Organizing

Maintaining Home Organization

Published: June 12, 2019

Organizing is not a one time event. It is a lifetime event, to be worked on daily. Often, my home organizing clients will work with me within a matter of weeks or months to fully declutter and organize every room in their home. At the end of this home organizing project, they feel calmer, better organized, and transformed.

However, without regular routines and maintenance, new things will come into a home and the clutter can return. During organizing sessions, I demonstrate simple ways to declutter and organize a home or office. I work to transfer these skills to my organizing clients, but sometimes it is not their strong suit, and sometimes life situations such as an illness, job changes, relocation, a growing family, or other responsibilities, can make it difficult to remain organized.

Some of the areas where I also help my clients include discussions of time management, scheduling, calendars, routines for chores and errands, and changes in daily habits. If the routine of decluttering and organizing maintenance doesn’t happen regularly, the space can become disorganized again.

I usually recommend my clients declutter major areas that can accumulate new objects on a regular basis two to four times a year. The most common objects prone to quickly becoming clutter are paper and clothing.

If my clients declutter regularly, along with maintaining an organized routine for daily and weekly chores and cleaning, the home usually remains well organized. If my clients don’t want to do this, or can’t do it without my assistance, that is when I recommend a home organizing maintenance session or a “tune-up”. This is usually a 3 hour session to readdress areas that were organized during the original home organizing project, and find solutions for problem areas that continue to collect clutter.

Honestly, a few hours a couple of times a year is usually enough to readdress a project that may have taken days or weeks the first time through. This is because the majority of the clutter has already been discarded, and we’re really only looking at 6 months of clutter, and only what accumulated after my clients learned some new organizing skills and habits.

If I’ve helped you in the past, and you just need a little assistance, please contact me for more information about these home organizing maintenance sessions.

Organizing a Child’s Closet

Published: May 8, 2019

Organizing bedroom closets for toddlers and elementary school children can be a challenge because most closets were designed for the average adult. To encourage your children to participate in selecting and putting away their clothing on a regular basis, you need to have a closet that works well for them. Here are some of my tips for organizing clothing closets for children:

Look at it from their perspective

Kneel or crouch down so you are at the same height as the child. Take a look at what you can see, how high you can reach, and what you can put away at that height. This is the prime real estate area of the closet for your child, put the clothing and shoes they use most in this area.

Determine if your child likes to use hangers or fold clothing

Sometimes, the act of putting clothing on an hanger is too difficult for a child, or it just doesn’t suit their personal style. If this is the case, consider using shelves or drawers in the closet, instead of hanging rods.

Lower the closet rods, or add a second lower hanging rod

If your child wants to hang up clothing, lower the closet rod, or add an adjustable hanging closet rod like this to double or triple hanging space.

Use hanging fabric closet organizer shelves

These hanging shelves help to keep clothes within reach, and are great for holding folded sweaters or sweatshirts.

This one with the days of the week on it is perfect if you’re in the habit of choosing a week’s worth of clothes at once:

This one has separated compartments and some drawers in it for smaller items:

Separate clothing by purpose

When laying out the clothes, separate clothing into different sections for school clothes, play clothes and formal clothes. This will make it easier to select and put away clothing.

Determine what should be stored in the closet

Decide if this closet is for clothing only, or if it will store toys and games as well. It is very easy for closets to become cluttered if too much is being stored inside. If you do this, designate one side or section for clothing and the other for toys and games.

Have your child help choose the storage products

Involve your child in the selection of storage products. If they choose a hamper or drawer in a color or style they like, they will be more likely to use the it.

Label

Add labels to shelving, drawers and containers. You can also take photos or use print pictures of items to visually label things for children who cannot yet read.

Use color coding

Color coding is especially helpful if you have children sharing a closet. For example, one child could have their clothing on red hangers, while the other’s clothing is on blue hangers.

Use low hanging hooks

If there’s space, place low hanging hooks on the walls or doors to hold things like school bags, hats, or bathrobes.

Add shelf dividers

If your closet has shelving, use shelf dividers to prevent piles from toppling over into one other.

Place a step stool nearby

I suggest placing less frequently used items on the higher closet rod and shelves, and having a step stool by the closet will make it easier for your child to reach most of their things without help.

Put a laundry hamper near the closet

Placing a laundry hamper or laundry basket near the closet will help prevent piles of clothing from piling on the floor.

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Organized Adulting – Organizing Your Space

Published: April 24, 2019

This week, I’d like to tell you about my new e-book. This is the first book that I have written that is available for download on Kindle.“Organized Adulting – Organizing Your Space” is the first book in a series that will help those “adulting” to become and stay more organized. This book is aimed at people in their 20’s just moving into their first apartment or home, but much of the advice will help people of all ages.

Sometimes home organization and home management skills are not learned at home or in school. There are so many steps to becoming an adult and moving out on your own. Managing the arrangement, organization and daily household tasks are just a few essential topics that will help you to succeed in “adulting.”

“Organized Adulting – Organizing Your Space” is a short go-to guide that covers topics including:

Setting up your first home
Defining the function of each room or space
Organizing tips for every room
Shopping for organizing products
Decorating and adding your own personality to your new place
Cleaning tips
Decluttering tips
Maintaining your new apartment or home
Keeping track of home repairs
Caring for your household appliances
Stocking up on household supplies
Keeping a home inventory

If you or someone you know is making a fresh start and moving out on their own for the first time, check out “Organized Adulting – Organizing Your Space” by Professional Organizer, Nancy Haworth, available for purchase on Amazon today.

I want to thank my family, friends and home organizing clients who inspired me and encouraged me to write this e-book. If there are other organizing topics you’d like to learn more about in my future e-books, please let me know in the comments, or contact me with your thoughts.

Increase Productivity by Decluttering and Organizing

Published: March 20, 2019

Increased productivity is something many of us strive for both at work and at home. By decluttering and organizing your physical space, you can help save time and increase productivity in your life.

Here’s a look at how decluttering and organizing can result in increased productivity:

You will spend less time searching for items you know you own but cannot find.
Procrastination will decrease when everything is organized because proper organization makes it easier to start a project.
You will eliminate distractions. Living and working in an uncluttered space can make it easier for you to focus on a task.
You will be able to put away your belongings more quickly, saving time and boosting productivity.
By setting up an organized calendar and other planning tools, it will be easier for you to plan your day based on your priorities.
With an organized kitchen, it will be faster to plan meals, put away groceries, find ingredients and cook.
A decluttered bedroom is often more relaxing, allowing you to sleep better, which will result in improved productivity when you’re awake.
Setting up an organized area for your sporting goods or exercise equipment, or a designated exercise area in your home, will promote regular physical activity, which can result in more energy throughout the day.
Creating an uncluttered and organized system for incoming mail will boost efficiency when paying bills and responding to mail.
Organized and decluttered bedroom closets and dressers will allow you to get dressed and ready more quickly each morning.
Setting up an organized home office area will give you privacy and eliminate distractions, making it easier to get work done at home.
An organized laundry routine will save you valuable time each week sorting, washing, folding and putting away clothing.
Decluttered and organized bathrooms help to save time in your daily routine at the start and end of each day.
A less cluttered home means there is less to clean and dust, drastically cutting the amount of time it takes you to clean your home.

As you can see decluttering and organizing your home does a lot more than just make the space look tidy. An organized home can save you valuable time in many aspects of your life, resulting in improved health, well-being and a boost in productivity.

Please contact me if you’d like more information on how my services can help you to declutter, organize, and simplify your life. If you’re located in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, I offer my hands-on in-person professional organizing services in blocks of time of 3 hours or more. If you live outside the Raleigh area, I offer 1-hour sessions of virtual organizing assistance over video chat.

Conquering 5 Common Excuses About Keeping Clutter

Published: February 20, 2019

When decluttering your home, you need to carefully look at each item and determine if you want to keep it, or if it can be donated, sold, recycled or discarded. As you take a look at these objects you’ve accumulated throughout your life, you may come up with excuses on why you need to keep something. Here are my tips on conquering 5 common excuses about keeping clutter:

“It might be worth something some day!”

Most common household objects very rarely increase in value. Ask yourself how much it is worth to you to have this item take up space in your home for years, not to mention the time spent storing, cleaning and maintaining it so that you might resell it one day.

“It has sentimental value!”

Keeping some sentimental items is fine, but most people need to set limits on how many sentimental items they can keep due to limited space. Limit yourself to a certain number of sentimental items and carefully curate what you keep. For example, if you have 100 objects that remind you of a family member, narrow it down to your 5 or 10 favorites and declutter the rest.

“I might need it someday!”

If you can determine exactly when you will need an item, definitely keep it. If you are just holding on to an item because you may hypothetically need it someday, think about how much space the item is taking up in your home, or how much time you spend storing or cleaning and maintaining it, and then reconsider if you need it. Also, if this is something that is readily available and inexpensive, you may be better off getting rid of the item you currently own and repurchasing it later if you find that you need it again.

“It was a gift!”

A gift has served its purpose when the gift-giver has experienced the joy of finding and giving this item to the gift-receiver. You will alway have the memory of receiving that gift whether you keep it or not. If you find the gift is not something you use or need, remember when decluttering a gift you are not throwing away the memory of the person who gave it to you.

“It was expensive!”

Keep in mind that many things are expensive, but that the money was spent when you originally purchased the item. This item may be a sunk cost, but holding onto the item won’t make that money come back to you, unless it truly is a valuable object that you can resell.

My Favorite Kitchen Organizing Products

Published: January 23, 2019

I love organizing kitchens because the transformation can really save time and improve productivity for tasks such as meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, dish washing, setting of the table and more. Kitchens always have items moving in and out of the space, with constant restocking, usage and cleaning taking place. There are many wonderful products available to help improve organization in kitchens. Take a look at some of my favorite kitchen organizing products:

Silverware drawer dividers

Over the cabinet door organizers

Hooks for over the cabinet door

Cabinet riser shelves

Roll out pot and pan organizers

Pan and pot lid organizers

A countertop cooking utensil holder

A recipe book and tablet stand

The exact size and style of organizing product you choose depends on the layout of your kitchen, the size of the space, and of course your personal organizing style. For a more detailed and personalized look at what will work for YOU and in YOUR kitchen, feel free to contact me for a free phone consultation to discuss my virtual organizing sessions, available nationwide, or in-person organizing sessions in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.