Organized Organizing
April 13th, 2008 by Carissa SAHMmy Says
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You can bet that if you call a professional organizer she won’t advise you to drop $150 at the Container Store before she arrives for your consultation. What the pros know:
- Don’t buy a thing before the area is cleaned, decluttered, and sorted. If you’re organizing your bathroom cabinet, this means removing everything from the cabinet and wiping down the shelves, pitching and purging, then sorting items into categories (makeup, moisturizers, toiletry backups). Now you have a clear view of the types of containers you need. Jot down storage measurements, items you want to contain, etc. to avoid blankly staring down the Rubbermaid aisle at Target, unable to recall what you came for.
- Shop at home first! You probably have dozens of storage solutions right under your nose–from large plastic storage bins to pretty lined baskets to Tupperware with missing lids. There’s no reason in the world you should pay twice for the same item. Take a quick tour around your house (don’t forget the garage!) and gather all empty containers. For inspiration on repurposing containers with a fresh modern look check out Real Simple’s Turn Clutter into Storage and Decorating Solutions. Ideally, find a spot in your home to containerize those containers! Nest them, stack them, visit them every now and again to see if they spark your organizing imagination.
- Timing is everything. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. I like to schedule
organizing tasks by the rule that it will take three times longer to completely organize an area than it took to pull everything out. If you estimate that it will take you fifteen minutes to remove every item from your closet, schedule in an hour total time (that’s 45 minutes to organize it. Tick Tock.) A good timer is an organized girl’s best friend. Check out this red digital number with a lanyard by CDN–no more scurrying back to the fridge to turn it off before it wakes the baby! Wear it with pride. $12.99 at Amazon.com. - The Unfeeling Eye. A professional organizer would doom sacred objects to the trash bin. They don’t know that those ripped jeans remind you of your son’s first ride–and crash–on his big boy bicycle. They don’t know that the chipped teacup is the one you saw your Grandma sip warm whiskey from every Sunday afternoon. There is a place for sentimental value, for heirlooms, heck, even for ugly knickknacks. Just don’t let every little thing hold more value for you than living in a streamlined here and now.
"If your house is full of stuff, all the blessings that could fill your house can’t get in. The stuff takes over. It robs you psychologically. You can’t be at peace."–Peter Walsh
(photo source: RealSimple.com)
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