Professional Organizer Toronto & York Region | ClutterBGone » kids

My Fave 5 Organizing Products

Linda Vanderkolk — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:00:19 +0000

There are certain organizing products that I find I utilize more often due to their functionality and efficient use of space. I thought I’d share my favorite five with you today, in no particular order.

The first is the NEATKIDS Closet Max Organizing system by NeatFreak. It’s designed specifically to hold kid-size items, is a very functional, hanging closet organizing system that’s fun, affordable and even more important, it can grow with your child. It’s made of durable nylon strapping, has two different patterns to choose from, there’s no tools needed for assembly and it`s super quick to put up, hanging from your existing closet rod. You can customize and mix and match your pieces. You can check out their website and other products at www.neatfreak.com.

Next on my list is a 6 shelf hanging sweater organizer. This product hangs from your existing closet rod and is made to hold sweaters neatly in your closet. However, I like to use it in entry hall closets to hold dress boots. It keeps them in good shape & off the floor. Retails for approximately $ 24.00 and is available at Solutions – Your Organized Living Store. www.solutions-stores.ca.

I also love the DAY JA VIEW Recurring Events Calendar. This calendar won the 2011 Parent Tested, Parent Approved Award. Based on a school year, it’s great for a busy family to track recurring events, activities, appointments, meeting and projects in minutes and is easy to use for the whole family. Retails for approximately $29.00and is available at www.mydayjaview.com.

The RISE AND HANG Action Pak Duffel Bag by Rise Luggage is an amazing new invention which you will likely hear much more about in the coming months. I’ve talked about it before in one of my earlier blogs. Born out of the frustration of keeping organized while travelling and not wanting to put clothes in a hotel dresser for fear of germs, bed bugs or mold, the Rise and Hang system effortlessly keeps clothes where they belong. Shelves within the luggage hold all your clothes organized and in separate compartments and the bottom can be used as a hamper for dirty ones. Normally priced at $59.99, it is currently available at Evex Luggage,Mississauga, Ontario or available at www.riseandhang.com.There is an even better deal as well: On April 29th at the Stouffville Stilettos & Sneakers fundraising event, as a show special they are providing me with a number of these bags for sale for $49.99 so be sure to stop by and grab on. At this price they will go pretty fast!

And then there is the CLOSETMAID closet storage components. I use these products frequently in closets. Especially the 2 shelf horizontal organizer which is great for organizing shoes on the top shelf or floor of a closet to maximize the use of vertical space. This particular item retails for about $17.00 and can be found at Solutions – Your Organized Living Store. www.solutions-stores.ca.

I’d love to hear about some of your favorite things you use to organize spaces in your home or office. Tell me about your creativity! Send me a message and share your stories.

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Children’s Books To Help Teach De-cluttering

Linda Vanderkolk — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 23:46:01 +0000

With spring in the air it’s a good time to start working with your younger children to teach them how to let go of their unused and unwanted items. In an earlier post I mentioned a book that is helpful when working with children in this regard. There are a few other books that parents have told me have been helpful when they are talking to their children about editing some of their belongings. They are all from the Berenstain Bears collection.

The first one is The Berenstain Bears and The Messy Room. In this book brother and sister bears’ room was a mess and they argue with each other quite a bit about who should tidy up instead of working together to get the job done. This book is helpful in that it will teach children to do their fair share in keeping their spaces clean without arguing. It teaches children responsibility.

The second book is The Berenstain Bears Clean House. In this book, during spring cleaning the bear family have difficultly letting go of things they no longer use (sound familiar to anyone?), so they decide to hold a yard sale. I will admit that the ending of the book was surprising to me. Rather than going through with the yard sale and let go of the items, they decide to keep the items and use the space in the attic for the storage of the items. Still is a good book to read with your children to help acknowledge their feelings about things.

The third book is The Berenstain Bears Think Of Those In Need. As with all the books in this series, this teaches a timeless lesson and principles easy for little ones to learn. They also help parents in showing them a good way to handle sometimes difficult situations.

It’s never too young to begin to teach your children the basic principles of de-cluttering and organizing. In doing so, you are also instilling important values: one of which is that the important things in life are not things.

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Helping Children Let Go

Linda Vanderkolk — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:04:00 +0000

I work with many families with young children which is a very interesting and rewarding experience for me. Interesting because the interaction between a parent and child when reviewing the items that the child owns is actually very revealing. I will pick up an item and ask the child when he/she last played with this or if he or she likes the item, dislikes the item and would like to let it go for donation. If the child tells me that it’s no longer one he/she wishes to keep, there are times when the parent jumps in to say things like “oh, but that was so expensive and you play with that all the time, you want to keep this don’t you? When the child responds to the negative and continues to express a desire to let it go, the parent may still be persistent in wanting to keep the item. As a result, I generally have a chat with the parent before the editing part of the process to request that their child be allowed to make the decision and that that decision be respected rather than questioned. This helps the child to not only learn to express and understand what things are important to him or her and to distinguish treasured items from non treasured items, but also teaches the child responsibility, respect and how to be charitable. I always encourage families to include the child in the actual trip to the donation centre in order to live the full experience of donating to others. Children really do get this and how it will positively impact the life of another child.

The revealing part of the process is the parents reaction to the generousity of the child. Often it is evident that it is the adult that has difficultly letting go of items. This reluctance to let go and often the need for abundance can stem from previous learned behaviors or psychological reasons. which may ultimately be passed along to the child if not careful. dThe client is often surprises by their own reaction to the editing process with children.

Teaching children how much stuff is too much stuff may be a difficult task. However, as I was organizing the bedroom of a young 8 year old boy I was startled to come across a book he had in his room authored by the great Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko entitled “Too Much Stuff”.

The book is about a young girl named Temina who is going on her first airplane trip and is determined to bring ALL her toys regardless of what her mother says. The ending is wonderful and the book is a great teaching tool for all parents in helping their children to let go of things. I urge you to check out this book and let me know what you think about it. I’d love to hear from you.

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3 Ways To Teach Children To be Organized

Linda Vanderkolk — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 03:12:35 +0000

With the holiday season in full swing, what better time than now to teach your children how to let go of items and be organized. You’re never too young to start.

The first way is in regards to their toys. Go through toys with your child every 6 months and point out which toys they no longer play with. You can suggest they donate to another child. It’s important that your child be part of this process and makes the actual decision with your support.

The second way is with clothing. With a very young child as you go through their clothing have them look at the piles of clothes that no longer fit and confirm with them that they are ready to let them go. I suggest you even ask them to come with you to the donation centre to drop them off. Including them in this process helps them to learn to let go and make decisions, which is an important step in the organization.

The third way is through artwork. Once a month you can review the pieces of art made by your children and ask them to select those that they are ready to recycle. It’s important that they physically put the item into the recycle bin themselves. Through this process they will learn to pick out the more treasured pieces from those that no longer hold value to them. If your child is struggling with letting go of a piece of their art, offer to take a digital photo for them.

Remember to reward the child for his or her decision-making. This way they will associate organization with positive reinforcement and keep them coming back for more. What methods do you use to teach them organizing skills?

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Pantry Organizing

Linda Vanderkolk — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:39:09 +0000

We recently finished re-organizing our client’s kitchen and pantry. Many of my clients find it difficult to know where to start when re-organizing and decluttering this area of their home. For the pantry we removed every single item and placed them in categories, such as pastas, canned goods, cereals, snacks, spices, etc. We discarded those items that had expired or were no longer used. Once we saw what was left to house in the pantry, we recommended a few minor purchases that would maximize the storage space and make return and retrieval of items efficient: a graduated shelf riser as well as a couple of under shelf storage baskets were all that were needed in this instance.
Here’s a photo of the pantry before we started:

And here’s how it looked when we were done:

Our client and their children loved the under-shelf popcorn basket!
Working on my client’s pantry has inspired me to do my own! What inspires you to get organized?

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