I’m certain I’m not alone in this…

Every single day miscellaneous items seem to find themselves into rooms of the house where they don’t belong. You know, like the neon yellow golf ball, the medal we got from visiting the Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America, my son’s velcro Minion wallet, a spiral notepad that was in a stocking from Christmas, a random black racquetball from Dick’s Sporting Goods (even though my husband hasn’t played racquetball in months), and handfuls of LEGO (so many LEGO!)…

I used to spend minutes on end every single day returning every random piece to its rightful room and place. It was an exhaustive attempt to create peace and order on the floors and surfaces of my home.

Now, I’m not sure if I got smarter (or lazier), but upon moving into our new home last August, I established “The Brass Bucket Approach” into our daily rhythm and routine.

In essence, the brass bucket sits on my kitchen counter in a very obscure corner and catches every random, miscellaneous piece on the main level of my home throughout the day and week.

When I find something that would take more time putting away than tossing in, I toss it in. When one of my children is missing something, I send them first to the Brass Bucket to check for what they were searching for. When the Brass Bucket fills to the brim (and it will), we dump the entire contents out onto the counter and then - together - categorize the miscellaneous items and return them to their respective rooms and places in the house.

It’s simple, brilliant, and honestly one small way to create a little more order in our home and in my heart!

Go ahead and make it yours!

What you’ll need:

• your own “Brass Bucket” - truly any bucket/basket of your choosing…

• a designated place or space for it

• time each week (or every other week) devoted to putting everything away in its rightful place

• a smile and pat on the back for establishing this new approach