Organizing on a Budget

While the current economic state is still in recovery mode, I am in spring cleaning mode, so I thought that I'd put together a melange of options and ideas for organizing on a budget this spring. It is completely possible with some creativity and time!



Let's start with the kitchen since that's where I started my spring cleaning this year.

Stackable Bamboo Organizers



These are perfect for silverware, utensils or even your junk drawer or office drawer. As low as $2.99 at The Container Store - wow!

Mesh Packet Holder



I have to admit, here, that I had never seen this before! I love this idea and really think I'm going to get one of these. We all have single packets of this that and 12 other things in our pantry, but this is an excellent idea on keeping them together and organized. Nice job Container Store.


Silver Mesh Storage Bin



If only I had more of these! I've got a mesh storage bin like this in my pantry where I keep coupons, pens, pencils and post-it notes.

Cupboard Shelf



I have a couple wire shelves that I stick in my cupboards for extra elevated storage. They are wonderful! The best ones I have are in my bathroom cupboard and under the sink - they maximize space and promote the ease in finding your stuff.

Cabinet Organizers



If you have as many spices as I do - this is a great organizational tool for being able to find spices in the back of the cabinet.

Spice Jars



I love the idea of transferring store-bought spices into cute individual jars. These are adorable. And totally multi-functioning - you could use this easily as a multi-tasker.

Ceiling Pot Rack




This is a fantastic space-saving idea if you have an excess of pots & pans and not much extra storage space to give.

Let's move to closet and storage organization.

Over the door hooks




These are a wonderful space saving option for bathrooms, closets, storage rooms and kids play rooms. $2.99 from The Container Store is a great steal!

Over-the-door shoe organizers



There are tons of options for over-the-door shoe organization currently on the market. Here is Crate & Barrel's take.

Shoe Storage




Keeping your shoes off the floor allows for a clutter-free closet. This is a great solution to storing your shoes on the floor.


Sweater Bag Drawer



Don't have enough room in your closet for your winter and summer clothes? That's ok - grab a few sweater bags or containers and slide them under your bed with your seasonal apparel.


The Container Store is currently in Spring Organizational Sale mode - click here to find the closet location to you.

I happen to enjoy Crate & Barrel and The Container Store; neither company knows who I am or is in any way affiliated to Organized Ali. I write about products I use or would like to use.


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Happy Spring... Cleaning!

Spring is finally here! I know much of the nation has had a very rough winter and is thrilled at the sight of spring. Now that it is officially here, it's time to jump into spring cleaning! Well, in my house it is anyway. I know that spring cleaning is a daunting task for anyone, myself included. It's really not that much fun to spend hours or days inside cleaning the house. I like to break up my spring cleaning tasks so that it doesn't feel quite so overwhelming.



Yesterday I marked the start of spring by tackling most of my kitchen. Sometime this week I plan on scrubbing my bathroom until it shines. Other spring cleaning tasks will just have to wait until April.

If you're one of those people who is too busy to even think about spring cleaning but knows it needs to happen, I have some tips for you on how to do just that:

*Start by making a list of what needs to be cleaned in your house - if you've got a really long list, as most people do, break it down by room or section of your house.

*Choose the one room or project that is of the highest importance and continue to rank order your list of tasks until it is prioritized.

*Now it's time to take a close look at your #1 priority and break that down into specific tasks. For example, in my kitchen I made a specific "to do list" so that I could cross off the little things I did instead of having to clean out the entire kitchen all at once.

Kitchen:
-Wipe out refrigerator
-Wipe out freezer
-Clean cabinet faces
-Wipe down pantry shelves, clean out
-Scrub oven inside
-Wipe out oven drawer
-Detail appliances
-Complete recipe organization

*Once you have come up with your specific task lists for each room or area in your house it's time to dedicate some time to accomplishing these tasks. I think it's perfectly acceptable to spend all spring getting this stuff done because, well, it's no fun and it's a lot of work. If you're one of those people who'd prefer to get everything done in a weekend - fine, clean your heart out!

*I like allocating part of a day most weekends to spend time knocking out tasks, plus I can usually afford to sacrifice one night each week to get some stuff done at home. After all, it's lighter out now and I usually have more motivation to be productive when I can see daylight.

*Don't forget about adding projects that you've been putting off to your spring cleaning list. Some of mine are: hanging art on the walls, vacuum cobwebs/clean out unfinished portion of my basement, and clean the car!

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Organize your Clothes

Clothing organization is probably the organizational area in which I am most meticulous about. I've become less anal through the years - when I was 12-ish I used to evenly space the hangers in my closet. I don't care if you color coordinate your clothing (which I'm totally guilty of doing) or not, but at least make an attempt at hanging it nicely (this will help it wear better on your body) and making your closet and drawers look well-kept. There are tons of secrets and tricks to organizing and properly storing your clothes, so hopefully you can benefit from some of them. Best of all, this is a great opportunity to just get rid of cluttered clothing.



Whenever I'm doing a closet organization I start by removing everything (from both the closet and the drawers and anywhere else that clothing is stored!) and throwing it on the bed or in a wide open space to take inventory. It is vital to go through all of your clothes and determine whether or not there is still a future for each item in your life. Sometimes it is helpful to have a spouse or friend to assist with this process - try questionable clothing on and ask for an honest opinion. Find a charity or a consignment shop to bring the clothing that was vetoed to - don't forget to follow through and actually bring it there. While you're doing this it is also important to make a pile of clothing that needs attention or mending because of a missing button, a hole in the armpit, a need to be ironed or a stain that needs removing. Don't put these things away until they are properly dealt with.

It is important to figure out the needs of storing your clothing and what your capabilities are. I have a pseudo-custom shelving system in my closet that I sort of like. I can hang quite a few things from the shelves in addition to stacking clothing on top of the shelves. I also have a large dresser where I keep my undergarments, socks, pajamas, bathing suits and workout gear. Surprisingly the combination of the two is enough to store all of my clothes and still have room to grow. If that wasn't the case, I would store off-seasonal clothing in a large plastic tub, so as not to clutter and overcrowd my closet.

If your clothing organization system is not working for you I would recommend you think about why that is and what you can do to make it work or improve it based on your needs. Do you need more drawers? Clean yours out and get rid of unnecessary apparel, buy an inexpensive set of Sterilite stackable drawers or get another dresser or a wardrobe. Do you need more places to hang your clothes? Go through your clothes and eliminate what you don't wear. Is it possible to remove some things from your closet and fold them up elsewhere? Think of other places in your home where you could hang some off-season apparel. Still need more room? Consider adding another clothes pole if you have the room - or re-design your current space, if able. As silly as this sounds, what about adding a clothes line to your laundry room, or a stand-alone clothing bar (see image below)? Have you heard of the innovative "Wonder Hanger" hangers that cascade your clothing down (see image below)? There are quite a few options for custom closets at various price points that can be great options to maximize your clothing storage space.





Clearing away off-season clothing from your dresser and closet can really eliminate a lot of your problems. I would suggest that if you're running out of room to store your clothes that you corral some extra large plastic tubs or under-the-bed tubs to store off season clothing and swap it out when you do your seasonal cleaning.

Let's talk about your dresser drawers. What do they look like inside? Well, mine are pretty darn neat looking (I bet you're shocked) and everything is folded and kept in its place. I make sure that everything is folded nicely and has a spot where it belongs. One thing I know for sure is that if everything is neatly folded I can fit a whole lot more than I would otherwise be able to. This also helps me to see everything inside my drawers and not allow messy buildup and unnecessary accumulation to occur.

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The Dreaded Basement

I have to admit that I've put off writing this piece for a while. Basements are tough areas to keep organized and clean, mostly because they tend to be used as a storage facility for your family's randoms. But, I must say that generally speaking, basements have amazing potential to become useful in a variety of ways.

One reason I've been putting off writing about basements is because there is so much variance from one basement to the next, which makes it tricky for me to write something concise that everyone can benefit from. Everything I say here will greatly depend on the configurations of your basement and really, how much stuff you have in it, what you use your basement for and whether or not you have kids. So, knowing that, read on...

As with everything, I like to start by taking a general inventory. What is in your basement? Go through everything you have down there. Figure out what is vital to your existence and what can move on to another family or the landfill. Once you have made your final selection, do a very, very, very, very deep clean. Basements are usually stinky and often left unclean on a regular basis.

Unless your basement is the size of a small shoe box and you literally only use it for storage, I would advise you to create zones for your basement. These zones are to help you to identify the purposes of the basement. Do you use your basement just as a super large storage room? Is your basement a part of your living space? Do your kids use this space as a play room? Is your basement finished or unfinished? Is your basement a "man cave"? Do you keep your sewing and scrapbooking and other hobby projects in the basement? Is your basement your tool room? Does your basement have actual finished rooms or is it one open space? Can you entertain in your basement? Those are some questions I came up with off the top of my head that may help you to identify various zones for the space. If you've got a lot going on in your basement creating zones will help unify the space as a whole while giving each area its own function.



Before I move on, I must caution you to consider if it is possible at any given time for your basement to either flood or get damp floors. Knowing and preparing for this can be a lifesaver if you ever have to deal with water in your basement. That said, consider shelving that is off the floor or plastic storage bins if you must store things on the floor.



This space is like any other in your home. When you create your zones think about how you can best organize each individual zone. Most zones have different capabilities and needs. Consider using plastic storage bins (from super teeny to huge gigantic tubs), cubbies, any variety of shelving, baskets, a set of drawers of any kind, file cabinets, cardboard boxes, buckets or specialized organizational paraphernalia for things like tools, scrapbooking or housing a hobby collection. Place your items nicely on a shelf, on the ground, on a table or wherever works for you in your zone. Make everything look nice, write a descriptive label and move on.

The vital part to this overhaul is following through. After you use something from your zone make sure to put it back where it goes! This sounds so incredibly trivial but I think this is the most common misstep of anyone and everyone. You need to follow through. You worked so hard to clean out your basement and create an organizational system that works for you and looks nice, so why would you not follow through by putting things away? Reward yourself if after one, two, six, twelve months goes by and you still have a wonderfully organized basement. That is something to celebrate - especially if you have a basement like some I have seen.

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Spring Cleaning!

Happy Spring! After the winter most of us have had it is certainly hard to believe that spring has officially arrived. The changing seasons are always a great reminder to me that I need to go through my home and clean everything out. I always take advantage of this time to get rid of the things that I no longer use or need instead of finding a spot for them in my storage areas. Spring cleaning is a very commonly used term in households, but I think that we should all do a better job of doing some seasonal cleaning, not just limiting it to spring cleaning.




My definition of spring cleaning is not just switching out the winter clothes and house wares with the spring clothes and other seasonal items. To me, spring cleaning is all about going through your home and doing a huge deep clean, de-clutter, re-organization; and the minor detail is bringing out your spring clothes and switching out the snow blower for the lawn mower.

I've never been one to accumulate too many senseless things, probably because of the number of times I've moved in my life. I can certainly understand how easy it must be to accumulate 10, 20, 30, even 60 years worth of belongings in a home that you've lived in for your entire life. This spring can be your chance to let go and get rid of some old papers, files, clothes, magazines, decor, tools, antiques and even appliances, and live in a more organized, clutter-free home.

The least stressful way to go about this, if you ask me, is to dissect your home room by room. Start with a fairly orderly room and work towards the worst areas of your home. If you start with the worst of the worst you may give up hope because it is so bad, but be reassured because it will just get easier. Spend much of one day each weekend for as long as it takes you to complete each room and when you're done do something great to reward yourself.

• Use the changing seasons to remind you that it's time to go through your belongings. Donate clothing you haven't worn in six months.

• Make a task list that will help you to outline what you need to accomplish. Prioritize it and even make a timeline. Allot a certain amount of time for each project every weekend.

• Take this time to attack the piles around your house. Go through papers, file them if they need to be saved, or recycle them if they are just collecting dust for no reason.

• Use plastic bins to keep out-of-season materials, such as clothing, decorations or miscellaneous items.

• Transition in-season home and lawn maintenance or other outdoor equipment to a more accessible place in your garage or shed. Move the out-of-season equipment to a safe spot that is out of the way.

• Tackle that bottomless pit in your house, whether it's a storage room, closet, or a corner of the basement. Go through the contents of the area and get rid of what isn't in use. Find a permanent spot for what you really do use.

• Go through your children's toys and belongings. Every last thing. Seriously. Kids grow fast - if it doesn't fit and can't be recycled to a younger sibling, donate it. If the kids' toys are broken, get out the trash can or the tool belt. If you notice toys being pushed further and further back on the shelf, or things they haven't touched in six months, donate them to charity.

• Throw a garage sale! Who doesn't need to make a few extra bucks in these tough times? That can be your incentive to get rid of more stuff.

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