Here’s a cool idea from Martha Stewart. If you have a bulletin board and it’s filled with clutter (but important clutter that the family needs for current activities), pull down a roller shade and cover it up! Now that’s not a green light to add more junk to the bulletin board. It’s a good idea to occasionally pull everything off and tack it back up to keep it tidy. As you can see in the photo, this board happens to be divided into sections with a ribbon. That’s a great concept for families and kids, dividing up their different activities, parties, etc… You can even cover the shade with a nice fabric that matches the decor of the room. Here’s a tutorial for making your own shade. The shelf on top of the bulletin board also serves a purpose. It adds storage above as well as a place to house the shade. Nice, organized space!
Wire door racks are one of my favorite organizing products of all time. The back of a door is sometimes the last place people think of for storage, but with a large open area of vertical space, a door is the perfect place to store smaller items while keeping them handy and within reach. These Adjustable door racks from Closet Maid are terrific for use on any closet door. They can also be used on open wall space inside of a pantry or closet (as shown below). they are especially nice if you don’t have quite enough depth for shelving because they’re only about 4-5 inches deep. They can even be used in many closets that already have shelves because they only come out about as far as the door knob.
They do have to be installed onto the door (hardware is included), so you need to check that the type of door you have is sturdy enough to install a rack. You can purchase this particular ClosetMaid Door Rack at Target, but variations of it are available in many home and hardware stores.
Last month we had the pleasure of visiting the International Home and Housewares show. Of course there were tons of containers and organizing gadgets in every size, color and shape, but here’s one product we thought was unique that you might find useful: the Handbag Hangup. It’s great for keeping purses and bags visible and tidy. Handbags are always a challenge to organize because of the wide variety of sizes and shapes. Even when clients have custom shelving or cubbies designed, they still can look unkempt. Of course every closet and storage space is different, but if you have extra long hang space available, this might be a great solution. You can purchase the product single sided or double sided depending on how much you have to hang. The single sided version is perfect if you have open wall space available in your closet. Just put a nail in the wall and hang it (and your handbags) up!
The rain has hit my neighborhood hard. The drain under our hot water heater backed up and there’s a squishy mess in my basement–YUK! The one thing I’m thankful for is that I store (and organize) most of the stuff in the basement with plastic boxes. Today’s Friday Favorite has to be storage containers from Sterilite. They are a terrific size for so many storage needs and you can find them in big box stores like Target or Home Depot. Anything from off season clothing to kids toys, keepsakes, and holiday storage are all perfect in these nice clear plastic containers with white tops and of course adding labels to the front of each box is the finishing touch. They are a staple for so many organizing jobs including my own. When the water creeped in, I was happy that it couldn’t get to anything stored in those terrific containers!
If time seems to constantly get away from you, keeping track of it is a good idea. I love this handy little digital timer, but there are many other timers that you probably have on hand. Most cell/smart phones have alarms and timers built into them. There are timers in your kitchen, on your microwave, oven or stove. Here are some ways I like to use timers:
Deadline timing: If I’m on a tight deadline for something, I’ll set the timer and designate a certain amount of time to each item or part of a project. Sometimes working under pressure helps to push me along and the timer keeps me from allowing distractions.
Time the kids: The best use of a timer in my household is with the kids. We can agree on an amount of time that they can be gaming, computing or watching TV and set the timer. If I don’t set a timer, I often forget and they can be entranced for hours!
Beat the clock: You can also use the timer to play beat the clock. If you want to get something done, but you have limited time, keep that timer out with a digital countdown.
30 Minute Fix: If you have a big project looming that’s wasting more energy in thought than action, set the timer for 30 minutes and take the first chunk out of it. Getting started can often get you moving in the right direction and it certainly helps to eliminate the overwhelm.
10 Minute Tidy: Carve out ten minutes, set the timer and do a ten minute tidy. I’m sure there are many times that you should be giving it a lot more than the ten minutes, but if it’s a busy day, ten minutes is better than no minutes!
It’s great to have a digital timer thats out and available for all to see. There are so many other ways to use a timer to make best use of your time, whether it’s pending projects, organizing a space or managing the kids, always be aware of the time, after all it is our most valuable and limited resource. What are some ways you use timers to get things done?
Guest Blog post by Brittany Graunke, the founder of Zealous Good, an in-kind donation marketplace in Chicago. You can connect with Brittany and Zealous Good on Facebook and Twitter.
We all have clutter that we’d like to get rid of, but we can’t just throw out perfectly good items. Who needs them and how do we find them? Across your community, there are tons of people who can benefit from your no longer needed items. Here are a few examples…
Baby/kids items
Do you have old baby items sitting in a box somewhere? If you’re not using a baby monitor, for example, consider donating it to a teen moms program in. In a recent donation, a teen mom received a baby monitor and said the following:
“Thank you so much for the baby monitor. It’s a big help! I am able to get a lot more accomplished. I am able to watch her while doing my homework, cleaning, etc…”
iPods
Thanks to Steve Jobs and the team at Apple, we all have more iPods, iPads, iPhones and iEverything than we need! If you have an extra iSomething laying around, consider clearing it’s content and donating it to an after school or music program. These programs can provide your unwanted electronics as incentives for kids performing well in school or as a tool to help them study and learn about music.
Towels/Linens
Is your towel closet overflowing? Do you have 3 extra bed sheets still left from your first apartment? If the towels or linens are in great condition, a local shelter can use them. If the items have seen better days, consider donating them to an animal shelter where they’ll be used in kennels.
I hope this small list gives you some great ideas of where to donate your clutter and how it makes an impact. Next time you see unused items in your home, remember to get rid of the clutter and also make a difference! If you’re in the Chicago area, let Zealous Good help you find someone who will truly appreciate that stuff you’re no longer using.
When we create new filing systems for our clients, we always recommend using 1/3 cut reinforced file folders inserted into a hanging file system. The reinforced file folders stand up to wear and tear so much longer than standard file folders, especially if you have an over-stuffed file cabinet where the files pop up and rub against the top when you open it :-/ The flimsy top of standard manilla files get tattered and torn quickly. The simple reinforcement allows the file folder to last much longer. If you’re going to go through the effort of updating your filing system, it’s worth spending a few extra dollars and purchasingreinforced file folders especially for files that you plan to keep for a long period of time.
I’ve always been a fan of on-the-door storage. Think about it, doors offer a large area of vertical space, perfect to store and organize small objects. This new Concealable Door Storage Cabinet is a new and exciting product that revolutionizes on-the-door storage. In the past, the only on-door storage available was made with wire. Although it was great at making items more accessible, it was not very attractive and had to be installed putting holes into the door. This new system is a nice looking, fully adjustable cabinet that safely hangs on the hinges of the door–no holes required! You can purchase the full length door at Grandin Road. There’s also a half door option (which would be great for an extra bathroom medicine cabinet) available at Hammacher Schlemmer.
Do important tax related receipts clutter your desk? Are you loosing out on deductions because you don’t have an easy, organized system for keeping track of receipts? SafelyFiled.com is a terrific website that can solve that problem and many more.
The cloud is becoming the go-to place for storage of documents, but cloud storage can be another cluttered mess without good systems in place. That’s where Safely Filed excels. The site offers an easy, organized platform to store important documents. You can access it from anywhere, allow others access to some or all documents, and you’re even able to see when they have been active in the account. Because the site was built with security as the primary function, it’s a great place to store important documents like living wills, birth certificates, tax returns etc…
Getting your documents uploaded to Safely Filed is also easy. You can scan documents and upload them from your computer, or you can use their iPhone app and quickly snap photos into the account. That cluttered box of papers in the basement can be uploaded and organized in no time!
Finding important documents quickly when you need them can be a challenge. With Safely Filed, they will not only be organized and safe, they’ll also be accessible at your fingertips on the nearest computer or smartphone. You can search for the document quickly within the site. Keeping track of receipts for tax purposes is a breeze.
If you’re interested in some help organizing your receipts and important documents onto Safely Filed, the Chaos To Order organizers can show you the way.
Six years ago Thomas Schultz and Lawrence Joseph purchased a modest home on Long Island for $300,000.00. The garage was a mess, filled with hundreds of paintings, drawings and journals. Fortunately, they decided to do some organizing and see what was in there rather than taking the previous owners up on their offer to pay for a dumpster. What they uncovered was an amazing art collection mixed in with the trash. Over 70,000 paintings and drawings by Arthur Pinajian, the late Armenian-American abstract-expressionist. According to The Wall Street Journal, the collection has been appraised at $30 million! Maybe we need to help you need to clean out your garage, who knows what treasure may be hiding amongst the clutter!
A snowstorm can wreak havoc on your entry, especially if you have kids that love to play in the snow. When they come in, snowy wet gloves, hats, coats and pants leak all over making a mess. In my house, the mess is ok because when the kids throw their snowy wet clothes on the floor, there’s heat below the tile that dries it all up quickly. When we first built our home, I didn’t understand why we put heated floors in the mudroom. I know it’s nice to have in the bathrooms and basement with bare feet on cold tile, but in the mudroom–why? I told my husband we didn’t really need a heated floor in our mudroom. He’s an electrician and likes that stuff, so I went along with it. Now it’s one of my favorite features in the house. On snowy days the kids fling their wet clothes onto the floor and before long they are not only dry, but toasty warm too. Friends that come to visit love it too. They leave their cold, wet shoes on the warm floor and when they leave, they are pleasantly surprised to put on warm dry shoes.
If you’re building or remodeling, consider putting a heated floor near your entryway and enjoy the benefits on cold and snowy days.
The great thing about Command Hooks is that you can hang them anywhere with the option to remove later. Our organizers love to use these hooks because they can help make so many things more accessible and more organized at the same time. Rather than just writing about all the great uses for Command Hooks, here are photos of some very creative uses. Hopefully they will inspire you to hang a few and organize something of your own.
This first image uses Command Hooks for jewelry. It’s a great way to maximize otherwise unused space in a closet and even if you don’t have any vertical space to use, you can even adhere hooks to the wall behind your clothes! Great for jewelry, belts, even accessories that go with the items hanging nearby. Think about how you might be able to use every crevice of that closet. [click to continue…]
It’s the time of year to gather all of your 2012 data and get it ready for tax time. Rather than waiting until April 13th, start now by using a good plastic file crate to store all of your 2012 papers. Remove last year’s files and place them into the crate along with any tax documents or tax forms. When it’s time to process your taxes, you’ll feel so organized having everything contained in one place. I like to keep a plastic file box for each year. I keep seven years of file boxes in storage and rotate the oldest box. There is also an additional box for long term records like tax documents, mortgage documents and financial statements. If your wondering what papers you should keep in permanent storage, check out our Records Retention Document. If you want to get papers organized quickly into the container, try FasTab Hanging Folders from Smead. They have the label tab built right into the strong durable folder. If your still planning to make good on your New year’s resolution to get organized, start gathering those tax related papers and get them organized now!
Here’s a great gadget that helps to make cabinet space more accessible and more organized. Kitchen cabinets are sometimes a tough place to store smaller food-related items. They are too high and deep and it’s hard to have easy access to everything you need. This shelving product has helped solve that problem. Install the Simplystic Organizer into a cabinet and add accessiblity and storage to your kitchen, or any room that you have cabinet storage. The Simplystic Organizer is well constructed and built to last. Once it’s installed, it will last the life of your cabinets. They also make similar models for office supplies, arts and crafts, and the garage. If you want to make the most out of every inch of your cabinet space, the Simplystic Organizer will help get you there!
If you haven’t yet decided what to give that person who has everything how about a CTO gift certificate to help organize it all. You can purchase a Chaos To Order gift certificate up until the last minute at chaostoorder.com and order online any time. You can also call the office and order what you need. If we are not available, just leave a voice mail and we will get back to you. Please note that our office will be closing for Christmas on December 24th at 2:00.
Wire door racks are one of my favorite organizing products of all time. The back of a door is sometimes the last place people think of for storage, but with a large open area of vertical space, a door is the perfect place to store smaller items while keeping them handy and within reach. These Adjustable door racks from Closet Maid are terrific for use on any closet door. They can also be used on open wall space inside of a pantry or closet (as shown below). they are especially nice if you don’t have quite enough depth for shelving because they’re only about 4-5 inches deep. They can even be used in many closets that already have shelves because they only come out about as far as the door knob. 
Last month we had the pleasure of visiting the International Home and Housewares show. Of course there were tons of containers and organizing gadgets in every size, color and shape, but here’s one product we thought was unique that you might find useful: the 
The rain has hit my neighborhood hard. The drain under our hot water heater backed up and there’s a squishy mess in my basement–YUK! The one thing I’m thankful for is that I store (and organize) most of the stuff in the basement with plastic boxes. Today’s Friday Favorite has to be storage containers from Sterilite. They are a terrific size for so many storage needs and you can find them in big box stores like
Do important tax related receipts clutter your desk? Are you loosing out on deductions because you don’t have an easy, organized system for keeping track of receipts? 
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