The first step is to clear everything out of the bedroom. The bed can stay, but you may have to move it or lift it to get at everything underneath.

After the room has had everything moved out you may notice dirt, garbage and old things that can be thrown away. Take the garbage bags into the bedroom and start picking up all the trash. Teenagers aquire lots of it. Once your teen’s bedroom is cleared of all debris vacuum the floors.

After the floors are vacuumed put back the furniture that you may have moved out of the room. Place everything in the room in an organized manner. The dresser and nightstand should be near the bed. A desk might be across the room with a bookshelf. If your teen’s room does not have a bookshelf, add one now. Books may encourage teens to read.

Add a magazine rack to your teen’s bedroom to get things more organized. Teens love reading magazines, and a magazine rack keeps the magazines from becoming cluttered around the floor of the room. Add a shoe organizer to the bedroom door, especially if your teen is a girl with lots of shoes. It is a great way to organize pairs of shoes for each day of the week.

Use the totes for toys, games and gadgets that your teen collects. The small totes can be labeled and stored underneath your teen’s bed. Once the stuff is organized it will be easier to find and will require less clean-up time. The large tote can be used for swapping out winter and summer clothes or for the most used items in your teen’s room.

Make it easier to put away, harder to get out — For example, store picture books as a flip-file, standing upright in a plastic dishpan. The child flips through the books, makes his selection, and tosses the book in the front of the dishpan when he’s done. Compare a traditional bookcase, where little fingers can pull down a whole shelf faster than they can replace one book. Build the effort into the getting out, not the putting away.

 Organize bottom to top — Befitting a child’s shorter stature, start organizing from the bottom of the room, and work to the top. Most used toys and belongings should live on lower shelves, in lower drawers, or on the floor. Higher levels are designated for less-frequently-used possessions.

Working bottom to top, the best-loved teddy bear sits in a small rocker on the floor, while the extensive Grandma-driven bear collection is displayed on a shelf built 6 feet up the wall.

Label — When it comes to keeping kids’ rooms organized for the long haul, labels save the day. Use a computer printer to make simple graphic labels for young children. Pictures of socks, shirts, dolls or blocks help remind the child where these items belong. Enhance reading skills for older children by using large-type word labels.

Slap labels everywhere: inside and outside of drawers, on shelf edges and on the plastic shoebox storage containers that belong there, on boxes and bookcases and filing cubes. Playing “match the label” can be fun–and turns toy pickup into a game.

1. Remove everything from your desk. Place your phone on your left if you’re right handed and on the right if you’re left handed. Display personal items elsewhere.

2. Keep a spiral notebook by the phone for messages and phone notes. Write your voice mail messages in it and delete them from the system. Jot down reference notes before you make a call to reduce phone time.

3. Open your planner or turn on your PDA and place it on your desk. Use it to keep track of to-dos, follow-ups and ideas.

4. Keep office supplies in one drawer only. Buy a dozen of your favorite, inexpensive pens and keep them in a cutlery tray in the drawer. Keep back-up supplies in a plastic storage container with drawers.

5. Sort through your desk files. Keep in your desk drawers only files you use weekly or those that are personal or confidential.

6. Place your computer at a 90 degree angle to your desk. Keep your desk work surface clear of everything except essentials and your current project.

7. Set up a system for active files either in a step file sorter on your desk or in your file drawer. Sort your paperwork into it: Do, Consider, Awaiting Answer, File, Hold, Read and Refer.

8. Take ten minutes at the end of each day to keep your desk organized. Place tomorrow’s top priority project in the center of your desk. You’re ready for anything.

 Organizing a kid’s room can be a challenge.  You need to place things where your children can pick them out, and when finished, be able to put them away for next time. Being able to do this allows the child to feel a sense of responsibility and accomplishment and it allows us parents to feel less like a personal maid service.

Below are a few tools to consider when reorganizing your child’s room. Hopefully, these tips with make it easier for both parent and child.

1. Closet Rods — We all have them. But for a child, the height may make it impossible for them to hang up or take down items without making a mess. To hang children’s clothes without letting them drag the floor, you’ll need a rod height of around 32 inches. If it is possible, lower the rod to about 4-6 inches lower than the height of your child. Or install a new rod at the lower height, and leave the upper rod to hang out-of-season or dress clothes. Allowing kids to reach the rod will help them be able to help organize their clothing.

2. Small Toy Bins — Using one huge toy box for all of your toys can actually end up creating more problems. What happens when they want a toy? They dump the whole thing out. One giant toy box may be convenient for cleanup, but it actually causes more cleanup by its nature. Try using smaller bins that allow toys to be sorted by their type or use.  Sorting and organizing toys can be an educational activity for your child.

3. Hamper for Laundry — If your kid’s room is piled high with dirty laundry, the problem may not be your child; It may be the hamper.  Older children may benefit from a divided hamper that allows them to sort out whites, colors, and linens. Younger children may need a fun incentive to put their clothes in a hamper. Try mounting a basketball goal above the hamper, and let your kids slam dunk while they organize their laundry. Some companies now have animal hampers that let you feed your dirty clothes to a wild animal.

4. Workable Bedding — Simplify your child’s bedding. If you have ruffles, sheets, duvet covers, and multiple pillows, the bed can seem impossible for a child to conquer. Simplify the contents down to what they use. Beautiful beds with multiple pillows, blankets, and sheets don’t look that great when they’re unmade. Trade in the bolsters and multiple shams for simplicity and a neatly made bed.

5. Hooks — The hook is a simple yet wonderful organizational tool. Hooks at an accessible level can allow children to hang their own hats, bags, scarves, backpacks, and more. Hang a few hooks on the back of the closet door and put labels above to remind your children of what to put there. Remember to label items with pictures and words for non-readers.

Decorating on a Budget: It Can be Done!

by Phoebe Chongchua

Whether you’re getting ready to sell your home or you’re just in the mood for a spring spruce-up, learning to decorate on a shoestring budget can be rewarding both for your pocketbook and the aesthetics of your home.

Tracy Lynn, owner of Style On A Shoestring says that decorating on a budget is not only possible but also very doable. No matter what theme or décor you choose, Lynn says there are three important considerations.

“Organization and functionality are just as important these days as is being attractive. Most people are not into the big fancy living rooms and dining rooms anymore but they want the space to be nice and they want to [decorate] it reasonably,” says Lynn.

Lynn launched her company after she gutted a home and redecorated it on a shoestring budget. She received so many compliments that she decided to start her business in San Diego, California. But she understands that decorating is a luxury.

“I think it’s definitely an extra in life. Most of the time people want to be proud of their homes. They want to enjoy having people over and they want to be organized. They also want it to function well,” says Lynn.

So keeping costs down is always a top priority. But when you flip through catalogues featuring furniture and decor and you pick items you like, the prices just seem to quickly compound. That’s when you need a decorating shoestring-budget strategy. It starts with taking inventory of the things you have. Which items need to go and which items can stay? Redecorating doesn’t mean you have to throw out everything. In fact, Lynn’s company offers a re-design service that helps you learn to use what you have. The key is getting fresh eyes on your home. When you bring in experts, they can offer a new perspective.

“Taking the things that consumers already own and just re-arranging it or de-cluttering it — moving art around or possibly adding a few pieces to what they already have. We have done this many times in various homes, says Mary Wadstrom, designer at Style On A Shoestring. She adds, “It makes the husbands really happy because we haven’t purchased anything; we haven’t done any shopping — we’ve just switched their things up a little bit.”

Here are a few more tips to getting a quality look on a lean decor diet. Just like anything, investing in the preparation time and research can reap outstanding results.

Set a personal financial limit and then stick to it. Decide what you can afford without breaking the bank. Then call in the experts. You don’t have to hire them to do the overall decorating. You can actually do many things on your own but, again, getting some new opinions will allow you to see things in your own home from a different view.

Use professionals to gain valuable advice. Lynn cautions that you carefully think about each purchase because often people end up with items that just don’t work. She says she hears this complaint frequently “I went out and I bought this couch and now I need you because I can’t return it and it doesn’t fit. I blew all this money.” Getting expert help doesn’t have to be expensive. You can receive free consultations and research expert advice in online publications.

Space-plan before you buy. Don’t impulse-buy or you might end up with furniture and décor that doesn’t ultimately match the room. Before you buy anything you should map out the look and style of what you’re trying to create. “You don’t want to buy anything until you understand what everything is going to cost,” says Lynn. She says go through and decide how much each item will cost “because that will help you stay in the budget,” explains Lynn. You can choose to splurge on one item but then scrimp a little in other areas.