Does your children’s clothing spend most of the time on the closet floor or hung on the clothing rod?  If your child is too small to reach the rod, you may find that you’re spending way too much time picking up clothes and trying to keep the closet organized.  Many closets consist of a single rod and shelf, but there are many affordable closet organizing solutions to help with eliminating closet clutter. To begin with, store their most frequently worn, or favorite garments at their level so that they can be responsible for putting away their clean laundry and choosing their outfits for the day. 

By incorporating some additional storage options inside the closet, you can also teach your child to be responsible for keeping their closet neat and organized.  Set up an easy organizational system so that they can select their outfits each day, with very little help from you.  One way to do this is to install a hanging pocket shelf organizer. Hanging shelves, which usually include at least 5 pockets for each weekday, are a great way for them to feel grown up because they get to pick out their pre-selected outfit for the day, without help from you. 

The typical bathroom cabinet is cluttered and disorganized due to the abundant amount of items typically used in the bathroom.  Toiletries, make-up, hair appliances, linens, medicine and other personal items are often used on a daily basis, yet the average bathroom has very little efficient storage options.  The average bathroom cabinet is deep and tall, but due to large protruding plumbing fixtures, there is usually no shelving installed inside to help maximize the available space.  

One way to solve this problem is to purchase organizers for use inside deep cabinets.  Stackable bins and containers are one option, or you can use a roll-out drawer. Roll-out drawers come in a variety of widths to fit most undersink cabinets and are available in either one or two levels.   The two tiered roll-out drawers can really maximize the space underneath the average bathroom cabinet and are also very easy to install.  Plus, roll-out drawers can also be used under kitchen sink cabinets to store cleaning supplies and in any other deep cabinet or shelf that may be difficult to access.

For the budget-conscious consumer, roll-out drawers can be an affordable alternative to custom built-in organizational installations. Home Storage Warehouse has a couple of options to choose from.  

Roll out 2 tier organizer

Roll out cabinet drawer

Roll out undersink drawer

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. 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 and group presentations. Jacquie is also the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com

It’s nearing the end of Get Organized Month (SM). Have you started any of your decluttering and organizing projects yet?  Feeling overwhelmed?  Break the task down into smaller chunks and work on one chunk at a time. 

Let’s assume you need to go through several weeks of mail that you’ve been procrastinating.  Normally, when the mail hasn’t been sorted in a while, it may be found in many different areas of the home.  So before you start, spend some time going through your home searching for piles of unopened mail.  When you’re sure you have it all, schedule some time to begin processing it.  Here are a few easy mail sorting and organizing tips:

1. Have the necessary tools on hand before you begin.  Examples of what you mind need include: A shredder (or a container to store paper to shred later), letter opener, files, file box or filing cabinet, recycle or trash bin, pen, sticky notes, paper clips and a stapler and staple remover. 

2. Sort the mail by type.  You can usually tell from the outside of the envelope what type of mail it is, e.g. bill, statement, catalog, junk mail, magazine subscription, etc.

3. Open the easy action items first, e.g. place your magazines either in a magazine basket or give it to the person in the household who holds the magazine subscription.  Discard the junk mail and trash.

4. Open the bills and make decisions.  Pay now or later?  Set up reminder systems in your day planner or PDA for bills that need to be paid later.  Discard trash and file statements.

5. Schedule time to do the mail daily or every other day.  If you have a particularly crazy schedule, you can do it once a week, but no less than that!

Here are some paper and mail organizing products and tools that you may find helpful from Home Storage Warehouse.

Desktop organizer

Newspaper and Magazine Rack

File/Letter Desk Organizer

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. 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 and group presentations. Jacquie also writes a column at the Baltimore Examiner, called Organized Families and is the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  Click here to learn more. Contact Jacquie by clicking here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Typically, most holiday parties are done in buffet style due to the large quantity of guests being served.  Being able to bake, cook and display buffet style also gives the host more time to actually spend enjoying her party and guests, and less time in the kitchen. 

To maximize the space on the dining or buffet table and also provide visual interest, use servers or caddies that are stacked vertically.  By using the vertical space, you will use less horizontal space, allowing you to get more food on the table, while eliminating a cluttered or cramped look.  You can find caddy serveware that hold sauces or dips, and plate caddies that elegantly display guest plates using wrought iron or metal holders. 

Getting everything organized for a holiday party, including decluttering surfaces and spaces, tidying, cleaning and decorating, can be stressful enough without the worries of how you’re going to get everything on the table.   Elegant iron serveware can make the simplest food appear fancy!

Plate caddy server

3 tray iron caddy

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. 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 and group presentations. Jacquie also writes a column at the Baltimore Examiner, called Organized Families.  Contact Jacquie by clicking here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Keeping a desk organized is challenging at best, but can feel almost impossible when working on a small desk with a limited work surface.

Trying to find storage solutions for your small desk can be equally challenging.  Large desk hutches can overwhelm a small desk or office and a variety of pen holders, post-it pads and random small desk accessories can themselves result in clutter!

One way to maximize the desk top surface is to use a Desk Top Riser.  This unique desk organizer is a shelf that sits on your desk (like a desk hutch, but much smaller) with storage space below.  This one pictured below includes shelf dividers, so that you can store books or reference materials without fear of them falling off and knocking over your hot cup of coffee!

The Desk Top Riser is only about 12” deep, which is deep enough to hold your miscellaneous office items, but not too deep to overpower your desk.

For even smaller desks, try the Desktop Accessory Shelf.  Although, smaller than the Desk Top Riser, pictured below, includes a built-in pull out drawer below for small office supplies.

If your desktop or laptop computer takes up most of the desk surface, you could try the Desk Monitor Stand.  The Desk Monitor Stand includes a pull out drawer beneath with storage for office supplies, plus two side compartments to hold files, CDs or important documents.

Desk organizers are designed only to organize your everyday office supplies, so schedule time everyday to file away papers and tidy up the clutter!

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. 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 and group presentations. Contact Jacquie here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

With the vast amount of paper that comes across the average desk today, controlling paper clutter has become more and more difficult.

If you’re a piler and not a filer, you most likely have deep piles of papers or files lined up along your desk.  I suspect too, that you feel quite organized because you have a pretty good idea of where to find a particular paper or file. However, the downside is that there’s an easier chance of important papers getting mixed up into unrelated piles.  Imagine this. You’ve stepped away from your desk and a colleague passes by and accidently knocks a pile on the floor and then returns the papers to your desk in no particular order!  How frustrating is that?  What if, instead of six separate piles on your desk, you had six separate piles inside an organized paper sorter?

Pilers like to see their paper, so file cabinets or file drawers don’t always work.  However, I recommend that pilers still use a file cabinet for rarely needed reference material and store the action paper piles or files in a paper sorter on or near their desk. 

Paper sorters, also called desk sorters or literature sorters, are perfect for busy workers who need quick access to their papers and projects.  Most sorters have letter sized compartments that are adjustable to fit the paper piles you need to organize.  Paper sorters are also perfect for long-term projects that are worked on periodically throughout the life of the project. Filing is also a breeze because there’s no drawer to open and no worries about where you’ve filed something.  Paper sorters can help you to be more organized with your day to day work and projects.

There are a few different sizes and styles to choose from.  Check out the selection at Home Storage Warehouse.

Click here to shop for more desk top organizers.

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. 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 and group presentations. Contact Jacquie here. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Most avid readers probably feel like they can never have too many books. The problem arises when they have so many books, bookshelves are overflowing and stacks of books are placed on surfaces in random places throughout the home, creating clutter. At this point, it is not only time to purge, it is also time to arrange all of the books in a system that results in easy retrieval. Purging is practically a swear word for book hoarders, but it must be done in order to break free of the clutter!

If you have too many books, and don’t know where to begin, start by scanning your bookshelves and selecting your least favorites. Then keep going until you’ve at least parted with enough books to have them all placed on book shelves. It’s okay to have a few in a basket or bin by the bed or couch, but don’t use baskets and bins because you’ve run out of space on your bookshelves.

Consider donating your books. There are so many places that would love to have your books. Check with the following places in your town: Hospitals, daycare centers, homeless shelters, public libraries, used book stores, etc.

After purging enough books to clear some space on your bookshelves, it will be time to organize them in a way that makes sense to you. There are so many different ways to organize books. The most common way is to arrange by either author (a-z), genre or in alphabetical order by title. However, you can also arrange by room location, color, size and style.

Not everyone is fortunate to have built-in bookcases, but you can get a similar look by purchasing two or more bookshelves and placing them close together. Remember to anchor them to the wall after they have been put into place. The following bookcases could be purchased in multiples to achieve this look.

For a more modern and relaxed look, see the following bookcases. These are perfect in a room where the wall is painted in a dramatic color, because there is no backing to hide the wall.

Finally, the following shelves are for displaying decorative items. However, with a pair of heavy weight bookends, you could place 3-4 small books on the Black Curved Shelf Case for a decorative look. I wouldn’t recommend you use these shelves purely for books, unless you only have a few on each shelf.

How you organize your books is all up to you. The question you’ll need to ask is “will I know where to look for a book when I need it?” If you presently have no system at all, then any new system you set up will take some time to remember, so you may have to map out your system on paper so that you can refer to it from time to time, until you get the hang of it.

To see all the different bookcases and shelves available today, visit Home Storage Warehouse.

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker and owner of CastAway the Clutter! Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007 and is presently the “Ask the Organizer” expert. 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 and group presentations. Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com

They say that practice makes perfect, meaning the more you practice a new skill or habit, the better you become. Learning how to be organized from an early age is a valuable and necessary skill that can be learned over time and taken into adulthood.  When a new college student begins dorm life, it will most likely be their first time living away from home.  It is also the perfect opportunity to practice being independent as they embark towards adulthood.

Parents are often dismayed at the total lack of organization in their child’s dorm room when they visit their new college student after they have settled into dorm life.  They often wonder where they went wrong!  However, it’s never too late to learn how to be more organized.

Planning ahead before your child goes off to college is key.  As you shop for products for your child’s dorm room, think of items that will make it easy for them to be more organized.  Dorm rooms have the additional challenge of being a small space, sometimes shared with one or more students, so multi-purpose furniture and space saving organizers will help to control the clutter.  When your student is organized and able to find what he needs, he will most likely be more successful later in life. 

Take a look at the many spaces saving organizers that can control the clutter in your child’s dorm room. You can find organizing products for toiletries, make-up, bath products, shoes, clothing, magazines, laundry and more, that fit over the door, in the closet and under the bed.

Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker 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 and group presentations. Jacquie can be reached at jacquie@castawaytheclutter.com. Visit CastAway the Clutter to sign up for her free organizing tips and learn more about her presentations at www.castawaytheclutter.com  

Father’s day is coming up soon on Sunday, June 21^st.  So there’s still time to get dad a great Father’s day gift. 

Dads can be hard to buy for.  They tend to live a little simpler than us ladies!  However, there are still plenty of gift ideas that dad will love, but may not think to buy for himself.

If dad tends to be a bit of a clutter-bug, consider the gift of organization.  Men often need help with keeping their clothes and accessories organized. Closet organizing ideas included elegant and faux leather tie racks, chrome tie and belt holders, over the door pocket shoe holders, baseball cap organizers and much more.           

You could even surprise dad with a quick closet makeover!  No custom built-ins here.  You really can completely change the look of a closet in one day or less, by adding the various tie, belt and cap holders already mentioned, plus storage bins for tops and sweaters, a hanging sweater or shoe shelf, cedar hanging blocks and a valet stand.

Transforming a closet in a day is easier than you think!

 Jacquie Ross is a Maryland based Professional Organizer, writer, speaker 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 and group presentations. 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 an organizing workshop.

Here in the mid-Atlantic area, it’s about that time of year when the weather begins to warm up and time to pack away the sweaters and lighten up.  I’m a bit of a wimp where cooler weather is concerned, so I tend to keep my cardigan sweaters out year-round!  However, for the warm blooded, simply thinking about a sweater may make you sweat!  Anyway, I digress.  Switching the closet from winter to spring/summer is an event in my home.  I love rediscovering clothes that I had forgotten about and creating new outfits that I hadn’t thought of.  For me, I always feel as though I have a new wardrobe again, especially if I had purchased a few items on clearance at the end of the season.  

This is also a great time to purge items and to really think about whether or not you will wear something again.  I use this time to be honest about whether I love an item, or if I’m keeping it just because I’ve spent X amount of dollars on it. 

Taking the time to review your clothing from last year will also save you money.  Try some items on and mix and match separates that you hadn’t thought to put together before. You’ll find that you needn’t rush out to stock up on new summer clothes after all!

What if you live in a year round warm state, like Florida or Southern California?  It’s still a good idea to take the time to switch your closet.  Even if you don’t have dramatically changing seasons, it’s simply a good habit to go through your closet once or twice a year. 

So, schedule a weekend morning or afternoon, put on some music and dance your way from winter to summer!