4 Walls Library: Materials for Organizing At Home

by 4 Walls member, Tina Gleisner, My Handyman

You are ready to start organizing your home but not sure what steps to take? There are many resources available to help you. This article provides a starting point and remember to start small. Pick just one room, or even better one problem area within a room. The success you achieve with this small project will give you the confidence to keep going.

Key Decisions

• Pick each project and identify what you hope to accomplish, i.e. you might want to organize your closet so it is easier to find things each morning when you get dressed
  
• Decide if you can achieve success on your own, or you might want to get some help. Remember that the goal here is to successfully complete the project.
  
• If you can honestly assess the needed to complete the project and you have the emotional energy to stick to it, you can probably do it yourself.
• If you have trouble thinking through the steps required or struggle with letting go of stuff, a professional organizer might be helpful. 4 Walls has several organizers you can talk until you find someone who suits your personality.
• Determine a budget for the project, i.e. there are a wide variety of materials and organizing "tools" to pick from and you don't want to waste time on those that are beyond your budget.

Room	Do-It-Yourself	Mid-Range Solutions	High End / Custom
Closets	Lowe's and other Do-It-Yourself stores offer multiple storage products. You will need to accurately measure your space including any areas that must remain accessible. You can then create a design using standard cabinet sizes, which may leave you with unused space. You have many choices including: Wood veneer cabinets Wire shelving Stacking storage units You can also create your own shelving with shelving / hanging.	Most people have heard of California Closets. There are numerous competitors today including ProClosets designed and installed by My Handyman. By working with a closet designer, you gain their expertise with the product and assessing your storage needs, both current and future. These products use a high grade  melamine with a selection of wood veneers and hardware options. ProCloset uses 3/4 in and a mounting system where an 8 ft section can hold up to 1,200 lbs.	Custom closets constructed from wood with doors and drawers are extremely expensive. Wood is significantly more expensive than the particle board used in furniture and most custom closet lines. Only builders / carpenters with a full wood working shop have the tools and skill to craft these components in the same way kitchen cabinets are built.
Kitchens	There are an unimaginable number of resources to help you organize your kitchen which is often the busiest room in the house. wikwHow offers a nice overview on How to Organize a Kitchen which starts with creating centers of activity for storage, preparation, cooking, baking, serving, cleaning and waste disposal. Kitchen storage tools/materials come in 2 basic categories - containers in which you place items like food and, to make them easier to store and find. The second category involves creating new storage spaces from shelving on the wall to window seats and extra cabinets.  Kitchen CONTAINERS The goal is to have a home for everything in the kitchen. Creativity will allow you to re-purpose what you already own like baskets or you can research/shop to your hearts content for specialty storage containers and space saving appliances at: www.organize.com Real SImple Organizing cabinets The Container Store ...from organize.com Kitchen STORAGE SPACES Some storage can be added inexpensively with freestanding storage units. Others can/should be built into your kitchen for efficient use of available space. Add a kitchen island Pantry organization Built in window seat recently completed by My Handyman
Other Rooms in Your Home	Each room in your home has different requirements. Resources to help you organize any aspect of your life from home to office include: Professional Organizers including our own 4 Walls members Websites about getting organized Books about Organizing and Storage	Family Mailboxes from organizedhome.com	Family Room Storage by My Handyman
Garage	The most common solutions include: Reusing old kitchen cabinets Wire/plastic shelving with plastic, see-through bins Peg-board with a variety of clips to hold tools (remember to leave space to insert clips)	A new material called slat walls, originally developed for retail stores, is now being used for garage wall storage. There are several manufacturers like Storic Storage Systems that offer a complete line of slat wall materials, hooks, magnetic tool holders and cabinets to turn chaos into an organized work space. Garage.Index.com provides a list of the top storage brands. You can decide what you like/need before you purchase what is easily available.	Custom solutions can be built using relatively inexpensive lumber or some of the newer composites which don't rot or splinter. These are able to more effectively utilize available space. Creative solutions a good carpenter / handyman can build: Very deep (2 to 3 ft) shelving around the garage perimeter for seasonal storage Staggered storage with a wide, low step that also functions as a mini-step stool to higher shelves.
	My Handyman often assembles and installs "off the shelf" storage components purchased by the customer.

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