Organic

— denoting a relation between elements of something such that they fit together harmoniously as necessary parts of a whole.

— characterized by continuous or natural development.

Some people are born organizers…others of us struggle with the concept our whole lives…many of us fall someplace in-between the two. When it comes to keeping our homes organized, we often fall prey to the beautiful, matching organization systems at The Container Store or local Target gracing shelves and weekly advertisements during January. As if failing at our other resolutions wasn't enough, now we see how much we are failing at keeping our home organized, too!

Whether you're moving into a new home, or preparing your home to sell, becoming organized might be at the top of your list, but if you're not a natural-born organizer, the task you're taking on might be daunting.

Rather than trying to implement all of the numerous ideas floating around the Internet or gathering dust in a folder you started last January, consider allowing your home organization to come more, well, naturally. That is, make it match organically how you live rather than changing how you live to match it.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Use your trashcan — natural born organizers think nothing of throwing things away that they don't need. Those of us on the less organized side worry that we might toss something important or even trivial (sales bills and coupons) that we might want to retrieve. Instead of tossing everything … have a trash bin handy near the place you sort mail and start by just tossing those items you consider to be junk mail.


• While you're at it…put a wastebasket in every room so that throwing things away is easier while you're thinking about it.


• Use storage tubs — while you may long for those beautiful cubbies with shoes snuggly nestled in matched pairs, if your kids are anything like mine, a large plastic tub holding all of their shoes may be the best you can hope for. So start there! Give each child (and you and your spouse) your own storage bin for all of your shoes, backpack and other daily necessities.


• Use hooks liberally — have coat hooks near the garage door so coats are easy to grab on the way out and easy to hang on the way in. Have more hooks above the coat hooks for hats or caps. Hang hooks on the sides of closets for belts and scarves. If your family has trouble hanging towels in regular towel bars, just use hooks in the bathroom for the towels.


• Place a charity box in the laundry room. Whenever you launder items that family has outgrown or no longer wear, put them in the box. When the box is full, you can make a trip to your favorite charity or use one of the collection bins in a nearby parking lot.

If your home is on the market, give each family member a storage bin with a lid…whenever the house is being shown (or before they leave for school each day) have the collect everything loose and put it in the bin and place it in their closet. Now your home will be ready in a snap.

If you want to begin the process of selling your home, contact your real estate professional for guidance.

Compliments of Virtual Results