Staying Organized Blog
Thoughts and ideas from a Professional Organizer...all about staying Organized For Good!
Tool Caddy
You may not be Mike Holmes, but whether you own or rent, you surely use some tools now and then!
A great way to have what you need, where and when you need it, is to set up a tool caddy. This can work for men or women of course, but I do have to tell you – for many of my clients, it’s the woman who gets excited about this!
I recommend a low, open caddy, (this one is from Michael’s), with lots of dividers and pockets. Fill it with the things you use most for small chores around the house. The usual items are: hammer, pliers, screwdrivers, tape measure, mini level,picture hangers, nails and screws, drywall anchors, pencils, twist ties and rubber bands, etc. A plastic dish with a lid or a jar can be filled with miscellaneous screws and nails that come in handy when you need one. I like to have a sharpie, notepad, and tape in there as well. A rubber mallet is a handy, often overlooked item, great when assembling furniture from big-box stores – a common household chore. Continue reading →
Posted in Containers, Workspaces | Comments Off
Kids’ Closets
One of the changes I often recommend in a home with children, is to remove the closet doors in the kids’ rooms.
More often than not, children either never close their closet doors, or they simply can’t (and therefore don’t) use the closet effectively, because of the doors. This is especially true of the sliding doors that only allow access to half the closet at the time. By removing the doors, you are removing all barriers to effective, organized use of valuable storage space. Continue reading →
Posted in Closets, Clutter Control, Containers, General Organizing, Kids | Comments Off
Jewellery Drawer
Many of my clients have lots of great necklaces, bracelets, and earrings, but find them hard to store effectively. The worst part is that when you can’t see what jewellery you have, you don’t wear it! Display racks can be good for earrings, and some necklaces, but don’t work well for a lot of necklaces, especially chunky ones, or bracelets such as cuffs.
If you’re lucky enough to have a shallow drawer in your dresser, consider turning it into a jewellery drawer! This can be a really fun and effective way to store your jewellery, making it much easier to see what you have and wear it more often. Continue reading →
Posted in Bedrooms, Containers, Jewelery | Comments Off
Finding a Home
Continuing the series on how to get organized…
In my last post I discussed the “Purge” step that comes first when you begin an organizing project. No matter what space you want to organize, once the sorting and purging is complete, the next thing you need to do is decide where to keep everything.
“Finding a Home” is not a very difficult step, but is a very important one! Without a designated place to “live”, items just end up becoming clutter again. It’s vital to have a designated spot for everything if you want to be able to tidy up a space. I’m not saying every space has to be perfectly tidy all the time – but without a known home for every item, you really don’t even have the option to clean up. (Unless you plan to throw everything into the bathtub and pull the shower curtain closed before guest arrive – like my mom used to!) Continue reading →
Posted in Bookshelves, Clutter Control, Containers, General Organizing | Comments Off
Too Much Stuff!
People often ask me what the secret is to getting and staying organized. The truth is, there are a number of “secrets”. Over the next few posts, I’ll go through some of the methods I use when helping people to get organized.
One of the first steps with every organizing undertaking is to “Purge” the items that you own. While it’s not true of everyone, many of us have way too much stuff. Of course, there are any number of reasons why this is true. I don’t want to cross over into “therapy”, but it’s never a bad thing to analyze “why” you seem to accumulate too much stuff. The better you know yourself, the more successful you will be at maintaining the organizing you work so hard at. Continue reading →
Posted in Clutter Control, General Organizing, Strategies | Comments Off