CTR Organizing Team

Does you house need to shed some pounds? I think if we are honest, all of our houses would be better off if it lost a couple of hundred or maybe even a couple of thousand pounds. Most of us would say that we don’t have enough storage space, when the truth is we have more belongings than we need. Over the years as I have organized homes, I have realized that organizing is very much like weight loss. All of us want a quick fix that will get us where we want to be with as little inconvenience and work as possible. However, we find that these quick fixes continue to fail. We may get somewhere, lose a little weight or tidy up a little, but before long we find ourselves right back where we started.

Some organizing shows lead us to believe a major transformation can take place in 30 minutes. At the end, they show a happy homeowner who loves the transformation. They don’t always show the difficult process one goes through as they make decisions about what to keep and what to pass on. We are lead to believe we should be able to achieve that kind of transformation quickly and easily as well.

To find a real solution that produces real results, we must realize that it will not be a “piece of cake”. There are no quick solutions to a transformed life. It takes diligence, discipline and sometimes a little support and accountability. Here are some suggestions for getting started:

* Be committed to the organizing effort and get all members of the house onboard. Decide it is time for a change.

* Have the supplies you need for the job – trash bags, storage containers, labeler, etc.

* Start on a specific room. Have bags (or containers) labeled “keep”, “donate” and “trash.” Start sorting and don’t move on to another room until this task is done. It is very easy to get distracted.

* Get rid of the trash and donations immediately. We don’t want it to get back into circulation. Sort the items to keep by category and put them in a labeled container. Add any shelving or furniture needed for your system and put the items away.

Go onto the next room and do the same thing. As you get rid of things, think of it as losing weight and how much lighter your house will feel when it shed those pounds.

Cathy Bates is a Professional Organizer and owner of Practical Solutions Professional Organizing and a Golden Circle Member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). They offer hands on organizing help for homes and offices. To find out more about how they can assist you, contact them at www.psorganizing.com or call (909)810-3719.

A cluttered and messy home is always hard to deal with. What are you going to do? This article will provide you with pointers for several proactive and preventive steps you can take to create a more beautiful and organized home.

Clothes can be the biggest barrier to achieving this goal. Most of the time, we simply have way more clothing than we really need. So much so, that most of them simply end up getting strewn about in various places where they shouldn’t be. The first thing you should do is gather all the clothes that you no longer wear and give them to someone else.

You can give them to friends, family, or even donate them to charity. The bottom line is, you need to get rid of all that excess. As a result, you will find it easier to organize your clothes, and possibly other items in your home.

If you’re having any second thoughts, just think about how difficult it was to find space for those items in your home and how much easier it will be with approximately of free space available, now that those unnecessary pieces are gone.

Second of all, gather all small, loose items that you still want to keep but have no space for in your home. This can include items such as alarm clocks, books, pillows, picture frames, and other keepsakes.

Then, go buy several large plastic bins and use them as storage until you find an appropriate space for those loose items. This will do you a big favor, especially during the decorating and reorganization process as it is always easier to envision how you want your home to look when there is not too much clutter around.

Once you’ve accomplished this and you still feel that your home seems cluttered or messy, it may be time to get rid of some furniture. By now you may realize that your problem lies in the fact that you have too much furniture for such limited amount of space.

To remedy this situation, you may want to sell some of the bulkier furniture. Once you do this, you’ll end up freeing large amounts of space, and it will be easier for you to create a more beautiful and organized home.

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You are probably like many Americans today that live in a nice single family home. However, if you have kids than you probably already know how much stuff ends up from the house into the garage. Because of this, garage storage systems may very well be one of the best ways to organize all that clutter and make your garage look clean and organized.

You will soon find that your garage is a catch all for all types of items such as old broken TV’s, clothes that no longer fit, old bicycles, and all kinds of garden equipment among others. However, when you make use of a great storage system you will soon be able to organize all that clutter and find that you will have room for your car once again.

Now that you have all the items sorted and gone through you will now need to find a place that you will be able to put all the things you have decided are worth keeping. You can begin by putting as many things as you can into various bins and boxes and be sure to mark them so you know what each one contains.

For things such as rakes, shovels, and bikes among others you can install wall brackets on any unused walls. For the items that you may rarely use you can install overhead bins. Finally you can also install shelves that contain see through bins so that you will be able to see what is inside of them easily. This will allow you to find just about anything you may be searching for quickly and easily.

Another thing you may want to consider would be to install garage cabinets for all the bigger items that you know you will be using often. This way you will be able to access them quickly. Also overhead racks are great to store bicycles and other bulky items off the floor.

You can find garage storage systems just about anywhere you look however, the Internet would be the best place to begin your search. Here you will be able to study a variety of different styles and storage systems. You will also be able to comparison shop to be sure that you are getting the best deal.

Also you can head to your local home improvement store. Here they will be able to take your basic design plan for your garage and help you design a storage system to fit right in. They will also be able to offer you tips and advice on the best way to install these systems.

Building a garage storage system does not have to be difficult nor does it have to cost you thousands of dollars. When you take the time to consider all the above steps you will have a great system in no time and with very little money spent.

If you’re like most of us you use your garage as storage overflow. You need garage storage systems more specifically overhead garage storage. We’ve got the ultimate inside scoop! You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.