Do you eat dinner on the couch because you can’t find the top of your dining room table?

Is your dining room table filled with homework, bills, papers and other things without a home?

Any horizontal surface has the potential to be a catch-all place. I find that many clients use their kitchen table as this kind of place. Many have asked me what to do because once they clear it off it doesn’t take long for the stuff to come back.

First, there’s a habit here that needs to be broken. That’s the habit of indecision. You have to stop and make decisions about the papers and other things on your table. Some questions need to be asked:

Where does this belong?

Do you still need it?

Whose stuff is this?

Does this need a home?

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My desk can get out of hand quickly when I have a busy week. The messier it gets, the more frustrated I become. The reason for the frustration is that I cannot focus when there is clutter strewn about in my office. At the end of the day, I allow time to get things back in order.

Yesterday I found this note:

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I’m lovin’ Pinterest! When a client needs a special twist on organizing, I head over to Pinterest for ideas. In fact, follow me on Pinterest – I’m always pinning!

Here’s a photo collage of some great kids closet to round out my closet series this month. In trying to give credit where credit is due, click on the links below the photo to get more information.

Love the colors and the simplicity of this closet. The boxes can hold shoes, pjs, toys, you name it!

iheartorganizing

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Wrapping up this month’s segment on organizing your closets, I couldn’t resist one last tool recommendation.

It’s called a clothes valet. Some you install, others simply hang over a door. Here are a couple of samples of clothing valets:

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More Closet Tips:

- Use baskets to hold your scarves, winter caps, purses and tote bags

- A wooden box is a handy container for batteries

- Put your hamper in the same location where you get undressed each day

- Designate a space in your closet for the clothes you want to wear more than once

- The see-through pockets of a hanging jewelry organizer make picking jewelry for your outfits quick and easy

- Use a hanging shoe holder for your flip flops

- Keep swimwear handy if you use it year-round in a convenient location

In my last post, I explained how I have gone about re-doing my clothes closet. I talked about

• Preparation

• Purging and Sorting

And now the final step, putting it all back into the closet. I’m so excited to show you the final outcome! So here goes:

Put it Back

-Before I put everything back I re-hung all the clothes on the new, slimmer hangers my mom gave us for Christmas. What a difference! They take up so little space on the rod. I highly recommend them.

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In my last post, The Basics of Closet Organization, I listed the 3 steps to getting your closet organized.
1. Prepare
2. Purge and Sort
3. Put Back

I don’t just write this stuff, I actually do it! In February, I challenged myself to minimize the amount of clothing I keep. I had read a great article on the Small Notebook blog that motivated me to go into minimalist mode in my clothes closet. Let me first say that I come from a long line of clothes hoarders. My grandma has 3 closets full of clothes; my mother and my sister are running neck and neck for 2nd place! (Yes, Mom and Sis, if you are reading this- you have tons of clothes!) At any rate, I started out to see how much I could pare down my wardrobe.

Here’s my closet before I started:

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1. Prepare

- Before diving right into organizing your closet, it’s important to have the right mindset.

- Can you set aside time to see this project through to completion?

Warning: If you think this is a 2 hour project then double it to allow plenty of time.

- What’s your style now? Think about your style now as opposed to 5 years ago (or when you used to work/stay home, etc.)

- Set aside time to really think about the clothing style you are wearing/or want to wear. Look through magazines or browse online to identify the style that appeals if you need to.

- Identify the 3 main colors for your wardrobe? Knowing this will help you in the purge- and-sort phase of closet organization.

2. Purge and Sort

This is the most daunting part of organizing your closet. Don’t worry, here are a few tips:

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Being a woman, I just can’t talk about clothes closet organization without starting with the shoes first! LOL!  

Here’s a great product if you are a flip flop girl like me. I prefer my flip flops to slippers and, living in California, I wear them practically all year round.

Introducing the Flip Flop File- and it’s a file system you’ll love – I promise! It hangs on a closet rod and has room to hold 18 pair of your fav flip flops.  I even store my Lindsay Phillips Switchflops accessories in one pocket!

This shoe holder has clear pockets so you can see all of your flip flops. I used to keep my flip flops in a basket and would have to rummage through them to find the right color and then of course the mate! Quite unorganized, don’t ya think? Now, I don’t even have to bend down to get to them and they always have a mate right there!

This Flip Flop File organizer could also be used for hats, gloves, fanny packs and other clothing accessories, even bathing suits.  You could use it as a shoe organizer in a young child’s closet too. Outside of your closet you could use it in your craft room to hold skeins of yarn. If you are a grandma, you could have one in the guest room closet holding those special books you read when the grandkids come to visit. Let your imagine run wild, use the Flip Flop File for other things that you want to keep organized but still visibly see the contents!

Disclaimer: Some links take my other website to purchase the Flip Flop File.

This month we will focus on your clothes closet.  Let’s get going by looking at 10 reasons you may want (need) to organize your clothes closet.

1. You find yourself wearing the same outfits week after week
2. You can’t shut your closet door(s)
3. You can’t move your clothes hangers , it’s packed so tight in there
4. You can’t find your favorite shirt but you are sure it’s “in there somewhere”
5. Your closet rods are sagging
6. You can’t see the floor of your closet
7. There’s a layer of dust on the shoulders of some outfits
8. You can’t find the other shoe
9. You have clothes now hanging on hooks behind every door
10. You have clothes piled around your bedroom with nowhere to put them

If you can relate to any of these reasons, stay tuned for more closet clearing strategies. In fact, we’ll take a look at my closet (before and after)!