Entries Tagged 'Organizing Products' ↓

Just recently I was walking through Staples when I had an Ah Ha moment hit me!  Now keep in mind, as a professional organizer a trip to Staples is very exciting for me!  Right or wrong.  But as I looked around at the great variety and colors of folders, files and other organizing products, I realized why it is that so many people that I help already have products on hand.   They looked great in the store, they purchased them but they  just didn’t know what to do with them.  As a matter of fact, it’s very common for professional organizers to come across unused organizing products and books on how to get organized as we help people declutter and organize their spaces.  We know the effort and good intentions were there. 

I started thinking about why this happens.  The stuff looks great on the shelves (and it is great), but it’s a matter of taking your own work styles and habits into consideration.  Just because you purchase an organizing product doesn’t mean you will be and will stay organized.  Why is that?  Because not every product works for every person.  As an organizer, it’s my job to ask questions when I am working with someone.  I can give them the best system that works for me, but if it doesn’t work for them then what good is it really? 

So take into account how visual you are.  Take into account whether or not you feel your files will be lost if unseen in a filing cabinet.  Take into consideration if you are a piler or a filer.  Think about whether you want your files to be all one color or a fun rainbow when you open your filing cabinet.  There’s not just one way to be organized.  But there is the right way for you!

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The other day I was doing something that I do all the time:  yep, laundry.  And I started noticing how dirty the top of my washer and dryer were-ewwww.  And I got on a cleaning kick.  And one thing led to another…until I found a simple and affordable home organization and cleaning solution.  I went to Target and spent just a few dollars to purchase the clear drainboard shown above. 

I cleaned the top of my washer and dryer and made one small tweak.  I moved my laundry soap and fabric softener from the top of the dryer over to the top of the washing machine.  That makes more sense, I am using it in the washer, not the dryer!  Funny how you just set something somewhere and that turns into it’s home.  So never stop looking at how you are doing things and making improvements on placing items closest to where you are using them. 

Now my laundry soap and fabric softener sit on the clear drainboard.  This helps keep my washing machine top clean and it makes it easier to catch little drips and spills.  A quick and easy solution to laundry room organization!

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Closet organizing just got a whole lot easier with a new product that just hit the market-the Heavenly Handbag Holder!  This nifty product was created to have all of your handbags close at hand and easy to switch out with any new outfit change, no more searching!

There are three ways you can use it for your storage needs:

1. On a door.
2. On a wall.
3. Behind the clothes in your closet.

You can use it to store other items like you see in the photo above.  Other great ideas are:

• Belts
• Caps
• Jewelry
• Scarves

Remember when you are organizing your closet, it’s very important that you go through all of your clothing and accessories and really get them down to what:

• Fits
• You love
• You look good in
• You feel good in

When you know that the items in your closet fit the bill, you will always feel like you can pull together a nice outfit easily because you won’t have to pick past items that don’t fit or that you never wear anymore.  This is the time to pass those items on to someone else or to your favorite charity.  You know it will be a treaure for someone and be put to much better use by someone that can use and enjoy them.

Make closet organizing easy with the Heavenly Handbag Holder and have the accessories  you love at your fingertips!

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Home organization can be as simple as using visually appealing baskets to place your belongings in.  Using baskets does three things for you:

1)  Gives your belongings a home so you know where to find what you need and where to put those items back.

2)  It hides what you have enough that you will see the basket more than all the stuff inside which creates a cleaner, neater looking space.

3)  Puts a cap on how much you can store.

I personally do not like to see all of my belongings out at the same time.  It looks overwhelming and cluttered to me.  So this is a basket I use to tuck away all our videos.  I suppose that also shows you that we really don’t have that much of those type of items.  I personally don’t care to watch the same movies over and over, so why have them?

When you walk into the family room, it’s the basket that catches your eye more than the videos themselves.  If I placed all the videos out on the shelf, they would still have a home which is great, but I would see all the individual videos and they tend to be colorful so to me that would be distracting.

Just make sure that you don’t use baskets to throw a mish mash of belongings together.  A basket isn’t a catch-all, it’s a place to store items that belong together.  Enjoy home organization with baskets you love to look at and find what you need easily!

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Home organization products give belongings their own home , making it easy for you to find what you need as well as keeping countertops from looking messy.  The other day I was in a salon and noticed all the bottles of lotions and other beauty products, they were all  sitting nicely on a tray.  Having them sitting on a tray made the difference between them looking messy or cluttered vs. looking like they were supposed to be there.  Check out the photo of this handy home organization product  from organize.com.

Be sure to go through all your beauty products and keep only the ones you are really going to use and then load up your tray for great visual appeal on your countertops!

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Good organizing products can really help you stretch your storage space and keep your laundry room or laundry closet in good shape.  Many of us don’t have an entire room dedicated to our laundry area and have to make do with a small space for a chore that isn’t loved by many!

I personally only have a laundry closet.  We have stretched our space by adding two wire shelves above the washer & dryer to store cleaning and paper supplies.  I have also found a triple laundry hamper sorter to be extremely helpful.  It fits next to the washing machine and we can separate whites, darks and towels before they ever hit the washing machine.

Another helpful product to stretch space is a drying rack that pulls out from the wall.  Just push it out of the way when you are done!

Give these organizing products a try and organize your laundry room by stretching your space!

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You can get organized when you are on the go with Jott, a great, easy service I have used myself.  How often we are busy and on the go while we have to-do lists and tasks swirling in our heads at a time that we can’t write them down.  Maybe it’s a list of what you need to pick up at the store.  Maybe it’s an email you need to send off to a friend or client. 

Jott  has three plans to choose from.  Basically, you call a simple phone number, speak your notes or message and hang up.  Jott then does the work for you.  It takes the spoken message, turns it into text and sends it to the correct destination via email, text message or web updates.

Check out the site and see how you can easily get organized with Jott!

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Space contraints can have a big impact on how to organize a small laundry room.  If you have a small laundry space follow these guidelines:

• Keep only laundry/cleaning related items in the space.  Remove all the extras you are storing that don’t belong.
• Maximize all available space such as wall space for hanging shelving and the ironing board.
• Pick your favorite products and pass on the rest to someone else.  You do not need five kinds of spot remover and three brands of bleach.  One of each will do!

Check out the great laundry supply cart above!  This is an excellent way to maximize your storage in a small space.  This chrome cart will hold a lot of supplies and it’s on wheels so it’s easy to pull it out to get what you need or even push it into the room you are cleaning.

Follow these guidelines on how to organize a small laundry room and it will make the chore of doing laundry at least a little less painful!

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How many rolls of wrapping paper do you really need?  Are you ever really going to use ALL those gift bags?  What condition are your bows in-crisp & fluffy or limp & flat ?  It’s time to go through your wrapping supplies and decide what you really need and then donate or give away the rest.

To see how much you actually have, put all the wrapping paper together.  Place all the bags together and place all the bows & ribbon together.  Organizing this way will allow you to see just how much you really have and what condition it is in.  Keep enough wrap for pretty packaging, then load it all up in this handy gift wrap organizer from organize.com. 

You can store this handy storage bag by hanging it up or you can make it freestanding just by folding it.   Enjoy pretty packaging for gifts without all the excess!

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