• Everyone's working on it: trying to reduce consumption, inspired by the tough economy and the green movement.  If you are looking for somewhere to start, there’s no better place than at home with your belongings and in your daily living routines. 

   

  Reduce, reuse, recycle, but first…ORGANIZE.

   

  As a professional organizer, I can help you in your efforts to live more simply.  It starts with taking stock of what you have and clearing out the clutter.  Recycling and donating items you do not use.  Creating functional storage systems for your essential belongings.  And devising strategies to maintain the lighter look and feel of your home.  Ultimately, you will use less and gain more freedom from your “stuff.”

   

  April 19^th is Earth Day.  Celebrate by organizing!

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  Here are some photos of spaces I’ve organized and some tips for organizing your space:

   

  Clothes Closets

• Empty the closet completely when you begin your organizing project.  Return to the closet only the items that fit well and that you love to wear.  Donate the rest (or recycle the unusable).  Make a list of items you’d like to replace. 

   

  Open shelves and baskets will help you to know what’s in your closet and to easily find what you are looking for.  Use a tie rack to hang necklaces and see-through containers for other jewelry.

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• Take off clumsy sliding doors to closets to maximize the closet’s utility.  If you prefer to be able to “shut the door” on your stuff, you can replace sliding doors with simple panel curtains hung from a rod.

Make a shopping list of items to be replaced.  Once you’ve cleaned out the pantry, resolve to buy only what you know you will use in the coming week at the store. 

 

• Linen closets

• Keep only one or two extra sets of sheets for each bed, and donate the rest.  Animal shelters will often take old towels and blankets.  Add any items you need to replace to your shopping list.

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  Toy storage and arts & crafts storage                

  There is an upfront investment of time and patience to straighten out the kids’ toys, but it’s worth it when you see enjoyment that they get from knowing where their toys are and having all the pieces together and the relief that you get from finally having the mess cleaned up.  Kids may even help you with the maintenance of the new organization system! 

   

  When you are organizing the toys, keep a box for toys that do not have all the parts or that are broken.  If you haven’t found the parts by the time you finish organizing, or you can’t fix the toy, toss it!  It may go to a landfill, but at least it is no longer cluttering up your house.

   

  When you’ve finished organizing the toys, you may feel (if you are like me) that the kids don’t need any new toys for the rest of their lives!  Now that would be a help to the environment!

   

  A changing table can gain new life as a toy storage shelf.  Baskets and see-through storage containers help keep tiny pieces organized.  An even greener choice to plastic is canvas.

• Home Office
  Managing the mountains of paper that comes into our homes is a constant battle.  Effectiveness guru David Allen offers a roadmap for managing paper and to do’s and to accomplishing your life goals in his bestselling business book Getting Things Done.  While I organize your home office, I’ll talk about his strategies as we set up your file systems.

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• Living spaces

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• Personal items and medication

• Purge your medicine cabinet and bathroom drawers!  You may be surprised to find medications that expired years ago!  Stock up on essential medications and replace others only on an as-needed basis.  Go through them periodically to see what’s no longer useful.

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• Simplify your beauty routine.  A good soap and simple moisturizer, make up that you use everyday, and a few other essentials may be all that you need in your bathroom.  No more cluttered counter and drawers, and it’s easier on the wallet and better for the environment, too!
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Acknowledgments
Organizing from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern, Henry Holt & Company, 2004.
Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, David Allen, Penguin Books, 2001.