Organizing Home Office Closets
February 23, 2011
Recently, I have given you advice about what to consider when organizing clothes closets and kids closets. What about a home office closet? Many people convert a spare bedroom into a home office. Often the closets are overlooked. Most bedroom closets need to be retrofitted to work effectively in a home office. Here are some things to consider when setting up your home office closet:
- Store Supplies – Supplies are the most common thing you will store in a home office closet. For example: printer ink, printer paper, staples, tape, scissors, labels, filing supplies, CDs, binders, brochures, business cards, letterhead, notecards, envelopes, postage, pens, pencils, markers, highlighters, paper clips, rubber bands, binder clips, post-it notes, etc. I could go on and on. If you try to cram these items into a traditional closet with a bar and a shelf across the top, you are likely to experience stress and frustration whenever you try to find something. Which brings me to my next point…
- Use Lots of Shelves – The more shelves the better. This will allow you to divide some of the smaller items into bins or buckets and still have plenty of space.
- Use Adjustable Shelving – Your needs will change over time – I guarantee it. Adjustable shelving allows you flexibility to change your closet as needed to work for you.
- Consider a Literature Sorter – A literature sorter or paper sorter is great for organizing different kinds of printer paper (white, colored, 3 hole punched, etc.), letterhead, labels, envelopes, etc.
Remember the fundamental law of organizing: a place for everything and everything in its place. If you want your home office closet to be functional, you need to group the different types of supplies together and assign them a “home”. Once you do this, you will always know where to find them and it will make clean-up a breeze.
– Donna Lindley, Certified Professional Organizer and owner of Rochester Hills, MI-based Organize Your World, Inc.
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To find more office organizers, visit Organizeit.com
Organizing Kids’ Closets
February 14, 2011
Are there special things to consider when organizing kids’ closets? Absolutely! If you try to use the “cookie-cutter approach” and make every closet in your home look the same, your children’s closets will not be functional. Here are some things to think about when setting up a child’s closet.
For younger children, add a second closet bar at a lower level. They can pick out clothes and put them away without your help. Don’t forget some kid-sized hangers. You can store dress clothes or less frequently worn clothes on the top bar, and as they grow, they can continue to use both bars for shirts, skirts, etc.
A hanging clothes organizer can be a great addition to a younger child’s closet. These hanging shelves usually have 5-7 “cubbies”. You can label five of the cubbies Monday-Friday. On Sunday, you and your child can work together to choose outfits for the week. Not only will this make school mornings easier, but it also teaches your child how to plan ahead.
Adults often have the challenge of storing off-season clothes. Children don’t typically have much off-season clothing, because they grow so quickly. Instead, they frequently have hand-me-down clothes from siblings, friends, or neighbors. Shelving in the upper third of the closet is great for storing hand-me-down clothes. Use containers on these higher shelves to organize the hand-me-downs by size.
Keep a container (box or basket) handy for items to donate or sell. As soon as an item becomes too small, put it right in the container. When the container fills up, empty it and donate it. Being organized is a learned skill. Help your child learn to be organized…starting with their closet!
-Donna Lindley, Certified Professional Organizer and owner of Rochester Hills, MI-based Organize Your World, Inc
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To find more kids organizers, visit Organizeit.com
Customer Reviews His New Pantry
February 10, 2011
One of our customers kindly video taped the before and after of his pantry installation with FreedomRail products from Organize-It. Check out his story:
Before
After
Like what you see? Tell us what you think! We’d love to hear from you!