Home organization: Organizing tips 'n' tricks

Anne Gideon, started Just Get Organized (justgetorganized.com) five years ago, focusing on organizing and staging individual homes. She also gives seminars at home shows, Loblaws and the Pickering, Ontario Recreational Centre.

Anne encounters all manner of clutter hot-spots in her work and close to the top of her list of hot-spots are closets and cabinets and any storage with a door, she says. The reason is simple: with the door closed, you can't see what you've got. "You forget how much clutter you bought on impulse because you can take everything off the floor and shove it behind a door when company comes over," Anne adds.

It doesn't have to stay that way, though. First, face it all. "Take everything out and look at what you have," Anne suggests. Then purge what doesn't fit, hasn't been used in a year or you no longer like. Then install a light in these spaces. "A lot of times, it's because it's dark and people don't see what's in there, that they ignore it and then feel too anxious to look at their own clutter," Anne says. Buy self-adhering lights from your hardware store if re-wiring your home isn't on the agenda. "Having a well-lit space means that maintaining order is easier," she says.

As any woman knows, clothes can also be a clutter landmine –- it's so hard to give anything away. "Why do we keep clothes we no longer love or wear?" asks Anne. "Out of habit. We don't like to change. We are delusional about losing four dress sizes in six months. Realistically, we won't wear those clothes again even if we do go back to that size because our tastes in clothes have changed."

What to do? Toss clothes that don't fit but don't give them to friends and family. "They second guess you," Anne warns. "They'll say things like ‘You're getting rid of this? Why? You don't like it anymore? It's so pretty! Who gave it to you?" Not only that, when they declutter their house, they'll give you bags of their stuff." And replace those ugly wire hangers with nice wood or plastic ones.

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen and clutter can really derail our efficiency. The big culprit is gadgets and Anne is ruthless about them. "If someone gives you a kitchen gadget as a gift, give it to Goodwill," she says. "If you didn't need it enough to buy it for yourself, you just don't need it."

"Cappuccino this, orange grater that, cheese slicer, juicer, peelers… on and on and on," says Anne. "The appeal of kitchen gadgets is that they are fun, but, only for a second maybe. We buy things that will save time, but having too much means our kitchen drawers won't even open."

The kitchen, she says, should be an efficient working space, full only for the tools that you are going to use. Once you've established order, you've got to maintain it with the "one-in one-out" rule. "You buy a new black t-shirt, out goes one. You buy a new kitchen gadget, out goes one," says Anne. "Moderation is good. It keeps life manageable."

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