What better way to spend a day forced indoors, okay, maybe not a "better way", but a productive way, than to get at one of those annoying tasks on your never-ending list... well maybe this will help?
So if you're not watching Netflix, and you have a closet, pantry, or room with a closed door that needs some love? Here are a few tips to help: ~ start by clearing the space, pull everything out and give yourself a blank slate to organize with ~ clean the room, dust the shelves, vacuum and wash anything down that's been neglected for a minute or two ;) Now sort your piles.
* purge (garbage) * donate (charity/family/friends) * keep (you are physically going to use it "real-time") * sell (garage sale, Kijiji, marketplace, etc) * recycle (you need a separate pile for this apart from purge)
*** Seasonal bonus pile (holiday, winter/summer, camping, indoor/outdoor) ***
Here are a couple of tips about these piles from over 10 years of experience while working with many different clients... ~ The "selling" is not ideal for everyone and generally speaking if it's not worth your time, and if it's not worth the money, charity is your best options 9/10 ~ I find that all too often, we tend to keep a mishmash of tools, holiday wrap, small appliances, etc.. all in one space, not necessary and this is where your seasonal items can be organized ~ Closets turned into pantries, storage rooms with labeled totes, or shelving installed in your garage is an easy fix to clear the clutter and put it in its place. Now that you’re done with the piles, give yourself some time to tackle the piles, go through them one by one, maybe a little homework project. I find that once space is cleared, it’s a lot easier to see what you’d like placed back in the room or space and what kind of storage or shelving you’re wanting to organize with. You can either make a trip to your local dollar store, target, or shop at the container store if you want something fresh and new, but there is nothing wrong with using what you have already. Now the fun begins…
Another little tip, clear bins or storage is ideal as you can see what you've packed away, however, if it's on display then a label is best, but make sure you know what is stored and where.
Once you have what you have to work with, start by organizing with one 'family' at a time. For example, if it's a closet, seasonal, tees, sweaters, jeans, work attire, jackets, athletic wear, heels, runners, slippers, and pj's. Do you like to hang all of your clothing or do you prefer dressers? I don't own a dresser and I love all of my clothing hung so I've chosen to hang everything on the same style of the hanger, ideally the black fabric ones, but believe me, not all hangers work the same so I also have children's thicker plastic hangers for all of my pants. I find that smaller hangers keep them hanging neatly and fit them far better. I also don't have space to use clips, so you need to find what works best for your area.
My shoes are hung with the door hanging shoe rack, on the inside door of my closet, and my pj's, underwear, socks, and bras are all organized in fabric bins. I place them in order and in accordance with how I dress.
If you use a dresser, ideally, the top drawers are socks, bras, underwear, and pj's. From there you move down to tanks, tees, sweaters, and pants... you can go as far as casual and more formal wear as well if you prefer to fold.
I hope that some of these tips helped and if you have any questions or suggestions on what you'd like help with being organized, please reach out, I’m always here both in person or virtually.
~ Joelle 🥂