52 Ways to Get Organized

Shoes need to be kept either on a mat or on a movable supporting rack so that the floor underneath can be cleaned regularly. In a formal foyer, you can use mats placed inside the closet under the coats. In a less formal entryway or where there's no closet, use attractive wooden or metal shoe racks to hold shoes and boots, or use a decorative wicker basket as an entryway accent and shoe organizer. Stackable shoe shelves are inexpensive and provide plenty of air circulation that will help wet shoes and boots to dry.

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Many entryways don't have a closet, and even when they do, a freestanding piece of furniture can provide additional coat storage. Coat racks, hall trees and hooks and pegs can help corral coats.

Scarves are generally hung up to make them accessible and to air them out. But they can be folded and stored in bins or baskets, in the closet or on shelves or in cubbies in the entryway. Mittens and gloves need to be kept with their mates and should be kept in storage that allows for air to circulate around them. A shallow woven or mesh tray or basket is ideal. If many people are using the entryway, consider including several clothespins in mitten and glove storage, so that mates can be pinned together.

Umbrellas should be stored standing up. When laid on their side, the ribs can get damaged. The best umbrella stands allow for air circulation around the umbrellas so that they can dry effectively when brought in out of the rain. This doesn't mean you have to go in search of an actual umbrella stand. Wicker or wire-mesh trash baskets can function perfectly well as umbrella holders.

Keep your keys from getting lost by giving them a specific place where they go the minute you walk in the door. You can use any of a number of key hangers available in a diversity of styles. You can also go the less expensive route of just mounting a hook for the keys on a wall or other nearby surface. If you have multiple sets of keys - including backup sets of your house keys and keys to locked sheds, second or third cars, and relatives' houses - keep them all in the same place.

A more appropriate strategy for busy homes is to create a focal point. Use the flat surface as a showcase area, with one central display. For instance, use your most beautiful vase full of dried flowers as the center of attention atop an upright piano. Put your favorite decorative ceramic bowl in the center of a windowsill (as long as it doesn't interfere with the opening of the window). Cluster a trio of unusual glass paperweights on a radiator cover. By creating a focal point, anything else put on the surface sticks out like a sore thumb.

Traditional desks with drawers provide additional storage for things you would prefer to keep out of view. But the problem with drawers is precisely that everything is hidden. It's easy to put things there without thinking, and the drawers can quickly turn into clutter buckets. To make best use of your drawers and keep them as organized as possible, commit each drawer to one type of storage, and partition drawers as necessary to keep things neat.

Your desktop should provide enough room for basic office tools and for space to comfortably write, to open your mail, and to review files as necessary. There should be enough room around everything to allow movement - so you don't bump your computer monitor while reaching for a pencil. In figuring out how big your desk needs to be, you should work with the other zones of the home office. For instance, you may prefer to use a desktop wire file-organizer for often-needed files. But if the home-office space will not accommodate a large desk, those files are better placed in the front of your file cabinet or in a drawer.

Capture your cords with a cord organizer. There are two types: flexible tubes that keep the cords concealed so you can run a bundle of cords wherever they need to go and rigid cord "channels" that also contain all your cords in one outer shell. Although less flexible, the channels are more easily attached to surfaces such as the underside of your desk or wall baseboards. Lengths of rigid channels are put together by combining sections of straight pieces and corner "elbows." Both flexible and rigid organizers are available in a wide selection of colors, finishes, and materials. You can also choose from simple, less-expensive plastic braces with clip-in slots for cables and wires. One is positioned about every foot to keep the cords and wires untangled and running parallel for their length.

Set up a mail station in the entryway. If you have open wall space, mount wood or metal wall files like those used for magazines, or hang a decorative fabric pouch. If you have a table in your entryway, use trays or bins to keep mail tidy. Whatever storage solution you use, keep it out in the open so that you'll see when you have a backlog of mail and be more likely to deal with it.