Bring Organization to Your Bedroom

Here are a few hints to bring a little organization to your bedroom:

List the things you do in the bedroom. Then determine the best place to accomplish that task, given the space available. Think of the bedroom in zones (Sleeping Zone, Dressing Zone, Play Zone, Study Zone, Relaxing/Socializing Zone)

Group the items that are needed for that activity together in that space as much as possible.

• Create a reading station near the bed that includes adequate lighting, book mark, and a place for book and glasses. Great reading lamps and organizers can be found at Office Max.
• Store children’s must have bed items in a bedside table or an under-bed rolling storage box that is easy for them to access. Underbed storage containers are available at Home Depot, Ikea, Lowe’s and Wal-Mart.
  

Use decorative pegboard with various size hooks to keep belts, scarves, small purses, and even, jewelry displayed for easy access. Local hardware stores will custom cut to your specifications or you can buy it in pre-cut sized. Pegboard and peg board accessories can be found at local hardware stores and Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Wal-Mart.

Simple, stacking, jewelry trays from places like Bed Bath & Beyond, Homestoragewarehouse.com and Lillian Vernon will fit in most dresser drawers.

Egg crates and ice cube trays also make good containers for small items (earrings, tie tacks), that allow the items to be easily seen and can be stacked in a dresser drawer.

Increase space in your closet by using thin, flocked hangers available at Bed Bath & Beyond, HSN.com, Target and Wal-Mart.

Store everyday and athletic shoes in rolling bins available at Lowe’s and Wal-Mart

Keep shoes accessible and easy to locate by storing in clear plastic boxes that are labeled or even have a photo of the contents attached. Clear shoe boxes are available at Bed Bath & Beyond and Dollar Tree. A clear shoe organizing system is available at Neatboxes.com.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

WHEN IS A DOOR NOT A DOOR?

Question: When is a door not a door?
Answer: When it is a storage center.

It seems that, no matter how large the spaces we live in, there is never enough room to store everything we need to store. Someone must have been struggling with where to store their shoes one night and, while looking around every corner of the closet, noticed there was perfectly good unused space on the back of the door. Voila! The over-the-door shoe rack was born.

Now there are a variety of over-the door storage systems for myriad uses. Here are a few of our favorites that help maximize your space while keeping things tidy.

Check out http://www.whateverworks.com/ to find an over-the-door rack with a little fashion flair. It has four hooks topped with river pebbles. There is also a nice looking over-the-door shelf at this site.

At http://www.shopgetorganized.com/ you can find an over-the-door backpack rack that will hold up to four backpacks weighing three hundred pounds. If you want a place to organize your jewelry, an over-the-door armoire will give you a place to do that. You can even check how you look in the mirrored door on the armoire front. If you need the mirror but not the jewelry storage, an over-the-door tri-fold mirror is available. An over-the-door shoe rack at this site can be purchased in two sizes to hold twenty-four or thirty-six pairs of shoes.

Another style over-the-door shoe rack is available at http://www.harriettecarter.com/. This site also has a great over-the- door rack that has room to hang six coats or hats and a sturdy over-the-door shelf that could hold towels in a bathroom. Although it does not hang over the door, the back-of-the-door storage cage mounts on the door and has eight adjustable shelves that accommodate a variety of items.

There are also over-the-door systems for purses, ties, belts and scarves. So, when you are stumped for a place to organize your stuff, take a look at the doors. If they are going to hang around the house, they might as well do a little work.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransition.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

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

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

The Old SOFT Shoe

I read recently that the average man owns five pair of shoes and the average woman owns fifteen pairs of shoes. In this instance, I am happy to report I am way above average. All the women in my family are above average and most of my friends are above average. Because of these associations, I have witnessed many struggles to organize shoes and have my own preferences for making it easy to find, retrieve and store those lovely little foot protectors.

When thinking about arranging shoes in an orderly fashion I recall the word SOFT (as in soft shoe - a dance step). That stands for Sort, Observe, Find, and Test.

The first step is to sort your shoes. Match up pairs and put them in categories. I prefer to use the categories of sandals, flats, heels, formal shoes and boots. Within these categories, you can continue to sort by colors or seasons if you like.

Once the shoes are sorted, observe their style, condition and fit. It is unwise to keep shoes that are terribly scuffed, broken or in disrepair. It is also uncomfortable to wear shoes that pinch, cause blisters or are ill-fitting. Also look for shoes that are out of style. Separate those shoes from the ones that look good, fit right and are stylish. Then discard or make arrangement to donate them.

The next step is to find out how many pairs of shoes you have left to store and find the organizing tool that fits your needs. I like cubbies for my flats and everyday shoes, bins for my athletic shoes, shelves for my boots and clear boxes for my heels and formal shoes. There are all kinds of solutions on the market from stackable shelves to free standing cabinets and shoe wheels that minimize use of closet space.

Once you have chosen your storage system arrange your shoes so that you can see them and you have access to them. If using boxes, you may want to take a picture of the shoe and place on the box so you can easily identify what is inside. If you have to seasonally switch shoes to more accessible places from less accessible places, you can use storage boxes that have a spring/summer picture on one end and a fall/winter picture on the other.

Finally, test the system. Are you able to easily find and retrieve shoes when you want them and easily return them to storage when you’re through wearing them? If not, tweak your system until you have a great fit.

Some sites with storage solutions for shoes are:
www.stacksandstacks.com
www.neatcontainers.com
www.clear-shoe-boxes.com
www.organize.com
www.homedecorators.com
www.lowes.com
www.homedepot.com

A professional organizer can help you choose the right systems for your organizing style and maximize the space you have available.

Beverly and Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net