Summer may not be officially here yet but the weather is definitely warmer! As you make plans for your summer no doubt you are trying to get your ducks in a row. Be it vacation, planning a move, or summer activities – it all requires planning. Have you ever noticed that when we are planning on leaving for vacation, all (or more than the usual amount) of our work gets done? I know that my home is at its cleanest when I leave for vacation because I hate coming home to a mess. Imagine if we were able to get more things done “as if” we were heading on vacation!

What does it take? It takes planning, for sure. But if you want to keep it up, it takes habits.  So what 2 habits can you begin to implement this month? Okay, I’ll go first….

I want to get in the habit of walking for 40 minutes, 3 days a week

and

I want to plan healthy meals for my breakfast and lunch

You can see that my habits revolve around good health because that’s an area where I really need work. One of my favorite bloggers is Leo Babauta of Zen Habits.  He tells it like it is. Leo written 3 great ebooks that I would like to recommend.

#1) The Zen Habits Handbook for Life – Learn the arts of decluttering, single tasting, editing your commitments, eliminating all but the essentials, not doing everything on your to-do list, doing nothing, clearing your desk/inbox, becoming motivated when you are in a slump, accepting criticism with appreciation, and many more tips.

#2) The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life – Taking steps to reduce your possessions, figuring out what is really necessary, simplifying your schedule/work/life, going digital in your life. It’s the ultimate guide for creating a minimalism in all areas of your life (home, workspace, travel, wardrobe, finances, fitness) and even for dealing with kids and other loved ones.

#3) Zen to Done – Teaches you the key habits needed to be productive, organized, and simplified, how to implement these key habits, how to organize these habits into a simple system that will keep everything in your life in its place, and how to simplify what you need to do.

Each of these books are extremely easy to read and contain tons of valuable tips and lessons. It’s a great place to start if you really want to create room for life, better habits and stay organized. You can order this e-bundle right here for only $19.

Disclaimer: Some links in this post are my affiliate links.

I am always purging and donating items. We have a donation center in our home; it’s a rather large 3 drawer plastic dresser. All family members know that if they do not want an item or if something no longer fits, you put it in the donation center. Then, when I receive notice that there’s a donation pick-up in our neighborhood (which happens about twice a month) I put everything from the donation center in a box or garbage bag and set it out at the end of the driveway.

Recently, my neighbor mentioned that she is helping to gather goods for a yard sale to benefit the Chico Cat Coalition (her favorite charity). I told her I would “pull a few things together” to donate. Little did I know that this would cause a shift for me in my purging habits… What happened?

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Last week I discovered a new product that is great for those who have a tendency to pile things. Pilers, you know who you are… if not, I described the 3 types of personalities when it comes to dealing with paper in a blog post. I interviewed the creator of Fishbinz, Lisa DeVeau, of Completely Organized. She confessed that she struggled with piling and had to find a better way. (Necessity is the mother of this invention!) I believe this product is the perfect solution for those who like to stack their papers and projects sky-high!

Introducing Fishbinz

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I was helping a client this week who has a beautiful home. Everything seemed to have its place and the home was very warm and inviting. I was asked to help with the home office. The office had a desk piled with papers, bills and receipts as well as boxes of more of the same tucked under the desk. I have seen much worse than this, but my client was struggling to get the home office organized and back into a functioning room. As we began to work, we talked about the reasons for the room’s unorganized state. There is always a reason behind the clutter. I am not saying this so that we can justify the clutter but to help us recognize that there is something behind the physical clutter we see. Here are a few examples of the reasons why people now have clutter when they used to be able to handle it:

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Last week I talked about the clutter on the dining room table. What about the bathroom vanity?

Is the only empty space on your bathroom vanity the indented space that holds water (the sink)?

Here’s a solution: Clever Container’s Make-up Manager.

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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)!