10 Signs That You Need to Declutter Your Closet

As many will agree, a closet is a special place in a house. It’s where you go to pick out who you want to be for the day, and it’s where good memories with strong associations to certain outfits are kept. The problem with it is that we can’t always fit everything we’d want in one closet and still have room to add more things later. Therefore, it’s important to clear it out from time to time. With that said, here are ten signs that it’s time to de-clutter your closet:

1. THE SEASON IS CHANGING

For every transition of the season, you will need a new set of clothes and accessories. To make room for a different set of outfits, you’ll need to make space in your closet. Organizing your closet based on the season you’re in will give you the most functional closet, and it allows you to keep a ton of space available and ready for the new season. This is especially important for people with a small closet, as chances are that you struggle to keep everything in there at once.

2. YOUR CLOSET HAS “SPILLAGE”

Spillage is when a space in your home can no longer hold additional belongings therefore items spill out into another room. If you’re greeted by a mound of clothes falling out from your closet every time you open up and can never manage to find the outfit you’re looking for, it may be time to start afresh with a thorough closet decluttering session.

3. YOU’VE STARTED A NEW JOB

As soon as you start working, you will need to make room in your closet for work clothes, formal dresses, and work gear. If you’ve just landed a new job, it’s a good opportunity to start anew and start decluttering!

4. YOU’RE WASTING TIME LOOKING FOR STUFF

The more you work, the more you need to be efficient with your time. You don’t want to wake up every morning stressing over where your shoes are and where your coat is. Doing so can be a huge waste of time. If you start to feel like you’re wasting too much of your time just looking for stuff, then it’s time that you declutter your closet.

5. YOU QUIT YOUR JOB

If you’ve switched jobs or stopped working entirely, it’s time to clear out the stuff that you’re never going to use again. For example, if you needed work boots at your old workplace but will be wearing Oxfords every day at your new office, those boots may need to be donated to make room for your new work clothes.

6. YOU’VE STARTED TO WORK OUT

Gym equipment can take up quite a bit of space, so if you’ve decided to take up exercising, you need to make some space for it in the closet.

7. YOU QUIT GOING TO THE GYM

On the contrary, if you stop going to the gym, you can clear out the gym closet you have for now and restock it if you have the need for it again.

8. SOMEONE WILL BE MOVING IN

More people in the house means that you will have to share your closet space, therefore, if you’re planning to have someone live with you, decluttering may be necessary.

9. YOU BEGIN A NEW HOBBY OR STOP AN OLD HOBBY

Hobby equipment may take up a lot of space, and to make sure that you have everything you need to enjoy your new hobby, you need to clear out the closet to fit everything else in there.

10. YOU’RE FEELING BLUE

People like to have control over things, and the best place to start regaining control is the closet. If the rest of your life isn’t going the way you want it to, you can regain your momentum by accomplishing the small things. Decluttering your closet can be a symbol of a fresh start, and it’s a practical solution if you’re feeling down.

If you’re looking for a professional organizer in Houston, TX to help make more space in your

home especially during a transition in your life, get in touch with Rescue My Space today! We’re happy to help.

What not to do when organizing your Closet

Our closets are one of the most used spaces in the home. It’s a place where we choose who we want to be and remove who we were. For this reason a lot of times our closets suffer the most. Because of this, I wanted to tell you some things you shouldn’t do when organizing your closet which will help get your closet organized.

If you’re interested, keep on reading!

USE WIRE HANGERS

I’m sure many of us probably have at least 2 wire hangers in our closet now. From our dry cleaning to random wire hangers mysteriously appearing, wire hangers are everywhere and need to be destroyed! As you can see I despise them and there’s a reason for it.

STORYTIME

It was a bright and sunny afternoon. It had to be a weekend since the incident occurred during school hours. I was helping my mom hang clothes and as I was hanging a shirt, the hook of the wire hanger went through my eyelid came out of my eyebrow and came out within a span of 3 seconds. I now have a scar on eyebrow for the rest my life (Check out the scar here). After that traumatic experience, I knew when I got older I would never use wire hangers. Therefore, when I made one of my first checks at my high school, I replaced my entire closet and will never go back. '

Other then them being weapons, they misshape and distort clothes, they tangle up together and make the most agonizing noise when they move along the closet rod. Yikes! If you do have wire hangers in your possession now, go to your closet, gather them together and send them to the dry cleaners. The great advantage with this is, the dry cleaners can re-use them which will keep them out of the landfills.

KEEP SHOES ON THE FLOOR

Placing shoes or anything on the floor heightens the look of clutter. This is the thing, when your floors are bare, it will automatically give you the illusion of an organized space even if everything else is unorganized. Since we’re talking about shoes, there are various shoe organizers that can help maintain your shoes. In the below link you will find a few options I believe are the best for small closets.

Link here: Hanging Shoe Shelves

USE A LOT OF ORGANIZING PRODUCTS

One of the misconception about getting organized is you need to add a lot of organizing products to a space to get it organized. Though I get the logic, it’s incorrect because in order to be organized, you must declutter your space before even considering any kind of organizing product. Also, it’s important to understand by adding organizing products to a room you will be giving up necessary space - space that can be used to house other items. For example, lets say you had a bin on a shelf with specific items in each. If you were to take the items out of bins and place them on the shelf, you will notice how much space you still have to place more items on the shelf.

You get what I mean.

Because the desired result is not to add more stuff into a cluttered space because that’s what organizing products do, you must be mindful of the amount of products you bring into your space especially when minimizing clutter is the goal.

HOLD ONTO OLD UNWORN CLOTHES

There’s a thin line between clothes we love and clothes we actually use and sometimes we tend to confuse the two. This is a dilemma I see with a lot of clients and it’s something that can make the purging process a bit challenging. If you haven’t worn something in the last 2 years, I'd suggest letting it go. You’ve probably read or heard “if you haven’t used or worn an item in 6 months then you should get rid of it”. Though I think that’s a great idea, it may not be as realistic for many of us which is why I suggest 2 years as the minimum. You’ll notice that the items you haven’t used or worn are probably the ones that don’t spark joy or you truly love. Once you do get rid of them you will notice the large amount of space you will have for more important things.

An organized Master Closet

STUFF YOUR CLOSET

Similar to holding onto old clothes, stuffing your closet is another caveat when holding on to unworn clothes as well as over buying new clothes. Typically the unworn clothes never get used and the new clothes increases therefore overstuffing the closet and causing spillage (excess clothes that can no longer fit in a space therefore they spill out into another room). Therefore the goal is to prevent this by using the 3:1 method which is for every 1 new item that comes in 3 items will need to come out. You have to be very honest with yourself when decided which items will be leaving your space because its the honesty that’s going to help you combat the clutter and get your closet organized.

AVOID USING LABELS

Labels are like the cherry on top. Though it may not be necessary when organizing a closet, it does make all items in the room easy to find. If organizing your closet is the goal, adding labels to any area of the closet will enhance the space and help cut down the amount of time you spend in your closet.

DON’T CREATE CATEGORIES

Categories are designated spaces or sections in your closet that belong to a specific clothing item/style. That means when you create categories in your space you will know the exact amount of clothes and items you have in your closet therefore making it easy to know what you don’t have.

As you see there are many things you shouldn’t do when organizing your space and what I’ve provided are just a few. Remember organizing your closet is all about following your current lifestyle because that’s what determines what you’re actually wearing.

If you’re looking for a simple and better way to organize your closet Rescue My Space can help you achieve your home goals today. We’re happy to help!

How to Declutter Your Room in 15 minutes

The act of decluttering all the unnecessary things from your home can be liberating. Many people claim that they don’t have time to clean out their homes because they’re either too busy with work, school, and other responsibilities. However, you don’t have to set an entire day apart to clean. This article will be your guide on how to declutter your bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen without spending more than fifteen minutes in each room!

 This means that you won’t have an excuse to put it off anymore. If your house is rather large or you have too many possessions lying around that make it impossible for you to declutter in a short period of time, you can always make this into a daily or weekly routine. Over time, you will be able to declutter everything! So grab a hamper and a duster - let’s get started.

DECLUTTERING THE BATHROOM

Depending on the size of your bathroom, how much stuff you have, and how quickly you move, it should take you anywhere between ten to fifteen minutes to declutter everything. For this room, you will need a trash bin, a hamper, a recycling bin, and a catch-all bin. Here is a step-by-step to declutter your bathroom:

1. Set your hamper down in the doorway.

2. Put all of the dirty towels, including the hand towels and face cloths, into the hamper before replacing them with clean ones.

3. Look through all the trash in the room and toss them in either your trash bin or recycling bin. For example, throw empty shampoo bottle into the recycling bin while putting all used tissues into the trash bin.

4. Toss all of the things you think don’t belong in the bathroom into the catch-all bin, such as pocket change or pieces of forgotten jewelry.

5. Once everything is decluttered, you can go ahead and take the hamper into your laundry room!

Pro Tip: If you keep finding things that don’t belong in your bathroom but are things that you use every day such as a makeup brush or hairpins, then you might want to consider bringing in a makeup jar or a small organizer and placing it near the sink.

DECLUTTERING THE BEDROOM

Let’s face it - one of the things that require the majority of your attention in your bedroom is that closet stuffed with old and unworn clothes. However, if you’re racing against time, leave the closet for another day. To keep the time that you spend decluttering your bedroom under fifteen minutes, let’s leave the closet alone for now and focus on your sleeping area and the surrounding spaces. Again, you will need a trash bin, a recycling bin, a hamper and a catch-all bin for this room as well.

1. Set your hamper down in the doorway as you enter the bedroom.

2. Start with your bed tables, tossing everything into the proper bins.

3. Pick up your catch-all bin and glance around your room to see if there’s anything out of place. If you find things that don’t belong such as magazines or glasses, put them all in the catch-all bin. Chances are you may find a lot of work papers, books, and other clothing items scattered around your room.

4. If you find any dirty linens or unwashed clothes, put them in the hamper.

5. Check everything once again to see if there’s anything you may have missed.

DECLUTTERING THE KITCHEN

Having a clean and uncluttered kitchen is key to having a pleasant time cooking and planning meals. Here is how to make your kitchen as clutter-free as possible in under fifteen minutes!

1. With a small bin in your hand, put all of the things that don’t belong in your kitchen into the bin.

2. Put everything that is outside of their storage spaces back into their place. Note that most of your cooking items often find their way to your countertop or on the island so it might be a good idea to start there first.

3. Put all of the appliances back into their designated storage spaces. Don’t forget to unplug and wrap their cords properly. If there are appliances on your countertop that you use every day, assign a proper spot for them while making sure that they don’t take up too much space.

4. Check the inside of your refrigerator and toss out old food and expired stuff into the bin.

5. Rearrange items inside the refrigerator for maximum storage space.

6. Make sure that all your containers, bottles and bins are stacked nicely on the shelves in your kitchen cabinets and pantry.

7. Go back to the catch-all bin and return everything back to its proper place.

If you’re looking for a professional organizer in Houston, TX to help make more space in your

home and give you more time in your day to focus on other aspects in your life, get in touch with Rescue My Space today! We’re happy to help.

3 benefits to hiring a Professional Organizer

When you look at the home you’ve worked so hard to own, you want to feel a sense of pride and joy, but it can be hard to feel that way if all you see is a pile of mess. When your home looks cluttered and unorganized, it can ruin not just the overall aesthetic of the property but even ruin your day. You’ve spent your time working to earn the money to afford the property, therefore, you should never feel ashamed about owning it. If this sounds like a problem that you’re experiencing, then it may be in your best interest to consider working with a Professional Organizer.

A Professional Organizers goal is to come into your home and transform it into a space that you love. You maybe thinking to yourself that it’s unnecessary to involve a professional organizer, as it’s something that every adult should be able to handle by themselves, but a Professional Organizer can do more for your home than just tidying it up. They have years of experience in optimizing the usage of the interior space, which is something an amateur may not be able to catch. They do this by first de-cluttering your home by purging unwanted items and systematically organize the items that are kept, which are typically the ones you love and/or want. With that said, here are three great benefits of working with a professional home organizer:

1.     They can save you a lot of time

 A professional organizer doesn’t have to waste their time pacing around the house, wondering where they should move things around. They know all the theories and methodologies in the art of repositioning, space planning and organizing your items around to create as much space as possible. They can also help to maintain the overall theme and design philosophies of the room while they’re working. These may sound simple enough, but when you dig deep into what it’s all about, you’ll quickly learn that it’s not as easy as it sounds. Instead of wasting your time learning about things you’re never going to need, it’s a better idea to just have someone who knows what they’re doing take care of it.

2.     They’re Experts

As we’ve mentioned, organizing a room is an art, and there’s a lot more to it than just moving things around to get your space organized. One of the biggest mistakes most people make is not having a system for organizing their belongings. What this causes is their space ending up with items in the corner of the room, or even getting sidetracked into doing unnecessary things therefore leaving their space neglected and disorganized. If you don’t manage your interior space correctly, you are more likely to lose a ton of precious space and functionalities of your home, which of course is not the goal. To make sure that this doesn’t happen to you, it’s a wise decision that you work with a pro…. A professional organizer that is!       

3.  They take up the bulk of the work from you

If you think organizing a home is a cakewalk, then you’re in for a surprise. Try getting up and walking into every room of the house five times, now imagine doing that with a 5 pound load, and now you can start to see why it’s quite a challenging job… If you missed the analogy, don’t worry!

This is Judi, the Founder and Lead Organizing Consultant at Rescue My Space.

If the sound of that hard work deters you, then it’s time you pick up the phone and call your local home organizer. They will come in with a team to get the job done quickly and efficiently, not to mention your space will be organized, functional and maybe even pretty to look at (at least if that’s what you want).

As you can see, home organizing is not an easy task, and you should probably seek help from a professional. Here at Rescue My Space, we have many experienced organizers whom are ready to help you achieve your home goals. We will provide you with an in-home consultation, assess your space and strategize for the best course of action. We guarantee that we can get the job done faster and more efficiently at the most affordable rate.

If you’re looking for a simple and better way to organize the experienced Professional Organizers at Rescue My Space can help you achieve your home goals today. We’re happy to help!

How to de-clutter every Major room in your home

If you want to do some cleaning around your house, you should give yourself a better system in order to keep your home cleaner from that moment on. There are tons of organization tips and cleaning tips you can use to keep each room in your home looking spotless. Let’s take a look at a few of them for the different parts of your home:

THE BATHROOM

When getting started on the bathroom, you will first want to clean out your medicine drawer. You most likely haven't opened it in a while and, whether you know it or not, medication can expire. You will want to throw out all the things that you completely forgot you had. As far as your bathroom sink goes, throw out any makeup or skincare products that might be outdated as well. Check out your shower and bottom drawers and discard anything that you don't use or no longer need. Try to move all the items you use often up to where you can easily access them. Consider buying small baskets or plastic containers to hold your products and items that you need to use on a daily basis. If you want a more finished look and even more easy accessibility, add labels. There will be so much more storage space after you've cleaned out all your drawers. Organize everything nicely for a clutter-free bathroom.

THE BEDROOM

In this room, you will want to start with your nightstands. Your nightstands should really only hold items you need. You don’t need to place anything on your nightstand other than the products and items that you use before bed. You can make space for a lamp, the book you're currently reading, night creams, or maybe an extension cord with plugs for charging your devices (though I don’t recommend you sleep next to any electronic device).

This area should not have anything but what you need immediately before bed and when you wake up. Your floor should be absent of any clothes that you might have lazily changed out of and left there. Put any worn clothes in your laundry hamper and everything else where it belongs.

THE CLOSET

When you get to your closet, you should consider getting rid of the clothes that you no longer wear. If you haven't touched it in the past year, you probably aren’t going to touch it anytime soon. Consider donating such items to either charities, friends who will appreciate them or even throwing an clothes swapping party (be creative)! De-cluttering your closet allows you to know what you have, make your mornings more desirable and most importantly save you time.

THE KITCHEN

A kitchen is a place where you cook, eat, drink, and socialize therefore, you will want to keep this room tidy and functional. First and foremost you will have to plan how organized you want your space to be. Using containers, dividers for your utensils, labels will help keep everything tidy. You will first want to empty all drawers, sort through them and only keeping the items you love or need. Organizing everything by category will help maintain your living room after time passes. Once that’s completed, work your way to your counter tops and wipe them down. You want to make sure everything is tidy since it’s one of the most used spaces in your home. Decide where you want each item to be placed based on convenience and least/most used. Once that’s completed, add your items in their designated container, label them accordingly and presto change-o you’re space is organized.

Pantry Organization

This pantry was decluttered and organized and now reveals a functional and organized space.

THE LIVING ROOM

It can be a little hard to keep this room clean since it is where you and your guests might hang out the most and because of that, it’s important to de-clutter this area regularly. As I mentioned before, before you start you first need to figure out your plan for this space. Figure out places to put all your items and how to store all of your items like video game consoles, remotes, and board games. If your home lacks space, ottomans are great for seating and for storing all in one. They are also very cute and will add a little style to your space.

If you’re looking for a professional organizer in Houston, TX to help make more space in your apartment, get in touch with Rescue My Space today! We’re happy to help.

6 Tips to creating more space in your "small" apartment

Living in a big city like New York can sometimes mean you have to sacrifice your living area for a much smaller apartment (a teeny tiny one).

 With that said, here are six ways to make the most out of the limited space in your apartment specifically. If you don’t live in an apartment, you can focus organizing a space home :

INSTALL MURPHY BEDS

When you don’t have a lot of space to work with, you have to make the most of the space that you do have. Start by getting rid of things you don’t need, and making sure everything you have is foldable and or adjustable so that it doesn’t have to take up as much space. The first thing you should look at is your bed, as it’s often the most immobile and cumbersome object in the room.

A great solutions is getting a Murphy bed. These beds are space-efficient, as they can be made to fit in your wardrobe, behind the bed or even hidden underneath the floor. Another version is a lofted bed that can be hoisted up during the day which will provide you with more floor space.  

Before you consider this bed option, you must first advise with your apartment management to make sure the structure of your apartment is secure and to ensure your space can support the mechanism of this type of bed.

USE WALL HANGERS

 Vertical areas in the home are the most least used spaces therefore it’s so important to use this space during your organizing project. When you don’t make use of it, the walls of your room are just wastes of space. Why not make it work to your advantage with wall storage? You should look to put up a few hangers to keep store your things on the wall. We’re not talking about putting up some paintings, but coats, lights, and other tools that you use often. This will help to save you a lot of space in the cabinet and drawers so you can fit more stuff in there.

BLEND THINGS INTO THE WALL

When you have something that you can’t put away, sometimes, the best thing to do is to just make it less visible. For example, if there’s a pillar on one side of the room that takes up a lot of space, paint it the same color as the wall. This way, your eyes won’t be drawn to it, and you won’t feel as if it’s taking up as much space as it actually does.

CARRY MULTI-PURPOSE TOOLS

Multi-purpose tools can help to make your life a lot easier, as you don’t have to worry about having one tool for every job. Instead, you can keep one tool that serves many functions, and that can help to save you a ton of space. Things like Swiss army knives, utility belts, and multi-function screwdrivers are all great examples of those.

USE BINS

If you don’t have a storage system, your small apartment will fill up with stuff very quickly. To avoid this, make sure you have enough boxes and baskets to stow away your things. You should look for storage boxes that can be stacked on top of one another so that you don’t waste too much vertical space.

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If you’re looking for a professional organizer in Houston, TX to help make more space in your apartment, get in touch with For Your Corner today! We’re happy to help.

It's 2019!

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 … Happy New Year!

I've probably seen over 30 balls drop in my lifetime and it still never gets old.

I don't know about you but last year was quite interesting (for lack of a better word). All that has occurred in the country, with Rescue My Space, and in my life has been a whirlwind of emotions, victories and some misses but who's counting.

The most important take away I've gotten from this year is to embrace change and to learn from it. In my younger years, this concept was improbable because it was difficult to understand that good things come from change especially if the change leaned more towards pain or rejection.

Now that we are in the new year, which means new beginnings, new experiences, it is time to finally let go of that anger, that guilt and oh let's not forget, that shame and own it.

We're bringing in 2019 with a BANG …

That means we've got to clear out all of the baggage we want to leave behind in 2018 but in order to do so, it has to first begin with our stuff.

Yup, I mean that t-shirt that used to fit you two years ago, that bra that digs into your side boob or that two-decade old paperwork. Whatever it is you need to clear out, we're going to start now and leave it all behind.

I've created a video to help give you some ideas on what you can get rid of now without looking back (below).

Let me know:

1. One thing you'd like to get rid of out of your life.

2. One lesson you learned that has changed you.

3. One negative thought you're ready to leave in 2018.

Let me leave you with some words of wisdom I once heard: No one can make you change who you are but you alone.

Until next time!

Closet Declutter & Organization for Fall

The weather is changing and you’re beginning to see the leaves turn colors, there’s pumpkin spice is in the air (my personal favorite) and Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations have come out. The autumnal equinox has just begun. It’s not until the chilling wind hits your skin when you think to yourself, “I have nothing to wear,” even though we all know you do.

First thing first, go to your closet and stand inside of it or in front of it for some of us and look around. Yes, you caused this and no one else. The skirt spillage and shoe overload was something you created because the story of not having anything to wear has been something you’ve sung to yourself for many years. Your closet is in havoc and needs to be de-cluttered before the weather really changes and before you think of purchasing new anything, you need to get your shit together.

If you are someone dealing with this problem of have too many clothes in your closet which makes it impossible to find the appropriate clothing options for the fall, these tips will help you, only if you implement them and combat your clothes clutter before the winter comes.

L E T S B E G I N

#1 - Go through your entire closet and only select the clothing items that should only be worn in the Spring and Summer time. All your tanks, tube tops, daisy dukes, mini dresses, flip flops, sandals, straw hats, Crocs (if you wear them outdoors) and other warm temperature wearing items will leave or be out of reach. Typically this step requires that you empty your closet first but because we are getting our closets ready for the Fall season, we are doing it a little different. Once you’ve completed this step …

#2 - Fold all items neatly and place them to the side. Make sure you have something to put them in once you’re done.

#3 - Focusing on your hanged fall clothes, arrange them according your current lifestyle. For example, if you go to work five days a week, your work clothes may be placed in the front of the closet since these are the clothes you tend to where most often. If socializing is your thing, placing those clothes near the front or in an area that’s easily accessible may work best for you. The goal here is make sure the placement of your clothes works with your lifestyle because if executed correctly, you will cut your clothes surfing time in half.

#4 - Take out your scarves, hats, and gloves and do a mini sort through to make sure you still love them. If you don’t have a use for them, you know what to do. If you do, fold them and place them in a bin that is easily accessible. Of course, if you prefer hanging them that works too!

#5 - It’s finally time for the most important part, shoes! I put them last because shoes require a bit more time. Again, because we’re not necessarily doing a massive de-clutter, this step wont require as much emotion … but if you come across a pair of boots that have seen better days, again you know what to do. :) For all shoes that are for warmer temperatures, place them either in totes like the above mentioned or in a less accessible area in your closet. Because the goal is for you to find anything in less than a minute, keeping unwearable items out of the way will add more time to your day and more space to your closet.

Fall season is the time when we should get cozy and slow down. As the year is ending, it’s important we prepare ourselves for the new beginnings as we let go of the past.

If you’re interested in learning more about ways to organize your space for any season, feel free to leave a comment below.

I’ve also created a video on this so if you’re interested in watching me show you how to de-clutter your space for the Fall season, click the video!

Until next time!