ORGANIZING 101

It's a rainy winter day. What better way to spend it than by organizing your bedroom closet. Not only has it lost it's floor visibility due to the clothes piled on top of each other...but you can't even make out what is in there in the first place. So the organizing begins!

You figure out a plan of action. Start by going to the container store (that's where they have everything right?) Buy several containers. Go home and begin the organizing process...

bedroom closet

But you are overwhelmed. It's a mess and you can't even seem to wrap your head around where to begin! As the day ponders on, you give up. "Alright closet, you won!"

With your head down, you close the door and decide that today just isn't the day. You shall tackle it another rainy day! Good idea...but the opportunity seems to be overwhelming every time you open your closet door. And just like before, you never tackle it. Rather the pile seems to grow, you no longer want to deal with it, and you just wait until one day you move out. Then you will have to dump everything into boxes, which will then be thrown into a pile on your new closet floor. So the overwhelming closet will remain a constant hassle for quite possibly forever.

That's where I come in! ORGANIZING 101. Where to start and how to tackle a space that is overwhelmingly cluttered.

First things first, start SMALL! Sometimes we get ahead of ourselves and we want to tackle a big project all at once. But that can quickly lead to anxiety which will then lead to nothing getting done. Therefore, start by picking a project that is obtainable in a short period of time (a few hours tops). For example, it can be a dresser, a small utility closet, or even under the sink in your bathroom. Even though you may think you have superman powers that can get EVERYTHING done in a days notice, it will only cause struggle in the end.

Once you've picked your cluttered project lets discuss what needs to happen next. You will want to take measurements of EVERYTHING in that space. Length x Width x Height. This is a great way to takes notes of what the capacity of the space can hold because once you get to the store you will then be overwhelmed by the variety of containers offered!

You take down all the measurements. Now off to the store you go!!! Most people think it's a MUST that you go to The Container Store. Which is an amazing store for exactly what this project entails! But before you start spending more than you think appropriate for the cluttered budget, take a look around. I love shopping at Target with their new Brightroom line of products. There's Home Goods/TJ Maxx which both have a great selection of containers at a reasonable price. All in all, look at which stores are nearby and then choose your desired location. Based on price alone - Home Goods/TJ Maxx will be cheapest, Target, then The Container Store as the most expensive. If you have the luxury of time, your best friend Amazon, is a great source to compare prices! However, that will require a shipping date so your project might not happen on the day you wanted it to be completed.

You've taken measurements, you've picked your location to shop at...now you are overwhelmed with the variety of containers out there. The best way to go about it is: find the containers that fit the space, figure out if there's room for multiple of them, overbuy rather than underbuy. It's never fun when you get home and realize that the containers you bought were too large or maybe you only grabbed 1 of that item. But if you overbuy a few extra containers, plan out the space accordingly, then you can organize and get the project completed all within that day. It's never fun, lamenting over the fact that you don't have enough containers or the wrong size and therefore need to go back to the store to get more.

You are on your way home, you have all your containers and some extra, and NOW you are going to start the process of organizing!

Begin by taking EVERYTHING out of the space you are working on. EVERYTHING. You can't leave some items and work around it. This is crucial. You are trying to create a better flow of the space. It is supposed to be functional and work cohesively with all the containers in the right spaces. When you take everything out, it allows you to have a blank slate.

Once everything is pulled out, begin to categorize. Everything that is now emptied onto the floor surrounding you, should be placed into smaller piles of 'like' items. This will essentially show you what will be contained in the wonderful containers you bought!

bedroom closet - organized

Before placing everything back in...arrange the empty containers you bought in the space to see how they fit cohesively. Once you have all the containers in the right spots, THEN start to place all your items in the container separated by category. If the container has more room then combine similar categories. If the container is too small, then micro-sort that category into a smaller sub section.

Play around with the items and enjoy! This process is nearing the end and your work is almost done! You have everything contained, it's placed in the right spot, and everything looks BEAUTIFUL! If you have a label maker, this will be your new best friend. It doesn't matter which label maker you have, you could even get blank labels and write on it. All that matters, is putting labels on each container to signify what's inside it.

And TA-DAA! You are an organizer my friend! Your project is now complete. You can rave about it to your friends and enjoy the space as it should function in a much better way for your current living.

...Now time to tackle the next space!

bedroom closet - organized 2