Making Use of a Small Kids Closet

You may be surprised as your baby reaches toddlerhood just how much stuff they can accumulate. It is nice to get their room organized where toys are categorized and play space is kept empty. But how do you accomplish this when the closet in your nursery is the size of a phone booth? Here we will discuss tips and tricks to making every bit of space count inside of your child's closet, enabling you to leave an open, safe place to play in your toddler's room.

The number one thing to consider is safety. Toddlers can decide to climb just about anything and you need to have their room prepared. Make sure that dressers, changing tables and shelves are anchored to the studs in the walls. Stud-finders are usually around ten dollars and can help ensure that those furniture anchors you purchased are correctly positioned and installed. Better yet, coordinate your closet space so that you no longer need a dresser in the room at all. Changing tables can go once you decide to convert to a big boy or big girl room.

Measure your closet and determine how deep and wide it is. Inventory what you need to go into the closet and determine how far apart shelves need to be. Go ahead and measure, marking with a pencil on each wall, where you want each shelf to go. You can leave room in the bottom of the closet for a laundry basket and your child's shoes. Put a shelf right above it for books and things that you want in your child's reach. Above that, you can stack t-shirts and shorts. Shelves are nicer than dressers because you never have to dig for what you need. You will not unfold everything trying to find that cute shirt that goes perfectly with the shorts . Finally you can get organized and stay organized.

The next shelf should go about six inches higher than you need. This leaves room for those great little baskets that hang down from shelves, forming a drawer. These are usually around five dollars and make great spaces for socks and underwear. The next shelf up is for pajamas, special blankets or stuffed animals that are only for bed time. Diapers, wipes, and other essentials can be kept here in an easily removable basket. If you decide to keep diaper cream or medicines in the closet, consider installing a medicine cabinet that locks inside of the closet. Remember, your baby will soon become a climber if they have not already.

Place the hanging bar for dress clothes up high to protect those delicate items and heirlooms. Use childrens hangers to protect delicate fabrics and maximize the space that you have. Place one shelf above the bar for out of season clothes storage and you are done!

About the Author: Ron Maier is the owner of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of childrens hangers. The right children's clothes hangers really make the difference in kid's retail or home organization. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ron_P._Maier

Should I Use Bamboo Hangers? by Ron Maier

Wooden hangers sophisticate any closet. They give a nice, clean, organized feel to your clothing. They keep clothes separated and wrinkle free, with even spacing in between to boot. Almost everyone that upgrades to wooden hangers is very pleased with the results. Most often we see hangers in pine, oak, cherry and birch. All of these are very nice and durable. Lately we are seeing bamboo hangers popping up everywhere. Many people are questioning why. Are these hangers stronger? Lighter? More environmentally friendly? Cheaper? The answer is yes. Bamboo is a renewable resource. It grows quickly and its harvest has the lowest global impact of any other wood. Bamboo is continually renewing itself. Bamboo is quickly becoming the eco-friendly alternative to traditional wood. The fine pinstriping on bamboo wooden hangers gives a beautiful and unique woodgrain appearance that in turn gives a fashionable look to your closet. Need more information on why bamboo is becoming so popular? Bamboo can grow just about anywhere. It does not need very much water to grow. Its impact on water supplies is far less than other trees. Actually bamboo is not a tree at all, but a grass. It can be harvested after only three years. It absorbs a lot of carbon dioxide from the air, improving our air quality. It even improves the soil quality of the land that it grows on! It is easy to see how bamboo helps the environment. We can switch to bamboo wooden hangers, bamboo flooring, cabinets, and even fabrics. Bamboo cutting boards and dinnerware, furniture and housing. The possibilities are endless. Every little bit of change we can make will help to save the rainforrests and our environment. Switching to bamboo is easy. It is cheaper than regular woods and just as durable. It is lighter and easier to work with. So, if you have been looking for a cheaper way to help the environment, consider bamboo the next time you are shopping for anything wooden. Updating your closet with bamboo wooden hangers is just a small step that can make a difference in our environment. Plus, it looks great! It gives a modern natural feel to your home. It is light, smooth and cheaper than other woods. It’s time to clear out the clutter in your life, replace those old plastic hangers, and updat the look of your closet with eco-friendly bamboo wooden hangers.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the owner of OnlyHangers.com, a leading provider of high quality clothes hangers,including wooden hangers. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyhangers.com

Creating a Summer Closet by Ron Maier

When getting your closet ready for summer, you will first want to clear out the clutter. Pull everything out and use your bed or floor as a staging area. Take winter clothes and store them away for the season. Big coats and bulky sweaters take up a lot of space and make your closet look dreary and cluttered. Boots and other winter shoes also take up a lot of space. Store shoes, coats and winter wear away and you will suddenly have more room to break out those summer clothes. Summer clothes do not take up as much room as winter clothes, but we generally go through more of them each day. This is because when something becomes sweaty, we change. We also usually change after swimming. We may even wear slightly warmer clothing at night than we do during the day. Therefore, even though the clothes are smaller, we usually own more of them. Keep out a couple of cotton long sleeved shirts and about two pairs of jeans, just in case there are some unseasonably cool nights. Adding a shelf to your closet will make space for stacks of folded t-shirts. You may also consider a shelf for shorts. If you do not choose this option, get some clothes hangers that have clips for hanging skirts and shorts. This will keep them hanging straight and wrinkle free. They will also take up half the room. The clothes hangers with clips can be reused in the winter for hanging your pants. If you add shelves or if you have existing shelves, you can add hanging baskets underneath for smaller items like swim suits. Many people have a swim section of their closet. Here you can hang bulky beach towels, swim suit cover-ups and sun dresses. Add some hooks to the side of your closet for summer hats and beach bags. You can even pre-pack tote bags for special occasions. This is especially useful if you have children. Pack a large tote bag with towels, sunscreen, bottles of water, sun hats and sunglasses for the whole family. Pack another with floats and water or sand toys. Pack a third bag for picnics. Include plastic plates, forks, knives, spoons, insect repellant, napkins and a picnic blanket. These make your life easier for those impromtu trips to the pool, beach or park. Easily accessible organized items will make for an easy summer of fun.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the owner of OnlyHangers.com, a leading provider of high quality clothes hangers,including wooden hangers. For more information, please visit http://www.onlyhangers.com

http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=964244

Closet Organizing In 5 Minutes A Day

The thought of closet organizing makes most people groan. But it doesn't need to be this way! Starting with a messy closet, you can get that closet organized and keep it organized in just 5 minutes a day.

Set a timer and let's get started!

-- Day 1.

Your first 5 minutes will be devoted to staring at the contents of your closet. With pen and paper in hand, jot down what items you haven't used in years (be honest). You will be throwing or giving these items away. If you can't bear to toss an item, give some thought as to where the item could go for a new home and a new life.

When your timer goes off, stop. Put the pen and paper on the closet floor and close the door. You'll be back tomorrow.

-- Tomorrow is here!

Continue your closet organizing adventure. Go to your closet and pick up your pen and paper. Keep on creating your list of what in your closet you can get rid of and what items need to find a new home. Use as many 5 minute sessions as necessary on this step. Feel like you're not getting anywhere? Nonsense! This step makes all the difference down the road when you are maintaining your organized closet.

Simply stated, it will be A LOT easier to keep your closet organized when it only contains what you truly use and is not being used as your personal archive. (In fact, it will probably help you if you can designate one closet or space in your home as a storage container for all those items you need seasonally or for keepsakes. Things you only access occasionally.)

In addition, doing this one step over several days will give you a chance to really think about those items you have collected over the years. You'll find you're ready to give or throw away things on Day 5 that you couldn't bear to part with on Day 1.

-- The next step to your closet organizing.

Once you have completed the list of unnecessary items in your closet, grab a couple of boxes and your timer. Set your 5 minutes and, using your list, toss the trash in the trash box and the give-away items in the give-away box. If this takes you more than 5 minutes, stop and continue tomorrow. This step will go fairly quickly, however, if you've done a thorough job with your list from Day 1.

-- Moving right along.

Now that all the excess stuff is gone from your closet, you can get down to organizing what is left. Use your 5 minutes to genuinely study what's remaining in your closet.

* Which items do you use everyday?

* Which items can be stored together?

* Which items can be stored on shelves?

* Which items can be stored in drawers?

* Which items should be put in bins?

* Which items simply don't belong in this closet?

Take notes during this step and use as many 5 minutes as you need. Again, doing this over several days gives you time to consider how you use each item in your closet each day and what type of organizational system will make the most sense for you. You're aiming for usability here and it may take a bit of trial and error. That's fine because the end result will be a closet you can easily keep organized without even thinking about it.

-- Time to organize your closet.

Using your notes from the previous step, get the supplies you need to organize your closet. Again, take your time with this step, noting what is working and what is not along the way. Tweak as necessary.

* Need more hangars, bins, baskets? Put them on your shopping list for next time you go to the discount store.

* For starters, use whatever organizing supplies you already have including old boxes. It can help to live with your ideas for a week or two to enable you to understand exactly the type of organizing supplies that will serve you the best, so feel free to use temporary containers while you're at this stage of your closet organizing project.

* OR...if you're unsure about sizes and shapes of organizing products, buy just a few samples, leave the tags on and try them out. Then return what you don't need and purchase what you do.

This step can either be completed as part of your normal shopping (requiring no extra trip to the store and keeping within the 5 minute concept) or simply dive in and do one big shopping trip. Your choice.

-- Live with it.

There's no substitute for living with your organizing to see what you've accomplished and what you need to change. Use your 5-minutes-a-day to ask yourself what you like and don't like about your newly organized closet. Take notes and make changes.

-- Last step.

This is the maintenance step and it's easier than you think. For your closet organizing enterprise to give you the results you want, you'll need to take 5 minutes each day and put things away in your closet where they belong.

But beware. Skip this step for just 7 days and you'll need to put in 35 minutes to get back on track. Maybe you don't have 35 minutes to organize your closet, so you don't do it. It won't be long before your closet will be in chaos again and you're using EXTRA time every day just to locate items that should be at your fingertips.

That's right, you're going to use the time anyway. Being disorganized is a huge time waster. So stick to your 5 minutes a day, no matter what. It won't be long until your new habit becomes second nature and you can't imagine NOT doing a quick tidy-up each day.

All it takes is 5 minutes.

About The Author Colleen Langenfeld has been parenting for over 26 years and helps other moms enjoy mothering more at http://www.paintedgold.com. Visit her website and get more closet tips at http://www.paintedgold.com/Organize/closet-organizing.html .

http://www.articlecity.com/articles/home_improvement/article_3230.shtml

What To Do When My Linen Closet Is Too Small

There are solutions to every problem so let's take a look at each one of them. It seems the larger the home the smaller the closet and storage places are becoming, at least for linen closets in many of the homes being built today. We all have beds so we need sheets, we all need towels yet linen closets are shrinking and the shelves are also getting narrow.

Solution: First of all make sure the linen closet is being used only for linens. Are there other essentials needed in the home that could be kept else where like tub toys, medicines, bibs, or maybe hot pads for the kitchen? Take these out and put somewhere else. Assess the linens you are keeping. Do you have too many towels, both hand towels and bath towels? If the answer is yes then get rid of the ones you don't need, like, or are in poor condition.

In the bathroom there is a lot of unused space over the toilet. There are ready made shelves that can be attached to the wall. Beautiful cabinets with doors can be attached to the wall or there are some that are part shelves and part cabinets. Free standing shelves or cabinets can also be placed over the toilet and are made with extension poles which makes these very easy to install and are portable in case of a move. Both shelves and cabinets come in a variety of pre-finished wood stains, white and cream finishes. These can hold extra towels, wash cloths and even a variety of other small items used in the bathroom.

A beautiful towel holder that holds several towels and wash cloths can be used in this area. A hat rack in the bathroom can hold extra towels or if there is not enough space on a towel rack it can come in handy to hang bath towels which are being used by each member of the family. A basket could be placed on top of the toilet to hold rolled up wash cloths or hand towels.

I do not recommend keeping towels under the sink as there is a possibility of a leak at some time, even small drips can cause material to mildew.

Sheets that normally go in a linen closet can be folded very neatly and tightly and put in the matching pillowcase and placed on the shelves. This also saves space having the sheet set all together. If you have a variety of sheet sizes label the shelf using a label maker or masking tape showing the size of the sheet to be placed on that the shelves. (twin, queen, king) This helps the person returning clean sheets to the closet to know where to put them and not just jumbling or shoving them in the closet.
Sheets can be placed in rolling containers that fit under beds where the sheets will be used. The specific sheet needed for that bed is available, not taking up space in the closet and it saves time as it is in the room where it will be used.

If there is room in the bedroom closets; sheets as well as extra towels that don't fit in the linen closet can be kept in baskets where the linens are easily reached and accessible. When looking for storage solutions first get rid of what you don't need, keep only necessities in the main linen closet or shelves, and then find other places in your home for the extra linens. Always try to have the items in places that are convenient.

About Author Marilyn Bohn : Marilyn is a creative organizer who has been organizing for over 20 years. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and is working towards becoming a Certified Professional Organizer. Professionally she has been organizing homes and offices for over two years. She holds a bachelors degree in Social Work. She has reared five daughters and currently lives in Utah. Go to her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find free organizing tips and interesting blogs and helpful articles on organizing.

Article Source: http://www.BharatBhasha.com
Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.com/house_hold.php/72597

Operation Closet

When the wife comes to you one fine day and says, “dear, I think we need a new closet for the bedroom”, the heart surges in joy. Immediate thoughts of grabbing the coat and rushing off on a mission to the nearest DIY center enters the mind before realization dawns that first must come a shower and then work. Thursday today, Saturday would be best! A whole day of fun and joy to look forwards to! “Yes dear”, you say casually, “I will get the car out on Saturday and look for something nice”.

What a shame it was not Saturday when she had told you this. That would have meant immediate action. But this way you have two whole days to plan and work on OPERATION CLOSET. Two days to think about where to search for the perfect piece in all of the hundreds of shops surrounding your town. Two whole days to dream about buying this closet, taking it back home and assembling it and afterwards proudly displaying the finished product to a proud and satisfied Wife.

Saturday seems ever so far away. Sleep becomes impossible as the day draws near and the happy thoughts of OPERATION CLOSET, the fun and the happiness that goes with building ones own furniture is soon to become reality. Ah, come on and hurry up Saturday!

Eventually the day arrives and out of bed you jump, eager to be on the road and out on the Search. Eager to return with your purchase and to be deeply involved in its construction, eager to be surrounded by the endless panels and screws and eager to see a creation come to life. Yep, it is Saturday and “happy” day. The Wife’s attempt to ruin all by suggesting that you buy an already assembled closet and using a past occasion as reason for this (when you had assembled the Kitchen Dining Table and stuck a screwdriver through your foot) are ignored and you stick by your guns. A DIY closet must be purchased as a DIY closet can fit in the car and is cheaper; a pre-assembled closet would cost more and have to be brought back home by a delivery company. “NO, DIY it will be”, you say with authority and stamp out the house on the start of your mission before the wife can lay other obstacles in your path.

As you get into the car the Wife shouts after you, “I’ll be out all day, try and get it all finished before my parents come this evening will you”?

Freedom and on the road at last. After much searching around the various shops and comparing prices you soon have the perfect unit balanced across the back of the car and are winging your way back home. Part one complete. Part two coming up.

Back at the house you gleefully bring the whole box of panels and associated bits into the bedroom, having previously made a space for it and removed the old closet out of harms way. So you have space and the various sections to be made into something usable. All that is required now are some tools and a cup of coffee. Downstairs for the toolbox, into the kitchen for the hot cup of coffee and back upstairs it is. NB: Must clean up the coffee spill on the stair carpet before the family return.

Okay, everything is in order, coffee at hand and you are all alone to enjoy life at its best. First of all you sit there just soaking up the atmosphere and considering changing jobs to that of a Test Engineer at a furniture factory, then you make your first move of laying out the essential tools in a neat row along the floor by the door. A screwdriver, a sharp knife, a hammer, a tape measure and another screwdriver all placed neatly and ready for use. Next you use the sharp knife to open up the box and smile at the sight of all that wood! Laying out the panels in order you slowly empty the box until nothing is left, sitting back and grinning from ear to ear at the sight around you, now that phase two has been completed.

But wait! Something is missing! You search around desperately for the assembly diagram, the one that should have been stuck inside the box, under the wood or in the bag of hinges and screws. It must be somewhere and you search again, looking in the car, under the wood, in the box and in the kitchen – anywhere that it might be. Calm down, you tell yourself, phone the company ask them if they have a new one or spare one or maybe it fell out at the shop. After a few phone calls’ you sit back in total despair. The lady at the shop had kindly said “have you looked in the box”? And the lady at the factory condescendingly said, “oh no, we don’t include diagrams with our latest range”.

NO DIAGRAM? What do you mean NO DIAGRAM?

All is not that bad. Gaining second wind and laughing at yourself for the panic you go back upstairs convincing yourself that it can not be that difficult. A couple of shelves, a back and a front and some sides’ that is all there is to building this up. What could be easier than that? You are now convinced that all will be easy and back to work you go with gusto and renewed energy! All you have to do is to arrange the separate pieces into order of place and work from there. Find the back, the bottom and two sides and then screw them together. After that, well, just fit the doors and “bobs your uncle”.

Seven hours it takes you. Seven hours of head scratching, sweating nervousness that the wife should return early and of seriously considering running out and buying a pre-assembled unit. Seven hours of puzzlement about why no panels are of the same size, why the floor is three inches shorter than the top and why there are not enough screws for the job. Seven hours of panic and heartburn as you precariously balance on one foot, holding one side up with your elbow and attempting to get a screw into place with your mouth. Seven hours of trying to figure out how you managed to get the door handles inside instead of out and why you had to open the left door before the right door would open.

The first hour of all of this was spent trying to work out which piece was the floor. Deciding that it was the oblong section that had screw holes in it you had suitably attached it to what you thought was the right side. Whilst trying to balance on the washing basket and fix what you thought was the top onto what you thought was the side, you fell off seriously damaging your ankle and cutting your finger on the knife that had been lying beside the door. It was whilst looking upwards and deciding whether to nurse your ankle or suck on your bleeding finger that you noticed that the top was not the top after all. And that the bottom was actually an internal shelf and that the side that you had made so many holes in was after all, the door.

It was after seven hours that you managed to assemble a closet into some sort of order. One door did have a few extra holes in it and the other door did have a rather large coffee stain in the middle but it was together. Oh, and the back did look a mess as in a temper you had accidentally punched a hole through the thin plywood and nailed it crooked to the closet frame. The door handles that you had broken whilst removing them from the inside of the doors to the outside looked okay once taped together and the mirror that you had cracked was not needed anyway – that you had removed outside to the garage never to be talked about again.

Tools away, cup back in the sink, plaster on the finger and a soaking hot bath later and you are sitting comfortably with a newspaper in front of the television. Secretly swearing to yourself that you would never ever do such a thing again. Pre-assembled furniture all the way from now on you say to yourself. The wife on her return complains about the coffee stain on the stairs, makes some comment about the closet looking like a twenty year-old disaster and then goes to make dinner. Operation Closet complete and behind you!

SIX MONTHS LATER

One fine day, there you are eating your cereal in the morning and the wife comes along and says, “we need a new dresser in the spare room”. Your heart jumps and without falter you say “yes dear, I will get the car out on Saturday and look for something nice”.

PART TWO: OPERATION DRESSER – Coming Soon!

About Author Ieuan Dolby : Ieuan Dolby, from Scotland is an Engineering Officer in the Merchant Navy. He has been travelling the world for 15yrs on an endless tour of cultural diversification. Currently based in Singapore he writes various articles for magazines and newspapers and is working on a marine glossary. ieuandolby@lycos.com

Article Source: http://www.BharatBhasha.com
Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.com/home_improvement.php/1825