Are your drawers a victim of your clutter?  If your drawers are crammed full, difficult to open, or you simply have no idea what’s stored inside, then it’s time to clean them out! Organizing a drawer is a relatively simple process and doesn’t take that much time. 

For drawers that have a specific purpose, e.g. socks, shirts, etc. the process of re-organizing is much simpler, since you need only remove the items that do not belong in the drawer, purge the items that are torn, stained or you are no longer wearing, and then return them to the drawer using an appropriate drawer organizer.  

For a typical junk drawer, purchase a junk drawer organizer and then begin the following process:   

1. Empty the drawer entirely.

2. Sort the items into categories, e.g. pens, paper, rubber bands, paper clips etc.

3. Discard items that are broken or dirty.

4. Donate or recycle items that you have an excessive amount of. You may find yourself with 47 pens. Even if you place a few pens in each room, you’ll still have too many!

5. Clean out the drawer, and if desired, insert a drawer liner.

6. Insert the drawer organizer into the drawer and begin organizing your items. If the organizer is packed full, then you need to purge some more.

Using drawer organizers might possibly convince you that you can be organized, and if you are good about putting the items back in their right compartment, the drawer will stay organized!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops.  Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com and register for one of her current organizing workshops.

Wishing for the look of a gourmet kitchen without the gourmet price tag? Well, by adding practical, but beautiful organizers on your countertop you can enhance the look of your kitchen without breaking the bank. Begin by putting away the small appliances you use only occasionally, purging the items you never use and displaying the items you use everyday.

Here are a few decorating tips that will keep your countertops attractive and organized:

- Display your fruit in a beautiful fruit chrome bowl.

- Store your coffee, sugar etc in beautiful canisters instead of plastic containers.

- Store your paper towel holder in a decorative paper towel stand

- Display your favorite coffee or tea mugs on an elegant mug tree.

- Display your paper napkins in an attractive napkin holder on your kitchen table.

If you prefer to keep your kitchen countertops completely clear, there are many inexpensive over-the-door organizers for your kitchen sponge and hand soap, recyclable plastic bags and kitchen towels.  There is even an over-the-door paper towel holder - no tools necessary!  Have some fun decluttering your countertops with innovative organizing tools!

President’s Day sale going on now at www.HomeStorageWarehouse.com!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), NAPO-Baltimore Chapter, and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she shows homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers organizing and time management workshops.  Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com and register for her upcoming organizing workshops.

Do you struggle to find what you need in your kitchen cabinets?  If you have a small space, it can be even more challenging to keep the interior of your cabinets organized, particularly in lower cabinets. Then, there’s the additional challenge of very deep low cabinets. Homeowners with deep cabinets may find themselves spending a lot of time hunting for items in the back of the cabinet, which is usually dark and difficult to access.  

Lower cabinets typically store pots and pans, cleaning products, plasticware, serveware and many other miscellaneous items.  If you do not have a separate pantry in your kitchen you are most likely also using your cabinets to store dry and canned food, taking up additional prime storage space. 

However, you needn’t remodel your kitchen! You can now find wonderful sliding and roll-out cabinet organizers designed specifically for organizing hard to reach areas inside your kitchen cabinets. Sliding cabinet organizers are perfect to store many items, including pots and pans and cleaning products under the sink, allowing easy and convenient access.  Sliding organizers also come in a variety of styles and sizes and you can even find one for a small trash can!

Declutter and reorganize your cabinets with any of the following sliding organizers and never be frustrated again!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she teaches homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers Time Management workshops to businesses to maximize productivity.  Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com and register for her upcoming organizing workshops.

Herbs and spices gift sets are popular gifts that often become clutter in homes.  Most people barely have the time to cook a meal for dinner, let alone cook creatively with spices. This results in many homeowners not knowing what spices they have and how long they’ve had them! 

If your herbs and spices are in a jumbled mess in a drawer or cabinet, or worse still, mocking you on the kitchen counter rarely used, it’s probably time to purge! Herbs and spices will lose their strength if they are kept too long and if you don’t know what you have, due to disorganization, you probably won’t make the effort to use them. Here are 4 easy steps to declutter your herbs and spices:

1. Unload all of your herbs and spices from jumbled drawers and messy cabinets;

2. Decide what to keep or toss. If you’ve never used it, never heard of it or don’t know how to use it, toss it;

3. If you come across a previously opened bottle that you didn’t know you had (due to the jumbled mess), give it a sniff. If there’s barely any scent, toss it, since it’s probably lost its flavor and will be useless;

4. If the bottle has never been opened it may be fine. But only keep it if you know you’ll use it, otherwise it’s clutter!

You should now be left only with the herbs and spices that you’re currently using or want to use later. Now for the fun part - it’s time to go shopping for a spice organizer!  No need to clutter up your countertops either.  There are spice drawer organizers, attractive wall racks and “step” organizers for the shelves in your cabinets.  Click on each picture to learn more on how these will transform order in your drawers and cabinets!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and Maryland Association of Professional Organizers, she teaches homeowners how to reclaim their time and space, and offers Organizing & Time Management workshops to groups for moms, small businesses and associations.  Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com.

While entertaining are you embarrassed to open your kitchen cabinet doors for fear your guests will see how cluttered they are? 

Even though the holidays are coming up, it’s still not too late to have organized kitchen cabinets.  If you have deep or tall cabinets with very little shelves, or limited space, you can purchase practical and attractive sliding cabinet drawers, which you can install yourself, without the need of a handyman.  Store your dish washing supplies, cleaning products, pots and pans and more.   

Sliding cabinet drawers can also be used in deep pantries to store non-perishable food items.  There are several sizes and designs available at various price points, so measure your cabinets and pick the ones that work for you.

Also, don’t forget your drawers.  If you have  some chaotic junk drawers, spend an  hour or so cleaning them out and purge and  reorganize your supplies using a drawer  organizer. 

Get Organized today and shop for these and more kitchen organizers at HomeStorageWarehouse.com. 

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, she teaches homeowners and businesses how to reclaim their time and space. Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com.