Organizing Tips to Live By

1. Have a home for everything

• No halfway houses. If you have a home for your keys, shoes, etc. then you won’t spend valuable time searching for lost items.

2. One life – One calendar

• Keep one calendar for the family. This eliminates double booking or missing appointments. Keep it somewhere visible so everyone can see it. Review with the whole family every Sunday.

3. 70-80% of all paper should be read and tossed immediately

• This includes mail, flyers, newspapers and other paper items. When you open the mail, make a decision immediately to keep it or throw it away. If it is an invitation or mailing for an important date, mark it on the calendar and put it in a home near the calendar

4. Clean as soon as you clutter

• Put items away after each use. Customized storage systems give you a home for every item to put away.

5. Use clear plastic bins for storage

• Plastic makes it easier to identify items. It also saves your items from weather damage such as water or humidity.

6. Keep an inventory of what you have in storage

• This will save you from buying duplicate items. Especially seasonal items such as decorations or outdoor items

7. Limit incoming information via e-mail

• Unsubscribe from any e-mail lists that you don’t look at regularly. Unsubscribe from getting junk mail at www.dma.consumer.org. Also, make sure you are on the do not call list to avoid unwanted phone solicitors.

8. Use on-line bill payment

• Most on-line bill payments are free and will save you time from writing out bills, save you money from stamps and helps avoid paying bills late. The banks are secure to avoid abuse or hackers.

9. Keep like categories together

• When organizing your closet, put all your shoes in the same section, all pants in one section, etc. In the pantry, put all cereal boxes together, cans together, etc. This allows you to see all choices at once.

10. Have a launch pad

• Make a space in your home near the front door for items that you need to take in the morning. Set the items out the night before when you are less rushed.

 

For more information or to get additional tips on organizing:

Arranged By Erin

Erin Kelly

 

www.arrangedbyerin.com

What is the investment of a custom closet?

Taking Stock of Storage


A tip-top closet is a substantial investment, so it is wise to enlist the expertise of a closet-design specialist. On average, a professionally designed closet will cost around $2,000, but depending on the size of the space, the size of your wardrobe, and the amenities you choose, you can easily spend $40,000 or more.

The first step in any closet design is tabulating inventory. To ensure the most space-efficient layout, every tie, earring, and pair of shoes must be accounted for. "We want to see it," David Linda, president of SpaceMan Home & Office, always tells new clients. "We don't want you to tell us, we want to see what [clothes] you have." The average person, he adds in his defense, has no idea how many clothes he or she actually has until they come to him for an audit.

Storage preferences also play an important role in the design process. Jennifer Williams, president of St. Louis Closet Co., never overlooks any lifestyle detail when considering a new design: "Are your pants hung over the hanger or by the cuff? Do you roll your ties or hang them? Are sweaters folded or hung? Do you want drawers for your undergarments?" Those are a few of the detailed questions she asks clients.

How Much Room?

The space itself is the next major concern. In new homes, designers typically have a lot more control over the size and shape of a closet. David Linda's SpaceMan Home & Office is based in Houston, where a good chunk of business comes from newly developed high-end properties. "Everything here is new and more modern, and they actually plan for closets, as opposed to old houses," he says. "They frequently have 15-by-20-foot closets."

Many people in the market for a closet makeover don't have the luxury of a newly built space—particularly those in confining urban apartments. Some closet designers specialize in making efficient use of small spaces. For one job in a tiny loft apartment in New York's Tribeca neighborhood, Charlton brought in a library-style rolling ladder and added a roll-out shelving system to take advantage of the closet's vertical dimensions.

* Article from Business Week

Fall time=purge time

Fall is the time of year that makes you want to start the preparations for staying inside where it is warm. The winter chill will soon be in the air and hot chocolate, fires in the fire place and warm fuzzy blankets draped over the coach will be a fixture in homes.

Kids move all their play time inside and mom's can no longer say ride your bike (to wear off that excess energy) outside, giving moms a small moment of piece.

That reminds me of my Fall ritual which always helps to make the coming winter months a little more bearable.

1. Move all the summer clothes out to other closets or to the back of the closet space.
2. Clean out the kids clothes, starting with last years winter clothes that may no longer fit or are worn and give to a charity or bring to a resale shop
3. Start clearing out the pantry - Are you ever going to use those noodles that fell to the back of the cabinet?
4. Go through book shelves and the kids room to donate books that either are not worth keeping (will you ever read it again?) or the kids have out grown (preschools love donations of books for younger kids).
5. Time to move the bikes, floats,  sports equipment and all other summer items to the cabinets or in the attic. Pull out the snow shovels, sleds and other winter sports.

Now that everything has it's place, it is time to embrace the winter.

Closet shelving

The importance of closet shelving is by far often overlooked. The spending habits of consumers are different than that of their parents. Today we can purchase more clothing at a lesser cost than our parents did. This is a big contributor to an overloaded closet. Most people that do not have a closet organizer and have a large wardrobe are constanly frustrated by their unorganized closet. A closet is much like a kitchen. We are in our closet at least 2 times a day. If we did not have the proper cabinetry in our kitchen life would be very difficult to find things. The same holds true for your closet. Properly designed closet shelving is essential to keep your life and clothes more organized. People have told me that they actually purchase less clothes because they can now see all of the clothes they have.

Baby furniture

Most people think they need to go out and purchase new baby furniture for their new little one. Fact is, you can fit more in a closet with an organization system than you could in a small or mid size piece of furniture. Closet systems can be altered in the future to accomidate a growing child. When a child is an infant your design should have a triple hang which will cange to a double hang in about 3 to 5 years. Having shelving, drawers and baskets are priceless when trying to organize the ever changing child wardrobe. Think about doing the closet of your new little addition before buying the new baby furniture. You might even save money.

3-D drawings

One of the great functions of using a cad drawing system is that the customer gets a 3-d drawing with color to help visualize how their closet works. When drawing with a computer the customer has a real sense of comfort knowing that they understand what their closet will look like before it is installed. Using the computer allows to make any revisions simple by clicking erase and adding another unit in it's place.

Spring is in the air

Spring is around the corner. Rain, warmer weather and the need to clean out the garage! I love this garage design that was recently finished for one of our customers. Her husband's frustrations are over trying to search for lost or misplaced tools. Plus, they can actually pull two cars into their three car garage. Custom cabinets, hooks on the walls, sliding baskets for balls and other sports equipment and a work bench completed this organized look.