Organizing Fact and Fiction

There are many professional organizing rules and methodologies that people read about in books and articles. Often, it can seem that many of these guidelines appear contradictory to one another. For example, a common organizing principle is to store items nearest to where they are used; while another is to store similar items together.

When applying these principles to actual organizing situations, you will want to take several factors into consideration. Among these are the storage capabilities of the different rooms and areas within your home or workspace, as well as frequency of use of items.

While the "like items together" concept may seem to dictate that all household paper goods be stored together, it may not make practical sense. Instead, paper towels may be best kept in the laundry room, napkins in the kitchen, and bath tissue in the bathrooms; this is where these items are used. That being said, if your household goes through a large amount of paper goods, perhaps the kitchen and bathrooms lack the storage capacity to hold a big supply of these items. Therefore, maybe all overflow paper products would be stored in the laundry or utility room if that is where the most space exists.

Another example is kitchen and dining related items. While it may be logical for all dishes to be stored together, it may make more sense to have everyday dishes in the kitchen and the fancy china in the dining room. And holiday dishes might not be stored with other dishes at all; if storage space in the kitchen or dining room is limited during the rest of the year, it may make more sense to think of holiday china as a "holiday" item and store it away with the rest of your holiday decor.

It can indeed be confusing to determine how best to apply tried and true organizing ideas to your own unique storage and space planning challenges. There may be some trial and error involved as you mix and match the best plans for your situation. A professional organizer can aide you in this process; they have worked with a variety of clients and are able to quickly assess problems in order to provide effective resolution through a careful blending of techniques.