Re-thinking my jewelry

I am not much of one to accessorize with necklaces, but recently I acquired some pieces that I wanted to use on a more regular basis and was faced with the shortcomings of the current solution I used to store things.  I had been using a stand from the Container Store for both my bracelets and necklaces, and the delicate metal unit had become a jungle!  Even worse, I found I was not wearing anything I owned because I had a hard time seeing what was on the actual stand.  See what I mean?

My necklaces and bracelets before

I reached my wits end after my husband and I returned from vacation in June and decided I must make some changes.  I went to the store and tried to find a decorative rail of hooks but nothing caught my eye.  Then I remembered how much I loved Command™ Hooks by 3M.  I picked up a package of six clear hooks and mounted them on the wall next to my closet and full length mirror. 

Clear Command Hooks by 3M

The mounted hooks

All my necklaces organized onto the wall

All my bracelets organized onto the stand

With a little effort, I was able to re-organize my bracelets and necklaces in a visually appealing manner and make everything more accessible.  With this new change in place I have been wearing my accessories more often too!  Now to find a better solution for my earrings…

Do you have an organizing maintenance routine?

One way to keep clutter at bay and prevent a huge clean-out every five years is to put together a simple organizing maintenance schedule for your home.  If you follow a few rules and a rough routine you can eliminate a lot of time going through years of accumulated items and clutter.

1. Above all else, establish a one in, one out rule.  If you bring a new item into your home you must choose an item to donate or throw away.  This strategy works great for toys, clothes, tools, movies etc.
2. Do not exceed the parameters of storage you have set for a certain category.  For example, if you have chosen to store garden tools in a shed, do not let them spill over into the garage so you can keep collecting more.  Choose what to pare down until everything fits back in the shed.
3.  Establish a yearly maintenance routine.  Here is a rough example:

a.    Winter/Spring

                                          i.    Go through clothes

                                         ii.    Go through papers

                                        iii.    Go through main living areas

b.    Summer/Fall

                                          i.    Go through attic, garage and basement

                                         ii.    Go through bedrooms

                                        iii.    Go through toys (right before holidays)

Consistency is key to a good routine.  If you adhere to your guidelines and make a commitment to address every room in your home at least annually you will find yourself staying better organized and maintaining a better understanding of what is in your home.

Say goodbye to Stray Stuff

Sometimes things just disappear.  Socks, power adapters, an earring…at one point or another we have misplaced the mate to a pair.  I always encourage clients to have a spot to temporarily store things that have lost their friend.  Bins in the laundry room or utility area usually serve nicely.  But just like every other area in the house, these spaces need to be weeded every once in a while.

I once organized with a client who had two kitchen garbage bags full, and I mean FULL, of mismatched socks.  She had been stashing these wandering travelers away for two years.  She and I came to the conclusion that they were not worth the space they were taking up or the money she was supposedly saving by not buying new socks. 

If you are going to create a “Lost and Found” area in your home, weed through it on a regular basis.  Set a rule, that if after 6 months or a year the item has not been re-united with its counterpart, it goes out the door.  As much as we want to we cannot always wait indefinitely for the other half to appear. 

Here are a couple products that we have found useful in preventing separation:

Sock Clips

Sock Clips

Cable Tags

Does your space need a tune-up?

I suppose even a professional organizer can become stuck in a rut J.  A couple months ago I tried to stuff some unruly plastic bags back inside themselves under a deep kitchen cabinet.  Suddenly, I asked myself why on earth I had not purchased a plastic bag sleeve.  Then I asked myself why this imaginary bag sleeve was not hanging on the inside of my kitchen cabinet. 

This solution, while so simple and intuitive, seems to have evaded me for the first year I have lived in my apartment.  The irony is that in a client’s house I would have seen the same issue a while ago and made the proper storage suggestion.  Why did it take so long?  Even organizers can get stuck in a rut.  We all do it.  We are used to using our space a particular way.  We are accustomed to viewing it a certain way.  This means that every space, even one belonging to an organizer, needs a tune-up every once in a while. 

Spaces that could benefit from a tune-up are highly used, high traffic areas such as an entryway, kitchen cabinets, a closet or an office drawer.  I like to open up a cabinet, step back and ask myself:

Does this set-up work well for me?  What don’t I like about it?  What would I change?

What can I do to suit my daily needs more effectively?

Is there a product that would make this space more efficient?

I would encourage you to perform a tune-up every six months unless the need arises earlier.  Remember that any well-organized space at some point needs a little reassessment to ensure it is working well and to its fullest potential.

Don't bring it home

When we are away from home and the clutter it is easy to buy something and think it will fit right in at the house.  But our homes are so often filled with these types of items, the impulse purchases we make because we couldn’t resist acquiring them.  A huge part of clutter management involves being brutally stringent about what comes through the door.   

When you are out and about and something catches your eye ask yourself these questions before you walk away with a new trinket…

“Do I truly need this?  Can I live without it?  Is this thing necessary for me to live my life?”

“Do I have a place for this item to reside?”

You must be honest from the beginning.  If you answered “no” to any of the questions above the item should not find a home with you!  If you absolutely need to bring something back and space is limited decide before you leave the store what item at home can go to make room for the new purchase.  

Do I really use this?

Do you ever go through a box of items or through a closet and find something you have not used in a while but you swear you will still use it?  Even better, do you tell yourself that this object has an important function?  I have several experiences like that a day when working with a client.  Often times this new found treasure displays some tell tale sign of not being used or handled for a long period of time.  At that moment I often challenge my clients to think about whether or not they really use this item or if they simply think they use it. 

First off, if this item is so important and so functional, why has it remained buried only to be found right at this moment?  If it was so useful why were you not using it?  This can be a hint that the item does not need a home with you anymore.  If you need more convincing look at the state it is in.  This will tell you right away whether or not your perceived need of the object is justified. 

I was working with a client the other day when we came across many empty tall kitty litter bins.  They were her husband's so we could not just throw them away without asking.  I did still inquire as to why they were there and if they were truly needed.  She said he used them for sports storage and that they were important and should be kept.  I began moving them over to his pile of stuff to sort through when I pulled over a bin with an awful odor.  Two mice had died in it, and one had already decomposed into just bones!  These bins had been sitting there so long that two mice had been able to die in them.  There was the tell tale sign that these bins had not been used for a long time. 

So I challenge you, do you really use this?

What to do when hobbies create clutter

Too many hobbies can lead to a lot of stress producing clutter.  Do you have a wide range of interests?  Chances are that if you do, you often change focus from one to another often and quickly.  While it is good to have variety in our lives, the rapid change and varied hobbies often lead to clutter in our physical environment.  As you take up different projects and acquire materials for them, the old usually get left behind, unfinished and without a home. 

The key to effectively managing your interests and the stuff they produce is to go for quality over quantity.  It is better to have a few hobbies you can manage and keep under control than many that dominate your space.  Additionally, set deadlines for interests that include project outcomes, like a scrapbook, a piece of knitting etc.  The deadline should be realistic.  Some things take months to complete.  If you keep postponing the deadline then you know the project is not important enough to make time for.  Prioritize what is most important to you so you don't end up with many interests and not enough time.   

You mean I can't organize just once?

It is a common assumption that once you put an organizing system in place it will always work and function exactly the way it did in the beginning indefinitely. Even more widespread is the thought that one is a failure if the system does not continue to serve the purpose for which it was intended. Both of the previous outlooks lead to a lot of frustration and and a sense of inability to rise to the task.

The reality is life varies constantly. When your schedule, routine or responsibilities change it is important to recognize that the organizing system supporting you must mold to the new development. Do not beat yourself up if your methods need to modify to fit the new dynamic you are facing.

The best approach is to take stock of what works in your current system. Then identify the changes you must make in your system to make it fit your current needs. For example, if you now take the kids out through the garage instead of the front door it is ok to move the coat and boot storage so it is convenient to your new point of exit and entry. What once worked may not be the best solution anymore.

When your system no longer feels as though it functions properly, take an honest assessment and see if there is a change that needs to be made.

Get rid of miscellaneous clutter

What can you do with items or papers in transition? For instance, a pair of pants needs to be dry cleaned so it can't go in the closet. Where does it go? A vase needs to be fixed so it can't go in the cupboard. Where does it go? There is a tool that needs to return to the shed but you don't want to walk out there at the moment. Where does it go?

Things is transition can be the hardest to organize because they do not belong where they normally are stored. They need to be separate so the tasks associated with them do not get forgotten. However, most of the time we keep them out on the counter, or on our desk, or somewhere else where they take up space and create clutter. Here are some suggestions to keep transitional items organized but on the radar:

-Have a hook and a basket by the door or on the way to the door. Any hanging items or bags you need to take out of the house can go on the hook. All other items like library books, letters etc can be in the basket until you are ready to run the errand.

-Put a basket at the top of basement stairs or on the way outside to your garage or shed. When you have a tool or item that needs to be returned you can set it in the basket until you are ready to make a trip outside or into the garage. The same method can be applied at the bottom and top of stairs to different levels of the house. By placing items in “holding areas” you can wait to transport groups of items.

-Designate an area to keep items that need to be mended. You can even attach a note and broken pieces to the item so you remember what you have to fix.

Think of other situations where you can implement similar strategies. You will begin to cut down on transitory clutter!