Simple tools to get your home organized

by Lorraine Brock

It’s National Get Organized Month and I am excited to share with you some of my favorite home organizing products. Home improvement stores are filled with wonderful displays selling the latest and greatest organizing tools. As an organizer it is important that I keep up with new products, but sometimes there is nothing like the tried and true products that I’ve used successfully for many years. Here are five great tools that will help you get organized.

Allow me to start with the amazing Velveeta® Cheese box. If you are going to enjoy a cheesy queso during the Super Bowl, make sure you keep the Velveeta box. The brown cardboard bottom of the box makes a great drawer organizer for pens, pencils, scissors, and even batteries. If you have a junk drawer in your home, start saving Velveeta Cheese boxes.

Next on my favorite organizing tool list is the Swiffer® refill container. When empty, this plastic container offers a lot of storage options with a see through, snap on lid. Use in the garage to contain small items or in the playroom to organize small toys for the kids. Its “smaller than a shoebox” size and clear lid make it perfect for arts and crafts items as well.

My number three product is the closet extender rod. While this is not a repurposed item, you will most definitely have a purpose for it. You can purchase the rod at many stores but the adjustable one pictured in my video is only available at The Container Store®. Instantly create more space in your closet or allow small children access to a lower clothes hanging level. Instead of a closet remodel, spend $20 and solve multiple storage problems.

Letter trays made my favorites list at number four. If you have shelves in an office area, craft area, or even in the cabinets of your desk, letter trays are a must. They are great for holding printer paper sorted by colors or office supplies like envelopes and sheet protectors. The possibilities are endless. To get the maximum benefit, make sure you stack the trays on a shelf as high as the space allows. On an average shelf you can stack about three-letter trays.

My final organizing product suggestion is space-saving white wire shelves. They can be used everywhere, but I use them especially in my kitchen and bathrooms. These wire shelves really maximize the space in any cabinet on any shelf. They are available in white wire and now The Container Store offers a bronze version for a little more of an upscale look. The shelves come in a variety of depths, widths, and designs, so you are sure to find something to work in your space.

It is my job as a professional organizer to consult with clients and offer ideas to help them begin the organizing journey. During National Get Organized Month, may you be inspired by my suggestions or those in your local stores to get organized!

Lorraine Brock is a professional organizer, family coach, speaker, and founder and owner of Get Organized!. Get Organized! is a professional organizing company in the Dallas, Texas area. Get Organized! specializes in organizing and de-cluttering homes as well as implementing systems in the home for better family management.

A popular media guest, Lorraine has appeared on Dallas’ two top morning television shows: Good Morning Texas and Good Day Fox, and has been featured on various radio outlets. She has been hallmarked in many local, regional, and national print and online magazines, such as the Dallas Morning News, The North Texas Kids Magazine, SheKnows.com, and Daily Candy Kids. To get more information about Lorraine, visit www.GetOrganized.ws.