Organized Shelving

Over time, shelves have a way of cluttering themselves.  Everyone is guilty of cramming something into every nook and cranny of a closet or shelf.

During the “dog days” of summer, it’s too hot to play outside unless you’re at a water park.  Therefore, when the air conditioning is on and you’re “stuck inside,” a little organization goes a long way.

It starts small with a bathroom shelf.  Hey!  That wasn’t so bad. You mix a couple of photos with a few decorative items and sprinkle in a few useful items (clock and thermometer) and it looks nice.

 

You then move into the living room where you notice your entertainment unit has some CD’s from Christmas and some DVD’s from the last sleep-over months ago.  A little de-cluttering and some decorative items, and you’re back in business.

So, now you’re on a roll.  Let’s head to the kitchen. The shelving unit is above the kitchen desk–which is usually cluttered with phone messages or bills to pay.  Do all the cookbooks need to be displayed?  After all, you haven’t used one recipe out of that French gourmet or souvenir cookbook from that fancy restaurant.  So, you send some of your cookbooks off to the second-hand bookstore and re-arrange the shelves to include some weight-loss cookbooks lying on their sides–perhaps so you can find them easier.  Then add some greenery and a hen for a kitchen effect…and Voila!  Looking good.

 

 

 

 

 

Now onto the laundry room.  This is the catch-all room.  The room that is down the hall where no guest knows is there.  But you know it’s there.  You finally acknowledge that the hideous blue wooden bins don’t play nice with the rest of the décor.  A can of grey spray paint makes it all good. Now you can hide those flashlights and extra cords in them. Your paraffin heater fits perfectly on the shelf (needed in winter) and the extra wax is hidden in the bin above it–makes perfect sense to put like items with like items!  Yippee-Skippee, you can leave the door open now.

So, now you’re ready for the big stuff!  The front hall closet is next.  That’s where you need to keep the dog leashes, poop bags, and of course your wet-weather and cold-weather items.  Can you believe there were so many spiders making their homes in there?  Plus, lots of salt to clean off your winter boots.  Might as well take those winter coats to the cleaners in July–when it’s hotter than blazes! Now’s the time to sew on that lost button or fix the torn lining.

OK, it’s time to clean out the worst of the worst–the linen closet…dum-da-dum dum.  Luckily you’ve seen someone post a neat idea on Pinterest where you take a pillow case from the sheet set and put the sheets and the remaining pillow case inside. Now all the sheets and pillow cases are together. Think how much time is saved by not having to look for the double-sized fitted sheet amongst the king-sized flat sheets. Do you really need those electric curlers after 30 years of short hair?  Time to send two pairs of curtains from 10 years ago to a thrift store.

 

Now you wonder why you didn’t do this organizing before!  There are probably hundreds of reasons why not–such as life gets in the way.

It’s best to take one room at a time and conquer it.  The thrift stores will be happy, the second-hand bookstores will be happy, but most of all, you will feel less stress because you can find what you need.

The two remaining areas to be de-cluttered are the pantry and the master bedroom closet.  Best to wait for another hot day.

Call Premiere Home Stagers with help on your de-cluttering, redesign, or staging needs.  608-345-9396