Destination Organization Blog

Travel with Kids – How to Keep Kids Entertained in the Car

Posted by Jamie on May 10th, 2012

Most of my husband’s family lives in Minnesota so we make regular road trips, which take about 6 hours each way.  Over the past 8 years, I have come up with many ways to travel with kids in the car for so many hours!  With a little organization, you can reduce “screen time” while increasing everyone’s fun.  Let me share the car travel tips that were most effective for me.

  •  Bring along one or two new toys, crafts or books to spark some interest!  Even if you don’t have something brand new, try pulling out a good travel toy or something that they haven’t seen, played with or read in a while.  That’s almost like a new toy!
  • Buy or borrow a lap desk that attaches to the car seat or booster.  The one we have has a cup holder and a place for a couple of crayons.  This tray has been a life saver!  My son was able to eat snacks, draw, color, play with toys or just read using this tray.
  • If you have a child that still takes naps, try scheduling your trip over some of the time that they will nap.  This worked like a charm when Lucas was still napping twice a day!  We would pack up the car after breakfast and by the time we got going, he was ready for his morning nap.  After lunch he would take nap number two!  Boy, I miss those days.  (This method worked pretty well when we went on a plane trip too.)
  • If you travel by car regularly, get a few (maybe 5) nice toys that will work well when played in the car.  I really like magnetic toys for the car.  Things didn’t roll away and rarely fall off the lap desk!  Some of my other favorite toys are Magna Doodle, Brain Quest cards, invisible ink coloring books and reusable sticker packs.

    Magnetic Scene Maker Available in Many Themes

  • Pack a basket full of these fun toys, books, spiral notebook of paper, zip lock of crayons or washable markers and set it on the seat between kids.  Check out this car seat organizer.
  • Have a bag packed with healthy snacks and a covered cup for each kid and dole them out as needed.  No need to buy gas station food if you plan ahead!  Choose snacks that are not sticky, gooey or extra crumbly, if you don’t want the car to be a blowout when you arrive!  I prefer one-bite snacks like goldfish and the like.  If they aren’t crunching several bites out of a cracker, there’s likely to be less mess.

If everyone gets tired of the toys, there are the old-fashioned car games we played as kids!

What are your kid-friendly travel tips? Do you have a magic activity for the car or plane?

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Buying in Bulk – The Warehouse Club Savings Myth

Posted by Jamie on May 3rd, 2012

Have you ever driven around your neighborhood in the dead of winter and noticed how Kitchen pantry Beforemany people park their nice cars outside their 3-car garage?  What’s the garage full of that keeps them from parking in there?  I’ll tell you what’s in there!  Old junk their family no longer needs and bulk purchases from warehouse clubs!

I don’t understand the logic behind buying say, toilet paper or paper towels, in bulk so you can save a few bucks and then parking your $25,000 (or more!) car out in the elements.  Is the $5-$10 you save each year buying toilet paper in bulk worth displacing your nice car?  And who wants to scrape the ice off of their car, Closet Organization Before

especially if they don’t have to?

I have also had clients who have had to purchase storage, like shelving, to house all their bulk purchases that they saved money on.  I’m ngarage organizingot sure the logic makes sense there either.

And then there’s the time that you have to spend managing your bulk purchases: driving further to get to a warehouse store, making room, reorganizing so the oldest stuff is consumed first…Oh, wait, you don’t rotate your perishables?  Pantry so deep you don’t know what’s back there?  Then you’re wasting money on OTC drugs, canned goods and boxed items that have gone bad.  But, hey, you got a good deal so…I’ve seen this at client’s homes plenty of times.

Back to your time.  Your time is valuable, right?  Isn’t “more time” something we all wish for?  Why spend your free time finding places to stuff your paper towels or 10 cases of soda?  I’ve never heard anyone wishing for more paper towels.

Are you a warehouse club shopper? Do you find yourself throwing away club items that have gone bad?

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Meal Planning: Clutter’s Connection to Weight

Posted by Jamie on April 26th, 2012

I remember reading my favorite Peter Walsh book, Does This Clutter Make by Butt Look Fat, and being struck by Peter’s connection to life clutter (stuff, time, commitments, Healthy foodmental clutter) and our health and weight.  How can you be healthy and plan meals if you cannot find your kitchen counter tops, keep a calendar, have clean exercise clothes or have healthy food in the house?  It totally makes sense, right?

He also noted that you should always know where your next meal is coming from.  That got me thinking as I am one who always knows when and what I’ll be eating next! (In fact, lunch is coming up in a few minutes!)  But I thought it was a bad thing to be thinking about it so much. Peter feels it is beneficial because you’ll be less likely to eat junk, fast food or not at all, if you have a plan for your next meal. How right he is!

Getting together a meal plan and cooking regularly is not as daunting as it might seem. Here are a few steps you get you started.

  1. Take a look at the upcoming week and determine which days you or someone else in the house will be able to cook a meal.  (If you don’t see how you would have time to cook ever, you might just want to call me now! But seriously, there are ways to make it happen.)
  2. Write out a list of meals you will make on those days.  (To me, this is the hardest part….what’s for dinner?) There are a number of things you can do to make this simple. Create a list of 5-10 rotating, easy but healthy meals that you make during the week.  On weekends, you can mix in a fun, new dish that might take a little more time to prepare or go out to dinner.  Another way to make the meal selection process easier is to start up a list of dishes you typically cook. When you’re meal planning, you can “shop” for meals from this list.
  3. Write your shopping list based on your meal plan and go get the food. I love the Grocery iQ shopping list app on my phone.  I have my list at all times!
  4. Watch a few episodes of 30-Minute Meals on Food Network!  Rachel Ray, whether you love her or not, HAS to be all about being organized and simple to cook this quickly. She gets all her ingredients out at once, chops items only once (even if they are in multiple parts of the meal), dumps all the scraps into a bowl for fast clean up, gets the longer cooking dishes going first, etc.  
  5. Get you dinner underway as soon as you arrive home. Often times, recipes have a short time where you can leave it unattended and go change out of your work clothes, get the mail, etc. 
  6. Use healthy shortcuts where possible.  Examples would be prepared salad mixes, pre-cut fresh veggies, frozen veggies, shredded packaged cheese, whole cooked chickens and pre-cut fresh meat.
  7. Read through the whole recipe before you start.  I learned this one from a cooking class I took.  The chef would give us a hard time if we had not read it first! You will be less likely to make a mistake and you can be more efficient if you know what’s coming next.
  8. Plan ahead for busy weekdays where no one can cook or a family member will be eating at a different time.  I do this by making extras of meals that are easily freezable.  On days I can’t cook, I pull out a frozen soup, stew or baked pasta, for example, and serve it with a salad or bread.  Leftovers from earlier in the week can also fill the void for a missing family member. 
  9. Take what you need out of the freezer each evening for tomorrow’s meal.  

Have any great ways to cook healthy food daily?  Which tips will you try?  Check back soon for kitchen organizing tips!

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Where to donate…?

Posted by Jamie on April 16th, 2012

You’ve started organizing clutter and have found a bunch of things you no longer need.  Please remember that anything that is still in working order can be useful to someone in need so donate whatever you can before recycling.  But now you ask yourself, “where can I donate this?”

As a professional organizer, the topic of donating comes up all the time.  My clients want to do the right thing and be responsible with their unneeded items so I have accumulated many donation resources.  Below is a “where to donate list” for household goods and the odds and ends that are not taken by every organization.  Inevitably, there will be things that are beyond their useful life and are not quality enough to donate. Don’t throw it out, recycle it! For more on “where to recycle“, see my related post.

Computers -

Donating a computer can be a difficult task, but it is possible. If you have a computer that is “out of date” for you, someone else may be able to use it. The sooner you move to donate it to someone else, the more likely someone can use it!
Dell Recycling and Refurbishing

Goodwill

National Christina Foundation
PCs for Schools

Cell Phones –
Many cell phone service providers accept phones at their stores for recycling or reuse. Local organizations have phone drives throughout the year. Some groups will reuse functioning phones or rebuild non-working ones, others recycle only. Watch your local paper for upcoming events.

Second Chance Resale Shop – Suburban Chicago drop-off locations.  Look at the bottom of the web page for information about phone collections.

Household Items -

Goodwill -Televisions, computers, clothing, shoes and boots, jewelry, hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, books, records, compact disks, video tapes and DVDs, games, toys, sports equipment, housewares, small appliances, collectibles, antiques, knickknacks,hand tools, small power tools, linens, curtains, blankets, stereos, radios, VCRs, DVD players, furniture

IL Am Vets  – (708) 388-7800
Limited zip code pick up. Also have drop locations. Take complete computers, novels, fiction, children’s books, inspirational, religious books and exercise equipment, toys (not larger than what fits in a bag or box), housewares, clothes, stuffed animals.

Salvation Army (888) 574-2587
Books, complete computers, furniture in good condition that doesn’t need cleaning or repair, TVs, appliances, clothes, aluminum Christmas trees, Christmas decorations, collectibles and more — must be in reusable condition.

People’s Resource Center, located in Wheaton, takes clothes, household goods, computers, art supplies, books and classroom materials. They help people in DuPage County, IL, with job skills training, literacy, job assistance and basic needs such as food and rent assistance.

Fabric is taken by Re:New, located in Glen Ellyn. They turn it into various new things like bags.  They hire refugee women, provide jobs and training.

Shoes are taken by Soles 4 Souls, whether they’re wearable or not. They donate what’s useable to developing nations and recycle the rest.

Eye wear can be donated to Give The Gift of Sight. This organization repairs glasses and passes them on to people who need them.

Baby blankets, stuffed animals and books. Project Night Night They provide comfort items to children in homeless shelters. There are no local (Chicago) drop centers so all donations have to be mailed. This is a wonderful way to unload gently used stuffed animals and provide a sense of security to homeless children!

Furniture - Sharing Connections Furniture, located in DuPage County, takes gently used cribs, mattress and box spring sets, dressers, table and chair sets, sofas and loveseats. Drop off Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m.–noon to the warehouse location at 5111 Chase Ave. Downers Grove, IL 60515. Residents of Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, Lombard, Naperville, Warrenville, Wheaton, and Winfield, IL, can schedule a free pickup by calling 630-971-0565,ext. 300, or visiting the website.

Office and art supplies, books, cell phones and ink jet cartridges can be recycled and donated through SCARCE, located in Glen Ellyn, IL. They donate items to under-served schools and developing nations.

Home Improvement Supplies - 

ReStore- Habitat for Humanity. Locations across the US. Accepts reusable appliances, building materials and furniture. Items accepted include fixtures, lumber, cabinets, doors, counters, landscaping blocks, new carpet,etc. Check web site for current listing.

Women’s Business Attire –
Second Chance Resale Shop Shops are located in Westmont and Naperville Illinois.

Poised for Success 312 S. Westmore Ave., Lombard IL 60148
(630) 691-1455

Everything Else -
If all else fails and you have something you think can be useful to someone else, put it up on Freecycle. There are local networks for all areas. All you have to do it post it and let people know how they can pick it up! The Freecycle Network(tm) – Recycling & give aways

I recommend to my clients to have a box or large bag in a central storage location that they can drop any item into that is no longer needed.  When the box is full, donate it!  If you get postcards from donation organizations in the mail, sign up for pick up at your house.  How convenient!  Once you’ve donated, they’ll keep calling.  To find a group that comes to your neighborhood, try Donation Town.

What do  you have laying around that you can donate today and help someone else?  Do you know of any other great resources to add to my list?

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Where to recycle…?

Posted by Jamie on April 16th, 2012

You’ve started organizing clutter and have found a bunch of things you no longer need.  Inevitably, there will be things that are beyond their useful life. Don’t throw it out, recycle it!  But now you ask yourself, “where can I recycle this?”  There are so many more things that can be recycled beyond what they take at your curb!

As a professional organizer, the topic of recycling comes up all the time.  My clients want to do the right thing and be responsible with their waste items so I have accumulated many recycling resources.  Below is a “where to recycle list” for the odds and ends that are not taken at your curb each week.  Please remember that anything that is still in working order can be useful to someone in need so donate whatever you can before recycling.  For more on “where to donate“, see my related post.

General Recycling Information -

Find a recycling location for just about anything, anywhere at Earth 911.

The city of Chicago has a very comprehensive web site covering recycling topics, but most useful is the “what to recycle where” page. Even if you don’t live in the city there are things to be learned from their site regarding options provided by various companies. Chicago Recycling Coalition – Home

For those of you who want to do recycling in DuPage County, try the DuPage Recycling Guide.    (If you’re looking to unload household hazardous waste, select the “Waste” page.)  All others, check your local government site for information for your area.

Computer and Electronics Recycling and Donating -

As of January 1st, 2012, it is illegal to put electronic waste in the garbage in Illinois.  This includes televisions, computer equipment, microwaves and DVD players.  The Illinois EPA has a complete list of items as well as recycling options.

Below are options for recycling and reuse/refurbishing.
Best Buy Electronics Recycling and Trade In Program
Dell Recycling
Supply Chain Services Inc. (This organization is ISO 14001: Environmental Management Systems certified and is located in Lombard, IL.)
SIMS Recycling (Located in West Chicago, IL.)

Staples
e-Stewards (This organization is working towards a responsible electronics recycling certification. Find your local “e-steward” on this site.)

National Christina Foundation
PCs for Schools

Cell Phones –
Many cell phone service providers accept phones at their stores for recycling or reuse. Local organizations have phone drives throughout the year. Some groups will reuse functioning phones or rebuild non-working ones, others recycle only. Watch your local paper for upcoming events.
Staples

DuPage County Cell Phone Recycling

Wireless Foundation

Recycle My Cell Phone

Household Items -

CFLs and Fluorescent Light Bulbs – Did you know that compact (CFL) and tube fluorescent light bulbs are household hazardous waste and are not to be put in with the regular trash?  They contain mercury, a heavy metal that can leach into the water supply if these bulbs go into landfill.  Home Depot and most Ace Hardware Stores now take CFLs for proper disposal.  There are special instructions for cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb developed by the EPA.

CD recycling – It is not easy to recycle CDs due to their more complicated make up but these two links provide ideas of ways to reuse CDs as well as a location to send them to for recycling.
Tree Hugger

Planet Green

Office and art supplies, books, cell phones and ink jet cartridges can be recycled and donated through SCARCE, located in Glen Ellyn, IL. They donate useable items to under-served schools and developing nations and recycle the rest.

Athletic shoes are recycled by Reuse-A-Shoe. They make them into “Nike Grind”, which is used to make outdoor athletic fields and playgrounds.

Corks – If you drink a lot of wine, you may want to collect up natural corks and recycle them at Yemm & Hart Cork Recycling. They turn them into cork floor tiles.

Foam packaging can be reused or recycled. Some mail box stores will take used “peanuts”. Other foam packaging can be recycled. Check out Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers to find recyclers in your area.

Latex Paint recycling by Earth Paints

Prescription Drugs can be disposed of safely at many police stations and at periodic collection days.  Proper disposal keeps medicines from leaching into our water supply.  Check your local county site for the RxBox program in your area.  (The link here is for DuPage County.)

Everything Else -
If all else fails and you have something you think can be useful to someone else, put it up on Freecycle. There are local networks for all areas. All you have to do it post it and let people know how they can pick it up! The Freecycle Network(tm) – Recycling & give aways

If you have space to accommodate recycling items in your home, try designating a box of specialty recycling items and hold them for a quarterly or annual mass recycling event in your area.  Keep an eye on local newspapers and web sites to find upcoming recycling events.

What will you start recycling now that you know where to take it?  Do you have any great recycling resources to add to my list?  Please share in the comments!

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I Just Need Bigger Pants!: Small House Organizing

Posted by Jamie on January 10th, 2012

Oftentimes, while working with my clients to help them get organized, my clients say they could be organized if they just had more space (read “bigger house”). But isn’t that kind of like saying, “I’m not getting fat, I just need bigger pants?!”

Sure, a bigger house,or bigger pants,is one way to temporarily mask the problem at hand. But before you know it, the bigger house will be full of stuff too. Many of us professional organizers tell our clients that they need to learn to live and be organized in their current space before they go on to a bigger place. I think this is the only way to learn how to get and stay organized.

So how do you make your too-small house work for one or two more years? Go for the low-hanging fruit! Taking on those obvious problem areas can really make a big impact. And getting organized, and the maintenance of the newly organized spaces, is a whole lot less expensive than a new house or remodeling.

Invest in some organizing as a way to save your sanity, and maybe your marriage too!

9 ways to make your current home fit your family without remodeling:

1. Make more space by purging ruthlessly. (In case you’re not sure…”ruthlessly” means without pity,compassion;merciless!) Start with the most cluttered and most used rooms. Please donate and then recycle as much of the unneeded items as possible. Not sure where send the stuff to? Check my blog posts for an extensive list of options. Where to Donate, Where to Recycle
 2. Increase functionality of each room by defining how you use it. Keep only the items associated with that use in that room.Closet organizing
3. Maximize the storage space you have by going vertical. Add a second hanging bar, an old dresser or shelves to a closet, attic, basement or garage. Adding these will also make access more convenient.
4. Invest in custom or semi-custom closet systems. One hanging bar and one shelf does not qualify as a closet system! This closet uses the vertical space by hanging storage on the doors and by having two rods for coats.
5. Use doors and walls as storage space.
6. Because the kitchen is the hub of the home, spend a bit of time here. Keep frequently used items in prime real estate, store the other stuff in the back or in another storage area. (Who really needs daily access to all 20 wine glasses?? Well…maybe keep just a couple roll out shelvingglasses nearby!) You may want to invest in roll-out shelving for your lower cabinets or pantry. This will increase the accessibility of this space significantly.
7. Rotate seasonally. For example, bring out the roller blades and baseball gear in the summer and store hats, boots and winter coats in the basement.
8. Customize your entryway with the storage you need. Add shoe storage, hooks, closet system or an armoire to eliminate the heap of stuff at the door. While you’re at it, set a 2-pairs of shoes limit, per family member,at the door! See some great entryway photos here.See another great entry/laundry area here.
9. Consider off-site storage as a last resort. Really assess whether is it worth paying $600 a year to keep your college furniture! (Refer to tip #1.)

Share your great ideas with us! Do you have a gem of a way to make your small home work for you?

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Are you a “resolution-ist” or a “lifestylist”?

Posted by Jamie on January 3rd, 2012

Every year at this time there is much talk of making New Year’s resolutions.  Heck, even my 8-year-old son said he was making a resolution this year.  (And, by the way, his parents would be very happy if he kept his resolution!)  But I see a problem with resolution-making.
Let’s use the health club as a perfect example of resolution-ist behavior. Every January, my health club activity level soars on about January 2nd. The parking lot is crammed, all the treadmills are full, you now have to get to spin class 30 minutes early so you can get a bike….Very inconvenient for all of us who are regulars at the gym!  But by February 1st, if not sooner, life at the gym is back to normal.  All the newbies are gone and we’re back to seeing the familiar faces we always see there.
So why do all the resolution-ists drop out within a month?  Because they haven’t made a lifestyle change.  They simply got fired up to accomplish their goal of being more healthy but didn’t have a plan.  It can be easy in the beginning of a new resolution to be highly motivated but then regular life happens, a cold, a trip, work, kid’s activities, etc. The next thing you know you’ve skipped a week, ate a bag of cookies and you figure you might as well give up!  Oh well, we’ll get ‘em next year, they say.

In my work as a professional organizer, there are common denominators on why people need my help.  Often times, my clients have tried to get organized or may have actually been organized at some point, but then fell off the wagon.  Maybe they didn’t have a maintenance plan, a major life event happened or the systems were too complex.  Getting organized is the easy part.  Losing weight is the easy part.  Signing up at the health club is also easy.  Making organization or healthy living a way of life is the hardest thing to do.  It requires a plan!

Using the healthy living as the goal, how will you make it a lifestyle?  Some great ways are to take a look at your calendar and block out the major activities for a typical week, i.e. work hours, sleep hours, family time, errands.  Where in your week will visits to the health club fit best?  If you can’t identify a 2-3 times a week where you usually will be able to get there, then you’re going to have to revamp the schedule. What will you move, change or drop in order to make time for this new goal?  Always delete before you add!

Another facet of our healthy living example would be eating healthy and eating at home more often.  How will you accomplish this?  You will need a weekly review of your calendar to see when you will be able to cook meals, a meal plan and a weekly trip to the grocery store to buy all the supplies you will need for the week’s meals.  Without the plan and the supplies, you’ll be ordering deep dish pizza in no time!

And this brings me to organization, of course! Having an organized kitchen and meal plan will aid in eating healthy meals at home on a regular basis.  One of my favorite books on getting and staying organized is by Peter Walsh.  I love the title because it’s catches your attention and it is true.  Check out Does This Clutter Make by Butt Look Fat. It’s a quick read and I love Peter’s direct and funny style.  He tells it like it is and sometimes that’s what we need to hear!

What lifestyle change will you make this year?  Say it out loud and make a plan!  Please share your thoughts on lifestyle goals here and feel free to ask me questions about organization and meeting your goals.

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Simple Way to Keep Tupperware in Place in the Dishwasher: Band It

Posted by Jamie on December 19th, 2011

Do your plastic bowls fly around and flip over in the dishwasher, only to come out still dirty or full of soap?   Do you try to find ways to keep your plastic bowls in place so they’ll get clean?  I love my Ziplock plastic bowls but they are so light that they rarely stay in place.  Even the heavier Tupperware bowls flip over sometimes.

Band It for Tupperware

Locked and Loaded

I saw this at Wal-Mart over a year ago and bought it on a whim.  Band It is a clip and rubber band system that allows you to hold your plastic bowls in place in the dishwasher.  The answer to my life’s greatest problem!  I just love this product!!  It actually works really well, is simple to use and inexpensive. I also love it because it saves me time because I don’t have to rewash bowls that flipped over.Band It for Stemware

I prefer not to wash my stemware by hand but am concerned they’ll break in the dishwasher.  Now I use Band It to hold stemware in place so they don’t clank and break.

I needed a replacement set after heavy use and the Walmart by me didn’t have them anymore but they are available at Band It at Amazon.com.

Do you suffer from the same plastic bowl issue?

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How to Organize a Bathroom: DIY Bathroom Storage Solutions

Posted by Jamie on December 1st, 2011

You don’t have to gut your bathroom to get some better storage.  Here are a few DIY bathroom storage solutions you can do to make your bathroom organized and functional:

  • Purge all the old toiletries you haven’t used in ages.  They do go bad!  (I used some really old aloe once and it burned my arm.  Really!  But that’s in another post…)  If you
    Medicine Cabinet

    If you don't have space, don't buy it!

    purge old stuff, things you no longer need, and vow to stop buying the latest scent of every lotion and potion, you’ll have more storage than you know what to do with!
  • Add a medicine cabinet.  I suggested this to a client recently as a replacement for their large mirror.  There really wasn’t enough proper storage for mousse, hair spray and the like, even after we purged a ton.  This should be a fairly easy installation, unless there’s wiring or duct work behind it, but will likely require paint touch up.
  • Add a shelf or, better yet, a roll out shelf under the sink!  I added a shelf to my guest bath vanity and it provided a ton of extra storage for towels and cleaning products.  This was totally simple and cheap too.
  • Use baskets to group like items that are small.  Label the basket

    Label everything

    as to what goes in it.  This will keep little items from rolling around and getting lost.
  • Use a lazy Susan to make your supplies visible and easy to access.

What needs better organization in your bathroom? What’s the oldest and scariest thing in there?

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How Not to Get Organized!

Posted by Jamie on November 26th, 2011

When I work with my clients, they have all tried to get organized on their own.  I can tell because there are all kinds of containers in their houses!  Why did they struggle to get organized and/or fail to stay organized?  The most common cause of organizational system failure is putting the cart before the horse, so to speak.  We get excited about getting organized and the first thing we do is go out and buy something to fix the problem, right?  It’s kind of like grocery shopping before you’ve decided what you want to cook.  If you don’t know what you’re going to cook, how can you buy the ingredients?  If you don’t know what you have to organize or where it will be stored, how can you buy containers?

We all make this mistake at times.  We recently modeled our bathroom and I was sure I was going to need a drawer system in my linen closet.  I almost went and purchased it before the bathroom was done.

No drawers needed!

Boy was I glad I saved my money by waiting to see if I needed it!  We had a tower cabinet installed in the bathroom that held tons of stuff that used to be in the closet.  Turns out I didn’t need any drawers after all.

There’s a simple process to getting organized and it starts with sorting like items together.  Kids learn this process in kindergarten.  It’s easy enough.  For my clients, often the purging comes naturally as we

pile up 20 pairs of black dress slacks together, for example.  Had we not put all the black slacks together, we wouldn’t have known we had too many black ones or unflattering ones.  We might have gone and bought pants hangers for twice as many pants as we would actually end up with.

Want to get organized and stay organized?  Please sort and purge and then see how what you have left fits into the space and containers you already have.   You may find you have all that you need!  This will save you some money and a trip to the store.   Oh ya, and remember to label your containers too!

Are you a cart before the horse person?  What interesting items did you uncover when going through your stuff trying to get organized?

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