"Not Mine!" "Not Me!"

During the past 3 decades how many times have I heard those words?  Walking through the house and finding towels and washcloths on the bathroom, bedroom or hallway floors has always been a MAJOR irritation of mine.  Oh how I wish I had my current experience and wisdom 28 years ago.  When we moved to our new home I pondered as to how to decorate the 2nd bath, which, by the way, was already painted a beautiful shade of pale yellow.  As I pondered I ended up with the following list of things I did and did not want in that bath.

1.  First and foremost I wanted to eliminate the, "Not Mine", "Not Me" quotes when asking who left the towel or washcloth on the floor.  Since we did not name any of our children Not Me or Not Mine I've often found myself wondering who they are, why are they living in our home and why have I not ever seen them?

2.  Since it is most often used by 4 boys, 1 grandfather and only 1 girl, I did not want it to be decorated too feminine.

3.  I also did not want it too masculine because we do have a daughter and because our guest bedroom is also upstairs.

4.  I wanted tidying up to be fast and easy.

I wish I had been this clever 28 years ago, but alas maybe someone else will be able to glean from my experience and save themselves decades of hearing, "Not Me!", "Not Mine!".

Since towels and washcloths on the floor REALLY, REALLY bothers me, we installed 5 towel hooks, one for each child.  Each child has been assigned a specific towel and washcloth color.  EJ: lt. blue, OG: pink, JP: orange, BT: purple, AB: green.  If I find a towel or washcloth ends up on the floor, I know who it belongs to and to whom I must address my scolding instruct to clean it up.

 How did I make 5-6 different towel colors coordinate with the rest of the bathroom?  I used those same colors in other areas as well.  We have a purple shower curtain and a lime green area rug.  The hand towels are changed daily and are the same colors as the bath towels and washcloths.

Since the upstairs bath is very large there is plenty of room on the entry side for a clothes dresser and toiletry cabinet. The big boys use this area to store their personal items when home for visits.

This idea was working extremely well for the littles, OG & EJ.  But when the whole family was home earlier this year, we had the opportunity to "test run" my bathroom decorating/organization idea on a larger scale.  It was FABULOUS!  Whenever I found a towel or washcloth out of place, I knew exactly who needed to go clean it up.  Not a single child blamed "Not Mine!" or "Not Me!" for the mess.  I am so glad those two unknowns have finally stopped using our towels and washcloths.