Tag: inventory

Want To Clear Clutter? Shop Better!

We need stuff.  I recognize that we and our homes require stuff to operate.  Yep, I get it.

But do we really require ALL that we keep? Are those trips to Costco or Sam’s Club, Target or Walmart really helping?

Let’s talk consumables. Consumables are, well, items we consume. Food and drink, paper goods, toiletries, even candles. Consumables are products that we use up and need to replace regularly.  Let’s call them our supplies or inventory.

Groceries? Shampoo and soap? Toilet paper, paper towels? Laundry detergent and cleaning supplies? Yes – All of these things take up space in our homes and require $$$ and time to be replaced.

How we use and replace our consumables can be directly related to our clutter struggles, though, and getting a handle on consumables is a step towards getting a handle on our clutter! Here is how to consume differently.

1. Opt out of your usual trip to the grocery this week. Delve a little deeper into your cluttered pantry, crowded cabinets or over-full freezer and use what you have.

2. Assign a home (shelf, cabinet, closet, etc.) for your consumables so you can find things when you need them (and not have to re-purchase them). Imagine if a store owner didn’t bother to organize her stock room.  The store could lose money and sales if they couldn’t put their hands on their inventory.  We dedicated a shelf in the laundry room to big purchases of toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning supplies, so we can grab what we need, and also easily determine when we need to buy more.

3.  Check your inventory before you shop.  Now that you have a home for your inventory, be sure to check it before you shop.  We usually have extra toiletries like toothbrushes and deodorant, so when those need replaced, we check the inventory basket before adding those to the grocery list.  Which leads me to…..

4.  USE A LIST!  We have a pre-printed grocery list hanging on the fridge all the time.  We are all supposed to add to the list when we realize a need, and then the list in theory is ready for me when I go to the store.  We all, including me, drop the ball sometimes and forget to add items, but that is why I also check our inventory before I leave.  And when I shop, I try to stick to the list.  Not even a great sale price may persuade me to buy an item if I know I neither need it nor have room for it at home.  (And, remember to bring the LIST with you, unlike me at Costco recently.  Or take a picture with your phone!)

5.  Shop for items based on NEED instead of a HABIT it.  My clients learn a lot about their shopping habits when we organize a kitchen.  For example, when we pull many similar items (let’s say canned green beans) from cabinets around the space.   They may say “every week, we eat lots of green beans, so I always pick some up when I’m at the store”.  Then we’ll realize the client’s meal planning has changed, and there were some busy times recently when they ate out a lot, or how the doctor recommended lower sodium veggie choices, or how the toddler decided to not eat green things for a few weeks, etc.  And how that “I buy 4 cans every week” has now wasted $$ and caused clutter.   Buy items because you need them, not because “that’s what I buy every week”.

So, shop a little differently, save some money and clear clutter – all at the same time!  Win, win, win!

Let Me Introduce You To My Hall Closet (aka Linen Closet)

An appealing aspect of class participants coming to my home is the opportunity to look around for organizing ideas. Even my cleaning people mentioned last week that they pick up ideas at my house!  I created a house walking tour for the classes I host here.

I spent time in two different linen closets last week (I really do have the coolest job), so I’d like to share the tour with you, starting with the Linen Closet (aka the Hall closet).

First of all, I don’t call our linen closet a linen closet.  I call it the hall closet, because there are no linens and only a few towels in it.  We keep our bed linens in our bedrooms, where we use them.  There are only 2 extra sets of towels in the closet, because really, how many extra sets would we possibly need?  The kids’ towels are on hooks on their bedrooms, I use the ones in the bathroom, and there are 2 extra sets in the downstairs bathroom, in addition to those my hubby uses daily.  I do laundry regularly, so we don’t need to keep more than an extra set or two.  Paring down the towels certainly cuts the closet clutter!

I have one set of cleaning supplies for most of the house.  There is extra dish and Imagedishwasher detergent under the kitchen sink, but almost everything else is corralled in the hall closet into a portable caddy and a clear oblong bucket.  The caddy contains my regular cleaning supplies, and I carry it from room to room with me when I clean.  The bucket holds special items like leather and carpet cleaner, and the bottles of concentrates that I purchase then mix with water to make my own supplies (love my Melaleuca!!).

Moving down the shelves, we come to our hygiene and wellness shelf.  I have two Imagesquare baskets side by side that hold the bottles and supplies that usually roll around linen closets, getting lost or in the way.  One basket holds our toiletry inventory.  I take advantage of sales for our toiletries, buying multi packs of body wash, deodorant, bar soap, toothpaste, chapsticks, etc.  When someone runs out of an item, they check the basket to see what we have in stock.

The other basket holds our medicine and first aid supplies.  It’s safer to store medicine in the hallway and not in the hot steamy bathroom, and we don’t use them often, anyway.  And when my kids were younger, the medicine basket was on a much higher and safer shelf.  When someone is feeling poorly, with a cold for example, the cough medicine, throat drops and vapo-rub are all together in one location.

The very top shelf holds items rarely used, like heating pads or beach towels.  I move the beach towels down to a lower shelf for the summer.  And the bottom shelf holds Imagepaper towel, toilet paper, tissue and paper cup inventory.  There is more TP in a drawer in the bathroom, but we have more storage room for large packages out in the hall closet.  No once can ever say they can’t find a box of tissues or extra paper towels.

And finally, on the floor is the communal laundry basket, so no one can ever say they couldn’t put their stuff in the laundry basket, either!!!

One area of untapped closet storage space is the door.   If you find you need more storage, you could use an over-the-door shoe rack and stash toiletries or first aid items in the pockets.  I have also seen long table linens hung on over-the-door towel racks for wrinkle-free storage.

So, if we were touring your linen closet, which type of item causes the most clutter?  Towels?  Cleaning supplies, paper goods, bottles of shampoo, band-aids?  You decide, and try one of the tips above to eliminate the clutter and make the most of your linen closet!