Real Closet Storage Solutions

by Bill Brennan

Have you ever seen some of the solutions that some so-called experts give us to get more storage space? They start with a huge walk in closet but the majority of us do not have huge walk in closets and the tips don’t apply.

The majority of homeowners have regular closets and these are the closets that need help with storage. We can offer some tips for the people with normal closet space. If you have a lot of items in your closet, the first thing you can do is see what you need.

Make three piles. One pile is stuff you want to keep but never use; the second is for items you don’t want anymore and; the third pile is for items you want to keep in the closet. Get rid of everything you don’t need. This will eliminate a lot of clutter. Then the items you don’t need but don’t want to part with you can store in the garage or attic. The key to saving space is getting rid of unwanted items.

One way to save space is to start with shoes. Buying a shoe rack is a great space saver but sometimes the shoe racks are so bulky that it ends up being hard to close the closet door. So buy the soft material shoe rack rather than the hard ones. If you have some room on your clothes bar hang the shoe rack from the bar.

You may have seen these on TV; they are vacuum storage bags. You can place comforters and pillows as well as clothes in these bags and then simply attach your vacuum hose to the hole provided in the bag and turn on the vac and it sucks out the air and the bag becomes a compact space saver. These are very affordable and you can place winter or summer clothes in the bags as the season change.

Another great space saver are the storage boxes like those made by Rubber Maid these comes in all different shapes and sizes. Buy the bins that will fit accordingly into your closets. If you need more than one, make sure they can stack neatly in the closet.

The key to storage space is to make room but not to clutter it up with storage boxes. So make sure they will stack together in a neat fashion.

Be organized and ruthless with what you discard - and you will be happy with the end result.

Now you can start tidying the rest of your bedroom and finally see that silk rug that's hiding.

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Decluttering: Top Tips to Help You Organize Your Life

by Bridget Bonnett

When a friend knocks on your door unexpectedly, is your first reaction one of embarrassment as you apologize for the mess as you invite them in? Do you have to move piles of clutter from the sofa before they (and you!) can sit down - and do you feel you would like to something about it, that you would like to welcome your friends with a smile into a tidy, attractive home?

You need to declutter! You can't be organized if your home is a mess of clutter - you'll waste time looking for daily essentials such as your keys or that piece of paper with an essential phone number on it. Clutter wastes your time and drains your energy.

Decluttering is not difficult - you just need to be practical and a little ruthless - and you'll feel so much better and more in control of your life when it's done. Follow these tips for the best chance of success:

Plan what you are going to do before you start. It's generally not a good idea to start on a really large area such as the garage (this seems to be a magnet for clutter rather than being used to house a car!) as the sheer scale of the task will probably daunt you and you'll give up before you've achieved very much.

Instead, start on a series of small, manageable areas, maybe something like a drawer or a set of shelves that attracts all sorts of clutter. Finishing one or more of these small areas will make you feel like you've achieved something, and give you the confidence and motivation to tackle larger areas.

Organize yourself before you start. Get yourself a supply of bags and boxes. Different coloured bags can be useful for sorting your stuff into different categories. The usual way of sorting clutter is into four categories: keep, throw away, give away (or sell), and store, but you can devise your own method if this doesn't work for you.

As you look at each thing, ask yourself if you really need it, really love it, or value it for sentimental reasons. Be ruthless, if you haven't worn an item of clothing in the last year, are you really likely to wear it again? Keep clothes that fit you properly now, not ones that used to fit you when you weighed less or more.

Don't put too many things in the 'Store' pile - it's more than likely that once you've stored something then you'll forget you've got it - out of sight really is out of mind. Ask yourself what you are actually storing these things for - will you ever need or use them again?

Make sure that the things in your 'Giveaway' pile are of sufficiently good quality to be donated to charity. You can also sell things from this category at car boot/yard sales or on eBay.

A good tip is to decide on a definite date that you are going to do this. If that date passes and you still haven't sold them, then give the items to charity, otherwise you're likely to fall into the trap of just storing them and never getting round to selling them. The charity option is by far the quickest for clearing out stuff.

When you've got this far in your decluttering, think about how you're going to organize the things you are keeping so that everything has a home. Analyse your storage needs - do you need more shelves, hooks, baskets etc.?

Finally, once you've decluttered, don't let it all build up again! Use the 'something in, something out' principle - if you acquire a new item, get rid of an old one.

Above all, make it fun - play some music while you're working, and maybe get a friend in to help. The relief of having cleared out your clutter will be enormous. You should feel so much more organized and in control - and happy to invite people into your home!

If you'd like some help with decluttering Bridget Bonnett recommends www.helpmedeclutter.com

Article Source: 1ArticleWorld.com