Design Tip of the Week (1.3.10): New Year's Resolution

Organizing is a biggie on the New Year's resolution list. There truly is nothing better than a good declutter to start the new year off right. So to get you inspired on ways to organize, here are some organizing tips for all those areas of your life that may be spilling over or could just use a little tidying up.

Label it! Get some mason jars or metal pails to organize your office supplies or crafts for the kids and use a fun label to pretty it up. Like these chalkboard labels from the Vinyl Chalkboard store on Etsy.


Mount it! Use extra wall space to organize. There are so many systems out there with many different components that you can use to customize your organization needs. Meet your home's new command center, the Daily System from Pottery Barn.


Hide it! Yes, I am not ashamed to hide things. Multipurpose furniture is a great way to hide things like blankets, magazines, pillows and so forth. We use stuff, its how we get comfy, so your house can look clutter free when you have company. Love this giraffe patterned storage ottoman from CSN.


Box it! It doesn't get anymore hidden than putting it in a box. Once that lid is on, nobody needs to know whats going on in there. I have all my office supplies in fun decorative photo boxes. They stack, they look cute, they keep the clutter contained. Try these fun boxes from the Container Store.


Match it! Taking things that you have semi organized and putting them into the same containers or books are a great way to make your things look coordinated. For example, I have many different photo albums and in 2011 I am reorganizing all these photos into matching photo albums so they can display nicely on a shelf in the living room. You can get the same effect with boxes (as mentioned above)or baskets. Here are some magazine files from See Jane Work that can clean up your favorite periodicals into a chic matching storing system.


Quarantine it! This is the mother of all organizers a full sized cubby hole piece of furniture. Several types of these are out there from Ikea to Pottery Barn, just begging to store all your stuff (whether its books, baskets, or bins). If you have the space, you could probably store all your clutter in this piece alone. Here is the Cubby Organizer from Pottery Barn.