Rubbermaid - Adventures in Organization

Abby's Hall Closet Makeover

A few months ago, I did a post, sharing a story about Abby who needed help getting her hall closet in more manageable order due to an overwhelming amount of kids shoes, gloves and scarves.

Taking advice from professional organizers, Mandi @doodlesplace and Lauren @orgconnect, we sent Rubbermaid Configurations cubbies and an over the door shoe organizer to help organize.

Below are a few photos of the results she took of how she has kept the closet organized since.  Great job, Abby!

 

 

Kids Closet Makeover

Back in January we held the Rubbermaid Get Organized contest. In addition to the Grand Prize winner we also randomly selected winners for both closet and garage organization products. One of the winners, Heather L. recently sent me a recap of how she organized her son's closet with the Rubbermaid Configurations/HomeFree closet organization system.  Below is her story.

It was January 5th 2009 and I finally got all three of my boys back to school and the house was peaceful and quiet.  I work as a computer programmer from home and I sat down at the computer and up popped an email telling me about the Rubbermaid Get Organized Contest.  I was on their email list because two summers ago I installed a Rubbermaid Fasttrack Garage organization system in my garage - and it is great!

Anyway I get this email inviting me to enter the Rubbermaid contest and immediately my son's closet comes to mind.  I grabbed my camera - opened his closet door - cringed - and took the picture.  Nothing had to be staged here - it was the real thing.

I went on the Rubbermaid site - sent the picture and wrote a brief paragraph for the judges about how I needed a closet organizer.  When my son came home from school I told him about entering the contest and his eyes got as wide as saucers.  "You did what?" he asked.  I said "Yes - I sent in a picture of your messy closet - I think it's going to win".

One month later on February 5th 2009 up pops an email that I am a second place winner in the Rubbermaid Get Organized contest. I had won a Rubbermaid® Configurations/HomeFree Closet System.  I was so thrilled.  A week or so later the box arrived at my door and it was a fantastic system!

My son was not too encouraged about cleaning out his closet and being only 10 years-old he wondered if after we got his closet organized would Rubbermaid continue to check up on him to see if he was keeping it clean!  I laughed and told him anything is possible!

On March 2nd 2009 I cleared out the closet while my boys were at school.  In all honesty my son had inherited his room from his older brother so it contained his mess and many things left behind from the previous inhabitant.  The pile of clothes and toys that came out of the space was incredible!  I decided that what was needed was a wall of shelving on the short end of the walk in closet and then leave the clothes rod and shelf intact on the long wall of the closet.  My son does not have a lot of clothes but he does have a ton of games and models and toys.

I installed the two four foot long shelves and three shorter shelves that came with the Closet System. Still I wanted to have more four foot long shelves for the end of the closet.  I was able to add three more four foot long shelves and then I had the perfect configuration for him.  (see Final picture attached)

 So "Thank you" Rubbermaid!  My son can now go into his closet and find what he is looking for.  He is no longer throwing clothes on the floor and he is making a real effort at organization. Now if you only had a "Rubbermaid inspection squad" to drop by occasionally to monitor him!

About Heather L.
Heather is a computer programmer and entrepreneur.  Five years ago she invented a special sheet protector for greeting cards. You can insert the greeting card and see both the inside and outside of the card without removing it from the card sleeve. The acid free sleeves are three-hole punched and fit in albums. Cards can be displayed and preserved so they can be read over and over again.  You can check them out at: www.cardmemories.com

She is also a distributor for SendOutCards. SendOutCards and Card Memories are a perfect match. With SendOutCards you can send a real printed greeting card with your message in Less than 60 Seconds. SendOutCards prints it, stuffs it and mails it, all for less than a greeting card at the store. www.sendoutcards.com/cardmemories

Goodbye Heels, Hello Space.

A few months ago, I started experiencing a lot of toe pain when I was running, and went to the foot doctor to see if he could help me.   After a few procedures & x-rays, it was found that I had some serious arch issues which had taken toll on my toes by having to carry excess weight.   He looked down at the heels I had worn into the appointment, and pointed out my footwear was the first behavior that I needed to change.

Let's take a look at my closet:

 

Needless to say, i was going to have some trouble getting used to this!!!  

Encouraged by wanting to get back into exercising,  I found some flats I love and also got special high-arch running shoes made.  My feet have felt a lot better.  

Except for one thing....I still hung onto the heels.  Until this weekend, my closet had looking like this, even thought it had been four months since the diagnosis!  I still continued to look over these "unauthorized" shoes every day when getting dressed for work.  Last week, when I was getting ready, I had a realization, that on our Rubbermaid site and blog, Jim and I encourage everyone to purge before they organize; yet, I was having trouble doing it myself.  The excess clutter of these shoes was adding more time to my morning, and continuing to let me dwell on the fact my footwear choices are now limited.

This weekend, I had decided enough was enough!   I gathered all of the shoes up, boxed them up and I am giving them to Goodwill.

 

The bonus is that I have a lot of new room on my shelves for shoes that are actually good for me.

What is it that holds you back from getting organized, whether it be nostalgic items you still hold onto that take up space, outdated clothing that you keep because you might need it someday, or something as silly as my heels that I kept for months even though I couldn't wear them? 

 

   

Hall Closet Help for Abby?

Yesterday, I received an inquiry from our friend Abby at Steals and Deals who wrote asking if we could help her with her hall closet.  She is having trouble organizing the closet due to an overwhelming amount of mittens, gloves & scarves and lack of an organization system that actually works for her space.  

   

Jim and I, along with our closet product manager, Betty, are planning on sending some recommendations for Abby to help.   Does anyone have any additional ideas for Abby? If so, please post below.

The ripple effects of the Get Organized Garage Makeover

Just today I received an email from Aimee, the Rubbermaid Get Organized Contest Winner. Here's what she had to say.

Jim,

The Rubbermaid garage make over has made a big difference all over my house. I've sent some pictures to demonstrate. The first is me standing in my walk in closet.  Before there were two totes of gifts I've been collecting for birthday parties, baby showers, etc that took up precious space in our master bedroom closet.  Now with the amazing garage makeover there was room for the gifts in the garage.

 

The second picture is of my craft closet.  I went crazy with the label maker you gave me.  And the little Rubbermaid stool fits perfectly inside the closet to help me reach the kids crafts that are up high.  All my friends agree that a label maker is the perfect gift for me.



As you can see from the third picture my laundry room is free and clear of shoes.  I can open my front loading washer without an avalanche of shoes falling off our old shoe rack.  Now our shoes (and the dirt that comes with them) stay in the great Rubbermaid cubbies in my "mudroom" section of the garage. 



The final picture is of my van which fits with room to spare in the garage.  In fact earlier this week when it snowed my husband fit his car in the garage too.  That hasn't happened for about 3 years and 2 kids ago. 



We can't thank you all enough.

Aimee

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Here are links to the previous posts
- The winning entry
- Planning for the makeover
- The garage makeover project
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Under-the-Stairs Closet Storage

Once again I'm about to jump into another home makeover project. This time the project revolves around getting the storage space under my staircase organized.

Originally when I moved into this home a few years ago the space under the stairs was completely empty. It was a blank canvas. At the time, without knowing the basics of organization (and an army of professional organizers), I added a single wire shelf. This helped out a bit but, as you can see from the photo, didn't solve the problem.

The issue we have is this space never stays organized. There are probably a few reasons for this. The first is because it's not very easy to access the items stored in this area. Which means people usually just toss stuff in. The second reason is because there really aren't any storage compartments. The third is because we've yet to identify the exact issue at hand.

Anyway, I'm going to fix this problem soon. Any advice or tips you may have are welcome. I'll be sure to share the results when the project is complete.

Randi's Closet Makeover - The Happy Ending - Part Three

The first thing we did to re-do the closet was to install Rubbermaid Configurations / Homefree closet system.  This is the same system I have in my house and I really love it for its versatility to be able to maximize vertical space in the closet as well as its ease of installation (no cutting / complex measuring).

One thing her previous closet did not have was a lot of shelves, so we added an entire wall of shelving to the back of the closet for her seasonal and infrequently used items.   We grouped like items (wrapping supplies, electronic accessories) into clear Rubbermaid bins so that she could clearly see them. 

Lastly, we took Ellen’s idea of a shoe organizer and hung it on a side wall for commonly used items she didn’t have a place for in her condo which is very limited with drawers and storage space.  We also labeled the pockets so she could easily find items in the future.

With two of us, the entire project took 2 ½ hours, start to finish!!

We’ll check back in with Randi in a few weeks to see how this design is working for her….

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Randi's Closet Makeover Series

• Part 1: The problem
• Part 2: The makeover process
• Part 3: The happy ending

Randi's Closet Makeover - Part Two

On New Years Eve, Randi and I tackled the Great Closet Organization Project. We took Julie's advice she gave on my last blog and went through everything to make sure it was really needed. Using Rubbermaid totes, Randi and I sorted and had her sort everything in the closet into 4 piles:

1. Donate
2. Mend or Repair
3. Throw Away and
4. Keep

The exercise really helped eliminate some un-needed items we could give to local Charlotte charities and also let Randi know what exactly what was going back into the closet so it was easy to find.

Also, we took Julie's advice on using underbed boxes. We were able to fit 2 under her guest bed - - one for Christmas decorations and a second for backpacks. Because Randi uses that closet as a seasonal / utilitarian closet, some additional holiday items ended up on the floor of the closet.

Stay posted next week for the final result!!

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Randi's Closet Makeover Series

• Part 1: The problem
• Part 2: The makeover process
• Part 3: The happy ending

You Could Win An Organization Makeover

Welcome to 2009!  As you may or may not know, January in National Get Organized Month. To support this event Rubbermaid has put together an Organization Makeover promotion. Below are some of the details.

To enter, visit our website, select a room in your home that’s most in need of organization (garage, closet, kitchen or other). Take a photo of the room and upload the image to our website. Include a short story or description of the challenges you face in getting the room in order.

From all the entries submitted, one hundred will be randomly selected from all the entries for judging (to be done by Rubbermaid and Carson Tate), which will be based on the judging criteria listed on our website.

Good Luck!

Randi's Closet Makeover - The Before

So, with my OCD organization tendencies, I find my friend Randi’s closet slightly scary.  I am going to give her an Extreme Rubbermaid Closet Makeover in the next few weeks, and would love your advice on what we should do with the space.

Here is the info:

• Her closet is about 8-10’ long and about 5’ wide
• There is only currently one hang bar & shelf (although the Homefree Closet system I plan to install will let us go vertical)
• She needs to store both clothing (mostly hanging), as well as holiday decorations and infrequently used items

Help us come up with ideas, please!!

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Randi's Closet Makeover Series

• Part 1: The problem
• Part 2: The makeover process
• Part 3: The happy ending