Productive & Organized Home

Organizing While You Are There

  Opportunities exist each day to either clear away a small amount of clutter or maintain an existing space. Taking these small opportunities to organize a little at a time reduces the need to spend hours later “getting organized.” I call it organizing “While You Are There.”

The easiest way to see how this works is with files. No one likes to clean out an entire drawer full of files (myself included), but it doesn’t hurt much to clean out one or two. The next time you pull out a file, look through the entire file. Shred or discard any duplicate, outdated, or no longer relevant information. If you have more time, tackle a few of the surrounding files. This should only take five minutes or so.

The idea is to clear out items that are not used, liked, or needed as you naturally come in contact with them. Follow me through the office and house to see how this works:

• office desk drawers – What supplies do you regularly use? Discard or donate what you don’t. Store the rest in a separate box.

• book shelves – Do the titles on the shelf reflect your current interests and lifestyle? Donate a few books (especially those old college textbooks!).

• kitchen drawers and cabinets - Are you holding onto unused cooking and baking items or food? Donate what you can to your favorite charity.

• junk / utility drawer - Can any items be better used in another room or stored with other like items? Put them there.

• family / living room – Old magazines? Outgrown or broken toys or games? Recycle and donate. No one misses what isn’t used.

• linen closet – Mismatched or old towels? Keep the best. Toss, donate, or store a few as rags in the garage.

• bedroom – Items (like paperwork and kids’ toys) that are not conducive to sleep and relaxation should be returned to their proper homes.

• closet – There’s a reason you, your spouse, or your child hasn’t worn X, Y, or Z. Donate it to someone who will.

• bathroom – Do you really use all those toiletries?


Remember, the idea is to clear out unused or unneeded items while you are already there. Does this take a lot of extra time? No, the time is already there. You just haven’t noticed it yet.

You have a few minutes when you are:

o waiting (in the car, in a line, or for _______ to get ready)

o taking a break between tasks

o looking for something

o putting something away (especially a new item)

This week look around. Is there a small area or two that you could organize while you are there? Do you have a few extra moments to look through that drawer or cabinet? You’d be surprised what a difference small steps over time can make in your home and office.

Take some time this month to clear out a few spaces while you are there. You’ll be glad you did.

© Renee Ursem, 2010

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.

Why are we keeping oversized and out of season items in easy to reach places?!

As organizers, we often see items stored in a home that could have a different resting spot.  Today, organizer Annette Reyman shares her thoughts on the topic. 

I don’t know about you, but I can think of 2 reasons right off the bat why it doesn't make sense to keep over-sized and out of season items in easy to reach places.

TLC's Jon and Kate Plus 8 Hire a Professional Organizer

Delegate?  Ditch?  Keep?  Donate?  Dust Bunnies?  No?  Maybe?  We're excited to know that Jon and Kate have hired a real-life Professional Organizer!

There are some that love and watch this show and keep track of the children as if Jon and Kate are their family members.  There are equally as many people that are tired of the drama and do everything they can to stay away from this TLC show family.  However, I was reading my colleague, John Trosko's blog today and came across his post announcing the organization focus on the show and had to check in to see what was going on.

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 

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!

Taking care of your plants

I was out on the web today at Gardener's Supply Company and I found some pretty cool products.  I thought I would share a few with you.  Now, I'm not an avid gardener.  I will puts around my flower beds, but that is about it.  However, I love looking at this site to see different tools that inventive people come up with.

Dust Free Storage with Stor Pods

If you are looking for a great way to moisure proof the items that you have in your basement or attic,  then the StorPod may be for you!  There are three different configurations depending on your space needs.