Sunday, March 30, 2008

AVOID ENTRYWAY CLUTTER TRAPS

Whether your family enters your home through the front door, the back door or the garage door, the first thing you do is take off, drop off or discard something. It might be your coat, your brief case, the mail, your shoes, the change in your pockets or the skate board you picked up to avoid tripping over it. These items land where you enter and stay there until they are needed again. If they are not used soon after their landing, the discards become clutter. Eventually the entryway looks like a storage room.

There are four steps to dealing with a cluttered entry space:
  1. Assess what kinds of things are being left in the space. Are they being left there for convenience or necessity? Is your child leaving his backpack there on his way to grab a snack after school? Is your husband dropping of mail as he comes in the door and heads upstairs to change? Is your wife leaving a briefcase that she will pick up on her way out tomorrow morning? Are all of you taking off shoes to keep from tracking dirt on the new carpet? Is the leash being thrown in the corner so you can retrieve it quickly when you walk the dog?
  2. Determine the best way to deal with each item. Would the space accommodate a set of hooks, a hall tree, a storage bench with baskets or shoe storage? Do the hooks need to be lower for children to access for hanging coats and backpacks? Would an attractive basket or decorative box be useful for depositing mail? Would a large attractive container serve as a drop-off spot for items that go to their designated home before you retire for the night?
  3. Bring order to the space by obtaining and installing the systems that you need. You can create an organized look by collecting like things together (coats on a hall tree, mail in a basket, change in a piggy bank), by concealing the items (shoes in a storage bench, dog leash in drawer, brief case in hall table storage compartment; car keys in a decorative box).
  4. Make sure that everyone living in the house understands the system. For instance, if you pick up mail and put it in the designated basket, who will retrieve the mail, discard the unwanted items and make sure the bills are paid? Putting the storage item in place, establishing the process for its use and assigning responsibility creates an organizational system that should keep on working.

Now you are ready to let anyone in without being embarrassed by the pile of stuff just inside the door.

If you need inspiration for systems that help organize the entryway, take a look at the following web sites:
www.canopyliving.com
www.improvements.com
www.touchofclass.com
www.potterybarn.com

Beverly & Kristen

www.KeyTransitions.net



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Monday, March 17, 2008

Avoid Closet Clutter Traps

The closet is full of clutter traps-on the floor, on the shelves, on the hanging rods. Here are a few hints to help your closet stay organized.

Avoid creating systems that look good but do not work for you. Shoe racks and shoe shelves can be a big help in organizing footwear, but if you can’t find the time to put the shoes in the rack or stack them on the shelves, you still end up with shoes scattered on the floor. Try using cubbies for shoes; it is just as easy to stick a pair of shoes in an open cubby as it is to drop them on the floor. Also try rolling bins for clunky everyday shoes like sneakers and Crocs. They can fit under a high hanging rack and conceal the jumble of shoes.

Do not overstuff hanging racks. Make more room by using double hang racks (upper and lower) when possible. Also use flat flocked hangers that take up less space than wooden hangers and are kind to most fabrics.

Use dividers on shelves to separate folded clothes and purses. If you have surplus hanging space, use hanging dividers. They come in many configurations and meet most clothing and accessory storage needs. An over the door purse holder will free up limited shelf space.

Keep a basket or bin in or near the closet for clothes that you find need repair. Check it one a week to replace buttons, tack hems and make other repairs.

Keep a small wastepaper basket in or near the closet for tags and fasteners you remove from new clothing and laundry bags.

Use hooks on pegboard or vacant wall space to hang belts and scarves.

Look at these web sites for inspirational closet system and accessories that work with you to maintain organization.

www.ikea.com
www.stacksandstacks.com
www.shopgetorganized.com
www.thecontainerstore.com
www.bedbathandbeyond.com


Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransition.net

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Sunday, March 09, 2008

AVOIDING BEDROOM CLUTTER TRAPS

We have bad news. The only way to avoid clutter in the bedroom is to put it away when you take it off or bring it into the room. The key to avoiding the “I’m too tired” and “I don’t have the time” piles of miscellany is to make it as easy as possible to tuck things away. That includes the bed linens.

Many of our beds look beautiful when made with matching coverlet and shams. The coordinating occasional pillows and cushions are scattered artfully and there is not a crease to be found. Much of the time, unfortunately, the bed is not made and the coordinating coverlet, sham encased pillows, and decorative pillows are scattered on the floor.

Consider an “everyday” bed look and a “company” look. For the “everyday” look use good quality coordinating sheets and pillowcases with a harmonizing blanket or quilt that can be folded at the foot of the bed or pulled up to the pillow line. It takes less than two minutes to tidy the bed when you rise and it is ready to jump in when you are ready to rest. Stack the beautiful coverlet shams and decorative pillows neatly on a quilt rack or in a nearby chest or decorative container. They will be ready to decorate the space when company comes or you have time for a more elaborate bed-making. Another alternative is to keep these items in an underbed storage chest that you can pull out when needed.

Furniture surfaces in a bedroom also become cluttered with jewelry, change, reading materials, bottles of medicine, and grooming products. The best way to keep clutter down in these areas is to use decorative containers and systems close to the point of use so that you can put things away as you use them. A valet or box for items you use everyday like your watch and keys should be placed wherever you dress and undress so you can easily retrieve them when you get ready to go out.

Clothes on the floor is another clutter trap. Sometimes we just don’t have the energy to walk a step further when we finally get home. Try putting two hampers in the bedroom where you undress-one for laundry and one for dry cleaning. You can easily throw your clothes there instead of on the floor. As a last alternative designate a “clothes chair” and put all items there. Clear out the chair at least twice a week. It will not keep clutter away but it will keep it at bay and manageable.

For those of us who like to read in bed, a bedside reading station can be created by putting a basket that coordinates with the bedroom next to the bed. If there is no room on the bedside table, it can be placed under or beside the table, on the floor. It will contain the reading light, book and bookmark that used to land on the floor.

These web sites might give you inspiration to better manage clutter traps in your bedroom.

www.lillianvernon.com
www.levenger.com
www.shopgetorganized.com


Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

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Monday, March 03, 2008

Avoid Kitchen Clutter Traps

A survey conducted by the National Association of Professional Organizers found that the kitchen is identified as the most disorganized room in the house. What a shame that the room that is often considered the heart of the home causes the most distress when it comes to staying organized.

Here are a few hints for avoiding a disorderly kitchen:
  • Organize drawers by using drawer dividers to separate utensils and flatware
  • Put small parts or tiny like objects in plastic containers or zip lock bags. (ex: pastry horns and tips)
  • Store plastic containers by size and place tops in divider rack according to size for easy match-up
  • Make cleanup easy by storing dishcloth, dishtowel and paper towels close to sink and dishwasher
  • Put most frequently used items on lowest shelves
  • Minimize the number of small appliances on countertops to the three most frequently used
  • Create stations for daily use (ex: coffee station near coffeepot, snack station for after school munchies, prep station for meal preparation)
  • Take a close look at how you use your kitchen and store everything according to your workflow
  • Donate or discard items you have not used in a year and create space for things you need.
  • Clean up messes and spills as they occur.

De-cluttering the kitchen will save time in the long run and make meal times less stressful.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

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