Da Book of House

It's January. Time of organizing. Seriously, just check any home-oriented magazine - this month, they'll be talking about organizing.

So I'm getting on that bandwagon. After all, there's not much to do in January other than plan and empty out closets, right? Okay, other than those million-and-one painting projects I have waiting on me, but still.

To the book. Long time ago, when we bought our first house, my mother-in-law told me about a book where she kept all the measurements of her house. And other stuff, just to keep it all together. I've had one for every place we've lived ever since - even apartments, believe it or not.

This is typically what it looks like - papers sticking out and everything.

What do I put in this book? I started with my mom-in-law's suggestion and got measurements of all the rooms. Then I drew them out. And it kinda snowballed from there. Now I have it a lot more organized (although I realize that the apparent disorder of the photo above belies the whole "organized" assertion). Here's what I have in my book:

Plat map and Google Earth photo
The plat map I got from our closing documents. Never had this for an apartment, but it's kinda cool to see how your property looks in relation to all the others in your neighborhood. Plus, it has measurements and orientation. 

The Google Earth picture I heisted from our city's planning department when I asked them about fence regulations. They actually just gave it to me, but heisting it sounds so much cooler, especially given our bad feelings about the fence regulations.

House and room layout (measurements) 

Each floor is detailed, and each room is measured out and given its own page.

Our top floor. I also have a page with the basement.

This section is the main reason why I use sheet protectors. See all the little pieces of furniture?

I use graph paper to measure not only the rooms, but also each piece of furniture. Then I use clear shelf paper - the sticky Rubbermaid kind - to "laminate" the pages. Then each piece gets cut out, and a little piece of tape is put on the back. Now I can move my furniture by placing it on the protected pages - without ever lifting anything. Until I find an arrangement that I want to try in real life, that is.

This is an extra page that has all my extra pieces of furniture on it.
By extra, I mean: I haven't placed them on the correct pages yet.

Planting information

This is the section where I detail what I'm planting. I was really good at this the first year we moved in. Not so much last year. We'll see about this year. What I am good at: putting pictures of landscapes I love. There is also a handy seed list and "when to plant" list that I got from a local nursery. Good reference material, that.

Maintenance stuff

There is a section for all the maintenance stuff I am (or should be) doing. I've even put in an article from This Old House to act as a reference of things to do. This is a new section for me - since most of our homes have been places we were not going to stay, maintenance had little interest for me. Updating, renovating, yes. Maintenance? Not so much. So there you go.

Tear sheets 

This is the fun part, where I tear out ideas that I love from magazines. I try to write on the sheet why I tore it out...otherwise, I have a really hard time remembering. Of course, then I just throw it away, and it's one less page to keep. So whatever works for you. 

It's also a place where I sketch and file ideas. Note that I keep a pencil tucked in the binder (away from prying little hands), and that the sketch I'm showing you is not actually in its section. I have to keep some things handy so that Doug can look at them whenever he's looking for a new project. This is what I keep in the front pocket - along with all the other stuff that just needs to be filed.

All these sections are separated using pocket folders. I like these because I can tuck stuff in them, too - stuff I want to be handy, stuff I need to put in sheet protectors for future reference.

And all these pictures were taken on a shelf from one of my painting projects. It is now primed. So see? I am getting to those painting projects...slowly...but I'd rather look at any books you keep for your house. Do you have any additional sections? Any other ideas that should be in mine? I'd love to hear it!