Refresh Your Closet with Consignment

I just bought my first item of clothing from a consignment store this weekend - a $14 pair of pants that fit me perfectly and filled a need in my closet. While I've been aware of the idea of consignment for some time, I feel like I've just opened a door to a whole new world...and closet!

As we've talked about before, some of the best ways to be green at home are to buy less stuff (or at least less new stuff) and to donate or recycle your unwanted items. Consignment is a great way to refresh your closet without buying brand new items and at the same time 'recycling' your gently used duds so someone else can enjoy them. The catch is that consignment stores can be pretty picky about what they will accept - usually less than 2-3 years old, must be in good or great condition and they may only accept certain brands. But shop around and you may find a store that will accept your items. Not only will you clear some real estate in your closet, but if your items sell, you will have some bonus funds to spend on some new used items. And while some consignment stores focus on high-end items, if you can find one that carries a selection of mid-range brands, you can score some great bargains while adding new life to your wardrobe.

Bottom line, if you'd like to refresh your closet regularly, but want to take it easy on your wallet and the planet, give consignment a try. Google stores in your area and check reviews to make sure clients and customers are happy with how they operate. Happy shopping!

Scenes From a Professional Organizer's Home: My Bathroom

Last week I gave you a peek at my kitchen. Bathrooms can also pose organizing challenges, often due to limited storage space, so I thought we'd focus on that this week. When we moved into our condo, our bathroom storage was limited to a small under-sink cabinet (pictured), a 3-door mirrored medicine cabinet and a single towel bar. To maximize storage space, I outfitted the under-sink cabinet with these mesh drawers from The Containers Store. They hold smaller items like travel toiletries and medicine/first aid items. Larger items like cleaning supplies can still fit alongside the drawers. We also installed a wall-mounted cabinet like this one (but with frosted doors) to hold less frequently used items and extra stock, while the most frequently used items are stored in the medicine cabinet - my items on the left, my husband's on the right and shared items in the middle. We added towel hooks and rings for everyday towels and I keep guest towels folded on top of the wall cabinet and extra TP in a decorative canister on the floor. If I had drawers in the bathroom - maybe you do - I would use simple drawer dividers and keep small items like Qtips, cotton balls, etc. in there. Our space is limited, so I've chosen to keep makeup and hair items out of the bathroom for the most part - I have plenty of space for these and a good mirror in our bedroom.

Here are my top tips for keeping your bathroom organized:

1) Know how much 'inventory' you can store, and don't buy more than that - even if it's on sale!! True story - when we first got our Costco membership, we made a classic rookie mistake and bought the 24 pack of toilet paper. No surprise, we really didn't have the room to store it - we had rolls everywhere - even in the bedroom TV cabinet. For me, the 'benefit' of not having to buy TP for a year did not outweigh the clutter it created in our small apartment - lesson learned!

2) Regularly weed out expired medicines, make-up and items you aren't using. Medicine cabinets and under-sink storage, while small spaces, have a way of becoming black holes for things like travel toiletries, hair products, product samples, etc. Don't let them take up valuable real estate in your bathroom.

3) Keep like items together for easy access. If your mornings are like mine, every minute counts! Streamline your getting ready routine by grouping similar items together. Or you could use my strategy of grouping items by 'user' - all of my items are on one side of the medicine cabinet so I don't have to open multiple cabinets to get what I need.

While bathrooms are typically a small part of your home, an organized bathroom can have a huge impact on your daily routine. Try out the above tips and tell us your ideas for making your bathroom an organized oasis!

Benefits of Getting Organized

So what can getting organized, or at least working toward it, do for you? I recently came across this guest post on one of my favorite blogs that spells out Seven Benefits of Uncluttering. As a professional organizer, I definitely have a natural love of all things organized and the process of organizing, but that is not to say that my life hasn't had its pockets of clutter along the way. It really wasn't until I started to get serious about organizing a couple years ago that I became aware of several of the benefits described. The ones that really hit home for me are 1) Save Money, 4) Help Others, and 7) Reduce Stress.

Since catching the decluttering bug, I know my financial bottom line is better off. I was never a big spender, but I now have an increased awareness about my purchases that, for the most part, stops useless items from making their way into my home. My shopping filter is motivated both by the financial savings as well as the desire to keep clutter at bay - double defense! This doesn't mean I don't buy anything, but I'm careful about what and have noticed that I really enjoy/use/love what I do buy.

During the process of decluttering, most people generate significant amounts of stuff that's headed out the door. But where does it all go? Since I'm not big on throwing out items that others could use, trips to local donation centers have become part of my routine. It feels so much better to let someone else have the chance to use items I don't need, rather than have let them lie dormant in my closets.

But it is truly the last benefit - reducing stress - that has had the greatest impact for me. There is just something so 'freeing' about finishing unfinished projects, creating space by letting go of clutter, and getting systems in place that allow you to stay on top of it all. And as a bonus, less clutter means easier cleaning - now that's a powerful stress buster for me!

And while this hasn't been a driver for me, I also found number three - Get more space. Afford more house. - especially intriguing. As author Gregory Go puts it:

"What percentage of your home is used for clutter storage? You may be shocked to learn the percentage of your rent or mortgage payments being used to store that old TV, extra couch, and broken coffee maker."

Living in an expensive real estate market, I know I will be thinking about any remaining clutter with a different eye! What motivates you to get organized?

Scenes From a Professional Organizer's Home: My Kitchen

Last week I promised to give you little glimpses into my home in addition to some tips along the way. One thing you may not know about me is that I'm also a registered dietitian and have transformed my canned corn and chicken parm-eating husband into a baby spinach and apple-loving fool! So I thought it would make sense to start in my kitchen.

So here you go, this is my flatware/utensil drawer. I chose this little space to show you because it makes me happy - in my eyes, it is a perfectly organized spot - it has the division it needs to keep like with like, we have plenty of what we need, but not too much more, and I can find everything quickly. My husband can even unload the dishwasher (which he does do) and all the forks and spoons end what where they're supposed to!

Enough about my drawer, here are some of my 'organized dietitian' tips for a healthy, organized kitchen:

1) With busy schedules, being able to eat healthfully depends on a well-stocked and organized pantry and fridge. So get to know what's in there! Pull it out, get rid of expired foods, items your family doesn't use, and ditch foods that don't support your nutrition goals. When you put what's left back, group like items together so you can easily find what you need - put your healthy snack foods, like yogurt and fruit, in the same zone in your fridge so you have an easy 'grab and go' snack. If you need ways to maximize the storage space in your 'pantry', check out The Container Store's kitchen section for some ideas.

2) When it comes to pots, pans and kitchen gadgets, the key is to own just what you need and use. Avoid buying what Unclutter.com refers to as 'unitaskers' - items that serve just a single purpose (they are often kitchen items). On the contrary, owning basic kitchen items, such as good knives, nesting bowls, and a basic set of cookware, and items that can multi-task, is the best way to avoid kitchen clutter.

3) Own a single good set of plastic food storage containers - I have a set of Rubbermaid's Easy Find Lid containers plus a few good Tupperware pieces. If you have an overflowing stock of plastic containers, go through them, keep the best and get rid of the rest! Trust me, this will make a world of difference in terms of kitchen storage space and your sanity when trying to find a matching set. And bringing dinner leftovers for lunch is a great way to save money and your waistline!

We'll come back around to the kitchen in a bit, but hopefully that's some food for thought (I couldn't resist) for this week! In the meantime, tell us about your kitchen successes and challenges...

Weekend Inspiration: Organized Gifts

This week on our green blog, I wrote about making gift giving a little greener. But it occurred to me that you can also up the organizing ante when you give. One of my tips for staying green while giving is to stick to the gift registry unless you have another special idea. But if you find yourself batting registry clean up (i.e. scooping up the odds and ends left on the registry), which is a perfectly valid gift giving strategy, or simply have several smaller items to piece together, here's an idea to tie them all together.

You can make a really great looking and functional gift by buying a universally appealing organizing container to package your small items. Wrap each item in tissue paper, or even leave them exposed and just use a few bows and some tissue to 'nest' the items in. Here's a picture of such a gift I'm bringing to a baby shower tomorrow. Two recent gifts I've received came packaged in containers that I love and use daily!

Other ideas for organized giving...

• Give a tote bag, car trunk organizer, travel toiletry case or another organizing 'tool.' Just be sure you know it will fill a need and will not be likely to end up as additional clutter.
• I love to give Container Store, Home Depot or other gift cards, especially if the recipient is working on home projects. This way you are helping out but letting them choose their own 'tools.'
• And last but not least, if you know someone is interested in organizing help, you can give gift certificates for home and office organizing services. We offer these at www.OrganizingBoston.com (shameless plug, but it's true).

What are your ideas for giving organized gifts?