Colleen’s Story:

My husband and I are about to begin an exciting new chapter of our lives: parenthood! We are beyond ecstatic that we are expecting our first child, a baby boy, in November. As my belly grows a little more every day, so does our excitement and anticipation, as well as our never-ending baby “to-do” list. At the top of this list is getting our condo ready for the newest addition of our family. This includes converting our guest room/office into a dreamy baby nursery. Like most young professionals in their 30s, my husband and I work full time, enjoy spending time with our friends and family, and try to put a little money away each month to graduate from our condo to a house. We currently live in a hip little two-bedroom condo in the urban center of San Diego. While we would love to run right out and purchase a three-bedroom home in our favorite neighborhood in San Diego before our son is born, this is currently not a feasible option for us. Therefore, we have decided to stay in our condo for the time being in order to maximize every dollar for our future home budget. This will also allow me to take a year off of work to stay at home with our baby boy. As I stand and look at the closet in the room that will soon be converted into the nursery, a mixture of emotions invade my mind. Although I am happy, excited and thankful, I stand there and look at our mess of a closet and can’t stop the overwhelming feelings of stress, panic and anxiety. How am I going to get this closet cleaned out and organized before the baby? Where the heck do I start? I generally think of myself as a moderately organized person. In fact, it soothes my nerves to tackle a small organizational project around the house or at work. However, when you live in a small, urban condo the number one problem I’ve encountered is space. Where am I going to store all of these things we’ve accumulated over three years of marriage? The second problem I’ve encountered is time. How am I going to get all of this done before the baby comes? Three months may seem like a good amount of time, but the baby “to-do” list is growing as fast as I’m gaining weight. The third problem I’ve encountered is cost. With a never-ending list of things we need to purchase before our little one arrives, how does reorganizing a closet fit into our budget? I know I have the will to take on this task, and there isn’t anything my husband and I wouldn’t do for our baby. When I learned of the Space Savers Clean That Closet Challenge, I knew this was just the guidance I was looking for to get started on this important project that will have a lasting impact on our lives and our son’s.

Next time you go through your home’s closets, consider donating unneeded items. Look around your community to find a donation center in your area. The following organizations accept clothing donations in most regions of the United States:

Goodwill® accepts new or gently used items like clothing, appliances, electronics and furniture, and sells them at a discount price in its retail stores.

The Salvation Army® accepts clothing, furniture and household goods. In addition to these items, you can also donate airline miles and vehicles.

Big Brothers Big Sisters® happily receives children’s clothing donations at many of its locations. Ask your local branch to see if they are in need of the clothing your children may have outgrown.

There are many organizations that seek donations of women’s clothing, including Dress for Success®, which accepts business clothing, and Brides Against Breast Cancer™, which helps provide bridal gowns to women with breast cancer. If you plan to ship your donated clothing, pack the items in Space Bag Storage Packs to protect them during transportation and save space in your shipping box.

Next time you go through your closet and find clothes that no longer fit your size or style, consider donating them to someone in need. Remember, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure!

1. What is your No. 1 frustration in home organization?

2. Is there a particular room/area that frustrates you the most related to storage and organization? If so, which room/area is most frustrating?

3. What organization and storage solutions have you tried, and how effective were those solutions?

Create zones. Designate play areas for your child to bring their toys. By not allowing toys in the living room, you’ll eliminate tripping hazards and kids’ clutter from taking over the family area. Similarly, assign specific storage areas in your child’s room, so they know not to put their shoes in with the board games or store their stuffed animals in a dresser drawer. This will teach them everything has a proper place, meaning they’ll be more likely to stay organized.

Keep organization within their reach. Lower closet hanging rods and bookshelves so they are eye level with your child. They’ll be more likely to hang something up or put it in its proper place if they are easily able to do so. Likewise, keep objects you don’t want taken down and played with out of your child’s reach.

Color coordinate. Children learn colors at a young age. Ease into organization by simply color-coding their dressers or bookshelves. Shirts go in the green drawer, books go on the red shelf, etc. This is a simple and easy way for young children to learn that everything has its own special place to be stored.

Read more on organizing kids’ rooms.

• Go through the junk mail accumulated on your counter and toss out everything you don’t want to keep.
• Move a load of laundry from the washer to the dryer.
• Tackle that pile of shoes on your closet floor and arrange them into matching pairs.
• Check the dates on magazines and toss any that are more than two months old.
• Go around the house and pick up any miscellaneous articles of clothing and put them where they belong, whether that’s in the closet or in the hamper.

What do you do around the house when you have a few spare minutes? Share them in our comments sections.

Ashley’s Story:

The bedroom closet dedicated to a small portion of my clothing is a dismal failure in terms of organization. I had a shelf placed in my closet to help assist me in keeping my clothes tidy, but the unsure nature of the weather earlier this year had me digging out a variety of clothing to keep up with fluctuating temperatures up until the end of May. This created a pile up I have yet to fix, especially since many of the non-winter clothes visible are not heavily worn by myself – they are merely “around the house” articles. My winter clothes are typically packed away but not in a minimalistic way. They are stored in duffels, which are not the most efficient method for dealing with bulky winter garments or husband’s classic shirts that are never worn. I sporadically lay the foundation for a nicely arranged and functional closet, but end up having difficulty maintaining it. With proper help and good tools, I think I could, which is why my closet is a good candidate for the Clean that Closet Challenge.

Kathi’s Response:

Dear Ashley,

It appears you have an aversion to hangers? If so, you are not alone. I find that my clients have definite tendencies one way or the other. Some want to use hangers for everything including slips and undergarments and others don’t use hangers for anything.

I often install shelves inside closets but do this most often in closets that are being used for office supplies. In your situation, it looks like it might not be the best idea. If you really want to keep your shelf, you should use baskets that can keep loose clothing items organized and stored “like with like.”

I would prefer that you use your closet to its fullest potential, remove the shelf unit and start hanging your clothes on hangers. Once you remove the shelf, add a drop-down pole on one side. You will actually double your hanging rod space.

Bulky winter garments are best stored in a Space Bag and placed either up high in the closet or under the bed during warm weather months. You are correct in the fact that duffle bags are not efficient. Not only are they bulky, they do not keep moisture or bugs out of your clothes when they are stored. Space Bag will accomplish both tasks and also reduce the bulk of your collection. Space Bag products work best with bulky items like sweaters and down comforters because they really do minimize the bulk.

If your husband NEVER wears his classic shirts, they should be donated so that they can be used by someone who really needs them. The charity will also make money by selling your donated goods so it is a “win-win.” If he is hesitant to get rid of all of them, have him select one to keep in case he needs one later. If that shirt is not worn for a year, it should also go to charity. One way to tell if he has not worn it is to hang it on the rod backwards with the hanger opening facing out instead of in. If the hanger is still in this position after a year, say “bye bye!”

There are three possible reasons that you might have difficulty maintaining your system. The first is that you simply have too much stuff that you can’t use and it is clogging up the items that you really do use. The second is that you have clothes spread throughout your house. My goal is to get all clothes stored within the closet if possible and if not, at least in the closet and the bedroom dresser.

The third reason why your system is not working is that it was not designed or organized by a professional. I would recommend that you try my suggestions and if you need more help implementing these solutions that you hire a professional organizer. A professional organizer will help you create a sustainable system based on your specific needs and can often see solutions that you have not considered. Check out Napo.net to find a professional organizer in your area.

If you are in need of organization advice, enter our Clean That Closet Challenge. Each week, one entrant is chosen to be featured on our blog and receive free help from Kathi. One grand prize winner will win a $1,000 gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond, a private consultation with Kathi and a supply of Space Bag products to help him or her transform cluttered closets into streamlined storage areas.

Charlotte’s Story:

A new baby brings great joy to a home. Making room for baby, however, can bring great stress! I love my new little bundle of joy, but my home office is a disaster now. His room acted as storage for many items. Now that it is a nursery, the office is buried under mountains of junk. It looks worse than the homes of hoarders. My husband works from home, and desperately needs the home office to be an organized place he can retreat to and concentrate on his work. He is also in the process of writing his dissertation for his doctorate degree. Without the home office, there is not a quiet place away from the kids for him to work. We desperately need a functional home office. My husband has installed a new closet system as a first step in getting the office organized. The system has been installed for quite some time, but neither of us know how to even begin putting stuff in the closet in an organized fashion to start the process of reclaiming our home office. We need help!!

Kathi’s Response:

One small child can create a mountain of clutter (simply by being too cute!) in less time than it takes to bake a cake, so don’t feel too badly about the baby debris spread throughout the office!

I am excited to see your new closet system. I always recommend that my clients install floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall shelves in their office closet. You are already ahead of the curve and have good “real estate” to work with.

Begin this project by rounding up three boxes and some trash bags. Rapidly gather everything that is non-office related. As you touch it, make a quick decision about its current usefulness. Is it something you wish to donate, trash, recycle or keep? When it comes to baby items, be relentless. Your baby moves rapidly through size and development, and many items that were relevant last week, no longer matter today.

Remember the organizing adage “store like with like” so anything you decide to keep for your child will need to be stored in the baby’s room. Adhering to this common sense adage might help you let go of a few more items that you were undecided about.

As you go through this project, your donate pile should become exceptionally large. You have been blessed with a new baby and an abundance of clutter. The saying “one person’s trash is another’s treasure” is really true. Let go of as many items as you can during this process. Every piece of your abundance that turns into a donation item will go out and multiply into the world and come back to you ten fold.

Imagine this: one baby blanket can make a huge impact as it moves throughout the donation system. It starts when it arrives to the charity. The worker that intakes your item is typically disadvantaged and only has his job because people like you make donations. He/she gets paid to sort and label it for resale. Your blanket then goes on display in the store. The person who buys it is typically ecstatic because they could not have afforded to purchase such a nice blanket from a department store. They are happy and their baby gets a better blanket than it normally would have to sleep with. The person who rings up the transaction also has a job because of your help. The charity now has money to fund more programs for the disadvantaged in your community. My favorite charity here in San Diego actually turns their retail earnings into bread for the homeless! So you see how much impact one small item has when it is given to charity? Let go and spread your abundance to others. You will get a tax write-off and the knowledge that are giving back to your community in a very easy way.

Once you have sorted and removed every non-office item from your husband’s office, you should begin sorting the remaining work related items “like with like.” Your closet should be used to hold all office supplies and materials that are not needed on a daily basis. Separate these items into bins and store on the shelves inside the closet. You can use plastic shoeboxes with lids and also 3 drawer plastic cabinets to keep things separated and in order. Categories for grouping your office supplies might be paper/pads, things that stick, things that bind, things that write, etc. Use whatever categories work for you. Get rid of anything old that no longer serves your husband or yourself. For instance, he will bring in new books and will probably never look at most of the old college books again.

Your husband’s L-desk configuration is optimum. Make sure it is cleared so that at least 60 percent is open and ready for work projects. It appears that you might need to add a few file drawers to your office set up. A typical home office needs at least four file drawers to keep personal, business and school papers organized. Without enough file drawers, papers will get scattered around and turn into piles because they won’t have a place to live. If you want a good paper management system, check out Freedom Filer. It is a self-maintaining paper flow system that will help you keep all of your personal, school and business papers organized.

Congratulations on your decision to get organized. If you keep up a quick pace, you should finish this project in the course of a weekend. Remember to let go of as much as you can. Space will bring clarity and momentum to your mission. Remember the more you keep, the more you have to make room from somewhere else in your house. Be gentle with yourself and learn to give your abundance away – it is a win-win scenario!

The first step in ensuring your closet is pleasant and practical involves organization. Take what you don’t need out of your closet and leave only the items you wear often and need to have easily accessible. The article mentions storing rarely used items in a Space Bag. Consider using the Space Bag Hanging Storage Bag in your closet or Space Bag Storage Packs to hide items under the bed.

Once you have efficiently organized your closet space, consider adding decorative elements to make it more pleasing to the eye. The article suggests painting the walls a fun color or adding an attractive rug to the floor. The idea is to feel at home in your closet, without needing to worry about disarray.

To learn more about how to transform your closet, read TLC’s 10 Fixes for Small Closets.

Bobbie shared her evaluation of Space Bag products on her review blog, One Scrappy Mom. With a little help from the Space Bag family, Bobbie was able to tame her closet that was overrun with slippery sleeping bags, puffy comforters and stacks of sheets, and turn it into a streamlined storage area. Read her post to see the transformation.

If you have a messy closet in need of help, enter our Clean That Closet Challenge. One grand prize winner will receive a $1,000 gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond, a private consultation with professional organizer Kathi Burns and a supply of Space Bag products to organize his or her home!