Jean S. recently wrote to Yours Truly:
“Dear Organizing Diva,
I would like to get my linen closet more organized.
It has deep shelves so all the piles bath towels, hand towels, etc. fall over and end up looking like a mess. It is also difficult to find
what I want. What do you suggest to make the closet neater?”
Oh Miss Jean,
Do I have suggestions for you and your closet! First of all, take everything out of the closet.
Purge and sort all the linens. Keep all the sheet sets together, towel sets together, etc. Personally, I believe that most people own too many linens for their home. Consider paring down on your own amount which might make your life simpler.
I suggest that you purchase some shelf dividers to keep all the stacks from tumbling over. My next suggestion is somewhat unorthodox: roll all your towels and sheets and group them. Place the grouped rolled linens back on the shelves between the shelf dividers. With the right shelf divider you can make the stacks rather high.
If you shelves are unusually deep, you could 
purchase stacking shelves that double the shelf space. You would still roll the linens and put them on the wire stacking shelves in addition to the regular shelves.
Once your organizing project is complete, smile and admire your lovely handiwork.
Good luck my friend!
Val wrote to The Organizing Diva
“I have three beautiful girls that can’t seem to hang up their coats. There is a chair in my kitchen that looks like a coat rack every day. Same goes for their boots. The entrance to my house is a tight stairwell to the 2nd floor which leads directly to the kitchen, so hanging the coats in the entrance is not an option, same goes for kicking off the boots. Any other suggestion? Should I replace the chair with a coat rack in the kitchen? Thanks”
Hey Val,
One of the mantras you will hear The Organizing Diva often repeat is: find “homes” for 
all your possessions. What I mean by “home” is the place where the item goes after it is used. Now this “home” can be anything or anyplace. My “home” for my coats might be different from your “home” for coats. So getting a coat rack for the kitchen is a clever idea given that you don’t have a place in the hallway. You could also put up a wall-hanging coat hooks in an unconventional place, such as the ascending stairwell. Don’t worry if your “home” for your kids’ coats is unusual–what’s important that it is used. So go ahead and get creative.
Good luck with this project Val and your Beauties!
The Organizing Diva
Betty wrote asking The Organizing Diva:
“What’s the best way to get rid of old LPs?”
Oh Betty
Your question made me go down memory lane. I cherished all my LPs growing up and starting in college, lugged them to every apartment that I lived in. Finally, a few years ago, I made the huge decision to let go of the LPs. I donated them to a friend who was a music writer and aficionado and I was happy that they went to a good home.
For you Betty, ask yourself if it is important that you make money on letting go of your LPs. If it is, then go to ebay.com and list your each of your vinyl collection. This will be somewhat time-consuming but will generate some cash. You can get a sense of what other sellers are charging for their LPs. 
The other option is to give them away for free. Believe it or not, there is renewed interest in owning vinyl and turntables. So there is probably a “need” for your old LPs. You could list your collection for free on Craigslist.org or FreeCycle.org. I would suggest that you that you insist that the LPs go as a collection (in other words, no cherry picking.) Please make sure that you take the necessary precautions and have someone else be there when the prospective “buyer” shows up at your home to pick up his/her new treasures.
Good luck Miss Betty,
The Organizing Diva
Vicky wrote to The Organizing Diva recently:
“My 9 year old daughter inherited my bad habit of not picking up after [one]self and leaving projects unfinished for weeks. Her bedroom and playroom/guestroom get messier and messier every day. How can I teach her that an organized, clean room gives you easier access to all your stuff when I am setting a bad example myself. Every month we go through a drawn-out, tear-inducing clean-up that leaves us both completely wiped out. Any tips or suggestions (for both of us)?”
Oh my dear Vicky,
You have quite a situation on your hands and I am sure that you’re feeling not only stressed but perhaps a tad bit guilty. We all want to be perfect role models for our kids or young people in our lives. But perhaps you can see it as a situation where a mirror is being held up for you, yet not judge yourself so harshly. We all have our issues and your are not alone in your struggle to become organized.
Consider looking at this situation as a mother-daughter project. How can the BOTH of you improve your organizing skills? It’s not just about her and her messy room. Perhaps an honest discussion with your daughter about how you are trying to be more organized and would also like for her to become more organized. And now what can the both of you do together?
I would recommend taking small steps to start off with. First, figure out when is the best time to do a little organizing with your daughter. Is she at her best early in the morning, getting home from school or right after dinner?
Start this session by getting a kitchen timer. Ask your daughter to, let’s say for example, to pick up her clothes and put them away. And you’re going to do exactly the same thing but in your own bedroom. Set the timer for 15 minutes and put it in the hallway so that the both of you can hear it go off.
Now all that the two of you need to do is to start organizing for only 15 minutes.
When the timer goes off, stop and evaluate what each of you accomplished. Still feeling like you could accomplish more? Set the timer for another 15 minutes and see what you can get done in round two. I recommend that you do this ritual every day together. Perhaps this Saturday morning, you could set the timer for 30 minutes to tackle a bigger project.
With this methodology, your daughter will see that you are both in this together, and that you are taking some small, but definite steps on a regular basis to make changes to your old habits. When you get into a regular organizing routine, you won’t feel as overwhelmed. My hope is that you and your daughter will grower stronger as you tackle this challenge together.
Good luck Sweetie and thanks for sharing!
J. R. wrote: I live in small urban one-bedroom apartment with limited space. I would love to have some sort of home office to use my laptop (other than lying on my bed). Do you have any suggestions?
Well as a matter of fact I do Sweetie. First, kudos to you on trying to organize your space more efficiently. Here are my suggestions:
Try checking out this Tucker Camo laptop table from
Tucker Camo Laptop Table
Next gather up your office supplies and your laptop and put them in this cool magazine rack with a handle from Plexi-Craft. You can now pull out your table by your sofa, set up your laptop and bring over all your office supplies in a snap.
How’s that for a portable, cool mini office?
Now is a good time gather up your houseplants and give them a little TLC. It’s best to do this project outdoors.
• Spread out newspapers on the ground to create a workspace.
• Separate the pots from the saucers.
• Re-pot any plants that have outgrown their pots.
• Add fresh soil. Actually, add some fresh soil to all plants.
• Prune back any plants that have become overgrown or misshapen–this will encourage new growth.
• Fertilize the plants with a water-soluble plant food in a watering can.
• Remove plants from newspapers. Gently hose all the leaves down to remove dust. (This will allow them to clean the air better inside your house.) Let them drain outside.
• Meanwhile, add small white marble chips to the saucers and return these indoors to their rightful place.
• Wait about an hour and return plants to their saucers.
Continue to water plants on a as needed basis throughout the cooler months. (Stick finger in soil to see if it is dry or moist—then water as needed.) As the indoor environment continues to get drier, mist plants with a plant sprayer on regular basis. Houseplants can provide color and natural beauty throughout your home.
Today, Maria of the ButterflyMoms blog writes about silence, looking inward and listening for inner guidance. Read more here at the ButterflyMoms blog
Like it or not, the summer is coming to an end and preparations are beginning for heading back to school. One of the most important things you can do to prepare your kids is to give them a place to put their things when they arrive home at the end of each day.
A Backpack Landing Station is a great way to keep backpacks, papers, homework and other school items all in one spot and easy to find. The Landing Station is simply one area where kids can pack or unpack their bags, put away their papers and keep track of their school belongs. Establish a routine with your children from the first day of school to walk in the door and unpack their bags. The morning routine is also simplified because everything will be at the Backpack Station and ready to pack.
Here are four essential components for a Backpack Station:
1. A simple hook to hang a backpack. The 3M hooks are easy to mount and work well. Place the hook on the wall next to the backpack station or mount directly on the side of the table or station.
2. Table or surface for papers, lunchboxes, library books and other items.
3. Bin for lunchboxes and books.
4. Magazine file for papers and homework. Putting the school papers in a magazine file makes it easy for kids and parents. Parents can quickly scan to see if anything needs to be filled out and returned and they can keep and eye out for homework. Kids have a place to put their homework and paperwork when it is complete so that they can pack it the next morning.
Kristin Lindstrom is a Professional Organizer and Blogger. Her blog, the Imperfect Home is all about inspiration for organizing life, home and family.
J2 writes:
Dear Organizing Diva,
I have been having trouble keeping my finances organized. While I have never watched my spending too closely, I feel like now more than ever my financial disorganization is beginning to affect my daily life. This is leaving me feeling very stressed and financially unstable. Any tips on how to get this aspect of my life back on track?
Wow, J2, that’s an amazing “ I-want-some-change-in-my-life” kinda question. I could write a chapter on organizing our finances, but I will try to give you just a few key tips here on budgeting. Just for the record, I am not a financial planner, just someone who can share about creating budgets and financial paper organization.
First, you have to keep track of both your income and your spending/expenses.
This is easier for those who make a consistent income and have consistent spending. It’s a little more complicated for those of us, like myself, who have a variable income and changing expenses month to month. The key is to make sure that you have a reliable and consistent tool, such as using the free software at mint.com or using an Excel spreadsheet. Email me at maureen@theorganizingdiva.com if you would like a copy of an Excel spreadsheet that I use that keeps track of all income and expenses and shows your net income from month to month.
With either tool, you want to set up clear and all-inclusive categories for spending/expenses. It’s easy to indicate categories like rent/mortgage and car payment and less easy to remember to include incidental spending on the go (Starbucks, anyone?). But it’s so important to record all spending—even the self-indulgent kind like getting manis/pedis. In fact, financial guru Suze Orman points out that incidental spending, such as grabbing coffee at your favorite cafe every morning, is the real culprit of our runaway spending. I find the best way to do this is to get a receipt for EVERYTHING (that’s right, get a receipt even for the bottle of water that you pick up at the gym several times per week). I recommend that you do what I do and spend a few minutes every day entering your numbers into the spreadsheet with a calculator. Now it becomes a routine, just like brushing your teeth.
Once you see where all your money is going, you are less likely to spend without intention. Buying everything with cash is also one way to curtail spending since you actually fork over your hard-earned dollars instead of mindlessly paying with a debit card.
For other practical tips, empowering ideas and the occasional kick in the pants sign up at DailyWorth.com.
Good luck Sweetie and keep me posted on your progress,
The Organizing Diva
If you’re like me, you take a number of vitamins, supplements and possibly meds. But how do you remember to take them throughout the day? Well here are some tips to keeping you on track.
In the morning, lay out all supplements in designated piles–Breakfast, Lunch, Mid-Day Med (no food), Dinner, Bedtime, Pre-Breakfast (no food), etc.
Now label snack-size ziplock baggies with a Sharpie with those categories.
Put all the supplements, vitamins and meds in snack baggies.
Put all the snack baggies inside a sandwich-sized ziplock bag (better to use the sturdier brand with the closing sliding button.)
You can slip in other things like herbal tea bag, homeopathic sprays/drops, etc. Now take that sandwich baggie with you all day.
Another tip: keep a tiny dry erase board near your vitamins. When you are running low on a particular vitamin, you can post it on the board and remember to purchase more soon.
(Thanks Sis for the idea for today’s post.)
Have a fantastic and well-supplemented day, Sweeties!
The Organizing Diva
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