Organize Mounds of Magazines and Collections of Catalogues

Magazines and catalogues are good things. They give me hours of pleasure. We actually use them in our work to show clients products that will help with organization. The challenge is to keep them from taking over the house.

Here are a few tip to help you keep magazines, catalogues and, (for you crafters) pattern books organized.

• Keep them close to where you use them. If you peruse catalogues while you watch television, keep them close to your viewing perch. If you use them in your work, store them on a shelf near your workstation. If you like to read them in the bathroom, spring for a bathroom magazine rack. This will minimize the opportunity to mislay them somewhere in route from where they are kept to where they are used.

• Keep them contained. You can choose a lot of different magazine racks, boxes and other containers. Some of our favorites are the ultra-clear magazine boxes at www.containerstore.com and the desk magazine files at www.ikea-usa.com. Ikea also has baskets that hook on underneath a shelf that are great for pattern books when you are working on a project. To get an idea of the variety of magazine holders available, log on to www.magazineracks.com. They have great ideas for wall-hanging, free standing and traditional varieties. One of the ways we organize the catalogues we use in our work is to gather them in large three-ring binders using 3 ring catalogue/magazine organizers. These handy tools snap into the binder and allow you to slide the magazines over them for easy access. Also consider using other containers like flat baskets, copper ham boilers or pretty wooden boxes you may have around the house.

• Keep them accessible. If you store your pretty box on a closet shelf, the catalogues and magazines will get old and probably unread. Keep them out, but keep them neat.

• Keep them current. When you get a new catalogue, throw out the old one. Magazines are a little harder to get rid of when they have a great article, suggestion or recipe you want to hold on to. Clip out the article and save it in a file or notebook and discard the magazine. If it is hard for you to get rid of perfectly good reading material, donate current magazines to nursing homes, clinics or prisons.
  
  Happy reading in an uncluttered house and office.
  
  Beverly & Kristen
  www.KeyTransitions.net

AVOIDING FAMILY ROOM CLUTTER TRAPS

The greatest challenge in managing clutter in the family room is_____?

You guessed it-the family!

The family room is a wonderful concept- a place the family members can gather for entertainment, conversation and enjoying each other. The reality can be something a little short of the ideal. It is hard to watch TV or play games if all available seating is covered with clutter. Empty food wrappers, discarded clothing and piles of toys detract from the ambience of any space. Many friends tell me they clean the family room every week just to find it in the same deplorable condition the following week- or maybe the following day. It can be so frustrating that it becomes accepted as a room that looks bad all the time.

Is there a remedy? Yes there is, but it is not easy because it involves group effort. If you want a permanent solution to a cluttered family room we recommend the following:

The next time you clean the room record what you pick up on a piece of paper or a voice recorder.

Take a look at the list for patterns. Does Dad leave his shoes under the couch? Does Suzy leave Pepsi cans on the coffee table? Does Junior scatter Legos all over the floor? Does Mom throw magazines on the floor next to her chair?

Think about reasonable suggestions for managing the clutter. Would Dad put his shoes in a shoe storage bench next to the couch? Would Suzy discard cans in a handy receptacle? Does Junior have a storage space for his Legos that he can reach and manage? Would Mom lay her magazines in a conveniently placed rack?

Hold a family meeting and talk about the things you pick up every time you clean the room. Be open to other family members input. Tell them some of the suggestions you have for making it easier to put things away and let them suggest other solutions that appeal to them.

Set the rules. Assign tasks according to age and ability. Purchase or make the suggested systems to keep things organized and the next time you clean the room discard or give away any item that is not in its designated space. If trash is the problem, the clutterer has a penalty of the family’s choosing.

Stick to the rules and hold another family meeting to see how the system is working. Revise what you need to make the system work for everyone, but do not let any family member abdicate his responsibility for keeping the room organized

Hold a special celebration after one month of successful clutter management.


These steps work for families of all ages and all sizes. If you cannot figure out how to get started on the organizing project, a professional organizer can be a great help in developing and implementing a plan.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net