Overwhelmed by clutter? We can help!

Is your clutter overwhelming? Do you trip on things as you walk in the front door? What about when you try and get something out of the closet - do you fear that the whole thing might come crashing down on you?

Maybe it’s yard sale time, especially in SOuthwest Flroida. Right now we have the best weather for sitting outside all morning while passersby look over our unwanted and more importantly, unneeded stuff. Or, if you aren’t up for a full fledged clearance sale in your driveway or you live in condo/apartment, consider giving items to Goodwill, Salvation Army or other nonprofit organizations in the area. Many of them will even pick the stuff up for free and it’s a tax write-off!

 By getting rid of the clutter you can breathe a sigh of relief. Besides, what a great way to start the New Year off right! If you still need help or have items you just can’t part with, we can help. Our designers can customize any space in your home to organize and showcase your most prized and/or necessary possessions.

With only a few days until Thanksgiving I am sure we have everything under control – or at least we can dream! 

• Holiday shopping list made – check
• Holiday food shopping done – check
• Guest list complete – check
• Holiday dishes out of storage – check
• Our sanity out the window – CHECK!

The holidays don’t have to be a myriad of craziness and running around. With proper advance planning, I know, this is a dream, and organization – this is NOT a dream, but feasible, everyone can enjoy relaxed holidays. 

In the event that you are in the not-so-prepared-about-to-lose-my-mind bunch, you might find this site helpful. It offers lots of easy tips for the holidays. If you’re ready to get organized – once and for all – then our site will definitely be of use to you. Come visit us today!

It’s that time of year again… soon the weather will be changing and we’ll be looking foreword to a high of 75 instead of 90.

With the change in weather, comes the changes in schedules. We begin getting busier with family in town, parties to attend, decorating to be done. And with decorating and visiting family comes more stuff… stuff to take out, stuff to put away and most importantly more stuff to organize!

While the smells of holiday cookies and pies will soon be filling the air, there are usually some dreaded thoughts creeping in too… did we put the stuff from last year away in a neat and orderly fashion? Where are the decorative reindeer Uncle Bill made? Who put the linens away and where are they?

Our excitement for the holidays turns into dread, thinking of all the hours it will take to unravel the Christmas lights, and how many ornaments will be broken? The thought of this alone can make us want to forget the holidays.

Don’t fret though! There are many simple solutions that can make the holiday season one of joy and excitement… We recently found an excellent article with tips on how to organize all the tree trimmings as well as the other bundles of joy known as decorations too. Check it out here and start making plans for a more relaxed holiday season!

Now that you have the perfect closet, organized and sorted just the way you wanted are you still finding it hard to locate your items? Or, if you’ve not started organizing your space, are you challenged with not enough light to see things in the back or bottom spaces?

More often that not lighting is forgotten in the closet. Placement of the lighting is just as important as the lighting fixture or bulb itself. Careful consideration should be given to what items will need the most light or could be hard to see – think shoe racks near the floor, higher shelves or sweaters on horizontal shelving between hanging racks.

Don’t assume lighting has to be boring or just utilitarian either… You might want to infuse a bit of style or whimsy by selecting a modern, traditional or creative fixture. There are lots of affordable options to choose from at your local hardware store. It’s your closet – make it as unique as you!

For more information on lighting for your walk-in closet. Check out this article. For ideas on how to organize your closet or how California Closets could help with any space in your home, visit our Website.

Getting organized doesn’t have to be hard. Often times we hear from clients that they just don’t know where to start. Well, we’re here to help!

Recently, CNN reported 10 tips for organizing your closet from MYHOMEIDEAS.com. You can view the whole article here, but basics can be be found below.

1. Clear it out – This will take some time, but it’s the best way to start. Go through your clothes, shoes, handbags, etc. and sort it by what you wear and what you can get rid of. You might even find some things you forgot about! Consider donating items to a charity or Goodwill/Salvation Army to help others can get a tax deduction. You might also want to consider selling some items – Craig’s List is a good place to start.
2. If the shoe fits – How are your shoes organized? Are they kept in shoe boxes cluttering up and taking up your space? Consider shoe racks or purchasing transparent plastic shoe boxes so they are easier to find and access.
3. Measure up - Now that your wardrobe is smaller, it’s time to plan the layout of your closet. Measure the space you have, making sure to utilize backs of doors, floor space, and all interior walls. Hang shoe racks on the back of your closet door. Classic belt hangers with multiple hooks are also a good solution for hanging camisoles, bras, or scarves.
4. Get hung up – Hangers are one of, if not the, main components in any organized closet. Believe it or not there are a variety of types for different items. Make sure you’re using the correct one – padded, wood, etc.
5. No sweat – Fold items such as sweaters and sort them by color. This will avoid sagging and stretching and make them easy to locate. Since we live in Florida, you might consider doing the same with t-shirts as you probably have more of them.
6. The eyes have it – keep your primary items at or below eye level for easy locating. Labeled boxes make excellent tools for storing swimsuits, scarves and other smaller seasonal items. They can be rotated as the weather changes.
7. Changing seasons – while not a huge concern in Florida, we do have cooler weather in the beginning of the year. If you still don’t have enough room in your closet after sorting it, consider separating your winter wear from items you use the rest of the year and storing them in a separate space or air tight, condensed container.
8. Linen closets – A space-saving trick anyone can use, store folded sets of bed linens inside one of the set’s pillowcases. You might also group same-size sheet sets together on shelves.
9. Storing table linens – Tableclothes are best stored hanging from a pant or skirt hander in your closet. They should always be cleaned and ironed after each use.
10. China and crystal – While our fine serving dishes and glasses are beautiful they often take up a lot of room. However, since they aren’t used frequently try to find a place in the dining room, spare closet or other room where they can be stored during the year. Use coffee filters between each place and bowl prior to stacking and be sure to store crystal upright and with ample space between glasses to avoid chipping.

Some quick and easy closet organization tips from Penny May, a designer with California Closets in Southwest Florida.

1. Most people don’t realize that clothes on hangers are 24-26″ deep, so it makes sense to lower hanging items so they hang just a few inches off the floor and put smaller things on shelves above such as shoes and folded clothes.

 2. I like to hang almost everything, even t-shirts and jeans, instead of folding or putting in drawers.  This makes it so much easier to take things from the dryer and just put on a hanger; there are no creases and I can see everything.

 3. When “double hanging” or having two rows of hanging space vertically above each other (see photo example) hang shorter things on the top (i.e. pants hanging over the hanger, skirts or short tops without sleeves).  This way you get great use of the shelf in the middle.

For more details on California Closets can help you get more space out of your home or office, please contact the Southwest Florida showroom at 239-992-2002 or visit our Website at http://www.californiaclosets.com/estero.

Jackets (with the bemoaned oversized shoulder pads) piled up from the 1980’s, vintage Escada and Yves Saint Laurent dresses crumpled in bags with the tags painfully hanging off of them, dozens of shoes that have never even stepped off of carpeted walk-ins- this is what a California Closet designer gets to experience on a daily basis and it is a perfect example of the pack rat culture that has taken over America.

We see houses that are filled floor to ceiling with clothes and shoes that have no hope of ever being worn, but their proud owners cannot seem to part ways with these treasured items. Let’s face it…the bejewled jeans and tight leather pants from days of 20 pounds lighter are never going to be worn again and it is time to get rid of this “stuff” that clutters the day to day routine.

According to the National Soap and Detergent Association (yes, it truly exists), American’s could eliminate 40% of household cleaning time by  simply eliminating clutter. Now here comes the shameless plug:  Imagine walking into a laundry room, where no dirty clothes are in sight ( they are housed nicely in their California Closets built in laundry baskets) or stepping into a fully-functioning closet, where shirts are neatly hung and shoes are organized by color and occasion.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to organizing your home and California Closets is the industry leader when it comes to dealing with crisis of the clutter. Visit us online at http://www.californiaclosets.com/estero or call 1-800-44-Closets to schedule your free consultation today.

Costco California Closets

Costco thinks highly of California Closets and decided to promote the history on their website.  Click the link above to view information about the future of Califonia Closets, as well as new products and how it all began.

Come to visit California Closets on the first floor of the IDC.

Click the link to get information on the IDC:

International Design Center