Winter time is obviously here. Now is the time that your garage is most likely to get cluttered. It’s easy to pile the wide assortment of snow shovels, sleds, inner tubes, boots and other winter gear on top of all of the summer stuff. I mean, it’s hard enough to convince yourself to clean out the garage when there is nice weather that cleaning it out in the dead of winter is basically out of the question. To help make space for your car in the garage, and ease the burden of spring cleaning, we have the Triple Ski Rack.

The Triple Ski Rack is very easy to install, simple to use, and keeps those awkwardly long poles and skis out of the way of everything else. With its solid steel construction, you’re guaranteed a long lasting product that will take care of your ski racking for years to come.

Make spring cleaning (and parking your car) a little easier on yourself. Toss up a Triple Ski Rack, and put those skis where they belong.

I love it when someone comes out with something that isn’t just more of the same. So often we are flooded with new gadgets, toys and inventions that seem to be knock-offs or clones of something we’ve seen before. The Sleekstor Collapsible Measuring Cups are a welcome exception to the rule. They have taken the traditional, bulky measuring cup and improved upon the idea.

These clever collapsing cups fit together snugly and withstand extreme temperatures. They are made from LMBG grade silicone, which means that they are very durable, and may even outlive you! With a variety of colors, and unique design, Sleekstor has put some fun back into cooking and baking.

I’ve got more remotes than Zsa Zsa Gabor has ex-husbands. There’s a remote control for the TV, a remote control for the DVD player, a remote control for the receiver, and a remote for my massage chair. Pretty soon I’ll have a remote control for my remote controls!

Remember back in the day when you had to get off the couch to change the channel? Now I spend ten times that amount of time hunting for the remote. Instead of simplifying my life, as remote control should, I spend valuable gaming/sports center time on my hands and knees looking under the sofa, between couch cushions and under magazines that I’m almost ready to revert back to the old, manual way of doing things.

If you have this same problem, check out the Remote Control Organizer. It’s made of solid wood, and has a tiered shelving system for all of your remotes. Put it on the lamp stand next to the couch and have access to all of your remotes at once. No more digging through piles of toys, or forgetting you left the remote on the TV last time you cleaned. Now you can have a house for your little remote family to live in!

Thanksgiving is the season for leftovers! Make sure you store your leftovers so that they will last. Fresh Vac sports a one way airtight valve that allows air out of the container but not back in. This system helps keep the bacteria that could otherwise get to your food out and helps preserve freshness and taste. Keep your turkey, stuffing, yams and even cranberries (if you like that sort of thing) fresh until next year with the Fresh Vac storage containers.

Take a look at this video that demonstrates how the Fresh Vac containers work.

Our professional organizers and designers all use the same foundation when confronting any organization project. The foundation, otherwise known as See It. Map It. Do It.©, was developed by an organization company called Clear & Simple. See It. Map It. Do It.© has been tried and proven time after time. The program consists of three simple steps that walk you through the de-cluttering process so that you are sure to end up with a neat, tidy and organized space.

The first step to getting organized is to SEE IT:

Take a few minutes to look at where you are in relation to the goal at hand. Ask yourself a few helpful questions to help you understand the project.

-Why haven’t I done this before?
-Why do I want to get this paper organized?
-Where am I stuck and why?
-What is the most important thing I can do to get all my vital documents into one place?

It’s no mystery that there may be a number of feelings and emotions attached to the task at hand. Do not become overwhelmed or discouraged! Hang in there. The reason you are asking yourself these questions is to get a good idea at the behavioral patterns that have led to the need to undertake this project. These questions should help you get a better vision as to what changes will need to be made in the future to maintain the results of your organizational goals.

Once you’ve gained a fair perspective of the goal before you with the SEE IT step, you can continue to on to MAP IT:

Take some time to physically lay out your vision in a way that makes sense to you. You need to be able to refer back to it and understand what your desired outcome will be, so as to not lose track of you goal. There are many ways to do this. Here are some examples:

-Make a mind map.
-Make a list.
-Draw a picture.
-Create a collage.
-Write a description of your top 3 priorities.
-Write your vision.
-Put your tasks and deadlines on your calendar.

Now that you’ve thought through your project, made some goals and mapped them out so that you can refer back to them, it is time to DO IT!

The DO IT step is normally the step that most people think of when they plan on organizing. Since actually doing the organizing is the hard part, a system has been created to help walk you through the process and not get lost in between the beginning and the end. The system is called S.T.A.C.K.S.©, which is obviously an acronym. Each letter will help you in the quest to accomplish your organization goal.

Sort - You should start by sorting your clutter, whether it be paper, toys or kitchen appliances. Do not make any decision about the item other than what category it belongs in. Any time a new category is created, label it. If you can’t determine which category an item belongs to, put it in a category marked “?” and you can get back to it later. Getting everything sorted into pile will help the organization process pass much more quickly that jumping back and forth between steps.

Toss - Begin this step by picking up one of the piles you have created in the “Sort” phase. Work through the pile, tossing out everything that you will not need. Separate the rest into different sub-categories that will help you organize the main category. For example, if your main category is “Legal Documents,” your sub categories could be something like “Wills/Trusts,” “Powers of attorney,” “Funeral/burial instructions,” etc.

Assign - Once you’ve worked through the piles, you need to prepare and assign everything a home.

-Start by separating all of the most important, or frequently used items from the rest of the group.
-Select a space that appeals to you. If you are filing paperwork, select a distinguishing color for your file folders.
-Label your storage space, whether it be bins, folders or shelves to that you know what resides (or should reside) there.

Contain - Containing is very closely related to Assigning. Now that everything has a home, you need to put it there. Place all of your documents into their files, place all of your toys into their bins, put all of your appliances on their shelves etc. After you complete this step, there should be a place for everything and everything should be in its place.

Keep it up - Now that you have everything organized, keep it that way! If you get something new, replace an item, or receive an updated version of a document, get rid of the old and replace it with the new. No sense in re-creating the mess. It is important to review your organization on an annual basis to make sure you are keeping things consistent.

Simplify - To avoid creating problems for yourself, let other people that will be using your new system know how it works. You don’t want someone coming in and undoing everything you have done. Make sure they know what storage places you have created, what is contained within them, and how to manage them.

And there you have it. Now that you know the full proof system to taking care of that messy business in your home or office, you can’t make up any more excuses! Take the plan and put it into action. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. We have professional designers that can walk you through these steps and give you great suggestions to help maintain and improve your systems of organization. You can also contact the Clear & Simple crew with questions, comments or help regarding the awesome See It. Map It. Do It.© foundation to organizing.

(© 2001-2006 Clear & SIMPLE, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

If you are a mother, have ever had a mother, or if you even know a mother, then you are probably very familiar with the phrases: “Clean your room,” “Put that where it belongs,” and “Who made this mess?” Whether you learned something from mom’s persistent prompts to keep a clean house or not, keeping organized is essential to living a healthy and low-stress life. Here is a list of the top ten reasons (besides ‘because mom said so’) to keep your home, room and office organized.

10. Being organized frees up space. Dealing with piles of clutter is very frustrating and time consuming. Clutter is also the captain of the space eaters and the enemy of organization.

9. Being organized improves your mental health. Lets face it people, when you are surrounded by clutter, your conciousness borders insanity. Calm those nerves and put a smile on your face by keeping things in order.

8. Being organized saves money. Yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s all about the Benjamin’s. Having an organized environment will allow you to stop saying, “I think I have one of those somewhere,” so you can start saying, “Oh! I just put that away over here…” Save money by not buying things you don’t need! Also, being organized helps you avoid having to hire someone from pest control on a regular basis to come spray for critters living in the confines of your clutter.

7. Being organized makes you a good example. It does no good to try to teach your children to be clean and tidy if you have a cluttered office or a messy home. Nobody likes a hypocrite, not even people who don’t know what a hypocrite is.

6. Being organized is admirable. You will become the talk of the town or office by being organized. Your friends will compliment you on your clean and tidy surroundings, and your coworkers will be amazed at how your desk always looks like your work is already finished. Organization is a key to becoming super, Hollywood-esque popular.

5. Being organized saves you time. In a busy world filled with soccer practices, piano lessons, corporate deadlines, PTA meetings, board meetings, church meetings and any other kind of meeting you can think of, wouldn’t it help to have things organized at home and at work? Being organized will spare you a couple extra minutes in these busy days to pull your head out of the chaotic ocean of busy-ness, take a deep breath and appreciate life.

4. Being organized helps promote other good habits. Over time your awesome organizational habits will transfer over to other aspects of your life. Having an organized home and office helps give you time and skills to organize your finances, your future, and even your relationships.

3.  Being organized would make your mother proud.  There are few things more satisfying in life than hearing the words, “I’m so proud of you” come out of your mother’s mouth.  I’m not guarinteeing that your mother will say these exact words if you get organized, but just know that she is thinking them.  If you do, however, have a deep urning to recieve some verbal praise, drop me a line and I’ll pretend to be your mom.  Hey, something is better than nothing.

2. Being organized increases productivity. Study after study has shown that people work more efficiently when they are in an organized and clean environment. The actual act of gettig organized proves this statement to be true, because getting organized is a productive thing to do… just like brushing your teeth.

1. Being organized just makes you feel better. Imagine going home to a neatly organized house, or showing up to a pristine office. Bask, if you will, in the goodness of that mental image.

Now honestly, wouldn’t it just feel good to be organized? Take that initiative, throw on your work clothes and bust out that game face.  Take control of your life and organize it!  You can contact our Organization Professional, Ashley, for tips and suggestions.  Here at the Organization Place, we just want to help you get all your ducks in a row.

It’s about that time of year again - it’s time to organize and clean out your kitchen. If you’re like me, every time you organize your kitchen, you stumble upon things that you had completely forgotten about. Moldy bread that has transformed itself into a science experiment, fermented juice boxes, (trust me, don’t let your kids get to these) and even that bottle of prunes that you swore were peaches at one point. You know it’s really bad when the expiration dates on some of your cans are dated before your children were born… especially if your children are now teenagers. Recently, I installed a really cool little product into my pantry to help me keep it organized. Not only does the CanSolidaor hold an enormous amount of cans (40), but it automatically rotates them for me! That’s right, I’m not kidding, I no longer have to deal with making a wall of cans to keep them organized or rotating them from the back of the pantry to the front. The CanSolidator has a unique front loading system. You put your new cans into the top slot, and they roll down and stop at the bottom. If you continue loading in the top and removing from the bottom, you will ALWAYS be using the oldest can first. This means no more surprises when you clean out that kitchen! Everything in your pantry should be fresh all the time.

Another great feature of the CanSolidator is that it’s stackable. If you have more clearance in you pantry than the average shelf provides, you can stack 2 CanSolidators on top of each other, and store twice as much of your canned edibles. If you don’t have room in your pantry, the CanSolidator will also fit in your cupboard.

Here’s a good idea as to what the CanSolidator looks like in an actual pantry. Aside from all the cool features, it just plain looks good in the pantry, doesn’t it? If you’re interested in using the ConSolidator to help organize your kitchen, click on any of the above pictures, or you can click here. Keep an eye out for our next installment of “Our Favorites.” We plan on keeping the ideas, the deals and the blog posts coming.

Let us know if you have any ideas about how to organize your kitchen or pantry, or how you have enjoyed your CanSolidator in your own home by commenting on this post.

We here at the Organization Place thought it would be a good idea to start taking on some local organization projects. We realize that there are plenty of homes and offices out there that need organizing. The best way to demonstrate what we are capable of is to give you visual proof. With a little time, effort and some knowhow, you can really make a difference in your own home or office. We hope to present our first installment of “Before and After” very soon. Keep checking back with us.

It’s official, The Organization Place finally has a blog! From here on out, you can expect a steady stream of posts from our fantastic team. We will be giving tips on how to organize the various rooms within your home, including the garage, as well as your office and maybe even your car. This blog will also be a handy tool for introducing organization products that are extra special, or products that we feel will be exceptionally useful to you. We are very excited to have this new channel of communication open between ourselves and you, our fantastic customers. Feel free to comment on any of the upcoming posts, or pass along organization suggestions and tips that have worked for you. Thanks for dropping in and remember to “Keep all your ducks in a row!”

-Nate Bagley
Marketing and Advertising