The GO Team completed a three day training event at the Plano home of our 2016 Organized Home Contest winner. Our organizers worked together refreshing their skills, sharing ideas, and team-building to improve the service that Get Organized! offers our clients.

In return for offering her house for our training ground and purchasing new organizing products for her home, homeowner Denise received over 250 hours of professional organizing in three full days! By the time the job was done, the home was de-cluttered and organized with new systems in place to keep it easy-to-maintain long after we left.

As with any Get Organized! client, we begin with a consultation. We interview the client to find out what he or she needs and expects, identify which current systems in the home are working, and talk about which areas need improvement. Organizers take notes, photos, and measurements as they discuss the home with the client so they can create a unique solution well-suited to the family.

A client with small children has different needs than an empty-nester, and our organizers are trained to be sensitive to the distinct requirements of a variety of people. The consultation is an important step in building trust and good communication between the organizer and the client so we can find the best systems to meet the client's goals. For some, talking with an organizer to get good ideas for organizing their own home is all they need. If that is you, call us to book a consultation. For Denise, we targeted her needs as an empty-nester. This carries the sometimes emotional task of decluttering and repurposing rooms after years of raising a family.

Laundry Room Before and After

Laundry rooms and linen closets can be magnets for our odds and ends. Removing excess belongings is an important first step in restoring order. Always remember the acronym SPACE when you are de-cluttering:

Sort like items together to see what you have.

Purge what you no longer use and can throw away or donate.

Assign a place for each group of like items that you are keeping. Sometimes that place may be in a different part of the house.

Containerize by choosing type and size of storage containers for your items. Note that this step only happens after you have determined what you are keeping.

Evaluate the results, making adjustments as needed for the area to function well.

In a home of empty-nesters, it is common to have a quite a bit of outgrown or extra items that a small household no longer needs. Working with Denise, the organizers removed duplicate linens and holiday decorations, so that the remaining space was airy and easy to navigate.

Here are some of the organizing solutions we used in these rooms: little trays in drawers to sort sewing items, a wire shelf divider mounted in place to keep blankets or shopping bags from sliding, tall storage boxes with labels for Christmas and seasonal decorations, and large shoe boxes to keep memorabilia and keepsakes protected on high shelves. In fact, these storage and shoe boxes in their various sizes are the organizers' workhorses because they are see-through, durable, and stackable. They are used throughout the home and can be bought by the case, making them economical too. Lucky for us, they were on sale at The Container Store throughout the month of April.

The kitchen is a busy room in the house and depends on good organization to keep it flowing well. The organizers sorted and purged cabinets, drawers, and the pantry, then arranged the remaining items to function well. Wire shelves double the storage capacity of cupboards, a spice cabinet keeps jars neatly within reach, a tiered shelf brings bottles out of hiding, and in the pantry, food is categorized together into stackable baskets with handles that flip down to save space. Wherever possible, Denise's existing storage products were reused, including a glass vase to hold a wine cork collection.

This home has two office areas: his and hers, so we found solutions for each one. The organizers worked diligently to remove unneeded boxes, old electronics, extra furniture, and unnecessary papers. As you purge in your own home, you can collect all the donation items in old boxes, plastic sacks, or even moving boxes. Take these items out of your house so they will be out of your way and ready for pickup by a charity. It is a good idea to establish a permanent donation bin in the garage where you can put items you no longer need or want. Be sure you schedule regular times to drop off the items or have them picked up by a charity truck.

Empty packaging boxes sometimes collect in the home, taking up valuable space. If you like to keep boxes from new purchases in case of returns and you have the space, be sure to put a date on the empty box so that after a year, when the warranty has expired, you will know that it is safe to throw away or maybe repurpose as your donation bin. In the meantime, find an out of the way place to store it, such as in the attic.

Sorting papers is an important step in organizing. An office typically has four types of paper:

1. Active papers that you have to deal with soon but only once, such as an invoice;
2. Project papers that you are using currently and will need to look at several times, such as landscaping plans and bids;
3. Reference papers that you should keep for use in the future but no current action is needed, such as the title to a car;
4. Archive papers that you need to save but are unlikely to look at, such as medical or college records.

The second office, the "hers," is more like command central for the home. This is where mail is processed, keys and cell phones are dumped, and active papers collect. For this space, the organizers analyzed how the family uses the area so that a system could be designed to fit their style. All unnecessary items were purged or moved to other areas of the home.

Sometimes organizers implement systems to help keep peace in the family. In this case, one drawer was emptied completely so that Denise's husband can put his things there each day when he comes home, easily accessible but not sitting out to clutter the family room. It is a solution that costs nothing but can reduce everyone's stress level.

Other items the organizers used were functional yet decorative since they would be visible in the family room: pretty baskets for stationery, elegant new bulletin boards for open display, and a desktop Home Run Station, which is a file box for coupons, bills to pay, things to read, and similar active papers that trickle into a home. The attached lid closes automatically to hide the files inside, keeping the desktop clutter-free. Shallow stacking lidded bins hold office supplies neatly behind cabinet doors. 

A garage can be kept as organized and functional as the interior of the home. Sweep the garage clean after you remove and sort the contents on the driveway, and plan to use vertical storage to keep things off the ground. This will make it easier to keep clean in the future. Think of the whole garage as a group of zones, then arrange storage accordingly: a garden/lawn care zone, a workshop zone, a sports zone, etc.

The organizers installed new wire shelving in the garage and stacked the shelves with filled tubs that are weather tight, since they are not in a climate controlled area. Whenever possible, replace cardboard boxes with these clear tubs that let you see at a glance what you have while keeping pests out of your belongings. Hooks attached to the sides of the shelves add to their functionality. Often, items you already own can be repurposed in creative ways, such as using an old scarf holder to hold bungee cords.

As you organize your home, you may purge a lot of clutter that needs to be trashed, not donated. Most cities offer free or low cost bulk pick up at your curb. Make sure not to cover up meters, stay two feet away from mailboxes, and remember to call to schedule the pick-up.

Two bedrooms in this home were formerly children's bedrooms and needed to be cleared out. If your grown children have left, offer them the chance to take their old belongings with them to their new home. Give them a deadline, and if they have not claimed their stuff, you can donate it with a clear conscience. In the meantime, box up the belongings using the clear storage boxes mentioned above. The organizers packed up the children's things, wrapping breakables with newsprint paper when needed, and condensed everything down to a few well-organized shelves in the closets.

The master bedroom also held memorabilia that needed to be organized. After sorting photos, books, and papers, the remaining items were stored in clear shoeboxes or photo boxes and arranged on the built-in bookshelf and on a second bookshelf that was repurposed from another room. When you need to move furniture, reduce the struggle by putting sliders under each corner or leg of the piece to make it glide effortlessly across the floor.

In the bathroom, cluttered cabinets were put in order with the help of clear shoeboxes, as well as storage baskets with handles on the front that make it easy to take them off of high or low shelves.

In the closet, the organizers stacked shoes neatly on shelves and folded clothes into drawer organizers that come in an economical set of six and work well to keep drawers tidy. They hung clothing on fuzzy Huggable hangers that save space and keep clothes from falling to the floor. Ivory is a good color choice for these hangers because it hides dust. Buy them by the case to save money. On the shelves, clear acrylic shelf dividers that have a valet knob on the edge will keep clothing from shifting and also provide a place to hang outfits, hats, etc. while getting dressed. Necklaces were hung on crystal Command Hooks on the wall. The organizers wanted the closet attractively organized so that getting dressed would be a pleasant start to the day.

Are you inspired to get your own home organized? Use some of these proven solutions from our organizers. If you would rather have us help you, contact us for more information about how to get one or more areas of your home organized so you can enjoy order in your home, business, and life.

Each month we bring our readers a Savvy Way to Save. This month is the humble household vinegar. Did you know it can be used as a mild disinfectant, grease remover, and air freshener? Mix it with an equal amount of water and a few drops of peppermint oil to wipe counters or chrome appliances. Put it in a spray bottle with your favorite fragrance oil and use to remove odors in the air or in garbage cans. Add a cup to your rinse cycle to soften and deodorize fabrics in the wash. You can even mix equal parts vinegar and water to clean fruits and vegetables. The acetic acid in the vinegar acts as a weak disinfectant to help clean some but not all bacteria, helping to keep your home clean.