Keep less, go vertical, and don't mix categories or functions.

A trip to Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul.

OHIO - only handle it once. I don't always practice what I preach but opening mail near the recycle bin.

Never buy any piece of furniture without some storage capacity, ie: a drawer, a door or space for baskets.

Also the OHIO principle was taught me by a very busy executive and I love it. Also donating or giving good stuff away makes you feel good........Florida Girl

The trick to closets and cabinets is to make sure the shelf height matches what's on them. For my cabinets in my rental apartment, I got IKEA helper shelves. Rubbermaid sells them, too. For my wardrobe, I got plastic boxes, which can be stacked 3 high. Out-of-season stuff goes in the lower boxes.

And don't forget to label, label, label.

A tip for us sentimental types: PICTURES of your items take up much less space than most items do. If you don't need or have a use for a certain special object...take a picture. When you come across it in an album or digital folder, you'll have the same memories attached to it, without the challenge of storing it. (I've done this with everything from baby clothes to items from grandparents to the first sweater I bought myself with my own money. This way I feel justified in keeping just the most 'specialist' of items. )

While the OHIO method sounds great in theory, all too often I get mail that requires more time than I have at that moment to deal with, or that requires information that is not in that room. When I get home from work trying to write a check and a note (stored in the study), check a date for availability (family kitchen calendar), check on a paid bill (husband's study). or write a thoughtful note to a friend who is ill, etc. etc. is just a little much. Maybe if I lived by myself, but instead I am the gatekeeper. I've tried to put the mail aside until later, but then the truly critical things get swept under the rug. Better to triage, do the things that I can do now and then put it where I will see it for the longer projects!

Keep everything you need--a small bin for the unopened mail, your computer and/or calendar*, file folders, paper shredder, recycling bin, checkbook, office supplies, postage stamps, envelopes, note cards, greeting cards--in one office or office area, and take your mail to that designated area. Then plan a time later that evening or the next day to OHIO:) [Stephen Covey’s rule: have only one calendar. By using one that is synced to all electronic devices, you can access it from different locations. I can access mine from my phone, desktop computer, and laptop computer and that has saved me a lot of difficulty I had when I used more than one calendar.] Organization is my biggest challenge, and this is helping me overcome that problem. I hope this is something you can make work. Good luck!

As for storage, I buy clear containers from one source: the Container Store. They are are stackable, and they are like children’s “unit blocks.” Two small containers are the same size as one medium container; two medium containers are the same size as one larger container, etc. All but the smallest come in different depths. All can be stacked. I like to color-code each category...easy to locate and return to the right area. Labels are neat and easy when made with a label-maker. This makes for well-organized closets in the office, bedroom and storage rooms. [I used this same method when organizing shared materials in a preschool, and it stays organized even though it is used by a staff of 20 or more. Efficient!]

I just moved to a smaller home, which forced me to get rid of a lot. I can't even tell you how many garbage bags of clothes, small appliances and other "stuff" we donated. However, our 3 bedroom closets (1 of which is a huge walkin closet that is about 15 feet X 6 feet wide, plus our laundry room cabinets (8) and 3 old bedroom dressers and 2 amoires we put in the basement are STILL full! Do I really need enough paper plates and plastic forks to feed the American Army? Or, what about the 20 weaved baskets I might need to serve bread someday? Sounds like I am a hoarder :( I am actually very organized and neat. It's just that I am in a different stage in life and have decided that I'm done with large parties. It's too exhausting. The next bad weather day I am definitely going to start over and REALLY get rid of stuff!

Keep less stuff! Even in the fridge, less is better. Make soup with those odds and ends once a week, clean it out, then buy just what you need for the following week.

for my pantry, i use elfa drawers. i have used them for years and they are the most compact, least-upkeep, easily-organized way for food storage like boxes, cans and etc. i would recommend them to anyone.

go paperless, use your cloud storage for ongoing needs, but keep everything backed up on hard drives with good filing systems. buy less, give away more, don't go to costco!

Clutter and hoarding are space killers. So, I do my best to de-clutter on a regular basis and I've never been a hoarder. My biggest challenge in the last two years (since I bought my current home and downsized) has been doing without as much closet/cabinet space as I'm used to--a difficult adjustment--especially in the baths and kitchen. Adding extra shelving, dividers, packing seasonal clothes into containers (instead of hanging), etc. has helped. But, given the choice, I'd have adequate closet and cabinet space again!

I change bifold doors to regular doors where reasonable to utilize the actual back of the door fo hanging space, either additional short shelving, or simple coat or other racks. Also, I clean out clutter once a year..

Purge & consign or give away !! I can't stand clutter, or nick-naks!! So, let go of unused items. Sentimentality is over-rated and it's much easier to have friends over at a moments notice if you don't have stacks of "stuff" everywhere =) (*People are more important than things)

Keep a box in your garage to place items to be donated. I have a rule; once an item goes in, it stays in the box. The charity I donate to calls me when coming to my neighborhood so all I have to do is mark the box or boxes and place on my porch. This has helped me to clear out unused items and keep closets and drawers neat and tidy with less clutter. Don't put things off; make a decision and act on it rather than tell yourself you will do it at a later time. No time like the present, I say.

squared off storage only. cookie jars. food storage. the 4 gal. square pails that restaurants receive goods in for dog and bird feed. round containers waste space!

Don't create storage in hard-to-reach places. It's too tempting to shove unused items there and forget about them instead of getting rid of them. Avoid stacking items with lids whenever possible. The harder it is to get to the bottom of the stack, the less likely you'll put away whatever goes there.

When you buy something new and bring it home, find two items in your home to throw away.

Design furniture, for instance bathroom vanity, to fit items it will hold - exactly. For instance, see how hairdryer and roller brushes fit one drawer; toilet paper fits another drawer!
Fit more items in one narrow piece of furniture. In this case, the vanity is only 18" deep, as the bathroom required more width

Our double pantry, each 34" wide, is inside a former double closet so it doesn't protrude into the room.

The 10 ROTs, each 30" wide by about 21" deep, contain more than 6,000 square inches of surface storage. That is about the same amount of surface as a 20' long countertop, and that doesn't include the shelves above the ROTs.

Many pantries have fixed ROTs. Ours can be adjusted WITHOUT TOOLS vertically for maximum efficiency to suit our storage needs. They also have full extension Blumotion drawer glides with softclose.

Your house will only be as neat as the messiest person who lives there, in my case, my husband. He keeps every scrap of paper and despite having two, yes TWO dedicated office spaces, he has also taken over my kitchen island with all his business papers. I have tried file cabinets, file boxes, drawer organizers, even gave him one of the drawers in the island. I've decided that the problem is that he doesn't want to be alone (which he would be in either of his two offices) while he's working.

Oh well, at least I know where he is! ;)

Bless you! I hate clutter so I feel your pain.

I opened up the cabinet door under my kitchen island and put a matching board I stained on top, the doors act as the legs and a stool fits under the shelf. (turned the knobs inward to hold anything I want to hang. Now we face each other instead of looking at the sink. Did the same in a corner for my cook books. Also have a yard sale every year, they are alot easier than you think, and collect in laundry baskets what I want to add to the collection, clean,priced and ready for the first warm day of spring.

any fool can store stuff. ease of retrieval separates good from great storage. if we must stack lidded containers, they should be at least partially transparent

Hal. what's ROT? also pics?

ROT = Roll-out Tray

Here are pics of pantry before doors installed, a pic showing some slotted corner posts, and pantry once doors installed.

Thinking outside the box- or outside the house! Current rental has no closet near the entry; and while a coat rack handles outerwear well enough (though I hate it - always a bit messy) there is simply not enough room for shoes in a household of people with really big feet. Size 15 shoes take up a lot of space!

Since the weather here is mild, I put a shoe cabinet outside the front door to hold the overflow. It looks great and works well. Deep roof overhangs keep it dry, or it wouldn't be possible. If I weren't moving soon I would replace it with an Ikea wardrobe and get rid of that coat rack!

Gayle: Good luck to you in your efforts to get rid of stuff. One suggestion I have is to think about the maximum number of something you would need based on your real life. If you had "everyone" over to your home for dinner ("everyone" means all of the people you would invite - not everyone you know), how many baskets would you actually need for bread? Then get rid of the rest.

There are a lot of "rules" pertaining to excess clothing. If it doesn't fit, you realize you don't like it, you never wear it, etc., donate it . I started donating clothing and accessories many years ago when I realized that things that were sitting in my closet unworn/unused could be a wonderful find for someone else.

Re: clutter and hoarding. Just because you are tasked with clearing out an "estate" does not mean that you have to bring all of moms' stuff home with you! Gee...i see this over and over. Pick an item or two, take photos if you must then get rid of the stuff. I would rather have my mom than her stuff. Sigh.

I have always liked the Ohio approach to mail...I actually open my mail at the desk, and keep the shredder next to it, because it really bugs me how much junk mail I get, which has not only my name and address printed conveniently, but also reflects the house I own and other things that identity thieves love to find...
As for cloud storage....NO...except for photos you don't mind the world seeing. I would NEVER keep sensitive or personal data in cloud. Current information is on the computer and historic data including system backups, is on external hard drives stored in a safe place.

When building our new home, I used the "corner" in the kitchen to build a walk in pantry. The lost space of corner cabinets is now very useful storage. I also had a pantry door made that matches the kitchen cabinets to maintain the look of cabinets throughout the kitchen.

Ditch the DVD and CD shelves for a slappa system: http://www.slappa.com/catalog/dvd-cases?mytabsmenu=5

Use your wall space and put up shelves anywhere you can. We ditched the coffee table for folding tv tray tables. We clean up after use, then hang them on the wall for storage.

Store in bins and stackable is best, but as mentioned, they should be clear or relatively see through. Labeling takes too much work to start and maintain.

Repurpose and dual purpose. Laundry mat wheeled basket carts can work at home for laundry, grocery movement from car to kitchen and store pillows and blankets when "off duty".

Store blankets in extra throw pillow cases instead of using pillow inserts.

Roll your clothes and other dresser stored items. Fold minimally, then roll. You do less digging for items, because you can see t-shirt fronts etc easier, and you can store more items in a space. Clothes are also, generally less wrinkled.

Maximize space with math. Measure everything and your storage spaces. A 2ft by 2.5ft cooler needed substantial planning to be stored in my 888sqft home where every sqft counts.

I roll clothes when packing a suit case. I swear this saves space. I've used the same tactic several time at thrift store bag sales and I know for a fact that you can get way more in a bag by rolling the clothes.

Dsimber: What item are those Container Store containers? Are they the "Like-it" modular system?

Hal Braswell: Great ROTs. You mentioned the brand of drawer glides (Blumotion), but does the whole ROT system have a brand?

Thanks!

Two Katrina evacuees shared the frustration of trying to
file insurance claims, fill prescriptions, access bank accounts, et al without
key contact, policy and bank account numbers, access passwords, and all the
rest. As a result, we changed our
ways. All personal household and car information,
professional advisors, health care providers, and access information is now in
one 3”x5”x3/4” high blank paper book.
All health emergency information for every family member is in a 2 ¼” x
3 ½” x ¼” tall booklet that we each keep with us. Original long-term important documents are in
sectioned file folders in a safe. On a
roll, our paid bills now fill one sectioned fill folder with one section
holding tax receipts. Another sectioned
file folder holds warrantees and associated receipts. The resulting organization did away with home
office file drawers and the need to look, sometimes, three places to collect
needed information for routine tasks.
Filing is now simplified, there is no home office clutter, and our
printer and charging stations now sit where we once had files and binders. So, the office is now attractive and
spacious, and we’ve got a shot at grab and go in an emergency. We’ve had to use our “pocket” health
emergency booklet. The rescue team said
it saved valuable time in a true life/death emergency. Further, they wished everybody had one.

Goodewyfe- Thanks for the good advice. I am keeping 2 baskets and getting rid of the rest. My hubby says we've had numerous parties over the past 45 years, and it's our friends' turn now. :)

Just buy less. For every item you buy, get rid of one you already have.

I find it much easier to get rid of stuff when I decided to donate. I tended to hold on with the thought that I or someone else in our family might want it someday. Clothes and kitchen items seem to overtake quicker than other things. I started donating 5-6 times a year. I feel better about donating items that someone else could use because if I wait and try to sell, its just never going to happen. Years later, I still find things to donate... You just forget its there.

Add additional shelves in your closets where ever you can. And yes- less is more!

We love to read and when we downsized, we switched to electronic format, when feasible. Now, only autographed, heavily used cook books, favorite how-to, and picture books are in the house. As a result, we no longer need a bookcase. Actually, we had had multiple book cases. We invited friends over to pick from our library. The rest were given to our local library and to charity. More floor space, less dusting, cheaper books (in most cases) better portability, and we can now easily find the book we're looking for. Sweet!

Unless its a special family heirloom it its bot used in 6months to 1year...out it goes to someone who may have a use for it

I like the one thing in, something out mentality, as well.
Most of my life has been spent living and working in different countries and cities, moving frequently. Also, I was in Asia and Europe most of my adult life, and to be quite honest, people just don't have as much "stuff" as we Americans do. As a result of that environment and having to move around, I didn't tend to keep things unless I truly loved them.
I literally own a grand total of six pairs of shoes, and I never felt a need for more.
It amazed me, househunting in America, that even though the houses are so big here and have great storage...the closets in these houses were PACKED!
We complain about everything we see in stores is Chinese junk...but we keep buying so much!
Number one organizational tip...own less!

Bookish53:

The Pull Out Tray System is manufactured by Conestoga Wood Specialties and can be ordered through an authorized reseller such as The Cabinet Authority or The Cabinet Joint. We bought ours along with our cabinets but they should work with any brand of cabinet that has a face frame. They will need interior dimensions of the cabinet as well as the width of the opening and the distance from the interior side of the cabinet to the edge of the face frame. The Blumotion glides are the same used for drawers; the included screws are used to attach a bracket to the rear of drawer cabinets. For the pullout system I recommend using flat head screws instead of the included round head screws to allow the trays to go in and out more easily. They can make the trays to fit virtually any width up to about 36".

We built shelves on the back of closet doors. It's amazing how much
you can store on these shelves and racks that would have otherwise been
wasted space.

Gayle: If you miss the parties but don't want the work might I suggest potluck parties? Send out an invite saying you'll provide the plastic utensils and dishes and sit back. People take their dirty dishes away and you toss the rest. It's not posh but always a good time. Somehow it works out even without organizing who brings what.