Summer break has ended for many school children and they are finally back to school. Do you have a specific place for the barrage of papers and schoolwork that comes home? If not, make this year your year to be more organized and less stressed.  The barrage of papers received during the first few weeks of school can be overwhelming. You will feel a lot less overwhelmed if you have a good paper management system in place to stay on top of all of the papers. Follow some of my paper organization tips to prevent from being buried under piles of paper clutter.

To begin your paper flow system, purchase some hanging file holders or manila file folders to store and organize your papers.  Using file folders will allow you to quickly file away each paper for quick reference or action.  Set up a table top or desk top file on the kitchen counter or somewhere else convenient.  Be sure to clearly label each file folder. 

desktop file organizer

 Here are some file category ideas:

1. School work & projects;

2. Papers to sign/return (check daily!);

3. Papers to file – ideally you should file right away. However, if this is not feasible, decide on a time that you can set aside 5-10 minutes a day or every other day.

4. PTA info – this would include volunteer opportunities, fundraisers etc.

5. School – This is a general file and would include the school calendar, telephone directory, teacher contact info etc. You could have more than one if you have your children in two or more schools.

You may also wish to have a folder devoted to each child, so that they have somewhere to file papers that they need to refer to from time to time.  Check out some of the variety of desk top organizers, paper trays and file organizers at Home Storage Warehouse.

 Click here for more back to school tips.

Jacquie has been writing for Home Storage USA since 2007. A member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and President of the NAPO Baltimore Chapter, she helps homeowners to clear their household and paper clutter and organize their home or home office.  Jacquie also offers home organizing workshops to the general public and brief time management classes to businesses. Jacquie is the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  If you want to take control of your clutter, visit CastAway the Clutter to get Jacquie’s free organizing goals worksheet when you sign up for her organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Getting around to clearing the clutter and finally getting organized can be hard enough.  Once you’ve cleared the clutter you have to find storage options to fit your needs.  This can get seem quite expensive if you are new to organization and have only ever had a few bins here or there, so the key is to budget for your storage, which may include bins, baskets, trays, cubbies and furniture.  It might also mean making some sacrifices in other areas of your life so that you can declutter and return to a normal life at home. 

Getting your organizational systems in place can be even more complicated if you’re environmentally conscious  and don’t care to use plastic.  If you’re opposed to plastic storage containers and organizers, whether it be due to environmental reasons, aesthetics or you’re simply trying to “go green”, you may find it a challenge to find organization products that are not made of plastic.  An alternative material is wicker.  Contrary to popular belief, wicker is not a plant material, but is made of part of a plant.  Wicker also includes some plastic fibers, but, at least you’re moving in the right direction if you’re trying to go green. 

So, what exactly is wicker?  According to Wikipedia, “Wicker is hard woven fiber formed into a rigid material, usually used for baskets or furniture. Wicker is often made of material of plant origin, but plastic fibers are also used.  Materials used can be any part of a plant, such as the cores of cane of rattan stalks, or whole thicknesses of plants, as with willow switches…”

Another advantage for using wicker and other similar materials, like rattan, banana leaf  and seagrass to organize your items is their beauty.  Wicker baskets, bins and furniture can add color and texture to any room and can be used as decorative baskets, as well as functional organization storage.   Wicker organization products can be used in family rooms, linen closets, laundry rooms, bedrooms and much more.  Take a look at a few of the wicker, rattan, banana leaf and seagrass organization products here from Home Storage Warehouse

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For the Bathroom:

Bathroom set

Triple Laundry Sorter

For Bedrooms, Living Rooms and Family Rooms:

Seagrass storage chests

Wicker Magazine Rack

With today’s busy schedules, paper towels have become more of a necessity than a luxury.  As much as we all want to go green, who wants to spend hours washing dirty washcloths and kitchen linens every week?  Also, when you do laundry each week you are using a lot of water and electricity, so either way, you’re not really helping the environment.  Plus, you have to find a drawer or linen closet to store all of those extra kitchen washcloths and towels.  So, at the end of the day paper towels are convenient, and can even be an attractive addition to your countertop, when you select a decorative paper towel holder. The typical paper towel holder is an upright stand allowing quick and easy one handed tearing.  At Home Storage Warehouse, there is a wide assortment of metal paper towel organizers including bronze, black, & silver.

If you have counter space issues, then consider an over the door paper towel holder.  Here are two to consider from 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. A member of the National Association of 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) and President of the NAPO Baltimore Chapter, she helps homeowners to clear their household and paper clutter and organize their home or home office.  Jacquie also offers home organizing workshops to the general public and brief time management classes to businesses. Jacquie is the author of Take Control of Your Clutter Before it Takes Control of You: 101 Tips to Success.  If you want to take control of your clutter, visit CastAway the Clutter to get Jacquie’s free organizing goals worksheet when you sign up for her organizing tips at www.castawaytheclutter.com

Closets come in all shapes and sizes and are one of the first things that prospective homeowners look for when searching for a new home.  Walk-in closets are what’s expected today, but are not always available, especially if the home buyer is looking for an older, more classic home.

Custom closet installation is not in everyone’s budget, so it’s always good to know what organization products are available to help homeowners to maximize the space that they currently have.  Worrying about the lack of closet space, without the means to make structural changes isn’t going to make the problem go away. As a professional organizer, when working with a client, I recommend that we start by going through all of their existing clothing first to determine what they are actually wearing now.

At the end of the day, you want to be able to access the clothing that you’re wearing and eliminate the rest.  This task alone can relieve some of the problems of not having enough closet space and the frustration of not being able to find the clothes you need. 

If you are currently living in a home with a small reach-in closet, you can still have an organized closet, without the expense of a remodel.  By educating yourself with what’s available in the marketplace or getting the help of a professional organizer, you will discover a myriad of inexpensive closet organizers that will maximize the space in your closet, without spending a lot of money.  Here are a few to consider:

Swivel Tie Hanger

Handbag organizer

Shoe and Sweater Organizer

Revolving Shoe Stand

Shelf organizer bin

Scarf Hanger Organizer

 

Dealing with children who are a little unorganized can be a challenge and sometimes quite stressful.  Teaching your children to be more organized is much easier when you start early.  By assigning them small organizing tasks from a young age, it helps to teach them responsibility and the basic skills of organization.

Begin by setting up systems in their rooms and finding a place for everything.  If they keep toys in their room, there should be an area specifically set-up to store those items.  When it begins to get overcrowded it’s time to do some purging.  Although it’s difficult for very young children to part with their toys, it’s an important part of maintaining order.  Explain to them that they cannot have new toys if there’s no place to put them.  It may also help if you donate items to charitable organizations and an opportunity to explain that less fortunate children would love to be able to play with their old or outgrown toys.

Make organizing fun by using brightly colored containers as storage.   Also, use bright coordinating colors for labeling or use cut-out pictures found on the internet or in magazines.

Primary toy bin organizer

Pastel toy bin organizer

Hanging toy organizer

 

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

A long time ago, the baker’s rack was used in bakeries to cool batches of pies and other baked goods.  The baked goods were placed on metal shelving allowing them to cool.  

Nowadays the baker’s rack is a stylish piece of furniture used to store and organize all types of kitchen and dining items.  Some baker’s racks are also used in other rooms of the home for storage or display purposes and may showcase the homeowner’s decorative items and collectibles.  Either way, the baker’s rack can be used as an extension of your kitchen countertop, additional storage in your dining room, or storage in any room of the home.  Here are some ideas of how you can take advantage of the storage space in a baker’s rack:

Kitchen: microwave, small kitchen appliances, kitchen canisters, cookbooks and cookware.

Dining room: china, collectibles, table linens, servers, wine bottles (choose one with a built-in wine rack).

Living room: As an étagère to display collectibles.

Bathroom: towels, decorative items, toiletries (use baskets for smaller items), extra paper supplies.

Hall/Entry: As an entryway organizer for backpacks, bags, hats, gloves, scarves (use baskets), keys (some baker’s racks have built-in hooks).

Covered Patio or Outdoor Shed: As a potting station for small garden tools, gloves, apron, seeds, potting soil etc.

Baker's Rack with wine storage

Linen white baker's rack with wine storage

Baker's rack with drawers

Green baker's rack with wine storage

                   

There are many other “out of the box” organizing ideas that you can use Baker’s racks for.  Take advantage of the vertical space in your home and organize your stuff in style!  Click here to shop for these baker’s racks and other organization products!

 

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

 

Getting the kids back into a routine of homework and studying can often be a challenge, so having a dedicated place in your home for this purpose can make all the difference. Studies show that children develop good study and work habits and will stay more focused if they have a specific area to study and do their homework.

If you live in a small space and cannot sacrifice one specific area, try to determine an area where you can set up a temporary homework station or mini office. Add more lighting, if necessary and a comfortable chair are essential. It’s also important to try to keep distractions to a minimum, like TV and siblings.
Use organizing products and accessories to hold the supplies needed for homework, e.g. reference books, pencils, paper, etc. Here are some desk organizing product ideas that will help to keep the school supplies at bay:

Magazine Holders: Magazine holders can be used, not only for magazines, but also for books. Be sure to purchase a magazine holder sturdy enough for the books you will be storing.

Storage cubes: Storage cubes can also be used to hold books. If they are turned sideways, they can be used as cubbies. Or you can simply place the books inside with the spine facing outwards. Or use for any school supplies.

Bookcases: You may want to even consider adding a bookcase to the homework or study area.
Try a tall narrow bookcase, like the one pictured on the right, which is less than 17” wide. This bookcase storage shelf takes up a very little wall space, but adds height and elegance to any room.

Folding shelves are a perfect temporary option, because you can simply fold them up and store flat whenever you need to!

Document trays: Document or paper trays can be used to organize school papers coming home. Teach your child to place incoming papers in the appropriate tray for you to review.

See the Modular Office System for some storage and organization ideas.

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

We have observed that being organized comes more naturally to some, than to others. For some, it makes perfect sense that there should be a place for everything and everything in its place.  Yet to others, this idea would never even cross their minds. That’s why it important that children be taught organization skills from an early age.  If you are the parent, and also disorganized, then use this as an opportunity to learn together!  Plus, showing your children how to take care of their room from an early age teaches them responsibility. 

If your child has space issues in their bedroom and you find that clothes aren’t being put away and clutter is accumulating, most often than not, the child doesn’t know where things go. 

So what can you do to help?  You may begin with a task as simple as showing them how to put their laundered clothes away.  Begin by sharing with them how it makes sense to store tops with tops and bottoms with bottoms.  If they are early elementary school age, you could show them an example of how mixing tops with bottoms, socks and undies would result in confusion and disorder.  They will probably be amused by the mess and be happy to help you fix it!  

There are many inexpensive organizing products available for kids’ rooms that will help them to keep the clutter at bay. Here are a few useful products, including ideas on how to use them:

Hanging Accessory Shelves:  Hanging shelves have cubbies or pockets and attaches to a closet rod to store tops, sweaters, shoes or smaller items stored in baskets.  Some shelves come with drawers.

Storage Cubes: Very versatile storage that can help to organize clothes, toys, books, CDs, accessories and magazines.

Pop-up Hamper: Teach your kids to put away their dirty laundry in their own hamper or use for lightweight toys and stuffed animals

Under the Bed Storage Bag:

Take advantage of the space underneath the bed to store off season clothing or bed linens.  Bags zipper shut to keep out the dust.

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

It will soon be time for the kids to head back to school and schedules to change.  Being prepared and organized will surely help you to handle the new schedule, but your child may have a harder time adjusting to this change.

The first week of school can be quite a shock for school-aged children and can sometimes bring on mini-tantrums and constant whining during the first few weeks of school.  With this in mind, I would like to offer some tips and suggestions to help with a smoother transition for your child:

• Begin talking to your child now about the things they like most about school, e.g. seeing friends, favorite classes, going on field trips, etc.
• If your child’s bedtime schedule is more flexible over the summer, it’s a good idea to gradually begin a new bedtime routine a week or so before they are due to go back to school. For example, if they have been going to bed at 9:00PM, but usually have to be in bed by 8:00PM, you could initially change it to 8:45PM, then 8:30PM, etc.
• Plan the new morning schedule, create a back to school checklist if necessary, and then talk to your child about your expectations. If your child usually has trouble getting out of bed, make them set their alarm 15 minutes earlier than usual. It’s better to start a new schedule at the beginning of the school year, than a few weeks in.
• If your child needs back to school clothing or school supplies, involve your child and they will likely begin to get excited about going back to school. It’s recommended that you buy their backpack and binder early, for the best selection.
•  Purchase a few new school supplies to use at home and help them to stock and organize their homework area and declutter their bedrooms.

Shop for backpacks and other back to school supplies from the comfort of your home and save time and money!  Home Storage Warehouse is charging only $2.95 shipping on all orders for a limited time. 

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.