Perhaps you hold onto stuff “just in case” you might need it someday.  This is a common behavior.  There is some practicality to this thought…a bit of a waste not, want not philosophy.  While I am all over that philosophy, many of us end up holding onto a whole lot of stuff that never ends up being “needed”, or worse yet, we don’t even remember that we have it.

Over time the “I might need it someday” stuff turns into clutter that doesn’t serve any purpose in your life. In her book entitled “The Happiness Project” Gretchen Rubin highlights eight of the most common kinds of clutter:

1.            Nostalgic Clutter – relics of your past.  Decide what is truly sentimental versus just a relic.

2.            Conversation Clutter – useful products, just not useful to you.

3.            Bargain Clutter – but it was such a great deal.  It’s only a great deal if you use it, wear it or gift it.

4.            Crutch Clutter – Things you keep but shouldn’t, like worn out clothing with holes and stains.

5.            Aspirational Clutter – Things you aspire to use, but never do.  This would fall into the category of DIY projects, learning a new skill or sport.  Be honest with yourself, are you really going to use the ab-buster you bought on HSN?

6.            Outgrown Clutter – This is the opposite of aspirational clutter where you’ve used something so much it no longer works or its seen better days.  Probably the sweats you’re wearing right now as you read this article.

7.            Buyer’s Remorse Clutter – Hey, we’ve all made those mistake purchases.  Why have that reminder in your closet when someone else could be enjoying it?  Isn’t that what eBay is for?

8.            Forgot I Owned it Clutter – This sort of sums it all up.  If you start to have so many types of clutter you can’t find the things you truly like and want to use.

Since today marks the first day of Spring (and the birthday of this blog author), what is a more perfect opportunity to sort through the “someday” pile or piles? Don’t we all want to be surrounded by things that add value to our lives, versus those that just take up space or represent clutter?

While it may seem daunting to start this task, the process is so cathartic I guarantee you will be thrilled with the results.  If you can’t bear the idea of tackling this by yourself ask a friend to help.  Who knows, it could even be fun!

Start small.  Choose a small closet or area that you know needs your attention.  Put on some music, dress in comfy clothes and grab supplies. You’ll need some trash bags or large shopping bags for lightweight and soft items, and boxes for breakables and rags for cleaning shelves, etc. Pull everything out of the closet or drawers and sort each item into categories.  Designate areas of the room for each category: KEEP, DONATE, TRASH, and SELL.

Once you’ve categorized everything, decide how you want to organize what you are keeping.  Will these items stay in the same place?  Do the items need to be redistributed around the house?  Do you need storage containers to make these items easier to find in the future?  Think about how you can maximize the storage in the closet or space.  Put like items together and label the containers for easy retrieval. Utilize the vertical space.  There are so many over the door hooks and storage options that can maximize vertical space.

For the donation items drop them off at your charity of choice that day or call for a pick-up.  Try to recycle any items identified as trash (paper, plastic, etc.). If you’re planning to have a garage sale, designate a space to store these items. Choose a date now for the garage sale.  You don’t want to trade one kind of clutter for another by clearing out a closet only to dump everything in your garage until you decide to have a yard sale “someday.”

If you are selling items either on ebay or Craig’s List take photos and list them asap.  Again, you don’t want to create new clutter that becomes another “someday” I will sell it pile.

As you go through this process remember that as you are clearing out the physical clutter you are also clearing away emotional and mental clutter, making space for the good stuff.  So spring forward today, not someday!

I keep reading titles of articles that say “New Year, New You” as if there was something wrong with the current you. While we always want to be our best selves, set new goals, try new things… most of us don’t need an entire makeover.

One of the other dominant themes this month is organization.  Of course I support this theme and the desire by many to either get organized or be more organized. So how can you kick-off the New Year on the right foot and start the process of being more organized? I say start small, with a room or task you can accomplish in a few hours.

Perhaps you’d like to start in your bathroom with your cosmetics and other beauty products. Most of us don’t have a lot of time to get ready each day so having what you need within easy reach is one easy way to reduce stress.

Step 1: Throw out all expired products

Did you know that makeup and other beauty products have expiration dates? Unfortunately many of these items have a relatively short shelf life, some only a few months.  Check out these guidelines published by Real Simple magazine.

Now that you know the shelf life of all your beauty products, let’s start cleaning out everything that’s expired, never been used and talking up that valuable real estate in your bathroom drawers and cabinets.

Step 2: Empty all drawers, cabinets and other storage containers

Place items into one of the following piles:

• Everyday items. These items are the bread and butter of your daily routine, your go-to products that deserve prime real estate in your bathroom.
• Special occasion products. The glittery nail polish and false eyelashes or anything reserved for a night on the town.
• Rarely or never used.  This would be a lipstick or eye shadow that looked good in the store but didn’t pass muster in the light of day.
• Hidden gems. Many times in the organizing process we find something otherwise thought to be lost. 
• Duplicates.  Anything you bought in multiples to use once the original has been depleted.
• Appliances & accessories. Hair dryers, flat irons, curling irons, hairbrushes, pony-tail holders and make-up brushes.

Step 3: Review the piles

• Pitch anything that is expired or has never been used.  No need to keep reminding yourself of a mistake purchase.
• Toss anything that is broken or missing a top.  Broken powders to topless lipsticks will create a mess in your makeup bag, or worse yet, ruin a nice handbag.
• Go through your makeup brushes.  Keep only those in decent shape and wash them before giving them a new home.  A little dish soap and water will give them a new life.
• Same with hairbrushes.  Keep only one of each type and wash them as well.
• Find a small cosmetics bag or Ziploc bag for the rarely used makeup and label it so you quickly find it.

Step 4: Organize

How you organize your remaining products really depends on the space you have and how much stuff you wish to remain on the counter.  Here are some general guidelines that you can adjust to your space and personal preference.

Makeup and small toiletries

If you have one or more drawers in your bathroom then take advantage of this space by having your make-up in one drawer and other toiletries, like toothpaste, facial cleansers, etc. in another.  Use clear drawer dividers like these from the Container Store, keeping like items together.

clear drawer dividers

If you need to use the countertop for your makeup you can store your streamlined products in a corner cosmetic organizer.  If you prefer bamboo to acrylic, try this one.  I’ve come across a few DIY solutions for makeup brushes that I think are both cute and practical.

DIY solution for makeup brushes

Larger toiletries

Utilize the space in upper or lower cupboards for larger items, like mouthwash, body lotion and hair products. Open plastic bins are a great way to corral these items and keep them easily accessible. 

Hair appliances/brushes

If possible place these items in a cupboard and/or drawer to free up counter space and keep things uncluttered.  If you would like to corral them in one container (that can be kept either on the countertop or elsewhere), try something like this.

My new favorite cosmetics line – Jouer Cosmetics

A few years ago I became a big fan of a cosmetic company called Jouer.  You’re probably not familiar with them as until recently this L.A. based company only sold their products at Henry Bendel in NYC and online.  Jouer products are now available at select Nordstrom stores and I was fortunate to attend their opening at Nordstrom Santa Monica Place.

Designed for the woman on the go, this four-in-one palette snaps back to back and side to side, for the ultimate customization and ideal for travel. How clever is that? You can create your own palette of colors by visiting Nordstrom Santa Monica or Jouercosmetics.com.

Now that all your beauty products are nicely organized in their new homes, it’s time to pamper yourself a bit.  Why not draw a bubble bath and relax.  After all, you deserve it after all your hard work!

As always, I love to hear your comments.  Please let me know how you organize your beauty essentials.

It’s a rainy Saturday here in L.A., perfect weather to stay home and do a little organizing. With the holidays winding down, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed from all the hubbub. De-cluttering can actually help you detox and recover from the holiday frenzy and give you a kick-start on the New Year.

I just spent the morning in my home office and thought I would share some tips to get you started. Paperwork is a great place to start because we need to get our files in order for 2013. While I’m not going to focus on filing systems today (don’t worry, we’ll tackle that topic early next year), here are three easy ways to cut clutter in preparation for the new year.

1. Shreddables

Go through your files and pull everything out you no longer need.  If it needs to be shredded, put it in a box.  If you have a reasonable amount of papers shred them yourself. If not, go online and find a shredding event in your area.  For a nominal fee or sometimes for free, you can take your shredding to a community drop-off center. These events are held periodically across the country.  Items that need to be shredded include anything with an open account number (bank & credit card statements, etc.), anything with your social security number or personal information you wish to keep private. All other papers can be put in the recycle bin.

2. Charity Donation

Though this category isn’t paper, it’s timely. Monday, December 31st is the last day to make a charitable donation for 2012.  Go through your closets and pull out anything that no longer serves a purpose in your life. It could be clothes that don’t fit or you don’t wear, linens you no longer use, dishes & small appliances taking up valuable real estate in your kitchen, etc. You get the idea. If you don’t have time to go through your whole house, pick a closet or area that is easy for you to make quick decisions. It will feel good to clear out these items, plus you’ll get an extra tax deduction.

3. Magazines and Catalogues

Gather up all magazines and catalogues that you’ve read and/or don’t need and put them in the recycle bin. If there is a particular article you wish to read simply tear it out of the magazine and set it aside. If there are items in the catalogue you wish to buy, tear out the pages and then go online to shop. This is so easy and will clear clutter in no time.

Let me know what area you decided to tackle this weekend and how you felt once the project was completed.

Until next time,

Happy 7th night of Hanukkah and Merry Christmas…only 10 shopping days left. Have you ever thought of buying gifts to help someone get organized?  I’m not talking your file folders and plastic bins people, please.  I’m talking about a slew of nifty gadgets and tools that are so giftworthy you’ll want to keep them for yourself.

Little Black Dress Jewelry Organizer

Sounds glamorous, no?  This product is one of the top-sellers at The Container Store and truly is the answer to corralling all your jewelry in one spot.  As you can see, it really looks like a LBD and hangs in your closet, allowing for easy retrieval and storing.  No more tangled necklace messes, or searches for your favorite earrings as you’re running out the door.  I used one of these in a video shoot yesterday and decided to keep it…score for me!

Little Black Dress Jewelry Organizer

Cord Catch

A great stocking stuffer, this little dude keeps your smartphone, ipad or ipod charging cord from falling to the floor everytime you unplug it from the device. For a whopping $6.99 this little guy will serve you your giftee well.

OXO Cord Catch

Tablet & Reader Stand

Need a gift for the cook or chef in your life? Yes, I would love one of these (oops, forgot you’re not buying a gift for me) to keep my ipad free from flying onions and other gooey substances.

Tablet & Reader Stand

in.bag jewelry case

Another great stocking stuffer, this little case is the perfect travel companion for jewelry on a trip.  Simply choose some pieces from your LBD and insert them into the little attached pouches found inside the case.  Each pouch has a zipper and clear front so you can easily find the piece you want in a jiffy. Sold separately are earring stays.

in.bag Jewelry Case

Travel Dog Bowl & Case

Perhaps you need a gift for your furry child. The case holds the bowl that can be used for water or food, plus a standard roll of poop bags.  If Montana didn’t already have something similar she would be getting one of these on the 8th night of Hanukkah.

Travel Dog Bowl & Case

Nosy

It took a lot of effort but I really sniffed this one out…HA, HA! Maybe you know someone who is always misplacing their glasses, ahem, Mr. Kamm. So cute, this little guy will keep your glasses in place, elevated and protected from scratches. While having not actually tested this product I can’t vouch that it works for all types of glasses.  At $4.99 it’s probably worth the risk of purchase.

Nosy Eyeglass Holder

All of these products can be found at The Container Store and no, I was not compensated for this post, but should be, don’t ya think?

Get on your shopping on, and Happy Organized Holidays.

Wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving.  Remember, the calories don’t count on holidays!

Because everyday is a Hallmark holiday of some sort or other, November 15th happens to be National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.  Crazy, yet true.

When you think about it, the timing of this “holiday” makes a lot of sense.  With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, what better time to do a thorough cleaning and organizing of your most vital of appliances.  Gotta make room for that turkey, or if you’re not hosting, side dishes or desserts you may be preparing and bringing to the big meal.

STEP ONE – The Cleanout

In a perfect world, you would clean out your fridge on a regular basis, wiping up spilled food and caked-on residue, keeping the rims of salad dressings, jams and the like all shiny and pretty. Since most of us don’t have time for such luxuries, let’s do a major clean out now and aim for a maintenance program moving forward.

Start by removing all contents of the fridge (area by area so as not to cause spoilage of items left out too long).  Trash any expired foods, more than 3-day old leftovers, nearly empty salad dressings or other containers, and anything else that’s been in there like forever.

Next, scrub down all the shelves and drawers til they are sparkling clean.  Wipe down the outside of the fridge, especially the handles, which can harbor lots of yucky bacteria.  Martha Stewart recommends wiping the interior of  your fridge with a solution of 2 tablespoons baking soda and 1 quart hot water, using a damp cloth and then drying with a clean towel. If you use soap or detergent they can leave behind a fragrance which will be absorbed by the food.

STEP TWO – Stuff you probably never knew

Before you put the remaining items back where they used to live in your fridge, take a gander at the guidelines below from Elizabeth Mayhew, contributing editor to NBC’s Today Show and the author of FLIP! For Decorating.

1. Set the temperature of your fridge to 37-40 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees for the freezer).

2. Don’t overstock your fridge…food needs room to breathe.  By the same token, too little food in the fridge also effects the overall temperature and ability of the appliance to work properly. So all you single people with diet coke and water in your fridge, BUY some food!!

3. Keep your produce dirty until ready to eat.  Wash it right before eating to avoid wilting and spoiling.

4. Use square, BPA-free containers as they are safe and fit better than round containers.

Apparently it’s very important to store food in specific areas of your fridge to maintain proper temperature control, thus keeping items fresh as long as possible. You may need to adjust the height of your shelves to accommodate these recommendations.

Where to Store What

Top Shelf – this is the least cold part of the fridge and where most of us typically store milk, a big no-no

• Juice, beer, water, sodas, white wine

Middle Shelf – most consistent temperature of anywhere in the fridge

• Eggs, in their original carton
• Leftovers in clear containers

Lowest Shelf – coldest section of the fridge

• Good for Milk & other dairy products
• Raw meat, kept on a plate or bowl
• Other cooked meats

Door – warmest part of the fridge

• Condiments
• Butter
• Cheeses
• Natural Oils (walnut, sesame) other oils do not need to be refrigerated

Drawers – never mix fruit & veggies in the same drawer as fruit gives off gases that cause veggies to rot quicker

• Veggies go in the high-humidity drawer
• Fruit goes in the crisper drawer

STEP THREE – Line your shelves (or not)

So I recently learned about a really cool new product called Fridge Coasters. Fridge Coasters are beautifully designed, super absorbent “liners” that fit inside every refrigerator no matter the manufacturer or refrigerator model you own. All coasters are designed with perforation lines to ensure a snug fit.

Fridge Coasters should be placed in high traffic areas inside your refrigerator; under produce in the crisper bins and under milk and salad dressing. Fridge Coasters are the ultimate multi-tasker. They come in 3 useful sizes: door coaster, original shelf and bin coaster: place in shallow deli/drawer bins and large bin coaster: place in veggie bins or directly on the shelf surface.

While I was pretty excited to get my fridge coasters, Montana, not so much.

STEP FOUR – Organize

Big shocker that I chose the turquoise Fridge Coasters…can’t seem to get enough of this color.  If you decide to use this product or some other type of shelf liner, install those before organizing the food.

Fridge Coasters

Top Shelf

Using the guidelines above place all beverages, other than milk and, if you have room, any other items that won’t spoil easily since this is the warmest part of the fridge.

Middle Shelves

Place your eggs, in their original carton and leftovers in clear containers on these shelves.  You can use plastic or glass containers, but glass is best from an environmental perspective.  If you’d like to label the leftovers to indicate the contents and date, try these. To take things a step further, you may want to buy some clean fridge bins to help categorize items for easy retrieval. There are actually many options on sizes for fridge bins.  I found these on Amazon and these from Martha Stewart at Macy’s.

Lowest Shelf

After adjusting the height as needed, place milk, other dairy items and raw meats.  You may want to use a lazy susan for the smaller items, like cream and yogurt, so you can just grab and go. Place raw meats either on a plate or in a shallow dish to capture any leaking fluids.

Door

Grouping like items together, place your condiments, dressings, oils, butter and cheeses.  It’s also a good idea to keep nuts in the fridge as they spoil pretty quickly. While butter and cheese are dairy products, they don’t need to be kept at very cold temps.

 Bins

Place unwashed lettuce and other veggies in the high-humidity bin. Place fruit in the crisper bin.

And voila, you’re done!  Looks pretty spiffy, no?  Now you’re all ready for Thanksgiving and the holiday season.

The election is (finally) over, Thanksgiving is only two weeks away, and then, whether you like or not, it’s full-blown HOLIDAY mode. So take a deep breath…

Have a great weekend!