The Home Organizing Workbook: Clearing Your Clutter, Step by Step

INTRODUCTION

Home organization is the great equalizer. A scrupulously clean person can have a spick-and-span but poorly organized home in which clearing off the dining room table becomes an all-day task, and much-needed items seem like buried treasure without the proverbial map. On the other hand, those on the sloppy side can maintain an impressively well-organized home, in which everything sits in its logical place, and each room is simple to clean and to keep clean. Whether you count yourself the former, the latter, or (most likely) somewhere in between. The Home Organizing Workbook can help you improve existing home-organizing systems and create new ones that will work for the long term. What ultimately determines good home organization is a system that works for you—a system that makes it easy for you to clear the clutter, streamline your busy life, and make your home a restful and nurturing place.

Home disorganization comes in many forms. An approach to organization that works for someone you know doesn’t mean it will necessarily work for you and your family. An ill-fitting system can prevent you from accomplishing household tasks and your family from enjoying daily activities. At worst, it will promote, rather than remedy, the accumulation of clutter. Because your home-organizing problems are different from your neighbor’s, you’ll need to consider a variety of potential solutions.

The Home Organizing Workbook will help you assess your home’s needs and find effective ways to meet them.

Are you unable to relax in your living areas because you’re surrounded and distracted by piles of possessions?

Do you suspect your closets and storage areas are filled with items that you don’t even know you own?

Do you keep things because you might need them later, then find you rarely look at them again—until you do look at them and declare you might need them later?

Do you delay tidying up cluttered areas because you fear the task will turn into a long, involved project?

Do you think that organizing your home is the same as cleaning it?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book can help you by offering simple, step-by-step strategies for clearing the clutter.

No doubt about it—trying to change your habits can be overwhelming. To control the clutter in your home, however, you don’t need to achieve and maintain a state of orderly perfection. Instead, you can begin in one room, or even an area of a room, and solve one problem at a time, one step at a time. In the process—with this workbook as your guide—you will develop systems that function best for your home and help ensure long-term success.

The Home Organizing Workbook walks you through each key room in your home, starting with the kitchen and ending with such storage areas as garages, basements, and attics. A simple questionnaire at the beginning of each chapter directs you to the hot spots that need attention. Once you’ve defined these problem areas, you can turn to the corresponding solutions. Each chapter also has step-by-step projects that help you jump-start the process of clearing the clutter. At the end is a list of indispensable organizing tools and accessories. An extensive resource guide at the back of the book puts these tools at your fingertips.

Now that you have The Home Organizing Workbook in hand, jettison any pressures to achieve organizational perfection. Turn to a chapter, go into a room, and explore the practical advice and handy solutions. It’s time to get organized.

Chapter 1

The Kitchen

If your life is like most people’s, the kitchen is probably the busiest room in your home.

Not only do you prepare and cook meals there, but you may also rely on the kitchen as a part-time office for opening mail and paying bills, maybe even for helping your kids with their homework. The kitchen is also the natural gathering place for entertaining guests. You don’t want to straighten up every time you serve a meal or be in a panic before company arrives. There’s no reason to give up any of your diverse uses of the kitchen. Reorganizing will help you make the room less cluttered and more functional.

The first step is to assess how you are currently using storage space, counter-tops, and other parts of your kitchen. Answer the brief questionnaire in Chapter 1 to evaluate the problems you may need to solve. But if you have an itch to get started and don’t want to tackle a major reorganization, you can begin with one of three simple projects that will make a big difference in your kitchen.

Kitchen Questionnaire

1: Are your cabinets so overstuffed that you don’t know what you own—that maybe you do have a complete set of matching wineglasses or pasta bowls but can’t always find them?

2: Do you store appliances, pots, utensils, or items like cookbooks on the countertop or other surfaces because your cabinets are chock-full?

If you answered yes to either question, you probably lack sufficient cabinet space, a common problem in small homes and apartments. See Organizing Solutions for tips on maximizing limited cabinet storage.

3 : Do you need to look through a number of cabinets before you find the right lid for a pan, the saucers that match your favorite cups, or an appliance you regularly use?

4 : After a shopping trip or when cleaning up after cooking a meal, do you put items in the nearest available cabinet rather than in a consistently designated place?

Answering yes to either question may indicate that regardless of having adequate space, your cabinets may be in disarray. For advice on establishing good cabinet organization, go to Cabinet Organizing Solutions.

5 : Although you want to put all your mixing spoons or all your cloth napkins and placemats in one place, or want to store other kitchen essentials out of sight, are you unable to find a drawer that will hold them?

6 : Do your drawers contain stationery and hardware supplies or other items that you do not use for meal preparation, while your countertop is littered with kitchen utensils?

If you nodded yes to either of these questions, you probably lack adequate drawer space. For advice on maximizing limited drawer space or finding alternate storage solutions, turn to Drawer Organizing Solutions.

7 : Are your drawers so cluttered that you can’t find the spatula you prefer to use, or the extra filters for your coffeemaker, or other kitchen tools you need daily?

8: Are related items stored in separate drawers—aluminum foil in one drawer and plastic wrap in another, mixing spoons in one drawer and metal whisks in another?

As with cabinets, not having enough drawers may not be your problem. If you answered yes to either question, you’ll want to implement some of the drawer-organization strategies.

9 : When you are preparing a meal, do the appliances and other kitchen tools on your counter get in the way?

10 : Are you constantly cleaning up as you cook just to gain more counter space?

11 : When sharing the cooking with someone else in your family or with a guest, do you tend to run out of preparation space?

Responding yes to any of these questions indicates that you have insufficient counter space. Go to Counter Space Organizing Solutions for solutions to this common problem.

12 : Do you find that the most frequently used items are not easily accessible—that you need to traverse the kitchen too many times to assemble the cookware, utensils, and appliances you need to cook a meal?

13 : Is meal preparation taking much longer than you feel it should?

If you answered yes to either question, how you currently use your kitchen cabinets, drawers, counter space, and food storage does not promote smooth and efficient flow. Chances are that the cookware you use daily is not at your fingertips. Organizing Solutions offers ideas for making improvements that will save you time and reduce frustration.

14 : Have you ever thought you had an ingredient for a recipe only to be unable to locate it in the refrigerator, freezer, or pantry?

15 : Do you buy duplicate condiments, canned goods, spices, or other foods because they are not stored where you can locate them easily?

16 : When you check packaged foods in your refrigerator, freezer, or pantry, are some past their pull date and therefore unusable?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need a system for keeping track of food in your refrigerator, freezer, and pantry. See Organizing Solutions.

Tips

For many families, the kitchen is household headquarters. It’s the place where everyone begins the day, and it’s the place where they wind up after returning home. Your kitchen may be a repository of possessions that don’t belong. If so, consider some of these solutions.

Designate an empty bin or basket for magazines, toys, and other items that should not be stored in the kitchen. Assign one family member the job of regularly putting everything away.

Find or create a space where family members can temporarily stash books, jackets, and other belongings when they come home from work or school. Then make a rule that everything should all be removed from the kitchen by dinnertime.

Hang large envelopes or small baskets, or put bins or sorters on a shelf, and label one per family member. Use these containers to distribute paperwork, notes, and mail.

Common Kitchen Problems

Now that you know the areas in your kitchen that need attention, it’s time to focus on solutions. Some of following ideas will work for you; others may not be applicable to your situation. You will want to experiment with various solutions—and different storage accessories (see ORGANIZING Accessories)—to find the best choices for your kitchen.

Problem:

I don’t have enough cabinet space.

The most obvious solution is to install more cabinets. If you can afford this endeavor but are unable to spare the wall