We are now well into the swing of summer, halfway through 2020, and I can’t remember how many months into COVID-19 disruptions. If you are one of the lucky ones, you are hopefully feeling some relief from your home bound existence, and starting to dip your toe into the ocean of society again. Many of us have spent these countless months binge watching Netflix (I think I have watched enough to be a paid critic), ordering groceries from Amazon, and attempting home projects with nothing but the ½ can of paint from last year’s bathroom renovation. As we begin to crawl back to “normal” life things are speeding up quickly. I don’t know about the rest of you, but my life went from pining away the time with do-it-yourself pedicures with my daughters to barely breathing again as I conduct business at the speed of light. At this point, I don’t even remember the last time I cooked every meal of the day, and have had to abandon my list of home project “to-do’s” until the next (God I hope not) pandemic strikes.

If you are like my family, we got a lot done during these last few months but have a laundry list of yet-to-be-started and unfinished projects on the home front. Now more than ever, it is important to make the best use of whatever time we have available to get them done. As I was revisiting such a project over the weekend it reminded me to return to basics and focus on the aspects that make any project a good and successful one. Here’s what I came up with:

​Okay, we have a great plan, now what? For a more complex or time sensitive project, I would have added resources to the list of things to plan for. For most smaller home organizing projects, family members can usually be recruited after you have figured out the high-level details. This is the time to delegate and recruit your husband, kids, roommate, or anyone else who might be able to pitch in. Get the kids to grab and put away their own shoes. Have the husband or wife pick up those bins on his or her way home from work. I know the adage about doing things yourself if you want them to be perfect, but in our age of busyness and multi hat wearing, it’s time to leave that whole “perfect” thing by the side of the road. Being effective at managing and using our time so that our goals for that time are completed often requires that we delegate and share responsibility for the results. We simply can’t do it all by ourselves.

“You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.” - Winston S. Churchill. Let this one sink in for a while. How often do we set out to do something, anything, in our homes and get distracted so many times along the way that we find ourselves in a different part of the house, forgetting completely what it was that we set out to do? You’ve spent the time to plan for your project and maybe recruit some help. You pondered over tasks, supplies have been purchased, and the 15-minute reminder just popped up on your calendar to start working on your plan. Don’t end up lost and confused in your own home. Shut off the phone and computer. Let the dog out ahead of time. If needed, you can even put a note on the front door to alert neighbors that you are in a working session and won’t be answering. Avoid the intense urge to see what John Doe is posting on Facebook, and focus, focus, focus. One thing that I find helps with distractions is to keep a pen and notebook close by to document random thoughts, reminders and things to address later so I can get them out of my head and onto a safe platform to retrieve later once my project is complete.

​Lastly, no home project would be complete without a good dose of humor. Regardless of planning, sometimes things will run amuck. Distractions might happen anyway. The kids might bail on their tasks 5 minutes into them. The husband/wife might have brought home the wrong bins. Shit happens! There, I said it. Especially on the home front, things are not always going to go as planned. Remember that plan? While you are exercising your good sense of humor, now is the time to dust it off, revisit tasks, remember where you left off, and make changes, as needed, to recover and keep moving forward. The sky will not fall, and the earth will not stop spinning if something goes awry and you must reschedule or add more time. Just remember to stick to the plan, reengage those resources (unless you are now completely fed up with them), take a break to laugh and collect your thoughts, and continue forward.

Spring is in the air! Do you feel it? As we speed into March, these mini bouts of warmer weather get me excited about reorganizing and cleaning my own house. The sun is finally lingering a bit longer in the bright blue spaces between the clouds. I don’t know about the rest of you, but towards the tail end of winter I tend to lose my mojo. Cloudy days, mud and ice start to strip my motivation, especially for mundane tasks like laundry and cleaning the house. This means that by the time March rolls around, there’s a lot to do to get this place spiffed up and back to my standards. This little period of spring-like weather is just what I need to get my home and attitude back into shape for the next season. Here is how I intend on springing into action at home this month!

We often underestimate the planning phase of any household project, but I have found that coming up with a very simple plan of attack before getting started can prevent anxiety and save hours of wasted time. Planning will help to break apart larger tasks into more manageable pieces, ensure that all needed supplies are on hand and give you a visual map to track your accomplishments. Some things to ask yourself include:

• Where does everyone hang out most often? What rooms or spaces are my priority?
• How much time can I put towards this effort? Am I going to pull an all-nighter and get everything done in a weekend, or do I want to break these activities into different sessions over the next few weeks?
• Who is going to help? How can I delegate to family members to accomplish these tasks?
• What supplies will I need? Am I out of any cleaning supplies that I should replenish first?

​Once you have answers to these key questions, map everything out on a sheet of paper and hang it in a visible spot on the fridge or family communication board.

The dust bunnies must give up their stronghold before we can even think about organizing, so the first plan of action is to deep clean everything. Implement this 6-step process to zip through a deep clean of each room with ease:

1. Put away the clutter and tidy up each room. Stow random items that you don’t know what to do with in a plastic bin for future organizing. This is also the time to take down any lingering winter or Christmas décor and pack it away for next season.
2. Think vertical! Working from one side of the room to the other, from ceiling-to-floor, dust off all ceiling fan blades, light fixtures, wall shelves, ledges, wall art and baseboards. Everything that sticks out from the wall is fair game!
3. Look outside! If dusty curtains and dirty windows are obstructing your view, it’s time to pull down and wash curtains and wipe down those windows.
4. Now clean all freestanding furniture, starting from highest to lowest pieces. Don’t forget to also dust the collectibles that might be perched on top.
5. Wipe down or vacuum upholstered furniture and, if they are washable, toss those throw pillows and blankets in the washing machine.
6. Sweep, vacuum, dust, scrub and mop those floors, making sure to move and clean under all furniture as well.

​Certain rooms might require unique steps, such as scrubbing the bathtub, but the ceiling-to-floor process described above should help you to identify and conquer everything within each space.

Once the cleaning is done, there will be more surface area available for sorting, categorizing and organizing the storage spaces in each room. These include closets, drawers, cabinets and even the refrigerator. One by one pull everything out of each space and evaluate the contents for obvious trash and donations. Pile the remaining items into categories based on what they are and what purpose they serve. Wipe down the inside of the cleared space, and if your current system works, put everything back where it came from.
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If the current system isn’t working, come up with a new system by evaluating the activities that occur in each room and storing needed items in close proximity. For example, in the kitchen, coffee mugs, condiments and grinds should ideally be stored together, as close to the coffee maker as possible. I address spaces like closets, the pantry and the dreaded junk drawer (yes, I have one too) on their own schedule throughout the year, so won’t necessarily touch them when I spring clean. You might want to implement a similar schedule to prevent your spring-cleaning process for becoming too cumbersome.

Remember that plastic bin? Now is the time to sort through and determine homes for its’ contents. With the rest of your home clean and organized, it may be easier to see the potential in those temporarily stowed items. If not, out they go! If you decorate for St. Patrick’s Day or Easter, this is a great time to pull out and display those decorations. I also use this time to switch out the wreath on my front door, pull out a few pieces of patio furniture and crack open the windows to bring in that fresh spring air.
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Regardless of your talent or appetite for organizing, just remember that with a little elbow grease, and maybe some help from the family, you ARE capable of spring cleaning and organizing your home. By following the process in bite sized chunks (maybe one room a week for instance) and celebrating your accomplishments along the way, you might just find yourself standing in a clean, clear and spring-ready home in no time. Good luck with your own spring-cleaning adventures!

When was the last time you cleaned out your refrigerator? Nobody enjoys this task, but without a routine schedule, your fridge can get nasty and it will be more difficult to keep track of expired products. Follow these easy steps once every 6 months to create a cleaner and healthier environment for your food:

1. Start by taking everything out of the freezer and loading it into a large cooler or two.
2. Using a bucket of warm water and mild dish detergent, clean the entire inside of the freezer, removing grates, shelves and bins, and thoroughly wiping them down.
3. One by one, take each item from the cooler(s) and make note of its expiration date and visual condition. Is it expired, freezer burned or molded? Throw out anything that fits these descriptions.
4. Load the rest back into the freezer by category. For example, one shelf or bin could be used specifically for meats and seafood.

As an added tip, use a Sharpie to label new frozen items with the date that they are put into the freezer to help keep track of expirations.
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Follow the same routine for the refrigerator, remembering that leftovers only survive about a week before they should be thrown out.

Believe it or not, there’s something to be said for following a schedule for de-cluttering each area of your house on a regular basis. Sticking to a routine clean out schedule will save you a load of stress and physical labor in the long run. Here’s an easy to follow plan that I often recommend to my clients:
 
Once a week – Most homes get a bit undone throughout a busy work and school week. In my house, it is not uncommon to have shoes, toys, office supplies and random dishes floating about come Friday afternoon. Look around the house, gather up all visibly misplaced items in a large basket or bag, and return them to where they belong.
 
Once a month – Sort through higher traffic spaces, like the laundry room, kitchen, TV room or play room and return misplaced items to their proper homes. Go through those dusty DVD’s, look in the toy box, and throw out those abandoned socks that have been sitting for 3 months without a match. If you pick one day a month to sort through one room in your home, you will be amazed at how much more organized and clear each space will feel. You will also be reacquainted with everything you own and might just find yourself surprisingly prepared for a very lucrative yard sale.
 
Once every 6 months – As the seasons change, our wardrobe selections start to shift, and most of us don’t have the space to store everything together all year long. This is a great time to sort through bedroom closets and the hallway or entryway coat closet for donations and off-season clothing and shoes. Stash off-season items in under-bed bags or plastic bins if they won’t fit in these spaces and use this time to evaluate whether you really need those jeans you bought 3 years ago with tags still attached waiting for that one day when you lose 5 pounds. I am the first to admit that I have had a few of these hanging around in the past! 
 
Once a year – Nobody likes to clean out the garage or basement, but these areas are usually the fall-out zones for random items and things we plan to put away later. If left to their own demise, these spaces quickly become safe harbor for piles of clutter, fire hazards and unwanted living creatures. Once a year, choose a weekend or a few days in a week to start clearing everything out, making piles and deciding what stays and what goes. Places like Walmart and Big Lots offer great and affordable shelving and storage options, so there is no need for disorganization in these types of spaces. 
 
There is no incorrect method for maintaining a clutter free environment, so you can play around with this schedule to make it work for your home and lifestyle. Just remember that any change in routine takes focus and determination to master, but the payoff for putting in a bit of extra time on a regular basis to keep your home clutter free is well worth the effort.

​Clutter is a mischievous beast. It innocently enough starts with a few pieces of mail on the counter or clothing on the floor. At the start, we are completely and well within our realm of organizing comfort, so we might ignore the mail or step over the clothes with the knowledge that we can address those items later. The problem is that sometimes later doesn’t happen for a really long time, and during that time, the few pieces of mail grow to mountainous levels and the clothing piles up and spills out into the hallway. The clutter gets bigger, it seems to take over, and stress ensues. At some point, at the tipping point, that innocent clutter takes on a life of its own. It becomes ominous and overwhelming.
 
Sounds scary, right? However, have no fear if this situation has happened to you. There is an answer, and although you might be standing overwhelmingly in front of this mess in the current moment, I’ve got some simple steps that will get you back on track to a less cluttered state of living in no time!
 
First, breathe! Take a deep breath and recognize that your clutter, your mess, does not own you. It is not a reflection of your talents, capabilities, level of motivation or personal character. It is just simply a pile, or maybe many piles, of inanimate objects. It’s just stuff and it has no life, no feelings, energy or power. I recommend that you find a friend to help, when possible. Whether you engage your husband, mother or a set of hired hands, conquering large tasks with others makes the entire process feel more manageable.
 
If you are tackling this clutter by yourself, you must recognize that you are one person, with 2 hands and feet, and only so many hours in the day to accomplish the clean-up. Regardless of the size of your team, scope out the scale and variety of mess and decide on a preset time-period each day to tackle a portion. If you have an hour a day to spare, set your timer on your phone for an hour and get to work. When the alarm sounds, what is done is done. Walk away and get on with your day. There is always tomorrow to continue your efforts.
 
Find a good staging location close by. Clear out some floor or table space to stage and sort the clutter that you plan to address. If the mess is large, you might need to find multiple places to stage sorted items. If the weather is nice, take it outside temporarily onto a tarp or blanket. Isolate a few plastic bins or garbage bags to place items in as you sort through and categorize.
 
Work in zones. Pick one spot, any spot (let’s call it Zone 1), to get started. Don’t look around. Don’t get distracted. Don’t give in to your urge to skip from place to place. Just put the blinders on, hone in on that zone like a cave man on a hunting mission and get that one spot cleared out. If you address one portion or zone of an overwhelmingly large project at a time, you will find that the stress and overwhelm is greatly reduced. Your feeling of confidence, control and capability will increase as you go.
 
Once you have set your time limit, cleared a good work area and picked a zone to start, get to work sorting the contents of that zone into the area or areas that you just cleared out. Ask yourself what each item is and what category it falls into. Where and how is each item used? As an example, if I am looking at a pile of pens, magazines, mail and miscellaneous supplies, I might start by separating everything into 3 categories: office supplies, magazines and mail. I will also likely have a trash can or bag nearby to throw out items that are no longer working or needed.
 
As I move through the clutter from one zone to another, I might find new categories of things, so I will just create more piles or bins to contain them as I go. Don’t get too caught up in the categories as you sort but remember to keep them limited and at a high level. If you overthink it, you will have so many categories set aside that you will have just moved the clutter from one area to the next with little to no progress being made.
 
Once the entire mess has been sorted into different categories, it is time to find homes for everything and put it away. Once it is all sorted, I can decide where each one of these categories currently lives or should live in my house. For example, I will put the office supplies back where they belong in the bins in my office, the mail will be opened and filed accordingly in my mail management system (this is another lesson altogether), the outdated magazines will go into the trash, and the latest editions will be put into the basket in my living room.
 
There are always going to be those items at the end that are different from the rest; the ones that you don’t know what to do with. My advice is two-fold for these situations. First, if the item is something you regularly use and/or love, you will need to find a new home for it somewhere. I would try to keep it close to the area where it is used or can be most treasured. Secondly, if the item doesn’t fall into one of these 2 scenarios (use or love), get rid of it! I don’t care if it was expensive, given to you by your dead grandma or if you are determined to pass it onto your children someday. If you don’t use it or love it, it has no business living in your home. It will continue to be a source of clutter and/or stress and is not worth your time or energy when there are bigger fish to fry. There is no rule that requires you to keep items that are gifted from or for others. I can assure you with almost 100% confidence that God has not made it your purpose to be the keeper of everyone else’s things, so do not let the guilt set in, even for a minute.
 
We all know that the best way to control clutter is to never let it get out of control in the first place, but sometimes life happens. We get busy, distracted and pulled in many directions, and clutter appears despite our best efforts. If you just take a deep breath, isolate some portion of each day to focus on the mess, and bite off one chunk at a time, you will find that even the largest and most unruly mountain of clutter is conquerable.

Tiny houses are the trend lately, and it seems that many Baby Boomers are opting for a downsized lifestyle and more adventure, as opposed to a sprawling dream home with thousands of square feet. Organizing for very small spaces can be challenging, especially if you are downsizing from a much larger footprint. Once the downsizing activity has taken place, there are a few guiding principles to consider when setting up or arranging your new smaller space:

• Think vertically – Wall space and vertical height is your friend in a small home environment. Furniture should be tall, when appropriate, and wall shelving or storage that is mounted from the ceiling will save a ton of space from the floor below.
• Multi-task – Multi-tasking for people has been proven to be unhealthy to our brains, however in a small space, all rooms and furniture should be multi-functional in design. Think about products like Murphy beds with desks, hutches on top of dressers, closets that maintain more than just clothing, and ottomans that function as seating, hold drinks and store things inside.
• Go electronic – Small spaces do not support tons of books and paper very well. All documents that are not critical to keep in paper form can be scanned and saved electronically with back-up systems in place to ensure their security. eReaders make physical book reading a thing of the past, and even libraries are getting on board with the trend.
• Define the space – Multi-function rooms are most successfully arranged when the individual functions are clearly and visually defined. For example, a living room that also functions as a home office and play area should have furniture placed in a way that clearly defines each area’s use. By arranging furniture away from walls, with a couch facing away from a play area for example, we can define the separate spaces without the use of a physical wall. Area rugs are also champions at wrangling in and defining the functions within a space.

• Use the dead spaces – No surface is off limits with a small home or room. Don’t forget to use areas like the back of doors, inside of cabinet doors, underneath of furniture, dry side of the shower curtain rod and empty space between shelves to your advantage.

 
Once arranged, the following guidelines are just a few that can help to maintain a neat and well-organized space:

• Limit purchases – Remember that experiences bring far more happiness and value than things. By using certain rules of thumb, such as the ‘one-in-one-out’, ‘Use it/Love it/Lose it’ or ‘6-month rule’ you can thoughtfully manage your intake and continue to maintain organization.
  • One-in-one-out – Just as this would imply, if you are going to purchase something, something else of similar size and use should be discarded. If you buy a new pair of shoes, one old pair must go.
  • Use it/Love it/Lose it – This rule can be very useful when dealing with the growing size of collections. First ask yourself whether you use the item frequently. If so, it’s okay to keep it. Then ask yourself whether you love the item. Does the item bring you joy, happiness or enhance your life in some way? Why? If so, feel free to keep it. Lose everything else by discarding, donating or selling it.
  • 6-month rule – This is especially helpful for clothing. Every 6 months (or less) you should go through your belongings to look for items that are no longer needed. For the items that are difficult to let go of, give yourself permission to put them back until the next purging session (i.e. 6 months later or less). Mark your calendar, and once that time comes around, if you have not yet used the item, it should be removed from your life.
• Practice the art of moving with full hands – To take control of clutter, practice looking around each room before you exit and picking up any items that need to be put away in the room that you are headed towards. In a nutshell, don’t leave a room empty handed!
• Be diligent – Successfully living in a smaller space requires that its’ inhabitants practice daily organizing behaviors, such as making the bed, routinely doing laundry, doing dishes right after they are used and regularly performing general tidying up activities. Forming new habits take diligence and time, so be kind to yourself as you work to develop them. 

Examples for Bedrooms:

• Limit the size of bed frames. Sled, Chesterfield or other styles of bulky frames are not ideal for small spaces. This same rule should be applied to bedroom sets in general.
• Consider a Murphy bed or sofa bed where space is really limited. Headboards or bed frames that offer shelving and storage above and underneath also work well.

• Use vertically oriented chests of drawers as opposed to horizontally configured dressers.
• If there is no closet, mount shelving, cubbies or hanging bars on the wall to create an organized and visually pleasing space for clothing and accessories.
• Take advantage of and get creative with the use of shelving on the wall. For example, a bedside table or desk can be established by using a simple wall mounted shelf.

Examples for Bathrooms:

• Use the space around your toilet and sink. There are plenty of storage options that can be purchased to fit around the pedestal of a sink that offer great, closed-off space savers. Many companies also offer attractive solutions that stand over the toilet tank.
• Be creative with the use of your shower curtain rod. A shoe caddy or door hanging accessory bag can be easily hung onto shower rings along with your shower curtain, and serve as the perfect spot to stage shampoo, soap and other personal care products.
• Use door space. The inside of vanity doors and back of the bathroom door are perfect places to store everything from your hair dryer to bath towels.

• Work around plumbing. There are many organizing options for shelves or drawers that fit around existing plumbing under the cabinet or vanity sink and maximize the use of all space.

 
Examples for Kitchens:

• Adjust the height of cabinet shelves to fit what is stored inside. Often shelves are too far apart and produce a ton of empty space above dishes and other items. If possible, readjust them to allow for only about an inch of extra space above your stack of plates or row of glasses.
• If shelves do not adjust, use risers, specialty racks or drawers instead. Risers are also great for use in the pantry or refrigerator to double the use of valuable space.
• Just like in the bathroom, door space is ideal for storing almost anything in the kitchen. Cabinet and pantry doors can easily house such items as cleaning supplies, lids for pots and pans, spice racks and storage for rolls of wax paper, tin foil and other films.
• Evaluate whether they are needed, and if so, store seldom-used appliances or cooking tools elsewhere in the home (like a clean shelf in the garage or basement, or an unused cabinet in the dining area).

 
Examples for Living Rooms or Multi-Function Family Rooms: 

• Arrange furniture to act as visual barriers and define each space. A couch turned to face its adjoining chairs, for example, will box in and define a living room seating area.

• Use the right size and shape of area rugs to further define functions.
• Use a TV stand or entertainment center with lots of storage options, as opposed to one that is structured with limited, open shelving or no storage space. Remember that vertical space is your friend!
• Select multi-function furniture wherever possible. For example, you might use an ottoman coffee table that can also be used for extra seating and be opened for storing sheets or blankets.
• Contain those remotes! Find a bin, basket or pocket to manage your remote and gaming controls in one central location so they don’t get lost.
• If there is no hall closet, use a coat tree, storage tree or wall mounted rack for items like coats, frequently worn shoes or the dog’s leash.

​With a bit of creativity, the diligence needed to develop some new habits, and the right storage products, anyone can survive and even thrive in a small home environment.

Many of my customers mention areas that are used for storage in their homes, like garages, basements and closets, as the main contributors of stress and clutter to their lives. These areas are usually the places where we drop bins or items that we don’t know what to do with in the moment, and often have the good intention of getting back to them later “when we have the time.” Then life happens! As a result, a few temporarily stored items can turn into a mountain of stuff, ripe for avalanches and a lot of stress at the thought of getting them organized.

These areas usually require some grit and elbow grease to organize, regardless of whether I sort through them or the customer decides to tackle them solo. Physical exertion aside, the process itself can be quite simple of you follow these 7 basic steps:

1. PLAN & PREPARE – Regardless of the size or complexity of the project, you will want to ensure that you plan ahead of time with the right supplies, tools and resources. Set aside uninterrupted time to perform the organizing activities, purchase or pull together needed supplies (like garbage bags, plastic bins or tarps) and tools (like more shelving, customized containers or rack systems), and ask your family or friends for help in advance.
2. START SOMEWHERE – Even in the messiest of situations, the key is to start somewhere. There usually is no right or wrong place to start, so jump in with both feet and get to work! Don’t overthink it at this point.
3. CLEAR IT ALL OUT – Once you get started, the goal is to clear out the space entirely, so you have a blank slate for re-organizing. In a garage, on a nice day when outdoor space is at a premium, we might just empty everything from the garage at once and move it outside onto tarps for easier visibility and sorting. In other circumstances, we can stage items temporarily in other rooms or spaces of the house. Don’t stress as you work through this process. Things will get messy, but only for the short term. Remember that the result of your efforts will be better organization and peace of mind.
4. SORT & GROUP – Once cleared out, start sorting through everything and put each item into a pile based on what it is. Think in terms of categories or what the items are used for. An example in a garage would be to pile the lawn and garden tools in one area, bins of memorabilia in another, automotive care supplies in another, and so on.
5. DOWNSIZE – Go through each group and identify the items that can be donated, recycled or thrown away. Remove them from the rest as quickly as possible. The longer they stick around, the more the likelihood that you will reevaluate your decision and keep them instead.
6. FIND HOMES FOR THE REST – Look at the remaining groups and quantities of items and determine where they will “live” going forward. For example, in a garage, garden and landscaping tools might be better suited for a rack system on the wall and Christmas decorations might end up in plastic bins on shelves.
7. ARRANGE – Install or set up needed storage systems and tools, arranging the remaining items back into the space where they will live going forward. Step back and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

 
If these steps are followed, anyone can tackle any space with enough determination and time. If the project feels too immense, break it into manageable chunks over several days or weeks, or buy a keg, invite your friends, and make a party of it!

Who has a junk drawer? Maybe it’s not a drawer, but a basket box or bin. You know what I’m talking about: that place in your house where you stash all junk that you don’t quite know what to do with in the moment; those weird items that don’t really go with anything else. Come on now. Be honest!

I am the first to tell you that I have 3 junk drawers in my house…yes…3! At any given time, there are office supplies, loose change, random photos, hand sanitizer refills and that orphan charger that nobody seems to own. These catch-all’s are great because the drawer can be…get this…closed! Everything gets dumped and hidden away just in time for the neighbors to drop by.

Here’s the catch… You’ve got to address this junk at some point or that great drawer concept doesn’t work. The damn thing won’t close! Add a reminder on your calendar once a month to open said drawer and sort through its contents. 2 of my junk drawers are in my kitchen, so I hang 3 different plastic shopping bags from the drawer pulls of the closest drawers. As I pull out each item, I throw it into one of the 3 bags.

One is for trash and items I can easily throw out. Things like those plastic end tabs from the popsicles that my kids cut off with the scissors from the junk drawer and simply let fall into the drawer instead of depositing them in the trash. Come on, I can’t be the only mom suffering from that one!

The second bag is for items that belong some where else. I use this one to temporarily stage the things that need to go back to places like the kids’ bedrooms, the playroom or the garage. Once filled, I walk through the house with my bag, depositing all contents back where they belong.

The third bag is for items that I feel are just fine right at home in my junk drawer. For example, it’s the first place I go to when I need a pen to write out (yes, I am a bit old school like that) my weekly grocery list. If I move the pens, it will really throw off my whole system. Some things are just better left alone.
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The great thing about this plastic bag process is that they can be thrown out after you are done, and I personally get a little burst of adrenaline for reusing them before they hit the trash can. Laugh as you may, I am sure that if you give this process a try, you might feel the same thing!

I heard someone the other day say in passing that “there’s more than one way to skin a cat,” and it got me thinking about the process of organizing. What’s cool about organizing is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. Being organized is a highly personal and customized process that taps equally into our creative, analytical and rational abilities. When organizing actual objects, some people need to see everything laid out in front of them and have lots of visual cues, while others prefer that everything be neatly hidden behind closed doors when not in use. Some people like storage bins and baskets with bright colors, while others prefer a more relaxed color palate. With that being said, and despite your personal style and habits, I think it’s safe to say that there are a few foundational rules to live by that are important in the process of organizing our stuff.

Things serve us better when grouped into categories based on what they are and how they are used. It’s a good idea to keep like-with-like where it makes sense. For instance, keeping all your cooking spices together in the same cabinet and not spread out across multiple locations saves time and effort in finding the right spice for your recipes. Sheets should probably be kept together and maybe separated in different baskets by bed size or family member. DVDs probably belong together in one place for easy reference.

Once grouped, consider the items’ functions and arrange them in a way that makes them easily accessible right in the places where they will likely be used. Most of us would not store silverware in the bathroom or socks in the garage for example. Storing the right things close to where they will be used also saves time and the effort to locate everything when needed for the task at hand.

Going a step further, it’s helpful to think about the zones of operation within each space. These are the areas within reach when performing routine activities, like doing laundry, paying bills and making coffee. If I am in the kitchen making a cup of coffee, my zone of operation should ideally contain all the things needed to make that cup of coffee within arm’s reach. This means the mugs, coffee and coffee maker should be near each other. If I must walk completely across the kitchen to grab a mug, back across to the opposite corner to open the refrigerator and grab the creamer, and then back to the other side again to brew my coffee, I end up with a lot of wasted time and effort and am now potentially bumping into family members as I go.

If we can remember these 3 simple, foundational rules to 1) group things into categories, 2) arrange by use for easy accessibility, and 3) store in zones by routine activity, the rest is really left to the eyes of the beholder. Whether you like wire baskets or clear plastic bins, drawers or open shelving, there really is more than one way to skin that cat when getting organized. Meow!

There is a common misconception that I hear a lot when it comes to being organized. Thanks to beautiful magazine spreads and Martha Stewart-like Pinterest posts, most of us envision the perfectly organized home as being super clean, tidy, new, fresh and perfect. We often envision something that is far outside of our budget, capability and reach.
 
As a professional organizer myself, I want to be the first to dispel this myth. I have 2 kids, 2 dogs and 4 guinea pigs in my home. It is NOT perfect most of the time. It doesn’t always look orderly, and the laundry is usually piled a bit higher than I would like. It is not uncommon for my kids to pitch objects that they no longer want into the hallway outside of their bedrooms. I find wrappers stuffed in the couch and escaped Cheerios in places where they should not be. It’s not always pretty! Our homes need to be comfortable and functional, and living in one that resembles a museum is not achievable for most of us.
 
While it is important to have organizing strategies that reduce stress and enable you to bring your home back to “normal” when the mess gets too overwhelming, you will drive yourself crazy trying to achieve and maintain what society envisions as perfectly organized. Fellow professional Organizer and Author, Anne Blumer, said it best in her book “Get Rich Organizing.” She said “organization is not neatness. In my experience, stress does not come from clutter. It comes from not knowing where to put the clutter away.” She went on to also admit that her own home gets messy at times, so I urge you to give yourself a break and instead follow these simple rules to get and maintain a realistic balance of organization in your home:

1. Everything should have a home. To reduce and keep clutter at bay, everything: all clothing, toys, bedding, gadgets and collectibles, needs to have a place to live in your house. This can be a shelf, drawer, closet or bin, but it must belong somewhere. By assigning everything a home, it is easy to simply put things back in their homes when disarray strikes.
2. Tidy up every day. Successfully organized people are usually in a constant state of tidying up. Each day you should be performing small activities like addressing and managing incoming paper clutter, putting away shoes and misplaced items, clearing clean dishes from the drying rack, loading and unloading the dishwasher and wiping down counters in the kitchen. Stage a basket or bin in the foyer or at the base of the stairs to collect items that need to be put away in bedrooms and other spaces. Once an evening, carry the basket from room to room putting stray items back in their homes for the night.
3. Do laundry every other day. I know it sounds extreme, but if you throw a small load into the machine, fold it, and put it away on an every other day basis, you will never experience the mounds of laundry that we all dread. Can’t get to it for a few days? Don’t stress. Just pick up where you left off, wash what has accumulated and put it away right afterwards to get back on track. If your children are capable, assign them each a laundry basket so they can put their own clothes away once washed.
4. Practice the ‘one-in / one-out’ strategy to reduce the overflow. This strategy can be used to reduce the volume of things that might cause clutter and ensure that everything continues to have a home. This is especially important in spaces like closets and kitchens, where shoes, clothing and cooking gadgets can really overrun the space. For example, each time you purchase a new pair of shoes, donate or throw away an old pair.
5. Commit to the 6-month clause. We all find things when organizing that we seldom or never used but are hard to let go of. I give you permission to hang onto them…with a string attached. Instead of getting rid of these items right away, it is okay to “stage” them somewhere for the next 6 months. Set them aside in a temporary home and in 6 months, if the items have not been worn or used, out they go!
6. Involve the family. You can be the best, most amazing organizer in the world, but if others in your household are not on board with your strategies, it will be very hard to maintain good organization without a lot of undue stress and potential arguments. You may end up feeling sabotaged and in a constant state of cleaning up. Sit everyone down and explain your strategies and processes. Hear their thoughts and collectively come up with a plan. Create a chart to track progress and keep the kids, hubby or roommates involved in helping long term.

 
Getting and staying organized is an ongoing process that will likely need to be revisited and tweaked over time. Once you find a routine that works for you and the others in your household, remember to keep it going, but to maintain perspective. Remember that life is not experienced to its fullest if we are constantly stressing over a little clutter. It’s okay to step over that pile in the hallway and go play with your kids if you know that cleaning it up will be a cinch when time allows.