Summer Guests

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Do you have friends or family coming to visit this summer? Here are some tips to help get you organized.

Put the visits on your calendar, so you know who is coming when! I love to use Google calendar that is shared with my husband.

Create a quick “cheat sheet” for your home with key information for guests: how to get on the wireless network, how to work the TV, and any quirks about how to lock the house or where you keep the extra keys.

If you are short on space or don’t have a dedicated guest room, you can still create an inviting space for guests:

  • Have your inflatable mattress or bed ready to go, or sleeping bags for kids.
  • Be sure to have some extra linens and towels on hand, and have them out and ready, so your guests don’t have to go searching through your linen closet to find what they need.
  • Create a guest supply station in a cabinet or closet shelf. (For more tips on creating this station, see the tips for June in my 12 Months of Organizing Calendar…on sale for 50% off!)

Dorm Space Savers 101

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Recently I had one of my most fun organizing sessions ever: helping my niece set up her dorm room at Harvard! She may have been the only freshman with her own personal organizer, but her mom (my sister) had everything well prepared…including coming with a ton of organizing products.

Although my daughter won’t be heading off to college for quite a while, I was taking notes on what products really worked. Here are my three favorites: 

  1. Slimline hangers by Real Simple – I love slimline hangers, and these have a great improvement: small hooks which allow the hangers to hang from each other, saving space. Using these hangers meant my niece could get twice as many clothes into her closet.
  2. Clear drawers – These drawers were perfect for organizing shoes, boots, and linens under the bed. We were able to stack two on top of each other gaining even more space.
  3. 3M Command products – The Command products are perfect for hanging up, not marking up, dorm rooms. We used them to hang everything from magnet boards, to pictures, to scarf holders in the closet.

My niece was excited to have her dorm room set up, decorated, and get all her clothes in the closet.

Easy Labels for a Child’s Dresser

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To help young kids learn how to put their clothes away, I tell my clients to label the dresser drawers with a word and picture.

Now the work is done for you! I just read about these great dresser knobs in the August edition of Parenting: School Years magazine. I love the idea that the picture is right on the knob – it’s cute and a helpful label all in one, and there are versions for boys and for girls. Check them out from Olive Kids.

30 Minute Organizing: Bedside Table

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Calming or chaotic? Which best describes your bedside table?

Now think for a moment, how would you like it to be?

I hope you answered calming! According to the principles of feng shui and the National Sleep Foundation, a bedroom should be a calming and relaxing space. Fewer distractions—and clutter is a distraction—promote better sleep and improve your energy.

Spend 30 minutes de-cluttering your bedside table as a first step towards creating a more peaceful bedroom. 

First, clear off everything that has accumulated on the surface of your bedside table. Throw out the trash and recycle the catalogs and magazines you aren’t reading any more…or haven’t had time to read. 

Be ruthless and realistic with your reading material! Make a rule for yourself: keep no more than 5 items to read…or use the one-in one-out rule: as soon as a new issue of a magazine or newspaper arrives, recycle the last one even if you haven’t read it.

Next, remove anything that has to do with work. Put work in your office, briefcase or create another area out of the bedroom for work-related papers and projects. (Also check out this blog entry, Don’t Take Your Work To Bed With You, on www.organize-office.com.)

Don’t forget to look in any drawers or shelves of your bedside table. What’s in there? Kleenex and cough drops? 15 bookmarks? Expired medicine? Old glasses? Only keep easily accessible what you use most often.

Now put back your reading material (see rules above).  Maybe add a small dish or basket to catch your jewelry or watch. You can also add something you’d enjoy looking at every morning like a photo, special piece of artwork, or other memento. Keep a pen and paper (or PDA) to jot down quick notes. 

In just 30 minutes, you’ve cleared a space and improved your bedroom. Enjoy your de-cluttered bedside table, and have a good night’s sleep!