Organize a Bedroom

Is Your Bedroom a Sanctuary?

We just celebrated Valentine’s Day. That led me to think about intimacy and, for some reason, I started thinking about bedrooms.

We often work with clients who want their bedroom to be a sanctuary, but the habits of their mate or the dictates of their living space present challenges to fulfilling their goal.

It is hard to feel tranquil with dirty socks on the floor and a pile of laundry at the foot of the bed. Sometimes the space must house a home office or a crafting station or fitness equipment. The reality is that the bedroom is often used for more than sleeping and intimate moments. Many folks find it the only place they can grab the solitary time to pay the bills, read a book, watch a favorite program, ready a project for deadline.or sweat to the oldies.

Here are a few suggestions for making the space more orderly and serene even when you have to deal with the realities of life.

Make the bed a no-drop zone. It will keep your bedding clean and you can rest without clearing a spot.

Create defined spaces for activities that must occur in the space. If you have to have an office in your bedroom, designate a small desk or table for the task and gather the materials you need close to that space. If you must house exercise equipment, put it in a corner farthest from the bed and use a folding screen to keep it out of sight when not in use. Put your ipod and earphones, shoes and other ancillary items in tote bags that can hang from the equipment and keep them handy. Use a small bookcase or decorative basket to hold books, music and DVDs close to the spot you use them.

Keep clothes off the floor and furniture by placing an attractive hamper in the room. A clothes valet or industrial three arm clothing rack can hold outfits for the next day or clothes waiting to be put away.

If the laundry is inevitably going to land in the bedroom prior to storing, use a pretty hamper and designate a bench at the foot of the bed or under a window as its temporary home. It might not look beautiful, but it will look neat and not detract too much from the room’s order.

Real life bedrooms often do not meet the expectation for “sanctuary” promoted by Extreme Makeover and HGTV, but, with a little thought and organization, they can be orderly, tranquil places to escape for personal pleasure.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

AVOID LAUNDRY ROOM CLUTTER

Whether you have a laundry room or a laundry closet, there is lots of opportunity to create clutter in that space. The tinier it is, the more likely that you are challenged to keep it neat. Throw in a little “help” from tiny hands that are interested in how the dryer works and you have a pretty good chance for a mess to accumulate. Here are a few tips for keeping on top of washing, drying and folding clothes.

1. Sort clothes and place in a container to transport to the washing machine. Stacks on the floor can shift and you can end up with unwanted pink underwear when a red garment finds its way into the white clothes pile. There are divided compartment laundry sorters that can be stored in larger laundry rooms. For smaller spaces try collapsible bins that can be stored flat on a shelf or on edge in little space until needed for sorting.
   
2. Keep laundry products together on a shelf or cart near the washer and dryer. Even in the smallest space you can use shelves that fit on the top of washer and dryer. Also consider use of space above the appliances for a cabinet or shelves to keep these products handy. Never store on the floor if it can be avoided. Floor storage collects dust and promotes spills.
   
3. Save time by hanging clothes as you remove them from the dryer. A portable hanging rack will work in larger laundry rooms and many hanging alternatives for small spaces are available in catalogues and on-line shopping sites.
   
4. If possible, fold clothes as you take them from the dryer. Heaping them in a pile will cause wrinkles and you will expend extra time and energy ironing. Also match socks as you go. This is a good job for older toddlers and children who are eager to help.
   
5. If you need to keep an eye on little ones as you tackle these chores, create a special play zone in the space. Some suggestions for activities include a play iron and ironing board (where your helper could iron tea towels or other items) and a basket filled with too-small clothes that a toddler could fold to her heart’s content. Any favorite toy that does not offer a chance for dirty hands or coloring utensils to stain clothing can be added to the play station.
   
6. Commit to put the clothes away at the first opportunity. Hectic schedules sometimes make it impossible to put everything away as it comes out of the dryer. One technique is to promise yourself to get the laundry stashed in its designated home before your head hits the pillow that night. You can take advantage of little fragments of time to get it done
   
   
   Using these ideas, you should be able to keep your laundry area clutter free.
   
   Beverly & Kristen
   www.KeyTransitions.net

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

Hanging Towels, Toilet Paper and Laundry

Do you notice all the stuff that hangs around your bathroom? Towels and washcloths are usually ready to dry us off or drying out from the last use. Toilet tissue is resting in some handy spot within arm’s reach of the commode, and perhaps damp hosiery or lingerie, too delicate for the dryer, is draped across some inconspicuous hanger. All of this stuff takes up space and can contribute to a clutter filled bath. Storage solutions are available even for small spaces with little room for mounting hardware.

Towels and wash cloths can fit right on the front of cabinet doors with the clip on towel ring from Get Organized and Home Trends offers several options for hanging towels on shower doors or on a shower rod extension that is pressure mounted without tools. There are also descending hangers that fit on the door hinges and Home Decorators carries a standing tiered towel stand that works well in bathrooms with floor space but not much wall space. On the more expensive side, Hammacher Schlemer offers an English Heated Towel Stand that warms the towels to a comfy 120 degrees. Dry towels can be rolled and stored in decorative baskets or kept in an attractive box or storage bench.

Toilet paper stands that have the added benefit of an attached magazine rack are available at several retailers and matching canisters that attractively store toilet tissue are also sold. One standing tissue holder from Home Decorators has a magazine rack and storage space for two extra rolls of toilet tissue. It takes up less than a square foot of floor space.


When you have tidied up the towels and sequestered the tissue, you may still have to find a spot to dry a few items in the bathroom space. If the shower rod extension is not a viable option for you, there are several other products that might work. Home Trends has an instant clothesline like the ones in many seaside hotel rooms that mounts on one side of the wall and can be pulled to a spot as much as 60 feet away. They also carry clothes pin hangers and an insta-hanger that folds flat when not in use.

These tools can make a big difference in keeping your bathroom neat and free of clutter.

Check out the following sites for products:
Hammacher.com
HomeDecorators.com
ShopGetOrganized.com
Solutions.com
ShopHomeTrends.com


Beverly and Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net