Organizing in Small Spaces

Organizing itself can be a challenge, but organizing a small space can be even more difficult.  It is the equivalent of taking a three week family vacation in the wood-paneled station wagon packed with everyone's bags versus taking that same vacation in a deluxe RV.  It is difficult to live in a space when your necessary items take over your living space!  

Let's start with the idea of "necessary" items in a home.  Most people could easily live without many of the items they "need" in their home.  

Yes, the first step to organizing a small space is to evaluate what is stored in that space.  If evaluating items seems like a unnecessary step, consider that clutter is expensive.  It costs an average of $10 per square foot to store items in your house.  Put in monetary terms, a person can really calculate the cost of hanging onto that fondue pot they might use someday.

Evaluating items begins with sorting items into the following piles - keep, donate, sell, toss, relocate.  If it is difficult to evaluate whether an item should stay in your space, using the following questions can help:

• When was the last time I used this?  (if it’s been more than a year, let it go)
• How often do I use it? 
• Could I borrow, rent, or improvise with something the few times I might need it? 
• Is it a duplicate?
• Is it out of date?
•  If I didn’t have this anymore, what impact would it have on my life? 
• Do I value this item? 
• Is this item in need of repair or damaged? 
• Am I keeping it because I feel guilty if I tossed it or gave it away?
• How easily could I get another one if I needed it?

Storage for pantry items that do not fit in the pantry
(photo credit:  marthastewart,com)

After surveying the "keep" pile and the space available for the items, an individual can decide if the items will fit or not.  If items do not fit, consider a "second sort" or come up with some creative storage ideas.  Use the guideline of "Frequency of Use," to determine where items will be stored.  Items used daily are placed within close reach.  Items used less frequently can be stored in a more distant, but still accessible location.

For example, if the keep pile for the pantry is larger than the pantry space itself, a person can install shelving along a basement stairwell for items used less frequently.

If the space is still storage challenged (i.e. little or no closets, cabinets, floor space for an armoire, shelving), then it is time to think outside the box . . . or rather, along the walls of the "box."  

Using vertical space from the floor to the ceiling is one way to solve storage problems.  Some of the more clever ideas include:  


    (photo credits:  marthastewart.com)

• Installing a peg board on the closet wall
• Use magnetic paint or galvanized panels to magnetically hang items (this is especially handy with small bath or kitchen items).
• Stack two or three towel bars behind a closed bathroom door
• Install a toiletry shelf in bathroom above the door

And one the better ideas to conquer the little to no closet dilemma--the "Walk-By Closet."  This solution is both smart and beautiful.  Use an older ladder to bridge between two basic shelving units, and a person has designed a unique and practical clothing storage solution.  Place a bench underneath and you create a place to put on shoes as well as store them underneath.

(photo credit:  marthastewart.com)

And speaking of underneath, don't forget that little used space underneath beds .  Evict the dust bunnies and replace them with underneath storage such as a couple of old dresser drawers placed on casters.  

(photo credit:  bhg.com)

With these and other “outside the box” ideas, a small space (that wood paneled station wagon) can start to feel a lot roomier.  With a little effort and imagination, who wouldn’t want to create a more enjoyable space for everyone?

Kids and Organization--Do These Words Even Belong in the Same Sentence?

Teaching kids to be organized is a recipe that includes consistently setting a good example,  good planning and a little psychology.  Sound like a lot of work?  Maybe--but just as with any new habit, after sticking with it for a time period, a new behavior takes root.  And, according to University College London's Health Behavior Research Centre,  that new behavior becomes automatic and "does not rely on conscious thought, memory or willpower."  It is worth a little effort early on, knowing that the payoff will be worth it (kids will pick up themselves without help and they will be able to miraculously be able to find things they are looking for).

Are you setting the example?
(photo credit:  ahomemakerintraining@blogspot.com)

Back to the recipe--consistently setting a good example means that if a parent would like their children to make their beds everyday and clean up their toys at the end of the day, the parent should try to model that behavior.  This certainly is not a genius or original idea.  But the parent honestly evaluating if they are setting a good example might be new for some people.  Parents can ask themselves, "Did I pick up my clothes off the floor?  Did I put my dishes in the dishwasher?  Is my room a disaster?"  And if the parent really wants an honest answer, ask the kids!

Once kids understand that they will be held to the same standards as the "grown-ups," the next step to getting kids organized is good planning.  Like most people, kids like boundaries--knowing where things are and what to expect throughout the day.  The old saying, "A place for everything and everything in its place" perfectly describes how a person can help children get and stay organized.  The parent can take some time to designate a specific place for things in the child's room or toy area.  For example, it's much easier to follow specific instructions such as, "Put all the cars into the bin labeled 'Cars,'" than it is to follow the order, "Clean up your room."   In other words, the parent can help children be successful in staying organized if they can provide the basic framework for the organization.

Additionally, planning time into everyday to clean up helps everyone to keep on top of the chaos that comes with kids.  Tackling small messes daily is so much easier and less overwhelming than dealing with a mountain of things at the end of the week. 

Turn Chores Into a Fun Game!
(Photo credit:  buzzfeed.com)

Finally, the last principle for getting kids organized requires the parent to understand a little psychology.  If the parent knows:

1.  Kids love attention and being involved

2.  Kids can be motivated with certain incentives

3.  Kids like fun and games

If a parent takes the time to include their kids in the clean-up routine, develop some sort of meaningful reward for when the children do a good job staying organized and make it part of a fun game—they are successfully employing persuasive techniques to instill good organizational habits.  For example, a parent could challenge their child to an Organizational Olympics where they both strive to put the most toys away in a three minute time period.  The winner of the Organizational Olympics gets to choose a special reward such as deciding the dinner menu, picking out a movie to watch or getting some extra book time at night.  In this example, the parent took what could be a dreaded chore and turned it into a fun game where the child walks away feeling loved and included.  The rewards and games motivate the child to want to repeat the behavior again. 

And there is nothing like a child feeling the personal satisfaction of a job well done.  As one seven and a half year old recently said after cleaning up her room, “It feels so much better, it feels like I can breathe!”

Transitioning Homes . . . More Than Just Packing and Unpacking Boxes

Moving often conjures images of endless boxes, moving trucks and hours of packing and unpacking.  Most people only think of the physical work involved in a move--but there is quite a bit of mental and emotional work that comes with transitioning to a new home.  Regardless of whether the move is across town or across the country--or whether the move is to a larger or smaller space--people can make the entire process go more smoothly if they acknowledge and address the mental and emotional work that comes with transition.

What is the mental or emotional work of moving?  It is more than using a moving checklist or saying goodbye to friends and neighbors.  It is process of disassembling a person's "safe and familiar" place and reassembling it in a completely new space.  It can mean facing the fear of the unknown and the uncertainty of something new.  And it can involve countless decisions about what items get moved, passed on, donated, fixed, or thrown out.  For example, a individual may wonder, "Will the new house be as comfortable as my last house?  Will I love how everything looks once the boxes are unpacked?  Will everything fit? What do I do with the things that don't fit?  What do I do with the empty spaces once everything I own is moved in?"

Whether the transition is an upgrade to a larger home or downsizing to a smaller space--there are some simple organizational steps to help with the mental and emotional work of the move.  As with any big change in life, it helps to have support, find out answers to the "unknowns," and think in terms of opportunities versus difficulties.  

Starting with "thinking in terms of opportunities," moving provides a person with one of the best chances to evaluate all of their belongings and make the conscious decision to declutter and simplify.  Moving forces a person to ask themselves, "Why have I been saving Uncle Fred's collection of velvet Elvis paintings?"  There are five simple questions to help with these sorts of difficult decisions:

1. Have I or anyone else in the house used this item within the past year?
2. Do I see a use for this item in the near future?  (i.e. Would it be difficult or expensive to replace the item?)
3. Is it more important to keep the item than to have the space it occupies? (i.e. Is it a family treasure?)
4. Does the item serve a worthwhile purpose in my life?
5. Do I love it?

There are no right or wrong answers to these questions.  A “yes” to any of them provides a good reason to keep the item.  A “no” indicates the item also has a new home in its future.

Once a person sees moving as an opportunity, it becomes exciting to plan their new "safe and familiar" place.  One way to replace the fear of the unknown with the excitement of something new is to get a copy of the floorplan and brainstorm!  Cutting out furniture icons or drawing them onto the floorplan with a template and pencil is a great way to bridge the transition from the old to the new home.  It also is a tremendous help in the decluttering and simplifying process just described.  A person can then "see" how the new home will look.  An added bonus?  Saving time and money on not moving items that do not fit into a person's life or space.

Velvet Elvii
Photo Credit:  blogs.smithsonianmag.com

Finally, it always helps to have support.  If that basement gallery of velvet Elvis paintings gives a person hives, he or she can always call in a friend or family member to assist with the sorting process.  That friend or family member can help design the new and improved velvet Elvis gallery or he or she can gently break the news that “Elvis needs to leave the building.”