April 11, 2008

Home Organization is Different to Everyone

Filed under: home — admin @ 2:10 am

Home Organization Means Different Things to Different People

First off, you need to know being home organizing is different for each of us.

Some folks don’t have a lot of clutter and junk but need to know how to maintain organization and have a place for their stuff.

On the other hand, some homeowners have piles upon piles…a big mess, and still think it’s just a matter of needing storage.

When, in fact, storage is the last thing you need. The first step is getting rid of clutter, rather than adding more storage just to keep more stuff.

The thing is, once you experience organization in your home, you’ll see how great and real the benefits are:

-It’s reducing stress by having order and discipline.

-It’s having more space by keeping clutter out for good.

-It’s simplifying the way you live at home by creating useful systems that work for you personally.

-It’s a way of being on time, and not feeling the strain of running against the clock.

Quite simply, when you finally start to make the simple changes of organization, it all adds up to give you more room to breath so you can enjoy your family and friends more.

Being organized isn’t a matter of being rich or poor, young or old. We were never taught organization in school and, in fact, were taught to multi-task and go in too many directions at once.

This was how they told us to live.

Personally, I have always gone against the grain and never worried about keeping things we don’t need. My wife Megan and I make sure if something is not being put to use or it’s out-of-date… it’s getting sold or thrown out.

We also utilize smart, affordable storage to keep only useful items and starting teaching our kids the value of being organized at a very young age. It makes it easier on them and on us to stay disciplined about organization.

The funny thing is I don’t think I was raised to be organized. Nobody knew much about “organization” back then, although I was always a little “neat” as a kid.

But somewhere along the way I figured out it made the most sense. I like to be on time and being organized makes that possible. I don’t like wasting time looking for things, like tools or ingredients for cooking or paperwork or bills.

Being organized makes it all a lot easier.

It’s not going to make you rich, but it will certainly save you money by avoiding duplicate purchases and late bills.

It’s not going to make you any younger, but it will certainly give you more time to do things you might think you don’t have time to do.

Being organized isn’t going to give you a bigger house, but it will clear clutter and open up some space so you’ll feel like you have a bigger house because there will be less congestion and “stuff” all over the place.

There may seem like there is a lot to getting organized and over the next few days I’m going to share with you even more tips and tricks to getting and staying organized.

Greg Payette is the founder of DiscoverOrganization.com and created a simple, step by step System to make home organization simple. Visit http://DiscoverOrganization.com for more information and to sign up for a Free Home Organizing Mini Course.

Tags: clutter, , , home organization, organizing your home

March 25, 2008

Closet Organizing Tips Systems for Conquering Closet Clutter

Filed under: home — admin @ 4:39 am

Closet organizing indicates that you value the simple home improvement of added closet space. Below you’ll find simple ideas to get your closets organized:

A good suggestion for starters is to plan your closet with hanging rods nearest the outside walls. In most cases, this will give you the optimum access to shelves and drawer spaces.

For reach-in closets with double-folding doors, it’s often better to put the drawers in the center where they’re more easily accessible. For a closet with sliding doors, place the drawers on either end of the closet.
Wardrobe Inventory.

Separate your closet into these categories:

– What you currently wear
— What you’ve worn only a few times in the last 12 months
— What hasn’t even been considered in more than a year

You might want to bag and store clothing from the second category above, and consider donating the things from third. Numerous charities appreciate clothing donations and will even pick them up from your home.

When storing out-of-season items, remember to always clean the items first and store all boxes in a dry place.

Assess the cloths you want to keep in your closet. Think about how much drawer space, hanging and shelf storage you’ll need before you begin shopping for closet organizer kits and design ideas.

Do you share a walk-in closet with a spouse? Make the right side for one person’s wardrobe, and the left side for the other. If you have enough space, the back wall can be shared.

One of the most trendy closet designs of modern home improvement uses drawers or baskets with long verticals of 24″ shelves in the center of the side walls, with hanging space on either side.

If you don’t have enough room for such a layout on each side of the closet, but you’d still like shelves, drawers, shoe storage or baskets, plan on using the side walls for hanging space and put a drawer unit on the back wall.

General Closet Organization tips:

Double hanging space of your closet by adding a second rod at 40″ from the ground and adjusting the upper rod to 80″.

Use your closet doors to create more space by adding over-the-door racks. This space can be used for cap racks, shoe storage, valets, towel racks or general purpose hooks.

To avoid wrinkling, avoid hanging garments too close together.

Use specific hangers in your closet to gain space and store items, like Multiple skirt hangers, multiple slack hangers, belt, scarf, and tie hangers.

To retain the original shape of your sweaters and eliminate hanger marks, it’s usually good to fold them instead of hanging them. New hangers are on the market however, with rounded edges to prevent hanger marks.

As you use up closet space, think about adding garment racks. These come with wheels for easy movement, and many come with covers.

Walk-in closets can be thought of as a series of “reach-ins”. Measure each wall separately and plan your storage wall by wall. Use corner shelving to craft the most of the space you have.

Institute just a few of these closet organizing tips and unleash the full joy of your “intimate space”. You’ll also see that this is one of the simplest forms of home improvement you can undertake.

Andrew Porter: Interior designer, home improvement consultant and frequent contributor to ClosetOrganizer4U.com
For closet organizers, accessories and design plans, visit: http://www.closetorganizer4u.com

Tags: closet design tips, , , , , Closet organizing, closet space, clutter, home improvement
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