No more Piles! Will it really help?

Lately, I've been extra-freaking out about how I'm going to handle four kids under three. So I decided to organize my home as much as possible in anticipation of the storm. If I can get rid of the piles- piles of shoes, piles of spices, piles of who knows what in the junk drawer- then stuff can be easily accessed. The hope is that finding things instantly may be the slight breeze that keeps us on the right side of the sanity-line come September/October. We live in a 2-bedroom and our cupboards and drawers were crammed, stacked, items toppling over, hiding amongst themselves and reproducing (if we couldn't find something we bought another one. We found five nearly-full jars of cumin and cloves, three tire pumps, four bags of powdered sugar, oh, and a partridge in a pear tree. Really. Some friends did a garage sale a few months ago and I didn't participate because I thought I didn't have any clutter. Boy, was I deluded.)
I got inspired by my mom's advice and a recent Real Simple article about organizing products. I usually take note of the fact the magazine is 80% shopping catalog and move on with my credit card none the wiser. This month I fell for it. Big time. Wow, once I started checking out the sites I couldn't believe the treasure trove of stacking shelves, mini cones, trays, etc. to handle everything from toe rings to pot lids and toothbrushes.


I wound up getting things I didn't know existed- a scarf/tie hanger for our closet, trays for the junk drawers in my kitchen and bathroom, can holders, tiered spice cabinet shelves... once I started I couldn't seem to stop. Anyways, Ian and I are now able to instantly find the dental floss. And the cornstarch. And the batteries. And the kidney beans. And my good black heels. And the muffin tin. And I feel kind of giddy whenever I open a drawer. I'm SUCH a homenerd! Will all of this actually help come September/October? Or am I just battening down hatches that are going to be no match whatsoever for the typhoon. I don't know. I'll keep ya posted...