Clutter Control Products
Space Treat: Manila Magic
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Have you ever tried to jam an inch or two of paper into a manila folder, only to find that the papers peak up so high they block the title that you just wrote on the tab? If so, this Space Treat is for you!
Maybe you've noticed, or maybe you haven't, but the manila folder has ridged horizontal lines (usually about 2-5 of them) across the bottom inch of the folder.
Fold at these nifty ridged lines and create a "box bottom" which better accommodates these wider chunks of paper without blocking the view of the tab.
Space-taculary, Erica
www.TheSpacialist.com
Product of the Week: Breakfast Carts!
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Color AND Space Efficiency, all in one piece!
Breakfast carts are not just for tiny homes. These nifty, space saving carts can be used for a multitude of purposes in homes, both large and small.
In larger houses, where a formal dining room is already available, a breakfast cart can be used in the kitchen as a gathering place for the family – a great place for kids to do their homework, parents to pay bills and singles to enjoy a quick meal.
In apartments, condos and smaller houses, a breakfast cart can do double duty in the kitchen as a prep area and eating area, and provides a great buffet and serving table at dinner parties.
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Wanna Get Organized? 3 Must-Do Steps!
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When it comes to organizing, it's best to set guidelines for a project - guidelines that will not only help define what you want but also help determine a project's time line and framework.
Don't say: I'll organize my house completely over the next
month.
Do say: I want to organize my entire house by Halloween, and I'm starting with the garage. I'll give myself 3 weeks to finish it, and then I will move to the bathroom, kitchen, etc.
Why is the 2nd option the best? Because…
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Space Treat: Go on Vacation.
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Around this time of year I start to hear the same comment from almost everyone I talk with… that they are thinking of using their vacation time this summer to get all their piles of paper and bulging closets organized once and for all. Sound familiar?
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to waste a week of your precious vacation organizing your stuff.
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Space Efficient Patio Furniture
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Summer is here, which means lots of evenings outdoors: barbecuing, entertaining and relaxing. A nice chair to sit in and a place to rest your drink are key to enjoying this warm, treasured season!
However, for many of us, a new, full size patio furniture set may be out of the question. Maybe for financial reasons, or maybe for lack of space, but whatever the reason, be hopeful that you can find patio furniture that fits both your patio and your budget.
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Space Treat: That Never-ending List…
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Ever feel that no matter how much you've done that you always have so much more to do?
Yes, then try this: Make your goal to do the things on your list for a very specific amount of time, instead of making it your goal to just try to finish everything on your list. (Be sure to prioritize your list before getting started, so that you're spending your time focusing on the items with the biggest urgency first.)
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Product of the Week: Store It On The Door!
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Some of my favorite organizing products are ones that hang on the back of doors. I think I just really like the idea of using the unused and unexpected space for organizing. Most are very easy to install, and many of them can be used for a variety of storage ideas far beyond their intended uses. Take these two, for example:
Over-the-door Hanging Purse Organizer
Over-the-door Belt and Scarf Organizer
What fantastic storage ideas! I could see all my purses, scarves and belts at once. My mornings would go so much easier! No more digging through drawers and closets!
With the adjustable clips, I'll bet these could also be used in the kids room for light weight stuffed animals and toys, in the bathroom for hair accessories, in the laundry room for socks without mates (lol!), maybe even in the kitchen or pantry for spice packets and mixes! The possibilities are endless - now all I need are more doors! 
3 Easy Steps for Time Management through Daily Planning
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How many times have you started your day with thoughts of the many things you want to get accomplished, but feeling unsure of where to begin or how to prioritize it all? On days like this, you can find yourself succumbing to overwhelm before you ever leave the house. There is so much to do, and so little time and energy!
For adults with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), time management is one of the hardest skills to master.
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Space Treat: Cheer Up Your Closet
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Already organized your clothing but still feel like the closet is missing something? All your shirts are on hangers… pants are accessible…dresses are on display… socks are stashed away… work-out clothes and PJs are separated into their own drawers. Everything has a home and everything else has been donated, but the closet still doesn't feel as glamorous as you'd like? Throw up some wallpaper inside the closet or paint it a complimentary color to the room it's in. Use a row of decorative drawer pulls for hanging necklaces and decorative coat-hooks for chunky necklaces, handbags or scarves. Now your closet is not only organized but also looks as fabulous as you do!
Product of the Week: Pull Out Shelf - One Size Fits Most
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A pull out shelf is one of the most versatile household organizers you will ever find. It can be used in any room that has cabinets or closets, making reaching a thing of the past! The problem is, cabinets come in all shapes and sizes, so finding the right shelf to match your cabinet size can be difficult. Many people eventually turn to custom slide out shelves, very nice but a little on the pricey side. This pull out shelf solves all of those problems with a unique design that allows it to expand to the size of your cabinets – voila! No more measuring, guessing and then crossing your fingers in hopes that it will fit – you can expand this shelf up to 20”, perfect for those of us without “standard” cabinetry. Another nice thing about this particular shelf is that the rails mount to the side of the cabinet, so you can create multiple tiers of storage.
Read on for my tips on How and Where to Use Pull Out Shelves:
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Space Treat: Prune Away Your Clutter
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What do pruning a tree and clearing out your clutter have in common?
Pruning is one of the healthiest things you can do for a tree:
· It prevents diseased branches from further destruction.
· It supports healing when you remove a damaged limb.
· It encourages a tree to develop a strong structure and restores it's vitality.
This is exactly what happens during the "pruning" phase of organizing.
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Product of the Week: Cedar Shelf Liners
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Cedar wood has many benefits that are complementary to clothes. So it’s no wonder that people sometimes line their entire closet with cedar planks. A custom closet can be expensive, though, so how can we all get a taste of this luxurious type of clothes storage and preservation?
These cedar shelf liners provide an affordable alternative to custom closet work, and are compatible with wire closet organizers, a very popular and widespread choice for closets everywhere today. No installation is required, so you don’t have to hire a contractor to get them. They simply drop into place on most wire closet shelves. Read on for some natural benefits that cedar has to offer.
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Product of the Week: Baby Memories Box
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This may sound familiar to some of you moms and dads: it took my sister almost 3 years to pull together a baby book of her daughter’s first year.
Today’s busy parents have a hard enough time keeping up with the daily routine, so it’s no wonder that the keepsakes album gets put off until well into the toddler years, if it happens at all!
The problem with the traditional baby book, my sister found, is that it only holds 2 dimensional items.
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How to Organize Your Laundry Room
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Why is it that this room always seems to have laundry soap in the wrong places, nothing is within reach and we never have enough room?
Probably because no one has ever really taken the time to decide what needs to be in this space and where it should be.
Should we have shelves, bins or storage containers?
Should we have good lighting?
Should there be a small clothes pole?
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Organize All Your Savings Cards!
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Is your wallet overflowing with club cards, savings cards and discount cards? Mine is!
Seems everyone has a card for their business and I find myself digging for the right one at the checkout counter with irritated folks behind me. Or just skipping the discount because I don't want to bother. (Why don't they just lower their prices?)
You can punch a hole in each of them and string them all on a key chain, but if you have more than a few, this really isn't the answer. I came across this site this morning: Keyringthing.com
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Product of the Week: Mario Batali Lunch Totes
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“Dear Mario, Your Lunch Bags Make Me Swoon!”
I used to carry my lunch in one of the many plastic grocery bags cluttering the cabinet under my sink, but ever since I started using reusable grocery bags, I ran into a little problem – no more lunch bags!
I may have outgrown my cutesie lunchbox, but I’m definitely not too old for a chic and class lunch tote.
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Space Treat: Clutter to Cash
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Thank you to all who wrote in with congratulations and good cheer regarding my feature in last week's Daily News! The writer, the photographer and the featured woman, Lisa, were absolutely delightful to be with so I had a blast doing what I love most - digging people, just like you, out from underneath their disorganization.
And since the focus of the article was about turning your clutter into cash, I thought I'd follow up today's Space Treat and share the best tips for creating a successful listing on-line that sells!
Here you go:
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Eco Organizing Awards 2009
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It's a GOOD day when you do something to get organized. It's a GREAT day when you do something to get organized and preserve Mother Earth at the same time!
That's why the Get Organized Blog is proud to kick-off the Eco Organizing Awards. And I sincerely hope that you'll help me celebrate and promote Earth Day 2009!
How can you help celebrate?
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Space Treat: Measurement Mishap
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Symptom:
Ever find that you've gone through the trouble of measuring a space so that you can outfit it with bins, boxes or shelving only to find that your measurements weren't exactly clear enough to you while shopping for the containers and you ended up with ones that don't exactly fit?
Remedy:
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Product of the Week: This is how we stroll…
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Ever tried pushing a stroller while carrying a beverage, or anything in your hands for that matter? As if strollers weren’t cumbersome enough, then you go and stuff your pockets with your keys, cell phone, spare binkies, wallet and a baggy of Cheerios.
Very attractive, I must say!
And then when you need one of these bulky items, you go on a mining expedition through the depths of your cargo pants when you could be…Oh, I dunno, watching where you’re walking?
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Making the Most of Your Cabinet Doors
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I've lived in a lot of houses over my lifetime and I've had to deal with a multitude of different storage challenges, but the worst by far for me is a too-small kitchen.
I have always loved to cook and bake. I have a crock pot, a bread machine, a stand mixer, a blender, a food processor, a mini-chopper, an electric grill, a coffee maker, a toaster oven and a microwave oven to contend with in my kitchen. Plus a host of bake ware, serve ware and pots and pans. Just the standard stuff.
When storage space is at an obvious premium, unless you want to store the new juicer in the linen closet, you have to think outside the box.
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Product of the Week: Triple-Duty Bench – Part 1 of Our Multi-Tasking Furniture Series
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Have a look at my new weapon in the battle against clutter at home: Multi-Tasking Furniture!
My definition of multipurpose furniture is anything that does double or even triple-duty work to simplify your life. Pieces like this Storage Ottoman are a great place to start if you’re looking to eliminate space-wasters and get organized.
Don’t underestimate its storage abilities, here’s a list of everything I was able to get off my tabletops and shelves:
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11 Easy Ways to Store Kid's Toys
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Kids will like to put there toys away where they can find them when they know that each one of their toys has its own 'home'. Make it easy for kids to put their things away by providing hooks, shelves and storage areas they can reach easily.
1- Store toys with small parts (Lego's, puzzles, building logs, cars, Barbie accessories etc.) in: see-through plastic containers, glad plastic containers, coffee cans or plastic ice-cream buckets with lids.
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Space Treat: It Pays to Open Your Mail. Literally.
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Seems like as far back as I can remember, a common inaction among my wonderful clients, is that they just don't open their mail. For whatever reason (and there are many), they let it pile up on counter tops, boxes, drawers and even in shopping bags. I know some of you out there are relating.
Trust me, I really do understand how overwhelming dealing with mail is. Although it's quite easy for me and does actually give me a great sense of accomplishment, I deeply understand how painful it can be for you and my clients so I write this with complete and genuine empathy.
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Carmen's Favorite Organizers A to Z - Part 4
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(4) D is for Desk Dots by Dynomighty Designs. (Dare you to say that 3 times, fast!)
Ever want an organizer with super powers?
Desk Dots are very strong ceramic magnets that hold together, even with lots of stuff between them.
And the Dots can withstand multiple configurations as well. You can lay 'em in a row…pile 'em on top of each other…stick 'em on your fridge or file cabinet. (Just don't let your boss catch you playing around!)
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Space Treat: Feeling out of control?
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Seems like everyday while organizing with clients, they share that the main reason for getting their home organized now is that it does in fact give them a real and reassuring sense of control in these uncertain economic times. And that although there are many things out of our control at the moment, that creating a home that is calming and supportive is at least one area they can control (and it happens to have many side benefits).
Things are stressful enough out there, your home doesn't need to contribute. I absolutely agree with my clients' sentiments: This is the perfect time to organize your home. So keep the following in mind when starting the process: While things feel uncertain in the world, it may be tempting to hold onto things in your home even though they no longer suit your needs or fit your lifestyle.
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Quote for the Week: a Habit of Excellence
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We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.
~Aristotle
I heard someone famous once say that she was not a naturally outgoing person. She simply made the choice to pretend that she was - like she was acting a part in a play everyday. She wanted to be bold, so she dressed up in bold clothes and played the part. When her natural reaction to a new situation was to shrink back and observe, she would jump in with both feet.
And before she knew it, she discovered that she wasn't acting anymore. Through repeatedly acting, she became. We are what we repeatedly do.
Do you want to be an organized person? You've read so many good and helpful things here - you know what to do! Take those little steps every day. Pretend you are that organized person you dream of being and do all the things an organized person does. Before you know it, you won't be pretending anymore.
Have an amazing weekend!
Last Chance to Win a TV Stand from Bush Furniture
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SORRY - CONTEST CLOSED
This time around, I'd like to hear about your favorite media storage solution (or the problem if you haven't found a solution yet).
How do you store your movies or CD's? How about and abundance of books - what have you discovered for that?
Our Grand Prize would be a great media storage solution!
This TV Stand by Bush would give you the perfect place to store movies and CD's, a DVD player or a stereo system!
Other great prizes are:
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Carmen's Favorite Organizers A to Z - Part 3
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(3) C is for the Calendar Tin.
Calendars normally contain your reminders, appointments, and important dates. But this calendar doesn't hold words - it holds office supplies!
The Calendar Tin stands 3 "stories" high. (Not literally, silly! That would be pretty big.)
Each story is a compartment…one for tacks, one for paper clips, and one for rubber bands. And all of these supplies are included with the tin, which makes it even a better bargain.
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Space Treat: Bundle Up! And Special Event next week!
ByWe're still freezing here in NYC! So bundle up - both outside and at home or the office!
Instead of sprinkling your day with various activities you need to accomplish, make better use of your time around the office and house by bundling like tasks into separate categories.
That means gather up a bunch of phone calls and whip through them in one fell swoop. Then move on to the next bundle. (Do your phone call bundle first, that way if you have to leave a message you'll still be around to answer the return call while you're finishing up another bundle.)
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