taxi from O'Hare Munster limo Chicago New Lenox Cadillac Escalade SUV rentals Melrose Park Cadillac Deville rentals Streamwood Barrington Hills town car ride to ohare .. Drug testing

Four Easy Steps to An Organized Closet

The National Association of Professional Organizers has dedicated January to clean out those closets, but don't wait for January -- now is the time. Exciting this task is not, but by devoting a couple of afternoons this month you can reduce unnecessary search time and you may even find some extra storage in the process.

Most people have heard of the 80/20 rule -- that individuals wear 20% of their clothes 80% of the time. Everyone's closet would be beautiful and orderly if it only contained 20% of its original contents. Don't worry! I am not suggesting you unload those limited-wear pieces, but I do propose some sorting and storage principles be put in place in those freshly organized closets.

Disclaimer: Now if this task seems too overwhelming, please start small; try the hall closet first to build your confidence. We will review a clothes closet, but many of the steps discussed below can be applied to any storage area.

Step 1: Begin by selecting your messiest closet and removing its contents. During this process, take a good look at what you have and consider donating or tossing items that have not been touched in years. Remember these items are taking up valuable storage space. Be honest with yourself and make the effort to purge the old, the size-challenged, and the "what was I thinking?" . If you can't bring yourself to part with some of these items (even though you know that you should) box them up, put the date on the box and store it in the basement or attic. If you haven't touched the box in one year toss or donate it without opening.

Step 2: Now it's time to put away the items you have decided to keep. As you put things back, keep like things together (for example long-sleeved shirts) and remember to store items based on how they are used as well as their frequency of use. Placement is important -- store special occasion dressings in the back , while frequently worn items should be up front and between shoulder and knee height. Don't forget about the floor space under your short hanging items. Purchase clear containers and store out of season sweaters and shoes (no, not together); don't forget to label, so next year there will be no unnecessary dumping. If you are storing sweaters or non-hang shirts on your top shelf consider shelf dividers; these keep those stacks from tumbling into one another.

Step 3: Finally consider ways to maximize the space you have. The back of the closet door provides some wonderful untouched storage space. Add hooks for robes and your comfy sweats or purchase one of those nifty door units for additional storage. Another storage option is hatboxes (not just for hats!); they are great for storing small accessories and look really nice on your shelf or neatly stacked on the floor.

Step 4: What you hang your clothes on really does make a difference. All your hangers should be the same type (yes -- get rid of those wire hangers from the dry cleaners). Replacing hangers can be as costly or as inexpensive as your taste and budget dictate. You can pick up a pack of plastic hangers for a few dollars or you can buy some really good-quality padded or wooden hangers. You have gone through all this effort to make things organized and this last detail can really pull it all together.

Once everything has a place and fits, you are encouraged to keep it organized and clutter free. Maintenance is key and will only require minimal effort if completed daily. A few minutes of hanging, folding and tossing in the designated basket keeps everything in its place. I almost forgot -- leave about 10% of your storage free for future purchases. There will be no cramming or stuffing in this new Organized Closet!

About the author: Bridget Messino is a Professional Organizer and co-owner of Clutter Free Living, Inc. Her work frequently appears on many Internet sites and on her own organizing site Clutter Free Living as well as in her monthly Home Organizing Newsletter How to Be Clutter Free. Subscribe to the FREE monthly e-newsletter by sending a blank e-mail to cflnews-subscribe@topica.email-publisher. com

limousine chicago service

In The News:

If you're not lucky enough to live in the path of the May 20 "ring of fire" solar eclipse, you can still watch the spectacular event online.

If you plan it right, you could rent out your home on the Internet -- and use the money to take a free vacation of your own. These three websites will help you roll out the welcome mat.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday.

A new app launched this weekend that will scan the faces of patrons in 25 bars across the city to determine their ages and genders. Would-be customers can then check their smartphones for real-time updates on the crowd size, average age and male-to-female mix to decide whether the scene is to their liking.

An oil company exploration crew's chance discovery of a 200-year-old shipwreck in a little-charted stretch of the Gulf of Mexico is yielding a trove of new information to scientists who say it's one of the most well-preserved old wrecks ever found in the Gulf.

They say patience is a virtue, but like temperance and chastity, it’s not much fun. Unfortunately, if you want to reach a state of true techstasy, you may need to repress your desire to buy a new gadget today and wait for the next version to come out.

Taxes, dental exams, cellphone contracts — things you hate but can't avoid. Actually, you can skip the last one. With prices on smartphones dropping and plenty of used smartphones for sale, BYOD — bring your own device — is now an option.

A turtle the size of a small car once roamed what is now South America 60 million years ago, suggests its fossilized remains.

A new private supply ship for the International Space Station remained stuck on the ground Saturday after rocket engine trouble led to a last-second abort of the historic flight.

A private spacecraft stands ready to launch on a historic first visit to the International Space Station early Saturday morning.

A new generation of super rich, super young tech entrepreneurs is upon us. And while some are barely old enough to rent a car, most could -- if they really wanted to -- buy a small island nation instead.

The small town of Monmouth in Wales (population: 8,807, according to Wikipedia) will become the world’s first “Wikipedia town” on Saturday, May, 19, Monmouth county officials said on Thursday. Every person, place, and thing of interest in the town can now be scanned by a smartphone and looked up on Monmouthpedia.

The 16th Annual Webby Award winners have been released, honoring websites, interactive advertising, online film & video, as well as apps.

Summer's almost here and that means kids will have a lot of time on their hands to surf the Internet. So you may be concerned about what they'll be looking at online. Fortunately most web browsers like Safari, Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer have easy to use privacy settings.

Apple was sued in March by a New York man who alleges that Apple’s Siri commercials are misleading and deceptive. Apple’s recommendation to Fazio: buy a different phone.

A new NASA survey has pinned down the number of asteroids that could pose a collision threat to Earth in what scientists say is the best estimate yet of the potentially dangerous space rocks.

Tech geeks across the Facebook empire celebrated the company’s IPO and their newfound millions by slugging back energy drinks at all-night code-writing parties.

Just two weeks after the huge "supermoon" wowed skywatchers around the world, the heavens will offer up another observing treat — a solar eclipse on May 20 that should be visible from much of western North America.

NASA has given SpaceX $381 million to develop a private rocket to replace the space shuttle -- and that’s just the tip of the money iceberg. The space agency plans multiple future grants ranging up to half a billion in the next year and a half. Is the $4.9 billion program worth it?

More than 900 million people worldwide check their Facebook accounts at least once a month, but millions more are Facebook holdouts.

Four Easy Steps to An Organized Closet

Get Organized - Organization Get Organized - Organization