Janet Jarnagin Shares Her Top Organizational Tips For Your Closet and Beyond
Many people are plagued by clutter and by a lack of organizational skills. Cluttered environments are stressful and cause people to lose out on a social life since they are unwilling to have anyone visit their home.
If you are looking for ways to jump into organizing your home, Janet Jarnagin of New York City, can help. Jarnagin shares her top tips for people who want to organize, starting with their closets and progressing to their entire homes.
Closet Organization
Too many people simply throw their clean and dirty clothes on a chair or the floor when they are not wearing them. They miss out on an opportunity to preserve their clothes for longer life and enjoy their bedroom space free of clothing clutter.
Before organizing your closet, it is a good idea to go through everything and make four piles: donate, keep, resell, and throw away. Not all discarded clothing is in good enough shape to be donated or resold. Making these decisions can be hard, especially if you are attached to clothing from certain periods of your life. If you have not worn it in a year or have no reasonable plans to wear it next year, you should not keep it.
If you want to lose weight before getting back into your favorite dress or jacket, it may be better to let this item go rather than let it hang over your head. Focus on buying yourself something that will fit and flatter you into the future.
Sorting Your Closet
Janet Jarnagin recommends using the following technique to organize your closet. She recommends starting with color. Organize from light to dark. Next, go by sleeve length. Group everything with similar sleeves together — next, sort by how heavy or thin the material is.
Janet recommends filling in unused spaces with items like boots or handbags. Organization racks and boot fillers can be bought from stores like The Container Store, or you can always do a bit of DIY to create organizational tools for yourself.
Bedroom Organization
Many bedrooms suffer from a lack of space, but you will find that you have more breathing room when you have organized your clothing.
Organizing your bedroom can also have a positive effect on your sleep quality. Ideally, you should organize your bedroom to be a quiet and calming space, with low lighting, comfortable pillows, sheets and blankets, and no electronics. If the area is noisy, consider getting a fan or white noise machine. Make sure that you have blackout drapes if light bothers you while you are trying to sleep.
Organizing the Bathroom
Bathrooms have become a troublesome source of clutter for many homeowners. A lack of organization and storage options makes the bathroom a hot spot for a mess. Installing shelves in the bathroom is a great idea, whether you can fit an entire set of stand-alone shelves or need to use a wall hanging system.
Make sure that the areas under your sink are cleaned out, getting rid of all unused toiletries. Stop hoarding items like hotel soaps and toiletries if you do not use them.
The medicine cabinet is another important place to organize. Go through all medications and over-the-counter drugs and discard any that are expired or no longer in use. Local police departments often sponsor drug take-back events where you can safely dispose of these items, and in some cases, police departments even have drop-off boxes in their buildings to be used by members of the public.
Another tip from Janet Jarnagin is to organize items that are similar together. Try to keep items related to first aid (bandages, anticeptics, medicine) together in one spot. The same advice goes for items related to make-up, hair, skin care, and nail care. Doing so allows you to avoid having a surplus or running out of any particular item, and of course, reduces clutter and increases the ease of finding what you need.
Living Room Organization
A lack of storage space is a common problem when people are trying to organize their living rooms. Overflowing shelves, pet toys, tangles of electronic cords, and other unsightly messes should be cleaned up. If you have a bookshelf that is overflowing, consider donating some of your books. If you have not read the book in a year and it does not have any sentimental value, consider donating or selling it.
You can solve your organizational problems by being creative with your furniture options. Many coffee tables and ottomans have built-in storage features.
Janet strongly encourages untangling all of the cords associated with your media center, putting them in safe organizers, and keeping them off the floor (3M/Command Strips have wall safe options for cord maintenance). These organizers will make your living room look better and also cut down on the chance of electrical fires.
Kitchen Organization
The pantry is a frequent trouble spot for many homeowners. People have a habit of buying more food than they need, which can lead to food waste. Practice a strict first-in, first-out policy when it comes to food in your pantry. Keep a close eye on expiration dates. Use stackable canisters to keep shelf-stable foods like flour and pasta fresh.
Organizing dishes can also be difficult. You may want to install sliding racks for your pots and pans, enabling you to put everything away neatly without running into problems with stacking items.
Organize Your Home
Janet Jarnagin believes in the power of proper organization. When you follow these easy tips, you will be able to rein in the chaos in your home and share a clean and presentable space with your family and friends.
