Rolanda L., Professional Organizer

Portable Closets: Solutions for Rooms That Have Minimal or No Closet Space

For rooms that don’t have closet storage, a portable unit is often a simple solution that also delivers aesthetics. The following products are mostly priced under $50 and can be purchased at Amazon by clicking on the image [image are Amazon Affiliate links; Amazon pays me a small percentage for purchases made through my links. The purchase price remains the same.].

Two hanging rods and nine shelves:

Heavy-duty doors for concealed storage with two bottom drawers:

Five hanging racks with two shelves [Exposed Storage]

B&W Eiffel Tower Decorative Cover w/ four shelves and one rack

Modular storage with rack

Get Organized to Go Back to School!

Many of my clients are anticipating the start of a new school year for their children. Some are even returning to school themselves, either to teach or to work on earning a degree. This post is for those who are looking to map their route to success by putting an organized plan in place for the year.

[Note: The following products are available by clicking on the images, which will direct you to Amazon’s website. I am an Amazon affiliate; therefore, Amazon will pay me a small commission for all purchases made through the links from my site. The price for the buyer remains the same regardless!…Also…you can DIY many of these ideas should you choose to do so!]

Letter Trays

I am a huge fan of these, and I recommend them in various forms to virtually any client who owns and desk and uses it!

How do I get organized by using letter trays?

I’m glad you asked. For most adults, I suggest having three trays and labeling them as follows: 1) urgent, 2) mid-term, 3) long-term.

As you may have guessed, the labels indicate the immediacy of the deadline by which you must address the items within each tray. Bills that are due within less than a month should go into urgent. Permission slips for next week’s trip to the zoo? Urgent. Choosing a new cable provider before the contract expires three months from now? Mid-term. A reminder that your yearly donation to your favorite non-profit is due by the end of the year? Long term. However, as a long term deadline nears, you should continue to move the item to the more immediate letter trays until the item is addressed.

I have seen this system work extremely well for even the most disorganized among my clients and those who absolutely hate structure. The key to staying on top of this system is to address the letter trays EACH time you sit down at the desk for the FIRST time within a 24-hour period, i.e. you should visit the letter trays once per day. If you follow these directions meticulously, I guarantee your desk will not overflow with paper.

This system also works well for older students who tend to have mid-term and longer term projects.

For young kids who have homework, I suggest using an inbox/outbox system. When the child arrives home from school, he or she should immediately place all homework in a letter tray labeled “inbox.” Ideally, the tray should remain on the child’s desk or work table. If the child works at a kitchen or dining room table, the inbox may be brought out when the child arrives from school and stored on a shelf or in another location out of the way once all the homework for the next day has been completed. Once completed, homework should be placed in another letter tray labeled “outbox.” The outbox tray should be placed near the home’s entrance (also a good location for the child’s backpack once packed) to ensure the child and parent will not forget homework on the way out the next morning. One tremendous advantage to using this system is that it provides a very natural way for parents to monitor their child’s progress in school and to ensure homework completion.

Okay, sign me up!

Here are some letter trays:

A dual wall file also works well for a simplified inbox/outbox system when attached to the child’s door or in another prominent place in the home.

Organizing Letters from School, Permission Slips, and Miscellaneous Papers

Younger students often bring notices, conduct reports, permission slips, and artwork home from school to show their parents. For parental notices, I recommend using a wall file or letter sorter with multiple compartments. Each file or compartment can be labeled by document type (i.e. one for permission slips/things that need to be signed and returned, one for PTA announcements, one for artwork/completed work the child brings home, and one very clearly labeled for signed items/notes that are ready to be returned to the teacher).

Stay tuned for follow-up Back-to-School posts on lunch boxes, backpacks, and school supplies!

Not Your Average Room Divider: Chic, Affordable Solutions for Studios and Large Spaces

The following room partitions will add a touch of elegance to any studio apartment or combined space without breaking the bank. Best of all, most of these products are priced well under $50.

[The images below are Amazon Affiliate links, which will redirect you to Amazon’s website, where you may purchase the featured item directly. Because I am an Amazon Associate, Amazon will compensate me a small percentage of each item purchased through my Affiliate links.]

Create the appearance of a wall behind a long bench, sofa, desk, or other seating arrangement with this DIY hanging panel screen. Price: $26.99

Price: $37.89

Price: $26.99

Ugh. I love sparklies and metallics. This one also comes in black and white wide vertical stripes and light silver. Rod not included. Price: $9.99

DIY Curtain System perfect for an enclave: $69.95

Freestanding curtain – Price: $124.95

A Tale of An Inefficient Workplace

Employee A arrives at work and immediately feels a familiar sense of dread. She sits down at her cubicle and promptly begins checking messages in her company email account. She comes across a message from her supervisor requesting that she print several documents and prepare them for the late morning department meeting. As Employee A proceeds to the printer to pick up the documents, the printer chimes to signal an empty paper tray. Employee A redirects her path to the storage closet on the other side of the office where the printer paper is stored. Upon retrieving more paper, Employee A hears the phone on her desk ring. She returns to her desk, recognizes the number as that of her supervisor and answers. Her supervisor asks whether Employee A has seen another email referencing a spreadsheet she has been tasked to create by noon. Employee A jots down a few notes regarding edits she will need to make to the spreadsheet’s layout and dutifully returns to the print station to refill the paper and to finally retrieve her documents. After returning to her desk with documents in hand, Employee A reaches for her stapler and discovers it has run out of staples. She sighs and returns to the supply closet, located across the office, and realizes she is only 15 minutes into her workday and is already beginning to feel exhausted. Employee A repeats a similar sequence of events several times for the next seven hours.

Disorganization Contributes to Fatigue

Many employees find themselves experiencing fatigue, not solely due to the extent of their workload, but also as a result of attempting to work efficiently in a disorganized setting. Overcrowded file drawers, illogical layouts, and the hunt for misplaced supplies can add up to a non-obvious losses in productivity as employees must divert their time and energy to secondary tasks.

Maintaining an Organized Workplace Improves Productivity

A professional organizer who specializes in office settings can help businesses identify these “productivity vampires” and recommend solution to make the workday less taxing and more efficient for workers. By working with a professional to identify and address pain points, companies may significantly reduce worker fatigue and enable their employees to focus more of their time and energy on performing essential job duties.

Introducing Virtual Organizing Sessions!

Afraid to hire a professional organizer? Don’t quite have the budget for a comprehensive reorg? Transform your home one room at a time by booking a convenient eOrganizing Session.

Virtual organizing Sessions work especially well for people who are motivated and are more DIY-inclined. To schedule a session, simply contact us, to submit photos or video of the area you would like to have organized. Within 24 hours, you will receive a free consultation, at which point you will be asked your specific goals and desired outcome for the project. You will also receive a link to purchase your virtual session should you choose to do so. Upon receipt of payment, you will receive a detailed, illustrated plan with detailed steps to help you achieve your goals specified during the consultation.

Remote virtual organizing sessions are perfect for individuals who are short on time, but simply require an overall layout, plan, or professionally-designed organizing system to help keep them on track.

Click here to speak to us about setting up your first virtual organizing session. Mention the code REORG, and receive a 50% discount on your first remote session!

Starting Point

Probably the most common challenges people face after deciding to get organized is figuring out where to start. It is at this point that a person is likely taking in the view of the disorganization in its entirety and feeling overwhelmed. My number one secret to starting virtually any organizing project is actually quite simple: categorize, categorize, categorize.

The easiest way to begin categorizing a pile of “clutter” is to start by grouping “like with like.” If a closet requires more organization, gather all the shirts with shirts, pants with pants, belts with belts, etc. The basic act will bring clarity and allow the clothing to be further organized by season, fabric weight, color, casual vs. formal, or in any other way that will make the closet more visually appealing and accessible.

Organizing a “junk drawer” or items that may be stored on an exposed surface like the top of a dresser may seem more daunting. Nevertheless, the same principle applies. When grouping items in these types of situations, I highly recommend maintaining groups by using drawer dividers or small baskets/boxes/bins/drawer organizers that are of an appropriate size. A key advantage to creating and maintaining categories is by doing so, you will gain a better sense of which items can and should be readily purged.

By teaching yourself to quickly categorize the items in your living or work space, you will likely find that, after your first attempt at organizing, you will be required to spend less time maintaining your newly organized space. And when it is time to reorganize or purge, being able to assess items by category may also make the process seem less overwhelming.

Definitive Guide to Buying Makeup Storage Supplies

This installment of my “Definitive Guides” focuses on makeup storage solutions. The product that works best for us will heavily depend on the amount of makeup you own. Nevertheless, below is a diverse assortment of makeup storage options:

[The following images are Amazon affiliate links. Therefore, Amazon will compensate me a small percentage for each sale made through these links (each of which takes you directly to the product page on Amazon’s official website). The purchases price on your end will remain the same regardless.]

Keep products secure with pull-out drawers!

For the light makeup user

Build a well-organized makeup tower!

Got Palettes?

Both pieces included!

Interchangeable Design!

Brush storage options:

Definitive Guide to Buying Closet Organizing Supplies

After seeing how helpful the moving supplies guide has been, I decided to begin work on my second “Definitive Guide.” Below are some of the most commonly prescribed closet organizing tools I recommend to clients. [Note: the following links are Amazon Affiliate links. As an affiliate, Amazon compensates me with a small percentage of each sale that is made through the links listed below].

Shelf dividers can save a great deal of frustration when storing folded clothing on shelf space. Dividers are available in a variety of materials. It is important to measure the thickness of your closet shelf before purchasing to ensure the divider will attach. If your shelves are too thick for dividers, there are other options (such as fabric cubes and baskets) for keeping folded clothing and linens organized on shelves.

Wire Shelf Dividers

“Platinum” Shelf Dividers

Unbreakable Acrylic Shelf Dividers

Baskets – I am a fan of keeping folded clothing and linens contained, but visible. One of my favorite hacks is to place a stack folded items into a basket or fabric cube HORIZONTALLY, which allows you to see all the folded edges when looking into the basket. Then place the basket onto the shelf on its side. Doing so grants total visibility of the stack of clothes you wish to keep folded. Baskets may be used in their traditional manner (with the opening facing the top) for items you wish to store on a shelf, but don’t require visibility.

Java – Set of 3

Seville Classics Hand-Woven – Set of 2

Fabric Storage Cubes – Alternative to basket storage; also useful in various other areas in the home. Low-cost and efficient way to organize items on shelves, including folded clothing.

Shoes & Boots – Virtually every U.S. household has multiple pairs of shoes. Depending on the climate, some also have boots. Most of us in the NYC area have both. Here are a few tools that will help you store them neatly and keep them off the floor.
10-Tier Space-Saving Shoe Rack

3-Tier Shoe Rack

Over-the-Door Shoe Rack – 36 Pair!

Hanging Boot Storage

Boot Shaper Inserts

Linen Storage – Many of us change linens with the seasons. There are several items that can help you store heavy blanks and large comforters when they are not in use.

Linen Storage Bag

Vacuum Storage Bags – I should not that I very much prefer the vacuum bags that require vacuum suction versus the bags that require folding and manual removal of excess air. When using a vacuum storage back, I typically vacuum out the air until the fabrics transform into a solid rectangular block.

Hangers – 99% of households have closets with a hanging rod. The type of clothes hanger you choose can actually help save space and improve the aesthetics of your closet.

Velvet Hanger – These are thin, strong, and available in a variety of colors; perfect for color-coding the clothing categories within your closet. I mean. If you’re into that.

The Pipeline

I have been conspicuously MIA in recent weeks, so I figured I would provide an update. Basically, business is growing, and I am finally able to shift my focus to creating the extensive knowledge base I have been envisioning! With that said, here are a few updates:

1. Definitive Guides: The Definitive Guide to Moving Supplies has received an overwhelmingly positive response and, frankly, has made life easier for me when I walk into situations in which clients are preparing to move. As a result, I have decided to create more Definitive Guides to streamline the organizing process and to better empower my clients to remain organized on their own. My aim has always been to “teach people how to fish…” but with shelving, decorative bins, and high-quality clothing hangers. 😀

2. More focused product reviews and recommendations: It occurred to me that I should probably post more real-world use cases for the products I recommend to give readers ideas on the different ways seemingly conventional organizing tools can be used around the home and office.

3. More video content!…More on that later.

Stay tuned, people! There is much, much more to come.

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