Just in case you missed it, here’s what we were discussing a year or two ago the week of February 22:

2011

3 children’s storage products that I hate — and the alternatives that I love Yup, I have hatred in my heart. Fortunately, it’s only for things like toy boxes.

2010

How to organize your piles of photos It doesn’t have to suck, especially if you listen to some rockin’ music and pour yourself a big glass (or 2 or 3) of wine while you sort.

What does your closet say about what you wear most often?

I recently read an interesting statement from Rachael of Kitchen Courses, who was guest posting over at Organizing Junkie. She said: “The way you organize your food defines your eating habits.” She went on to explain that if you keep your junk food front and center in your pantry, you are most likely to reach for that when you are hungry, because it is the most accessible.  Thus, whatever you keep most accessible will strongly influence your eating habits for better or worse.

This got me to thinking. We professional organizers are always encouraging our clients to put what they use the most in the most easiest-to-access places in their homes, usually at eye level. This provides for ease of use. But what if we don’t purposefully put our most frequently used stuff in the best spots? What if random stuff just ends up there? I strongly believe that that random stuff will become the stuff that we reach for most often.

For example, we will end up wearing the clothes that are front and center in our closet most often. Thus whatever is easiest to grab defines our wardrobe. Kids will end up playing with the toys that are the easiest to access in the playroom; thus, their playtime habits will be defined by those toys. If the TV is in the cushiest, most comfortable and accessible spot in the house, guess where everyone will congregate at the end of the day?

This can be to our detriment when we have some bad habits we need to change. Take a look at what occupies the most primo spot in your home and ask yourself if keeping it there encourages that bad habit.

The flip side is we can use this fact to our benefit when we want to change our habits. For example, want to get those bills paid on time more often? Then put the bills with the envelopes and stamps in an accessible, highly visual spot in your house. Want to cook at home more regularly to save money? Then put your cookware someplace extremely easy to access.

If we want to keep our kitchen and bathroom clean more consistently, we can store a container of Lysol wipes on the counter. If we want to be better about filing our papers, we can put the filing cabinet someplace easy to get to and store a package of new file folders on top for when we need to make new files.

Whatever is front and center in your home tells you what you use the most often. If you don’t want those things to define your lifestyle, then remove those items and reserve that space for the items that will help you achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. How you store your stuff truly will either help you or hinder you in accomplishing your goals. Now is the time to take charge of your life by first taking charge of your space.

Image courtesy of Lara604 at Flickr.

This will literally save your sanity. Get a compartamentalized basket and put it by the front door. Write each family member’s name on a label (here, I diverge from the photo where they have labeled the object instead of the person) and assign everyone their own compartment with the instruction that they drop those essentials in their compartment as soon as they walk in the door.

Imagine a world where you never lose your keys, phone or sunglasses again. You can make that dream a reality today for just a few dollars! Go for it!

Just in case you missed it, here ‘s what we were discussing a year or two ago the week of February 15:

2011

Disorganization is robbing you of your money! An injustice is being committed in your own home and you have the power to stop it! (I’m going for a dramatic feel today …)

6 tips for staying organized when you have no time or energy It’s so hard to not get down on yourself when you see all the work that needs to get done around your house, yet you can’t motivate yourself to do it. Here are some ideas to break through the inertia.

2010

How do you find the energy to get those dreary tasks done? Hint: if you can just get yourself started, you will often “get into it” and find the momentum you need to keep going.

Beautiful DIY way to organize writing or art supplies So easy to make and so beautiful to display.

Happy Valentine's Day, dear readers!

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to write about love and organizing. I love all of my wonderful, hardworking clients, but because they all sign confidentiality agreements prior to our sessions, I cannot tell you delightful stories about why I love them (but know that I do, dear clients!) So instead, I want to tell you about the tips and tricks I love recommending the most for each room of your house:

Kitchen

1. Store kitchen utensils and equipment near where they get used in the kitchen. For example, store your pots and pans near the stove. Store your plates near your cups and glasses, and store all of those over your silverware drawer to make dishing up easier.

2. Create “rules” for each drawer. For example, you might make a baking drawer with the rule that only items pertaining to baking — measuring cups, teaspoons, cupcake liners — can go in that drawer. In homes with small children, I like to designate one drawer the “sharps drawer” with the rule that all the sharp tools – cheese grater, pizza slicer, apple corer, etc. – go in that drawer. Parents can then put a childproof latch on that drawer to protect little fingers from playing with things that can cut them.

Living Room

1. Replace your coffee table with a storage ottoman for storing extra bedding, blankets, oversized toys or even holiday decorations. An elegant, lightweight tray can rest on top of the ottoman if a flat surface is needed for holding drinks.

2. Cut down on the number of knick-knacks you display. Lots of knick-knacks on every flat surface make a room look cluttered, make you panic every time a small child comes to visit and make dusting a nightmare.

Bedroom

1. Do yourself a favor and put your clothes away every night. I promise you that you will sleep better in a tidier room. If it is difficult to remember to put your clothes away, try setting an alarm on your phone every night at your bedtime with a message that flashes “remember to put your clothes away” to remind you.

2. If your nightstand tends to look cluttered, remove anything that doesn’t pertain directly to bedtime and sleep. Dirty dishes, toenail clippers and the mail don’t pertain to sleep.

Children’s Bedrooms

1. Kids’ toys multiply overnight like Gremlins in water (child of the ‘80s here). Have a garage sale this summer and let the children keep the money from the toys they sell. Better yet, have the kids pick out a new toy and tell them how much money they have to earn by selling their old toys to buy the new toy.

2. Limit the number of clothes that have to be stored in the closet on clothes hangers. Hangers are so hard for little hands to manage. Clothes folded and stored in bins work much better.

Home Office

1. Go through your filing cabinet. I know you would rather have many painful dental procedures then devote the three or four hours this will take, but it’s the only way to get a handle on your paper avalanche. You don’t have to do it all in one sitting. Figure out when your peak energy time is, eat a snack beforehand, crank up the music, set a timer for 20 minutes and see how fast you can get it done. Most of my clients report that it’s not that bad once they get into it; it’s just motivating themselves to start that is the challenge.

2. Only keep the bare minimum of office supplies on your desk or in your top desk drawer. I’m talking two pens, two pencils, the stapler, your reading glasses and maybe a pair of scissors and paperclips. Everything else can go in the bottom drawers or in a box in the closet.

Bathroom

1. You know all those beautiful bottles full of seldom-used product that are covered in dust on your bathroom counter? Toss them all. Doesn’t matter how expensive they were. They are destroying the clean and tranquil environment that your bathroom should be.

2. Put a clothes hamper in the corner for dirty clothes so family members will stop tossing them on the floor. If there is no room inside the bathroom, see if there is room right outside the bathroom door.

Basement/Garage

1. Divide your basement or garage into zones such as the camping zone, sports equipment zone, holiday decoration zone, etc. Make it a hard and fast rule, maybe even a COMMANDMENT that no other unrelated items are allowed into each zone.

Yourself

1. Organization isn’t something that just happens (or doesn’t happen) in your house. It is directly related to the choices you and your family make. Do your choices make the home more organized or less organized? Remember that choosing to do nothing is still making a choice.

2. Make time to organize. Each night set a timer for 20 minutes and have each family member tackle a different room. Make it a beat-the-clock game. When everything gets put away by the time the timer goes off, everyone gets dessert or gets to watch their favorite TV show.

Have you found any tricks you love that work in certain rooms in your house? Let us all know by sharing in the comments below!

Take a few minutes to visit the Urban Mamas blog, where I guest posted for them about why we moms still do the bulk of the housework, even if we work full time out of the house and have a partner or spouse. Did you know that a 2008  study showed that being married increases the amount of housework a woman does by 7 hours a week, while being married decreases the amount of housework a man does by one house a week? And did you know that professional organizers don’t have perfect homes?

There’s an interesting debate going on over there, and I’d love for you all to join in!

Just in case you missed it, here’s what we were discussing a year or two ago the week of February 9:

2011

Ask the Organizer: How do I know if my child has too many toys? Instead of trying to pin down a magic number, think of it this way.

Excellent children’s storybooks for teaching organizing skills to your kids A way to make organizing fun for kids and maybe grown-ups too!

2010

Your home desperately needs this organizing device  Part one of a two-part series on essential organizing products. You can get this product for less than $20.

Make a big impact with this simple organizing device Part two of the essential organizing product series. This product cost me about $12 at Ikea.

I give out a flyer called “Top 10 Organizing Tips for Parents” at the presentations I give. I’ve never shared it here, although I have blogged about bits and pieces of it. My intention is for parents to put the flyer on their refrigerator, so if they feel stressed out about how messy their child’s space looks they can look at the flyer and apply one or two of the tips to start getting some relief. I hope you find it useful:

1. Divide your child’s space into zones, such as the arts and craft zone, dress-up zone and reading zone. If you don’t know where to put something, ask yourself what zone it would go in.

2. Label every bin, box and basket. If your child is too young to read, tape a picture of the bin’s contents to the outside of the bin.

3. Make sure storage solutions are age-appropriate. No wooden toy boxes or drawers to smash fingers, no toys on high shelves, no heavy bins that cannot be moved.

4. Teach your children to put their things away each night by setting a timer for 10 minutes and cleaning up alongside them.

5. Each night your child cleans up his or her space, drop a marble in a small jar. When the jar is full, take the child on a special outing as a reward.

6. Don’t be afraid to put some of your children’s toys in “time-out” for a few days if they refuse to put them away.

7. Get rid of old toys and make room for new ones by hosting a garage sale and allowing your children to keep the money from any of their toys they choose to sell.

8. Encourage relatives to give gifts of experiences rather than things. Example: zoo passes, ice cream outings, gift certificates, trip to the movies.

9. Model good behavior for your children. If you don’t put your things away, you can’t expect them to.

10. If you feel overwhelmed and frustrated, consider contacting reSPACEd at info@respacedpdx.com to help you dig out and transform your space.

Why do some people choose to organize their books by color? I literally cannot think of a more inefficient way to organize books. Oh wait, yes I can. You could organize the books backwards on the shelves. Quick! Find your copy of Moby Dick in less than 2 minutes!:

www.marthastewart.com

Completely covering the book in kraft paper so you can’t even read the title also makes it nearly impossible to retrieve the book you are looking for. Plus, it would take a seriously long time to make that many book jackets!

Other bad ways to organize books include this method below. Can you tell what image the books create?

www.blog.bookcoverarchive.com

I’m not sure what to make of this one, below:

www.freshome.com

All these images make for interesting book shelves, but the books end up being treated as decor. And when arranged as decor, it becomes very difficult to find the one you are looking for or to browse. In short, the books become nearly impossible to use as the indispensable tools and beloved pastime that they are. If you hate the look of your books so much, then I say either get rid of them or store them behind cupboard doors. Let’s not judge books by their cover to the extent that they become just decorative clutter in our home.

But that’s just my opinion. What do you think of arranging books this way? Would you ever do this in your home?

Just in case you missed it, here’s what we were discussing a year or two ago the week of February 1:

2011

Overwhelmed by your to-do list? Six fabulous tips for getting it all done Rereading these tips has made me realize that I need to take Megan’s advice more often, especially about doing difficult tasks during my peak energy times, not low energy times.

So you want to hire a professional organizer to fix your spouse’s messy habits? Then don’t call me. Seriously. I can help couples who want to work together to fix the mess at home, but I’m pretty hopeless when it comes to taking sides and slinging ammo at the other spouse.

2010

Organize art supplies the preschool way: Part One The photos in this post are so inspiring to me that I’m feeling the urge to rearrange my entire closet this way. These photos have also become pretty popular on Pinterest, so check it out!

Organize art supplies the preschool way: Part Two More beautiful photos of a well-organized preschool classroom.

Display your child’s artwork; eliminate the stacks I took all of Nathan’s early car paintings and made a collage for my husband’s office, where he works as general manager of an autobody shop. It looks great in his office and cut down on the stack of artwork at home.