Top Ten Helper Shelf 'Hot Spots' for Your Home

A while back, I wrote an article for my website about my favorite organizing products. Years have passed but my favorites have not changed. One of those favorite organizing products is the Helper Shelf.

What is a 'helper shelf?'

A helper shelf divides the horizontal space of a shelf, offering more storage space above and below itself. They come in many different widths and heights—some are even width-adjustable. Looking for one to match your decor? You'll find most are made of chrome, plastic, metal or wood. Helper shelves can be found in the same aisle as other kitchen organizing products and purchased at home stores like Target or in specialty stores such as The Container Store. They can be used anywhere you need to double a shelf space.

I recently counted how many helper shelves I was using in my home--about 15! And I have a few in my basement that are waiting to be used when the need arises.

Do you have places in your home that could use a helper shelf? If so, get ready to get organized. Here are my top ten helper shelf 'hot-spots' for your home:

1. Linen closet - Besides sheets and towels, linen closets often house medicine, health and beauty supplies, lightbulbs and other small items. This is a picture of the shelf in my linen closet where I keep health items for my two kids. Notice--lots of little packages. A perfect spot for a helper shelf!

2. Medicine cabinet - If there's a spot in our homes with small bottles and boxes, it's a medicine cabinet. Most standard-sized helper shelves don't fit in a medicine cabinet but while shopping at the Christmas Tree Shop a few months ago, I came across one that was made especially to fit in medicine cabinets. I bought it for a whopping $1.99. Turns out I didn't need a helper shelf in my medicine cabinet so I now use it on my...

3. Kitchen counter - I have a small kitchen and need certain items handy. Thought the 'medicine cabinet' helper shelf would work well to organize items near my stovetop. This is a picture of the small helper shelf in action--shorter items below and taller items on top. It's been working very well for me!

4. Kitchen cabinet - This is where many people use helper shelves. My kitchen does not have much cabinet space so I had to maximize the space as best I could.

Between these two cabinets, I have five helper shelves. They came in extra handy when I had kids and had to make room for their kiddie plates, bowls and cups.

5. Freezer - I have one of those older refrigerators with the freezer on top. I use a helper shelf to double the space that might otherwise be a pileup of bagels, frozen veggies and leftovers. Small items such as the ice cube trays fit well under the shelf while flat items stack well on top.

6. Pantry - Sometimes we can adjust our pantry shelves and sometimes we can't. If you have tall pantry shelves that can't be adjusted, a helper shelf will create more space. Double the space means double the room for food storage! Here, small food items such as jello and pudding boxes fit well underneath and larger boxes stack equally as well on top.

7. Playroom - Kids have big toys and small toys and as a parent, I know that not all shelves accommodate all sizes of toys. Place a helper shelf on a tall shelf to store puzzles or board games on top and create a home for small toys like cars or a basket of Beanie Babies underneath.

8. Home Office - Use a helper shelf in a closet or storage piece to neatly stack and store office supplies. This will make it much easier to find and retrieve the supplies you need.

9. Laundry room - Like the playroom, a laundry room also has large items and small items that both need an organized home. Purchase a heavy-duty helper shelf for detergent storage and place small items such as dryer sheets and a receptacle for lonely socks below.

10. Over/Under Kitchen Sink - I had one of these when I lived in an apartment years ago. It was a great way to make more room for me in my already tiny kitchen. I put my sponge underneath the shelf and kept dishwashing soap and a few decorative items on top.

What are YOUR helper shelf 'hot spots?'

SMEAD - 'My Organizer' Products

While at the NAPO Conference in Baltimore this past Spring, I got to meet a lovely representative from SMEAD at our Product EXPO. She and I chatted about office products, 'liked' each other on Facebook and a few months later, she asked me if I would want to review SMEAD products on my blog.

What organizer can say no to checking out new organizing products?

A few weeks later, I received the MO File System.  MO stands for 'My Organizer.' There are three parts to the MO File system: a folder kit, a file case and a case wrap. Here's a video with all the details:

I received three pieces: the File Case, the Case Wrap, and the Financial Kit. They come in different colors but I got the green pattered one which coincidentally fits in with the decor of my home office.

Besides the Financial Kit, the other kits sold are the MO Medical Kit, the MO Project Kit and the MO Starter Kit. According to the SMEAD website,

"MO file kits provide all the help you need to get organized. Each kit contains 9 letter size SuperTab folders, one label sheet with pre-printed and/or blank labels and a detailed instruction sheet." 

The My Organizer system can be found at most office supply stores and on Amazon.com.

Why consider the My Organizer File system for your paper organizing needs?

- It fits easily into a letter-sized file drawer
- It is easily transportable
- It's a great way to organize papers for a particular project or aspect of your life

I haven't started using it yet but here's what I like about My Organizer File system so far...

- It's compact
- The File Case slides out of both sides of the Case Wrap
- The Super Tabs on the file folders are huge! Plenty of space for writing file descriptions.

I have a lot of business and family-related papers that always need action or are pending so I'm going to explore the features of he My Organizer File system and give it a try on my desk. I'll keep you posted!

Organizing 'Quick Tip'

Open the drawer of your file cabinet. Are papers peeking over the top of your file folders? If your answer is 'Yes,' then read on...

Grab a manila folder and take a good look at it. You may have never noticed it, but there are scored lines at the bottom of most folders--some folders have three lines across and some have five. 

To make more space for papers in your folder, bend and crease one of the lines to create a box-bottomed effect. Creasing the highest of the three or five lines will provide you with the most space inside your folder.

Photo Organizing Update

About two months ago I blogged about how I made an appointment with myself to get my photos organized.

To recap: My friend Deb, in an attempt to get HER photos organized sent an email out to a bunch of friends saying that she was blocking off time one night to organize her photos--who wants to join her?

Me!

I took this opportunity to gather all the loose photos I had (some from a broken album), sort and purge them and put them into some new and existing photo albums.

After that fun photo organizing session, I created some mini photo organizing goals for myself to complete by the end of May. Well, life gets in the way sometimes even for a Professional Organizer. With June being a busy family time and a computer crisis that required my Mac to have major surgery at the Apple Store, I was unable to meet all of my mini-goals.

To add to the situation, my family took a vacation in June...to Disney. MORE PICTURES! Ahhhhh!

Me eating Mickey ice cream at Disney--Mmmmmm!

The day we came home from Disney, another 'lets-organize-our-photos-again' email from Deb appeared in my inbox. I took that as a 'sign' and ordered pictures from iPhoto (from Spring 2012), gathered some random prints that had yet to see the inside of an album and spent another two hours at her dining room table. I'm happy to say that even though it took me longer than expected, I met all of my mini-goals.

It was that night at Deb's dining room table that I decided to use the summer to make sure my family photo albums were up-to-date. My goal is for all of my photo albums to be finished before Labor Day weekend. I am also considering creating a photo book for our trip to Disney. That, too will be done by the beginning of September.

In an attempt to reach my goal, I tried to place an order with iPhoto this morning but it wouldn't go through--a problem I had encountered before my computer had 'major surgery.' I may have to upgrade my iLife package (which I have been avoiding). That may be the solution. Or I'll have to visit the Apple Store again. I'll let you know in my next photo album update...

Have you made an appointment with yourself to catch-up on updating your photo albums, too? Tell me some of your mini-goals--I'd love to hear them!

Clearing Clutter Increases Success

In 2007, Jack Canfield of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' fame was the Keynote Speaker at the 2007 National Association of Professional Organizers Conference in Minneapolis. Since then, I have subscribed to his newsletter--this article came through my inbox back in April and I thought it would be perfect to post on my blog. Thanks for your words of wisdom, Mr. Canfield!

Clearing Clutter Increases Success

Our physical spaces are filled with dozens of minor distractions and irritants, such as stacks of unread books, scuff marks on the wall, and closets filled with unused items. For most people, these things are like gnats – annoying, but generally insignificant and easily ignored.

Rarely do we recognize them for what they really are – potent threats to our productivity, energy, concentration and peace of mind.

For those of us committed to achieving greater success in our lives, a cluttered physical environment produces three negative consequences:

1.    You feel drained. If there are things to do everywhere you look, your mind constantly keeps thinking “I need to fix that.” Eventually, you to feel drained, anxious, irritable, and overwhelmed. To cope, we have to put blinders on and overlook the distractions.

2.    Problems spiral out of control. We often overlook irritations for the short-term gain of being able to continue with our daily routine. The danger, however, is that some problems with grow worse with lack of attention. The chip in the windshield that could have been fixed in 30 minutes grows to a crack that requires replacement of the entire windshield.

3.    You miss important clues and ideas. It’s impossible to selectively numb out your awareness, ignoring only the minor distractions in your physical space while paying close attention to everything else. This is perhaps the biggest danger for success-minded people. Our most powerful insights often manifest in gut feelings, fleeting thoughts and subtle cues. Numbing out to our cluttered physical environments makes us oblivious to these clues, as well.

Physical Space Impacts Mental Space

Seemingly small irritations and distractions also have a dramatic impact on our mental state. It’s common for people who feel overwhelmed by their physical clutter to go into a state of resignation. When you have a sense that you can’t control the little things – such as quickly finding a stapler when you need it – then it becomes easy to tell yourself that there’s no way you can have the other, bigger things that you want, such as a better car, bigger house, prestigious job, or loving relationship.

The good news is that the same concept works in reverse. When you do recognize that you can control little things, such as the squeak every time you open your front door, you recognize that you can control the bigger things in life, too. Taking action to manage irritations, distractions and clutter builds your confidence in your ability to achieve success, regardless of form.

3 Ways to Deal with Clutter

There are three ways to change any environment: add something to it, take something out of it, or modify it in some form.

Go through your environment and figure out what is irritating and distracting you. Ask yourself how it needs to be fixed. Then think about who you might be able to delegate all or part of the task to. One reason that to-do items accumulate is that we feel like we have to do all of the work ourselves. One of the key strategies for getting more done is to master the art of delegation.

To help you move forward with this process, I’ve posted an “Irritations & Tolerations” worksheet on my blog. Use this tool to identify and create an action plan for handling your irritations and tolerations.

Next, scan your environment to identify elements that need to be removed completely, as well as items that can be brought in to increase the energy in your space. For example, you might find that removing the television or computer from your bedroom makes your sleeping space more relaxing and peaceful. On the other hand, you might find that adding a conference table to your office gives you an inviting place for creative work, while adding plants makes you feel calmer and connected to nature.

Spotting “Good” Clutter

Remember that all clutter is not bad. For many people, clutter is part of their creative process.

When in the midst of creation – such as writing an article, developing a presentation, mapping out a business strategy or creating a product – they pull out resources like books, clippings, articles and notepads. More artistic types might fill their work spaces with tools of their particular trade.

The litmus test to use in determining whether your clutter needs attention is how you feel. If you feel inspired, the clutter is serving you and contributing to your creative expression. If you feel contracted, drained, anxious or stressed, the clutter needs to be tamed.

Environments control us, but it’s important to recognize that as human beings, we are one of the few animals that can control their environments. 

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Cool Product - Random Crap Tin Cigar Box

Organizers are always talking about containers--clear containers, odd-shaped containers, heavy-duty containers. For instance, I always recommend Rubbermaid containers to my client--they're tough and I've found that the lids always snap well to the bottoms. I have my preferences for shoe, paper, and food storage, too.

But what about the sentimental items in our lives? Ticket stubs, "Make Love, Not War' buttons, a mix tape from your teenage years and the like need a place to live. The container doesn't have to be fancy--it just has to keep your beloved items safe and all together in one spot.

Have you ever checked out the website, SpoonSisters.com? They offer unique items at different price points--at least half of them will make you chuckle when you see them.

I was looking for a cute baby gift when I stumbled upon this item. I thought it would be perfect for people who are decluttering but wish to keep some sentimental items. And yes, when I saw it, it made me chuckle. The title says it best...

Random Crap Tin Cigar Box $15.95

It measures 7 1/4" long x 5 1/2" deep x 3 1/2" high. Here's a view of the inside:

It's cute. It's kitchy. And I thought it was pretty cool. Those three adjectives make this Random Crap Box a winner in my book!

What container are you currently using to hold sentimental items?

Blog Carnival - Product Reviews

This past month was the first time in almost three years that I took a break from social media. No blog posts for a month and only one or two Facebook shares. No original content was created for anyone in the month of June. Instead, I focused on family events and took a trip with my hubby and kids. My head is more clear now and I'm ready to blog again!

Before I started my social media 'break', I submitted a post to the 'Your Organizing Business' Blog Carnival. The last one I participated in was about helping families get organized. This one focused on Product Reviews of Organizing Products.

The product review I submitted was about the wonders of cable turtles. Our homes and offices would be a web of wires if not for this great product!

If you're wondering what organizing products might work for you in your home or office, this is the place to check them out. Twenty three professional organizers have road-tested these products for you. I'm still only halfway through the list!

When you find a product from the list you think might help organize your space or time, let me know about it. I'd love to hear about your newest discovery! Meanwhile, I'll be trolling the list looking for some cool products to try...