Productive & Organized Home

How to organize your closet

Is your closet overstuffed with clothes but you still can’t find anything to wear?  Or, is your closet being used as storage room and filled with everything but clothes? 

I will share the steps you need to take to take control of you closet and get it organized. You don't want to miss this! 

Do you have too much stuff?

A couple of weeks ago I helped out at my children’s school with the yearly garage sale. At the garage sale we sell stuff that parents and others donated to the school. It’s a great event, but seeing all the donations was overwhelming. Why so much stuff and where does it all coming from?

We accumulate stuff so fast and easily. We don’t take the time to think our purchases through. That’s why we end up with so much stuff in our lives. I will here give you five tips that might help you reduce stuff coming into your life.

Summer Vacation...Reduce the Stress and Have Some Fun.

Today was the last day of school for my kids.  Summer break has officially begun!  Some parents see this as great family fun time while others dread this time of the year.  How about you?  There are a few tricks that can help make this time of the year fun for all.

I started getting myself organized, now what do I do with the items I want to let go of? - Part 2

In "I started getting myself organized, now what do I do with the items I want to let go of? - Part 1", I talked about there are three main choices to do with items you want to let go of. They are:

1. Sell them
2. Give away / Donate them
3. Trash them

In "Part 1" I covered "Sell them" and now I will be covering the other two options "Give away / Donate them" and "Trash them". 

I started getting myself organized, now what do I do with the items I want to let go of? - Part 1

I recently received several questions from people about what to do with the items they want to let go of. To answer these questions, I wanted to devote time to provide you with information to help you get rid of the thing you are ready to let go of.

First, congratulations on deciding to let go of some of your processions, great job! Here are your main choices:

1. Sell them
2. Give away / Donate them
3. Trash them

I will go through each one of these and give you some great information on what you can do.

Organize Your Kitchen

Your kitchen is usually the center of your home; that’s where you cook, eat, entertain, have kids do home work and much more. It is important to make sure there is enough room to perform all these activities.

I will share three important tips that will help you take control and get your kitchen organized.

How to make Organizing Fun for the whole Family!

Does the thought of organizing make you want to scream? Do you procrastinate when it comes to getting organized because you feel it is too overwhelming?

Organizing does not have to be a chore there are ways to make it into something fun that you and your family actually might enjoy!

Here are some tips.  

Home Organization How To's - The Entrance

(Guest Post: Amanda Jacobs)

Most households have too much clutter and not enough time. Following are some simple and effective strategies to help guide you through the de-cluttering and organizing process. We could all use more time and less worry when it comes to the home. Read on to discover how to make a good first impression on visitors and how to save yourself the stress of a messy entrance.

Let's start at the beginning, the front door.

Could you live with just 72 things?

I was reading this post today: Living with 72 Things and wanted to share it with you to get your perspective.  Tammy and her husband have eliminated almost everything from their material lives and blog about living a simple life.  About two years ago they began letting go of things.  To date, they have let go of so many items that they have moved to a less expensive, much smaller home.  Read Tammy's post and come back here to tell me what you think!

To your success!

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How to Store Extra Artwork in Your Home

One of our readers, Kathleen from Dallas TX, asked us the following question:

"Hi.  My name is Kathleen and my husband and I are great lovers of art.  We own a number of paintings.  Actually, we own more paintings than we have walls.  I enjoy rotating them throughout the year.  I like matching our art with the seasons and holidays.  The problem comes in with storage.  Any ideas on how I can store the pieces that I don't have displayed?"

Kathleen, I sure do!  I asked my colleagues to share their thoughts, so keep reading and pick the solution that works the best for you.

Use Simple White Chalk in Your Closet or Basement to Remove Moisture

Today's post is short and sweet, but one that could make a big difference in the smell of your spaces!  Do you have damp closets or basement spaces?  If so, go purchase simple white school chalk.  Tie a few pieces of chalk together to form a small bundle and hang in a closet or other space to absorb moisture. 

Easy Solutions to Organize Your Shed

Well, I hate to admit it, but summer is over here in Illinois.  The temperatures are dropping and we're expriencing a lot of rain.  It is now time to prepare for the colder months and close up our summer items.

If you are like my friends, you have a shed or storage area that holds all of your summer ites: mower, pots, dirt, gardening equipment and so on.  The best time of year to get this area under control is right now! 

Remove all items from your shed and give it a good cleaning

Empty out your shed and either use a hose and a good brush or a low-powered pressure washer to clean out the debris, cob webs, etc. that has accumulated in your shed.

Review your gardening tools and replace where appropriate

While your shed is drying out, look through all of your gardening tools and replace any items that are broken or no longer operating correctly.  Fall is a great time to replace your gardening tools because most lawn and garden stores hold awesome sales. 

Review gardening chemicals and discard where appropriate

Lawn and garden fertilizers and weed killers only last for so long.  I'd love to give you a difinitive answer on how long they last, but it depends on the brand you purchase.  Many organic products will go moldy over the winter.  Other non-organic products can last anywhere from 6 months to 3 years and still be viable for your yard.  Check the manufacturer website for the longevity of the product.  If yours has expired, discard according to your community's disposal rules.  Don't buy now.  Make a quick shopping list and post it in your shed. 

Increase your space by installing shelving or other wall storage

Clutter can accumulate when you own a shed.  Shelves are ideal for shed organization.  Consider pre built shelving that is stand-alone, or install shelving with kits.  You van find a wide selection of shelving options by visiting any Menards, Lowes or Home Depot.  Don't have one in your area?  Check out their sites online.

By adding shelving to your shed, you can get things up off the floor, giving you more room to move around inside your shed safely. Using the vertical space will allow you to store a lot more in the space as well.

Don't want to have shelves sticking out?  You still have options!  Check out the great wall organizers for tools available here.

Place like items together

After installing your shed shelves, organize like items together.  How you define "like" can vary.  Here are some possibilities:

• Group by type of gardening - flower garden, vegetable garden, lawn care, etc.
• Group by type of tool - pots, tools, chemicals, potting soil, etc.

By storing like items together on shelving, you save time and money; you reduce stress and clutter as well as now have the ability to find what you want in the shed when planting season comes around.

Share your tips and thoughts!

What do you do to keep your lawn and garden items in tip-top shape?  Do you have a shed?  What do you do to keep it clean and organized?

To your success!

@StephCalahan 

Medication Mania! How to manage multiple medications/supplements a day.

Being accountable for your own health is the first step in being healthy!  However, when you have slews of pills to take at different times of the day, it can be hard to do it right.  Do you have a lot of pills to take or know someone who does?  Maybe it is medication for a medical condition, or nutritional supplements . . .  It can be confusing to track different pills.  I'll show you step by step how we organized one woman's 20+ pills a day.

Clutter or Collection? Watch this Video and Then Tell Me What You Think

Collections are frequently the hardest thing for people to manage when it comes to their belongings.  I was laughing quite a bit when @unclutterer shared a YouTube video from Marc Sotkin of BOOMERALLEY.

Marc wonders whether he's got a collection or just clutter.  It is an excellent question and the video gives many awesome examples.  Take a look and tell me what you think!

Cool Do-It-Yourself Projects with IKEA Hacks

Are you a closet DIYer?  Do you like to make things for your home or office?  If you are like me, you may like to "hack" things more than make them from scratch. 

What is a hack? A "hack" is when you take something and make it into something else. 

What is IKEA? The store IKEA is a world-wide company that offers a "wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them."  Their designs are very utilitarian most of the time, but high quality in workmanship.

So, an IKEA Hack takes IKEA products and modifies them for form, function or design to work for what the user needs in their space.  If this is of interest to you, check out the blog IKEA Hacker.  IKEA Hacker shows you how to transform IKEA stuff and takes hacks from all across the globe to feature.  Check out the link below for great ideas.

http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/search/label/storage

Thanks!! to @lisamurphyTO, @chrissychrzan and @tinkugallery for sharing this site!

Organize your drawers in the office and kitchen

What does your kitchen "junk drawer" look like?  What about your office desk?  Rubbermaid has a great blog that talks about how to organize different spaces in your home and office.  Recently, there was a post on using a silverware sorter to organize things other than silverware.

That reminded me of a personal project I had done a while back. . .

Could you find what you wanted in the drawer to the right? 

I couldn't either!  So here is what I did about it.

Cleaning Services - They are not all made the same

When searching for cleaners (and note, cleaners are not the same as organizers), it is important to distinguish between professional cleaning services and independent cleaners. Professional cleaning services are usually licensed (typically by the city, county or, in some cases, the state), meaning that they have met basic service standards and criteria. They may also be bonded and insured, protecting against damages and theft of your valuables—as well as protecting you from liability should a cleaner injure him or herself in your home while working. Professional cleaning services generally pre-screen and train their employees, and typically send a team of two to three people to clean your home.