Organize 2012: Sort, Stack, and Store

New Year’s resolutions are made and then broken more often than not.  The trend seems to be to make less “I will do . . ” or “I will not do . . .” resolutions and more “I will be . . .” or “I will strive to . . . ” statements.  So not punitive, rather motivational resolutions.  To that end, 2012 will be the year I improve the organization in my house so that I am ready for anything.

There are so many good reasons to get organized:  “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today”; maybe you’re searching the world for a new job and need to be ready to move at a moments notice; or you’d like to move to a space more suited to your style.  (I fall into the last category.)  While I suspect professional organizers have a closed door to an unorganized space in their home, they do have an advantage over us amateurs;  they know how to prioritize and put useful daily systems in place.  They also know how to create space where there is none to be found!

It would be terrific if there was a way to get organized in a weekend, but for most, like me, it will be a step here and a step there.  You’ve seen how I reworked my recycling area and my solution for holiday cards, so now I’m onto the very courant issue of my scarves.  Amidst winter in the northeast there are piles of scarves, coats and gloves everywhere, and I need a solution.

There are many great shops that have organizational tools such as Ikea and The Container Store, but also consider children’s shops such as Land of Nod and Pottery Barn Kids because there are numerous, colorful, and inexpensive storage options.  The Skubb boxes above are marketed for shoes, but are also the perfect size for my scarves.  The boxes are small enough to stack in my closet and the transparent front flap allows me to see the contents.  Since my collection is quite extensive I organized it by color.

Hope this inspires you to tackle a pile…or two!

Magazine Wrangling

West Elm’s Canvas Magazine Butler

I realize that I’m a little (ok, maybe a lot) late in getting today’s post done, but I actually have a very good excuse. Do you remember how my New Year’s resolution was to get organized and how a week and a half ago I pleaded that less is more? Well I actually spent most of the day working on these things today instead of just talking about them! Yes, I realize that time is often the issue in achieving these goals (for everyone), but I’ve decided that baby steps are the only way it’s going to get done and so I’m going to try to spend at least an hour a day in my quest for a more minimal and organized life. My first step was to go out and buy some basic small storage containers with locking lids that my 1 year old could not get into. I have been so tired of my 3 year old’s multiple boxes of crayons, paints, play-doh, etc. scattered about the living room and kitchen so now each art medium has it’s own storage bin and they are nicely stacked in a cupboard in the living room that was full of stuff we never used which I emptied out. Why I was letting things we never use occupy valuable storage space in a prime location for things we do use I don’t know. Apparently I thought it was going to take me longer than the 15 minutes it took to move the never used stuff.

Pottery Barn’s Devon Office Organizer

Next up was the magazines. I don’t know if you are like me and like to keep your design magazines thinking that you will go back and look at them when you are ready to tackle that next project. As someone who spent most of my day reading old Interior Design, Architectural Digest, House & Garden, In Style Home, O Home, and Town & CountryHome Edition magazines from 2005 and 2006 today, I think I can safely say that it is unlikely that you will refer to your old magazines again. I can’t throw a design magazine out without making sure that I’ve first torn out all the rooms, gardens, fabrics, products, etc. that inspire me, and I promise that I really do sit down every few months and do this, but for some reason this batch of 25 or so magazines from 5 years ago I was really clinging to (maybe it’s because literally half of them don’t exist anymore)…at least until today.Crate and Barrel’s Invisible Magazine Rack

Ok, so now I have completely rid myself of all magazines unless I have been published in them (those get filed in a magazine file box) or they have arrived in my house within the past month. I do have a large stack of tear sheets that need to be added to my binders so that I can refer to them when I need a little inspiration. But how do I make sure this never happens again? Well, I have a magazine rack that probably holds about 10-15 magazines and my new rule is that every magazine or catalog in the house has to go in that rack, and if there isn’t any room then it’s time to get rid of something if there is something new I want to keep. One in, one out (making sure I’ve torn out any pages that I HAVE to have). The Container Store’s Fabric Wall Mount Magazine Holder

Bottom line, if you are a media hoarder like me, find a magazine rack, shelf or something else with limits to its capacity and agree that you will limit the amount of media clutter to that space. Everyone’s threshold for how much they keep on hand may not be the same depending on whether you live in a small apartment or a large house, but keep it to a reasonable amount that you can sort through every few weeks or so. Here are a few products that may suit your space and help you get organized.