Closets, Pantries, and Garages, Oh My! Getting Your Property Organized for 2021
The New Year is around the corner and as we say goodbye to 2020( thankfully!) Ring in 2021 with true renewal by transforming your home into an organized oasis. If this has been a resolution for you before, but it just seemed overwhelming, FOCUS on NoVA is here to help! Check out the following tips from our friend Lauryn Holmquist of Tailored Living on how to organize the 3 biggest trouble spots in every home.
Clothes Closets
January is a great time to take a hard look at your clothes and edit your wardrobe. The easiest way to do this? First, make your bed. This will give you a good staging area for putting items into categories. Next, make index cards or sticky notes for “keep”, “toss”, “donate”, and “?”. Go methodically through your closet and dresser and decide which pile each item belongs to! Clothing that ends up in the ‘keep’ pile can go back into the closet. Place items that are stained, have holes, or are worn out in the ‘toss’ pile. For the ‘donate’ pile, take out items that are in good condition but may be the wrong size or just don’t represent your tastes anymore. Place these items in black lawn bags so you can’t see what’s inside and aren’t tempted to “rescue” any pieces! The ‘?’ pile is for clothing that maybe you love but can’t quite fit into (we all have “goal jeans”, it’s okay). Come back the next day and sort through the ‘?’ pile again until there isn’t anything left. Voila! A new closet that costs zero dollars.
Need help deciding what to keep? Try the hanger trick. At the beginning of the year, turn all your hangers the opposite direction. As you wear items, put them back on the rod with the hanger turned the way you would normally have them. At the end of the season, you should have a good visual representation of what you really wear- and what you don’t.
If you’re opting for a custom solution, think of your closet as a blank slate! An organizing company, like Tailored Living, can help you reimagine your closet to be more functional, particularly if you’re dealing with the builder’s solution of wire hanging. This tends to be a poor solution because it lacks segmentation within the closet and you don’t get any adjustability. Think about the dresser, the shelving unit, or the boxes you put in your closet to help with that functionality; wouldn’t it make sense to invest in a system that incorporates those elements in an adjustable, better, and more beautiful way?
Garage
You can use the same strategy from the clothes closets to go through items in the garage! Remove all the items and sort them into “keep”, “toss”, “donate” and “?” piles and arrange accordingly. Purging is an important part of the garage organization process. If you haven’t used items in several seasons, that’s a sign that those items can be edited from the garage. If you’re downsizing, try to think about what your new lifestyle will look like. For example, if your new space has groundskeeping services, you don’t need your lawn tools (or as many lawn tools).
Clear boxes are always recommended so that you can see what you are storing and use labels for each box so that you can identify items quickly. Think of labels as the gatekeeper- this will ensure you not only have a physical system, but a storage strategy that will keep you organized.
If you’re dreading going through a cluttered garage, schedule a pickup for donations so that you maintain a deadline to get everything cleared out. Donations and junk haulers are your best friend for getting larger items out of the garage. Check out FOCUS on NoVA’s Resources Tab for some local recommendations!
Pantries
The kitchen may be the heart of the home, but the pantry makes it beat! A well organized pantry keeps the counters clutter free, and the cooks prepared. For a quick and easy organized pantry, remove everything from your pantry. Check expiration dates, and toss all expired food. This will remove a lot of clutter. Use sealed storage containers for items like flour, sugar, or coffee so they are accessible and stay fresh. Sort items into categories and create zones for related items, like a breakfast zone, or a shelf for baking ingredients.
The biggest factor to a functional pantry, much like a closet, is adjustability. How many times have you had to put in a cereal box the long way because the wire shelf heights are predetermined? Upgrading your pantry doesn’t have to be expensive. Save some money by opting for standard shelves with bin and basket storage. Or consider adjustable shelving so you can create spaces to fit larger items. Utilizing corner shelving will maximize every inch, giving you more usable space.
The biggest upgrade when you get a custom pantry? Corner Shelves! Wire shelving is installed with a vertical bar that supports the shelving, which means that corners become ineffective for storing things. With corner shelves, you get easy and adjustable access and can store items with irregular or larger dimensions, like your appliances. This makes a BIG difference if space is at a premium!
Tailored Living is Here to Help
Ready to start your organization journey? We’ve been proudly serving the Northern Virginia community for over 13 years and continue turn chaos into calm for homes across the area. We do this by designing and building custom living spaces specifically to fit your space and to reflect your lifestyle. Our designers have a passion for bringing our clients tailored organization and peace of mind through custom solutions. Call Lauryn Holmquist at 703-707-0009 to begin designing your new space and start the New Year off right!
