New year brings a new chance to get organized

It's January, a new year, and perhaps like me you've sustained a rare bite from the organization bug.

Yes, we're busy people. That's the excuse for the piles in the office and bedroom.

But this year in particular there seems to be a lot we can't control in life: the economy, the weather and my adult children, for starters.

But we can control our personal spaces.

I am going to start with one of the worst rooms in my house: the home office/closet. The joint usage is one of the first issues, said Rose Durec, saleswoman at The Container Store in Schaumburg. "Those 'slash' rooms are the hardest, but they're the most important to organize. Otherwise you have a big mess and you don't want to go in and use it - you can't get through all the clutter."

The rooms that need assistance in many homes are closets, home offices and kitchens.

But is getting organized like losing weight? Yes, I can throw things away, but how do I keep from back sliding and piling stuff up again?

"Once you get a system in place, you're not going to be nearly as tempted," assures Ellen Pinsky of I Organize U in Geneva.

Pinsky is generous with good organizing quotes.

"The hardest part is getting started," she said. "You feel so overwhelmed by all this stuff.

Start in one corner or with one pile of paper. Once you get started, I watch people just become amazed. 'This is great,' they say, 'I'm getting this done.'"

To get us started, here are tips and inspiration from people in the organization industry.

Why you want to get organized

• "Who has time to spend looking for that piece of paper or whatever," said Pinsky.

• You can waste money buying another pair of brown shoes because you don't know where you put the other two.

• Clutter can be physically unhealthy if you can't dust a room, and it clutters your mind as well.

"When you unclutter your space you're uncluttering your life as well," said Martin Pospeshil, an owner of Klutter.org in Vernon Hills.

General tips

• "The most important thing is to want to get organized," said Pinsky. "You cannot do it for somebody else."

• Here's a surprise: If you can stand to let someone see your mess, organizing is easier with a friend to help and encourage you and talk about decisions.

• If practical, get everything out of the room or closet or desk that you want to organize. There are less extreme measures such as working on one pile of paper at a time.

• Label your boxes and drawers and better yet, use see-through ones-mesh or plastic works-and also label them.

• If you have things you don't have room for and know you should give away but you can't quite bear to, rent storage space. Then, says Pospeshil, if you haven't used them in six months, get rid of them.

• You have four choices for everything:

Give it away or donate it

Throw it away

Move it to another area like the garage

Find a place for it in this room.

Office tips

• Get this: The Container Store recognizes that some people are filers and some of us are not. Who knew that we non-filers don't have to just suck it up? However, non-filers should put things in the right pile and keep each pile in a labeled box, drawer or on a shelf.

• When you create a filing system, write a note about how it works on your computer where you can easily change it when necessary, said Pinsky. But also print it out to tape on the file cabinet. That's so you know where to find something.

Closets

• For me, closets seem easier than paper because there's an easy rule: If you haven't worn it for a year (or two), it gets donated or tossed.

• Every closet has six areas, says Durec:

A rod for long hanging - that's dresses and perhaps coats, robes and slacks.

Two rods for short hanging - one above the other to maximize vertical space.

Shoes, which can go in boxes, on shelves or on special racks.

Drawers for sweaters, shirts, lingerie, jeans and socks and everything foldable.

Shelves.

Special storage for accessories such as jewelry, ties, belts and scarves.

• Flexibilty is especially important in a child's closet.

Each year the youngster is going to grow, and the hanging rod will need to move higher, for instance. And the toys will give way to video games or iPod accessories or whatever is the rage in a few years.

To get you through those annoying years when toys seem to be all over the house, Container Store has tools like baskets that pull out of a rack so one set of toys can come out for play at a time.

When a child starts to dress herself, clothes can be hung at a low level. But parents can hang clothes higher when they are out of season or they'd rather the youngsters didn't wear them every day.

Labels for drawers and shelves are important and can be color coded so the boys who share closets know where their things go.

For everyone: Everyday items should be more easily accessible than special event wear and seasonal clothing.

What it can cost

Rates for organizers can vary from $25 to $150 per hour, but design service is often included when you buy the materials from a specialty company or hire someone to build you a custom closet, office or pantry.

Coleman Home Solutions, which just moved to a larger showroom in North Aurora, is offering a special sale of equipment for a reach-in closet for $229 and walk-in for $289.

The firm recently built a custom small desk for $1,100, but a closet can cost up to $50,000, said Tim Coleman.

The Container Store's elfa system, which can be used in many rooms, is discounted 30 percent in an annual sale through Feb. 9.