How do you go about organizing all your "junk?"?

Q: Seriously...where do I even start? My husband and I have moved around quite a bit in the last 5 years we've been married (7 times to be exact). We have lived in our current house for the past 3 months, but do plan on moving as soon as our last house sells and we can buy a new house (we switched jobs and towns, so we own a house and rent a house).

My question is, we have a ton of boxes still laying around b/c we don't really know where to put the stuff. How do you organize all your odds and ends? The problem boxes have stuff like extra shoelaces, video games, alarm clocks, decorations, thank you cards (new), batteries, nail clippers, etc. We already have a "junk" drawer in the kitchen that is full (more batteries, screwdrivers, tape, pens, etc). How do I organize this stuff? Most of the stuff I don't want to throw away b/c we will use it at one time or another, but we just don't have a place for it...help please :)

A: I would suggest that you take a weekend to sort through everything and organize it by the room that would make the most sense to store it. For example, video games would go in the room with TV or computer, shoe laces in a closet where you keep your shoes, nail clippers in the bathroom, etc. Gather all the stuff together in the largest room and start making piles labeled Bathroom, Kitchen, Master Bedroom, Family Room, etc. Then you and your husband decide together where stuff should go. As you're sorting, maybe you can find some more things that you really don't need and you can just get rid of them.

Before you start putting stuff away, you need to organize your closets, cabinets, drawers, shelves, etc. You may have to invest some money in a lot of clear plastic storage containers, shelving, hooks, drawer organizers and closet organizers...and a label maker.

If you just don't have closet space, start hanging things on the walls. I bought an economy-pack of those Command Adhesive Hooks from 3M. I put them about 6 of them on my closet wall and that's where I hang all my purses. Or you could buy shelving and decorative fabric boxes. Put up the shelves and store the boxes in your bedroom or family room. Make sure you label them so when you go to find stuff, you don't have to pull every box off the shelf to find it.

If you don't already have one, you should get a desk with lots of drawers or a computer armoire with storage for all your office supply stuff (tape, pens, etc). A roll top desk that you can close, or one of the armoires that you can close the doors on are great. You can keep the inside as messy as you want and close the doors when you're not using it.

For screwdrivers and other tools, you should really have a tool box. We keep a medium sized one in the garage for the tools we don't use every day, but then I have a small box in one of our junk drawers where I keep a Phillips head, a flat head, a measuring tape and a small hammer for every day use.

Trunks are a great way to store stuff that you don't use that often and open up room in a closet where you can store stuff that you use all the time. Replace your coffee and/or end tables with storage trunks for games, video games etc. Put another trunk at the end of your bed for extra bedding and pillows.

If you have a set of luggage, don't let it go unused when you're not traveling. Store seasonal clothes in there--winter clothes in the summer and summer clothes in the winter. If you keep all of your clothes in your closet year round, it wastes a lot of space, especially the bulky winter stuff. I remember when I was a kid my mom would pull the seasonal clothes out of the attic and it was like getting new clothes every time!

It may cost some money to get organized, but it will be worth it. Check out deals at the dollar store for small, plastic containers, and hit up Wal-Mart, Target or even Ikea for the rest.

Lastly, organizing is not something you do once and forget about. You are constantly buying new stuff and you will constantly stop using other stuff. When we get busy we tend to throw stuff somewhere just to get it out of the way, and before you know it, that nice organized bathroom drawer is unmanageable again. Once or even twice a year take the time to reorganize everything. If you find that to be too overwhelming, then do one room every month and when you've done the whole house, start over again.
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