Remove closet doors in children's bedrooms and store toys and clothes in closet organizers easily reachable by kids; hang a colourful curtain across the opening. -- Kimberly Lathigee, Organize This! Services, Richmond, B.C.
Give yourself a junk drawer. Many people can't live life defined by a label maker. If having a little bit of controlled chaos makes you happy and keeps you stress-free, go for it. -- Alex Fayle, FayleSafe Solutions, Toronto
Put all of your tried and tested recipes on four- by six-inch cards and place the cards in both sides of plastic sleeve pages in a stand-up photo album. -- Jacki Brown, Well Organized/Tout Bien Rangé, Quebec
Try the 10-Minute Toss. Each day, set aside 10 minutes to unclutter a drawer, cupboard, shelf or area that needs attention. Doing that daily keeps clutter under control. -- Katherine Gibson, author of Unclutter Your Life, Victoria
If you reuse zip-lock bags but find they clutter counters and dish racks while drying, hang them from mini clothes pegs on a retractable clothesline above the sink. -- Soraiya Kara, POSabilities Personal Organizing, Burnaby, B.C.
If you're building or renovating, work with a professional organizer before meeting with your interior designer or architect. An organizer will examine your lifestyle -- including your job, hobbies, sports, habits and more -- and detail how everything that supports your lifestyle will fit into your new space. -- Janis Nylund, Orderly Concepts & Solutions, South Surrey, B.C.
Fold linens and tablecloths and hang them on multipurpose skirt/pant hangers that have four to six rods. Also, hang a sheet of fabric softener with bedsheets for a fresh scent. -- Suzy Polanco, Organize It & Cleaning Co., Toronto
Keep a health history diary. Include dates and details of medical procedures, tests and results, past and present prescription medications, lists of alternative health treatments, notes on genetic medical conditions, and phone numbers for health-care professionals. That will save you hours when filling out medical forms -- Patricia Saya, The Organizing Goddess, Aurora, Ont.
Dedicate one clean kitchen counter strictly to cooking. Store your ingredients (spices, seasonings and so on) close by. That saves time because one counter will always be ready for you to work on, and you won't have to spend time running around gathering ingredients. -- Dolly Bhatia-Frolick, Organized Environments, Whitby, Ont.
Use simple, inexpensive utensil trays with square or rectangular compartments to organize small items in bathroom and home office drawers. -- Kathy Vincent, Organizing Solutions, Windsor, Ont.
Keep a small dish near every place you take off jewelry; for instance, beside the kitchen and bathroom sinks, sofa, bed. When you take your rings off, you'll have somewhere to put them so they don't get lost. -- Shelley Beaubien, Organized By Design, Edmonton
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Recipes in multi-books, folders etc.? Instead of facing the daunting task of consolidating favourites -- Keep an index (index cards or on the computer) of where recipes are located. Add to the index each time you finally locate a recipe that you had to search for through your entire collection. Organizing recipes is a great plan, but just being able to find them is a bonus.