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organizing in the media

Pegboard is pretty easy to come by — we found ours for free along the side of the road last summer! It’s relatively simply to install, yet it makes a world of difference in rooms that hold lots of tiny things such as craft rooms, garages and pantries. Any Home Depot or other builder’s supply [...]

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Filing is boring — but at least it can look pretty

by respaced on December 30, 2011

Yes, people, THAT is how you file! Divide your files into six categories (eg. finances, health, home, personal, education, kids), assign each category a color and keep those colors lumped together in the drawer so you can instantly find what you are looking for. You will feel so proud of yourself every time you open [...]

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The myth of the perfectly organized home

by respaced on December 28, 2011

You probably already know how unrealistic it is to diet down to a runway model-size 0 and achieve that “perfect” figure. Similarly with organizing, none of us is ever going to be able to achieve and maintain a perfectly organized home. Don’t let those glossy home magazines try to convince you otherwise. Instead, the goal [...]

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On Friday, I wrote about tasks you can do in less than a minute to make your living room, kitchen and bedroom look more organized. Of course, these tasks will not get your room completely organized. But sometimes you just don’t have 6 hours available to sort through an entire room, and you just want [...]

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Do you leave papers out on your counter as reminders of things you need to do? Are there various items laying around, because you need them to remind you of some task that has to get done? For some people, it’s the pile of baby clothes on the floor of the closet that shouldn’t get [...]

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The Economist reports that the popular BILLY bookcase from Ikea is getting an overhaul next month. It is being redesigned with deeper shelves, which the Economist believes are meant for holding knick-knacks rather than books. The magazine indicates this is because Ikea forecasts that people will need less space to hold books, because thanks to E-Book readers, [...]

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If this is how you feel about your house and you have a bit of an exhibitionist streak, perhaps you should answer one of the casting calls below. I don’t know how I feel about reality TV shows that try to “help” people. On the one hand, sometimes people genuinely receive the help they need, [...]

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News stories about house fires always catch my eye. This is because at least a couple of times of month the reporter indicates that a house fire has caused massive damage or injury due to excessive clutter in the occupant’s home. The clutter keeps occupants trapped inside their burning home, while keeping firefighters stuck outside, or at [...]

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Do you have magazine envy?

by respaced on January 20, 2010

Magazine envy afflicts possibly millions of Americans. Symptoms include: 1. Looking at Better Homes and Garden and feeling lousy about your home 2. Feeling like a slacker for not having your home perfectly picked up at all times 3. Frequent apologies to your guests for the state of your house 4. Frequent purchases of organizing [...]

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The worst mess ever

by respaced on June 17, 2009

When I go over to a client’s house for the initial consultation,the client almost always asks, “Is this the worse mess ever?” And the answer is always an emphatic no! Let me tell you about the worst case of clutter chaos ever … The worst case of clutter ever was discovered in 1947 in New [...]

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