It may take several steps for you to figure out what the best organization options for you are. Hardly anyone gets it right on the first try. Shorten the process by using these top tips from professional organizers. Their job is easier and they can more easily tell what you would need and want if you’ve done some of the basic legwork first. Follow these steps to get the major things out of the way so that you can better tell what will work for you.

First you need to identify the things that you do not like about your current arrangement. Write down the problems and leave room for sketches, web sites, and ideas. Let’s say that your shoes are in a pile, getting smashed, scuffed and separated. You know right off the bat that you will need a solution for that problem. If you have a hanging bar crammed with coats, summer clothes, sweaters and more, you will need a system to get them organized and tidier. Writing down your problems will give you somewhere to start when you begin to get organized.

Next you need to take measurements. There’s not much you can do until you know how much space you have and how much space you need. Emptying the closet is a good idea at this point. It helps to visually see how much space a category of clothing needs to occupy. Plus, categorizing everything will start to give you an idea of how much you can get rid of. Even if all of your clothing fits and is in good shape, there are only so many white t-shirts that you need. Decide how many of each item you are going to allow yourself to keep and then get rid of the rest.

Hanging as much as possible will save you lots of storage space for things that will not hang. Using flat, space saving hangers will make your clothes fit closely together and save a lot more space than you realize. Raising the bar can give you room below to place another bar, instantly doubling your closet space. Use specialty clothes hangers to get the basic form of organization down. Ties can go on a tie hanger instead of in a drawer. Many other things can go on specialty hangers, like lingerie, scarves, flip-flops, hats, and pants. When everything has a place on the hanging bar, the drawers, shelves, or whatever storage areas you have will be free for bulky sweaters, out-of-season clothing, luggage and more.

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for clothes hangers. Get all of the closet and clothes hanger accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.

If you’re lucky enough to have an extra closet in your home, you may be able to repurpose it for something else. Sometimes you can just reorganize in a way that will make closet space available. For example, if you organize your cabinets, you may be able to empty your pantry. If you create a usable entryway and coat storage system, you may be able to convert the coat closet into something else. Open your mind to the possibilities of using a space for something other than what it was intended for and you could find that your personalized spaces are your favorite spaces in the house.

In our first example, we mentioned organizing your closets to free-up pantry space. This may not be as impossible as it seems. If you slowly replace large casserole containers and mixing bowls with ones that nest, you can make a lot of room. A simple rack for frying pans and a hanging space for pots can also make a lot of room. Rather than keep two cabinets full of plastic storage wear, get one set that nests and the lids stack neatly on top. You rarely need more than a couple of these at a time. If you need a bigger one, just use two. If you run out, use plastic storage bags or cover a bowl with plastic wrap. You really don’t need 200 sizes of containers “just in case”. If you get your pantry cleared out, you can use it to store important papers, cookbooks, a bill paying station, recycling center, hobby supply storage, whatever you need.

Storing coats on clothes hangers somewhere other than the coat closet can open up a world of possibilities to you. A rolling garment rack in a spare bedroom or corner of your bedroom can take the place of the cramped coat closet, leaving you that space to help get your entryway under control. Most people rotate between a couple of coats in the winter. The rest are for dressing up, hiking, or just leftover from many seasons ago. Storing most of your coats and just leaving a couple out to hang on hooks or a separate hanging bar by the front door can give you your coat closet for organizing all of that junk that accumulates at the front door.

Figuring out ways to personalize the space in your home will make it easier to keep clean and organized.

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for clothes hangers. Get all of the closet and clothes hanger accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.

So the kitchen is clean, but the cabinets are disguising a horrible mess. What do you do about it? The cabinets are great hiding places for clutter, things that you never use, and things that you don’t want anyone to see. But they can also disguise leaks, spills, mold, bugs, and other unsavory kitchen problems. Old food gets pushed to the back of the pantry and containers and their lids may never see each other again. Your kitchen space is sacred in a way because it is usually so limited. Getting it organized will not only make your kitchen easier to use, but it will make cleaning an easier job, save you money that you might have spent replacing things that were lost, and it will make your kitchen a healthier place to cook and eat. Use these tips to get your cabinets and pantry in order.

1) First clean off all of the surfaces of the kitchen. Sometimes we store things that aren’t used very often out on the counter, just because we don’t have room in the cabinets. The less stuff that you store on the counters, the cleaner your kitchen will look. If there’s something that you would rather not store on the counter but you don’t have room for it, go ahead and move it to the table. This will start your categorizing for what will go back into the cabinets in the end.

2) Clear out the pantry and get rid of expired food. Check your canned food for expiration dates too. If things have been opened, decide if they’re still worth keeping or not. Get rid of old boxes and seal off bags by rolling them down and securing them with a rubber band wrapped all the way around the bag. This is an easy way to keep things sealed without investing in bulky plastic containers. Put the new, unopened things in the back and the things that you need to use first in the front.

3) Pull out pots and pans, containers, lids, bowls, casseroles, and small appliances. Decide what you don’t need anymore and get rid of it. Choose to keep containers that stack inside of each other to save space. If you have eighteen casserole dishes, you can probably get rid of half.

4) Invest a little in movable shelves, cabinet door racks, pan racks, and lid racks. These cheap cabinet accessories make a huge difference in kitchen cabinets by using the vertical and horizontal space that normally goes unused. When everything is clean organized and back in the cabinets, you’re done!

About the Author: Charlie Hafter is on the staff of Closet Hanger Factory, a leading online resource for clothes hangers. Get all of the closet and clothes hanger accessories you could need at http://www.closethangerfactory.com, which is recognized worldwide for their excellent quality hangers.