that you can hide a lot easier than a standard safe because you can hide them behind pictures, doors or even at the back of closets. You not only want to install fireproof home safes just because they will protect your important documents in a fire, from dust or water or a disaster, but they are less likely to be tampered with in a break-in because the thief must first locate the safe before he can even try and break the lock.

Fire Safe File Cabinets – If you have a lot of important documents in your office or at home, then investing in a fire safe file cabinet is a good investment.  These also come in a variety of sizes and are essential if you need to file a large amount of critical documents.

Fire Safe Security Chest – This is the type I currently have, but I am considering upgrading to a fireproof document safe now that I am working from home and have a lot more items than just personal documents to store.  I did find this fire proof safe to be absolutely perfect for my situation.  It was the perfect size for me to store my passports, social security cards, a few important backup CD’s as well as two years worth of tax returns.  If you are looking at fireproof home safes and do not want to spend a lot of money and only need to store a small amount of valuables and documents this is the best option.  You get security without spending a lot.

Being prepared is essential to having a stress free life.  I’m not saying that you have to prepare for every moment or every thing, but when it comes to important things it will save you in the long run.  Should a disaster strike such as a fire, flood or theft, having a fireproof safe to store your documents and valuables in will give you some peace of mind.  Take a look online at the various types of safes that are available.  Figure out what it is you want to store to get and idea of the size of the safe that you need.  Then shop around to find the best price to fit your budget.