Organizing 101: A Crash Course in Whole House Organization
This is a presentation I gave at the Birmingham Public Library on May 8th, 2024:
Zoom recording: click the link and enter the passcode to view.
Passcode: l4rdS#8^
In 2006, I began and organized the first annual Artist Market which was part of a summer festival called Ypsilanti Crossroads. It kept running for a good fifteen years after I had moved away.
I had twenty-two pieces of my own artwork displayed in several galleries throughout Michigan and had a booth in many different shows and festivals.
I worked independently as a photographer doing weddings and graduation ceremonies. I also worked taking photos for an Ann Arbor based magazine.
Around that time, I was with a close friend who endured a forty-eight-hour induced labor before her son was born. After that horrible and miraculous experience, I completed a very hands-on birth and postpartum doula training at the Center for the Childbearing Year in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I then began to work as a Birth Doula and helped many women give birth naturally. This allowed me to experience the reality of childbirth and see it for the miracle it truly is. That is my sister Jill, and my two nephews in the photos.
I also began a housekeeping business which I ran for a good decade. We were living near Lake Tahoe and I found lots of work near a major ski hill. It was an hour commute up and over Donner Pass, to trudge through the snow with a vacuum cleaner in one hand and cleaning supplies in the other. I was up there every Monday morning by seven-thirty to pull the garbage out to the road for all my clients. This included shoveling snow and chipping away ice to get the bear boxes open.
Another achievement worth mentioning is my brief career as a Stand-up Comedian. In Comedy School I learned how to take negative experiences and transform them into humor and joy.
Collectively, these experiences have served me very well and I am blessed to have acquired a unique set of tools, all of which come in very handy with Professional Organizing.
I began researching professional organizing back in the early 2000’s when I was creating art to show, working photography jobs, and working as a birth doula. I had tons of art supplies, photography equipment, and was on call as a doula which meant being ready to jet out the door at a moment’s notice. Without proper organization, and functional systems, none of these things would have been at all successful. The tools I gained from what I learned have been well-used over the years in my own life. I have traveled across the country a few times and have had to diminish my belongings down to a suitcase and a backpack several times over.
This is my husband, Dennis and our dogs, Connor and Finnegan. We are both Michigan born and raised. We moved to Birmingham a few years ago after a good friend of twenty years, who grew up in Pinson, invited us to move out here. We are so glad we did because we absolutely love it here.
We do various jobs together including painting furniture and hanging decor. We are skilled at hanging photos, artwork and mirrors. We also hang curtains and shelves.
My husband and I offer start-to-finish packing, unpacking and organizing services. We work together to organize bigger tasks, such as garages and attics. We also work with clients in storage spaces to help with downsizing and decluttering of all items in the most efficient way possible.
Okay, let’s get started with the heart of the home, the kitchen. This is the most important room of the house and it’s where all the good things are happening.
It’s also where most of the clutter can collect and overtake you if you’re not careful. It is common for kitchen counters and dining room tables to become “catch-alls” from all the comings and goings.
Start ANYWHERE. Just start. If you are overwhelmed, set a timer for five minutes and pick a drawer or a cupboard and just pull everything out.
Easy peasy, toss the garbage, the junk, the collected receipts, the outdated coupons, the pens that don’t have caps, etc
It’s like a muscle. You start out easy, you start out slow and do a little bit at a time. It doesn’t have to be done in a day or even a week or a few months. Whole house organization takes time, sometimes years and it is perpetually changing and truthfully, will never really be “done”. Life is not a pinterest page.
Next, sort out the items that do not belong in this area or room. You don’t have to decide where they will live or if you will keep them, just that this is NOT the place where they live.
Work as much or as little as you are capable of, and finish the room you are in, before you move on to the next, as much as possible. Sometimes you have to put a pin in what you are doing, and pick up another task, in order to move forward.
When the area is cleared, clean it out. This is a good time to install shelf liner or contact paper if desired.
WAIT until you are finished editing before you buy any containers. Most people rush this as it is definitely the most rewarding part of organizing. But trust me, you will save time and money if you wait.
In the pantry, toss or donate expired items, taking note of what you are throwing away, to avoid purchasing too much of it in the future.
When you put everything back, create zones of different categories so things are easy to locate. Put the things you gravitate towards front and center, those items you use daily, keep them where they are easy to reach and just as easy to put away. This method is called the “kindergarten classroom method”. Remember how easy it was to keep it clean and clutter free? Everything had a home and purpose.
The dining room is a good multi-purpose room. It does well as a library or low-key home office. It can be used as a homework station or a craft table. It can entertain friends and family and holds many memories.
It can also hold a great deal of clutter. Open up the drawers, pull out all the old candles and napkin rings and start sorting. Ask yourself questions like, how often is this used, what sentiments are attached, are they good memories, warm feelings? Keep those. Never really liked them but they were a gift? This is called “guilt clutter”. Toss it. Whoever gave it to you would never want you to hold onto something purely out of guilt. I promise.
There are endless options for storage and the Dining Room is a great place to showcase your favorite collections.
Creating zones is key for the utmost productivity. Don’t organize for your stuff. Organize for your space.
In the Living Room, go through the media you have collected and start sorting. Go through the electronics, test the remotes. Toss the things that don’t live there in a laundry basket to move them out of the room.
A good habit is to have a few empty baskets for this purpose and every night before bed, grab a basket and pick up the clutter that has accumulated. The next day, take five minutes and put everything away. Start this habit and if you have children, make a contest out of it, make it a game, make it fun. Start building these habits now and they will stick with them for a long time.
Organized closets are the foundations of an organized room. The hall closet, entry way, or mudroom are vital for a busy household to function at its very best.
Think about the entrance most used in and out of your house. What items naturally accumulate there? Instead of constantly moving them “back” to where they live, why not create a home for those things right there? Organize for function. Pay no attention to the voice that says, “socks dont belong in the kitchen” if that is where you are putting your socks on and taking them off, that is where they should live.
The home office is probably the most overwhelming room. Who knows what lies inside that looming file cabinet dating back to 1988? Who has time to get absorbed in the memories of all the adulting you’ve done over the years?
This is a good room to get help with, (or take a lot of scheduled breaks) to avoid burn out, so you can get back to work.
An open office works if you have no need for a closed door, and if you have minimized your supplies and paper to fit inside a few cupboards and drawers.
Organizing is not “one-size-fits-all”. Each person is unique with a unique set of circumstances and place in life. What is your organizing style? Are you a visual person?
Do you like things hidden behind closed doors? Are you a piler or a filer?
A command center serves as a family landing spot and can be a great place for keys, mail, notes, lists, and schedules. Keep your busy life easier and less stressful by creating a place like this in a common area.
Again, if something is naturally accumulating in a certain area, the junk mail ends up in the garage, or the pantry, or on the kitchen counter…that is where you create your command center. Work with your natural tendencies, not against them.
If you are a creative type, it is important to have a room or area where you can work when the mood strikes you.
It doesnt matter how big or how small, it can be a closet or a nook. If you are organized for function, with the kindergarten model, you will be able to get started right away and put things away just as easy as you pulled them out.
Depending on how many supplies you have, and how important it is for you to create various things, this may also be a good area to have someone help you as this can be a huge task to take on without getting overwhelmed.
Because creativity is not considered necessary for survival, this area can become perpetually neglected. Having an organized craft area is a good thing. Just having a space to stage projects until you have the time to do it can potentially save clutter from accumulating in other areas of the house. The mug with the broken handle you got from your Grandchildren will actually get repaired instead of just being pushed to the back of the cupboard. The shirt with the missing button can be worn because you will remember to sew it back on if you can stage the shirt in the craft area until you can get to it. These small tasks that only take a few minutes are usually at the heart of the clutter issue. Tackle them and you have overcome a huge piece of having clutter in the first place.
The Laundry Room is another place where things can accumulate pretty quickly. It is partly because it is sometimes difficult to get to the storage above the washer and dryer.
Bins and labels are important as they create boundaries and this allows you to keep your tendency to collect things down to just what will fit in the bin. If you get something new, get rid of the old.
In whole house organization, you will find solutions to problems you were convinced would never change. With this system, we solved this client’s perpetual laundry issue by assigning every family member their own laundry basket and one extra for towels. She tells me, “That laundry room has been absolutely my favorite thing. IT STAYS CLEAN! I don’t have to worry about hunting down anyone’s clothes. Either they’re in their drawers, their dirty hamper, or their laundry basket. Period. ITS AWESOME!”
The Master Bedroom can easily become that room that becomes the dumping ground for all the clutter that never gets put away until company is coming. This happens a lot during Holiday Season when you are busy and entertaining consistently.
Keep your bedroom neat and clean and it will affect your whole day. It is good to make your bed daily as even in a messy and cluttered room, a made bed can make all the difference. It is another good habit to have and an easy one to commit to.
There are lots of storage options in the bedroom to fit any style. Keep things used daily close at hand, and a nice little basket or bin on the nightstand is good for keeping all the sundries organized in a good way. Remember: Vertical is visual. Horizontal is hidden.
The Master Closet can get cluttered easily, especially if it is a shared space and your spouse has a different organizing style, which is most often the case. It is a good place for a bit of compromise and usually, everyone is happy.
As with everything else, pull everything out. I call this “squeezing the tube out of the toothpaste”. Sort as you pull things out. This makes the process of creating zones when you put it all back that much easier. Wait til you are done editing BEFORE you buy containers. Then, take measurements and shop around for your favorite textures and colors.
Sort your clothing by season, color, style, and function. When putting it back in, face everything going the same way, so that when you open the closet, the shirts are facing you. This will make a big difference in how much space you have. When you wear something once and it really doesnt need to be washed, instead of piling it on “the chair”, put it back in the closet, going the opposite way. That way when you do laundry, you can easily find those things you have worn and wash them if you want to freshen them up.
Take your time with the Master Bathroom as it can be overwhelming. Often, this is an area which will also require deep cleaning and if you have any physical limitations, it might be a good idea to hire someone to help with the cleaning after you have pulled everything out.
Don’t be afraid to break it up into small pieces. Take it one drawer at a time.
Drawer dividers are excellent ways to maintain long-term organization.
Lots of storage ideas for any style. Countertop bins are so helpful and baskets that can easily be moved in and out make any task a lot easier.
Most kids are have a visual style of organizing. They like to see everything.
Closets and clear containers are wonderful for kids. Labels help them learn to read.
For little ones, the closet can double as a place to store toys.
Getting things up and within easy reach can create interest and encourage little ones to put their toys away with less fuss. Again, building these habits as they grow will only serve them in the long run.
A playroom can double as a homeschool room with the right organization. Encourage the kids to help with this project and listen to their input when you ask them the same questions you ask yourself.
When you involve the child with the process, they are more likely to be able to maintain the organization and it will be a huge achievement for them.
I worked with a family and their youngest was the messiest of all. After a year of weekly sessions, and we went through the entire house, she is a different child. Now she labels her bins and drawers and has no trouble maintaining the cleanest room in the house.
Last but not least, the dreaded garage. Did you know that 75% of people cannot park in their own garage? Start with the big obvious junk and garbage, the amazon boxes, the empty filing cabinet…
As with everything else, pull everything out, sorting as you go, creating zones where things naturally accumulate. Schedule a junk hauler or donation service to come pick up those big items you no longer want.
When you put the things back in, you can decide how you want to store them and put them in the zones where they make the most sense to you.
At this point, everything should come full circle as you have gone through every area and every room in your house. Those items which were moved out of all the spaces they didn’t belong, should have found their homes by now, and if not, perhaps it is time they found a new home where they could have a use and a purpose.