As you prepare to work in this zone, first decide how you want to use this area in your home. You might include on your list storage of: Seasonal decorations Seasonal house items like fans or heaters Household items you wish to keep but are not currently using Toys, clothing, or other items you wish to pass on to friends and family Out of season clothing or sports equipment Suitcases Archival paper Plan out a zone in your storage area for each category. Items you access frequ

Before you start your project, take a good look at the way it is now. Notice what is working (don’t mess with that area) and what is not working. Envision how you want to use this zone. Your vision might include a place to: Park your car Store trash cans/recycling Store gardening tools and accessories Pot or repot plants Work on projects and store tools Store bikes and other sports equipment/outdoor games/camping gear Store outdoor entertainment supplies Store extra products

Now, you want to reclaim the room. You’d like a craft room or a place to keep and sell items on eBay. But the mess is huge. You can hardly open the door. You don’t even have a goat path clear across the room. You are overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. When I work with clients I like to use a variation of the Mount Vernon Method. This method involves starting at the door and moving clockwise around the room completely cleaning one area at a time. I use a similar method

Before pulling out all that stuff onto the driveway, take a good look at what is in your garage now. Why is it there? How did it get there? Do you still need it? Decide on the functions of your garage. Is one of the functions to park your cars? 82% of homes have two-car garages or larger, but only 15% use them to park the car inside. Do you keep your lawnmower and gardening supplies in the garage? What about bikes and sports equipment? Do you have a workshop area with tools?

Before starting, take a long look at your current kitchen set up. What is bothering you? Are your counters crowded? Are your spices a jumble? Are some often used items hard to reach? Create a vision of how you would like your kitchen to look and feel by the end of this month. Make a brainstorm list of all that needs to happen to make this vision come true. Some items on your list might include: Declutter your surfaces – what items are not used daily? Purge your cabinets – how

Keeping up with laundry is less of a hassle if you have your space well organized. Decide what the purposes are for this zone. Besides the washer and dryer, do you also have your iron and ironing board stored here? Besides your laundry products, do you also store other cleaning products here? Do you store your pet food? Do you keep your recycling bins here? Be very clear on what you expect this area to house. Then zone it out so that everything has its own home. If you have s

The workshop or garage area often ends up as a dumping area. It is not in your main living area and it is sooo easy to walk in and dump something “just for now.” After a while it is very difficult to find things you think are there or even to freely move around. I suggest that once a year you schedule a time to really organize and clean out this zone. Start with deciding the purpose for this area. Do you plan to: park a car store extra household items like water/paper product

Take a clear look at your living room, dining room, and bedroom. Envision how you want these areas to look. How do you want to feel in these areas? What is the real purpose of these zones? Now, remove everything from the zones that does not match your vision. Have a specific place for every item that belongs in the rooms and then put them there. If you do not have enough space, consider letting some items go or temporarily storing them elsewhere until you can make a storage p

This time of year there are usually gifts to wrap and perhaps also to mail. It is sooo tempting to buy all of that lovely gift wrap that is displayed plus tissue plus ribbon plus gift bags. It is easy to lose track of how much of these goodies you have unless you organize all of your material into one convenient gift wrap zone. I have recently moved into a new home and have less storage for these items than I had before, so I must really consolidate and purge. I rarely fall

Let’s plan how to set up your new calendar for the upcoming year. Step One: Review your current calendar. This is the fun part. Go month by month to note birthdays, anniversaries, and standard meeting times. Also note doctor/dentist appointments that are already set for the upcoming year. Step Two: Transfer these dates to your new calendar in a color that will stand out. As you go through the year writing in all the other appointments, you don’t want to lose focus on these da

10 Steps to an Organized Home: 1. Divide your home into zones. Chose one zone to organize each month. Write the zone at the top of your monthly calendar; i.e., January-office, February-spare bedroom, March-living room. 2. Check in with your motivation for wanting to organize that area or zone. What organizational issues in that area are bothering you and why? What do you want to change? 3. Create a vision for the chosen zone. How do you want this area to look and how do you w

Take your current calendar and go through it month by month. Record all of the birthdays and anniversaries into your new calendar. I like to do this in red so that it really pops out when the calendar page starts to get crowded with other items. If I plan to buy or send a gift or card, I also put in the calendar “buy gift” or “mail gift” a week or two before the actual event. Now, go through your new calendar and record all standing appointments like that networking meeting y

Zone 1: This is the zone that is right at your finger tips. You should be able to reach items in this zone without leaving your desk. In this zone you place the items you use everyday. Depending on what you do, a partial list could include: computer printer phone timer pens/pencils business cards stapler action files current client files Zone 2: This zone is close and accessibly. In this zone you place items you use weekly or at least often. A partial list might include: ref

I look at 6 zones in the kitchen. Food Preparation Zone – This is usually the largest zone in the kitchen. It is either between the sink and refrigerator or the sink and the oven. This is where you would have your cutting boards, knives, mixing bowls, spices, food wraps, mixers, blenders, and measuring cups/spoons. Cooking Zone – This is near the oven and stove-top. This is where you would have pots, pans, cooking utensils, pot holders, bake ware, recipes, and cookbooks. Man

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #organize #bathroom #zoneplan #containers #zones

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #organize #office #purge #zoneplan #schedule #zones

Please share the storage hints that have worked well for you. Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #attics #holidays #garage #basements #containers #storage #zones

Week one – work on the Cooking Zone. This would involve cleaning the stove, oven, and microwave as well as organizing pots, pans, cooking utensils, and bake-ware. If your space is crowded, consider giving away pots that are rarely used. If you have special cookware that is used only for a specific holiday, consider storing that item with the holiday decorations instead of taking up space in your kitchen all year long. Week two – work on the Food Preparation Zone. This would

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #organization #workshop #zones

Jonda S. Beattie Professional Organizer #workshop #organization #purge #sort #zones