Organization Quest

Follow-Through Project #4: Reclaiming The Shelving Units In My Study

So far this week, the reclamation projects have taken anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and a half to complete.  The idea was to start small and gain confidence and momentum on easy victories while building up to more complex and time-consuming projects. And today's project was nothing if not time-consuming.

Two chrome shelving units, six shelves each.  How long could it take tidy that?  Given that I'd stashed a 5" stack of paperwork and design projects on one of the shelves, I gave myself two hours:  one hour for filing and an hour to take care of everything else.  In other words, I was dreaming.

Even though the shelves are on wheels and are thus easy to move, I hadn't swept under or behind the units since they'd found their homes next to my desk. Doing so today gave me a new-found appreciation for the precision and flexibility of the word yuck to cover everything I found there:  dust, cat fur, graphite, pencil shavings, shredded paper bits, post-its, eraser crumbs and crud of indistinct origin. 

The shelves themselves held an astonishing amount of books,  papers, and supplies of all kinds, including office, art, school, computer, and pet supplies.  I cleaned, I organized, I tossed, and I filed, until I thought surely I must be done, or if not done, then at least close.  And then another hour would go by and I'd realize: nope, not even close.

Seven hours after I started, I was done.  But more than any project to date, this one was worth the effort. While there are still a few projects I need to do to finish things up, with the chrome shelves organized I feel like I've finally reclaimed my study.

Yeah, this should only take an hour to clear out, no problem. 

  

Okay, maybe two hours.

 

Oops!  Forgot about all the stuff crammed behind everything.  Rats!

 

Okay, so it was 7 hours, not 2.  But it looks so much better!

Everything tidy and in its place. Wait! What's behind the shelf?

  

Reclaiming the Chrome Shelves

Follow-Through Project #3: Reclaiming The Aisleway In My Study

I know what some of you are thinking about the follow-through projects I've posted this week:  you're thinking, you call those projects?  How hard can it be to drag a cardboard box to the trash or put away a few cookie tins? 

Fair enough, point taken.  But part of the message here is that big progress can be made in relatively short order.  Sometimes, a big mess can be taken care of in minutes.  And sometimes what looks like a small mess can take a lot longer than you'd think to clean up.  Case in point: today's follow-through project. For the last year or so, a small cache of bags, boxes, and whatnot has taken root at the end of my study.  We're talking maybe seven or eight things--how long could that possibly take to put away?  But looks can be deceiving.  A single item in the pile--a file frame--required a lengthy transfer process best detailed in a future post.  Suffice to say it ended up taking a good hour to deal with the file frame alone.  It took another 20 minutes to go through the rest of the pile, make toss-or-keep decisions and find new homes for the keepers.

   

Above left: "Before" view from the end of the hall.  Above right: "Before" close up. Below: After. That's more like it!

 

Clearing the Aisleway

Follow-Through Project #2: Reclaiming the Living Room Desk

Those of you who've followed the Quest for a while may remember my cookie-making mania in November. Such a cookie making-and-sharing venture requires not just pounds upon pounds of butter, sugar, and flour, but a goodly quantity of cookie tins for safe and decorative transport.  Once I'm in cookie-making mode, the last thing I want to do is hunt for cookie tins.  There is exactly one store in a 15 mile radius that I know of that sells cookie tins, which is why I go there good and early and buy most of them up.  If you live on the north side of Chicago and have ever wondered why there are no cookie tins at the WalMart in Niles after Thanksgiving, well, now you know. 

Every year I have a surplus of cookie tins.  Every year I consider returning the unused tins, but then I worry about what will happen if someone else beats me to the Niles WalMart the following year and buys up all the cookie tins for him- or herself because, you know, some people are like that.  It doesn't help that the Niles WalMart gets only one shipment of cookie tins early in the season and doesn't put in another order when the stock runs low. And so every year I have about 20 tins--some times more, sometimes less--which are left out for months on end because who has the space to store 20 cookie tins?

My job today was to find the space.  It took a little more than half an hour, which isn't much of a time investment when you consider what a relief it will be to not have to explain to guests why I have a couple dozen holiday tins stacked in the corner of the living room, months after the holidays have passed.

 

Above: before.  The stacks of tins aren't terrible.  It's just not pretty.  Below: after. 

 

(Note to the curious: the portrait is of Mau-Mau Kitty, our beloved Maine Coon with whom we shared 19 lovely years.  Our friend, artist Brandon Kight, made it for us.)

Finding Homes for the Cookie Tins

Follow-Through Project #1: Reclaiming The Living Room

Last summer, the arrival of the kittens coincided with getting a new desk for Alpay's study.  The kittens lovedthe enormous corrugated carton from the desk.  They immediately latched onto it--both figuratively and literally--and soon it became a combination hidey hole/scratching post, in which they would sink their claws with eye-rolling relish.  The more time passed, the more attached they became and the more difficult it was to envision our life without the carton's mammoth bulk and ever-present cardboard shreds.  We figured If the kittens were working on the carton, they were't working on the furniture.  That was the theory, anyway.

And so a huge, half-shredded carton sat in the living room for, let's see, eight months, because we couldn't bear to disappoint the kittens. 

The carton got the boot this weekend for perhaps the most efficient ratio of time spent/result achieved. 

 
Above: before. Okay, it takes up most of the wall.  But it's a small wall.  Below: after.

 

Getting Rid of The Kittens' Cardboard Box

This Week: The Importance of Follow-Through

When it comes to organizing, I often stop just short of my goal.  This fall when I wrote about this phenomenon, I called it the "10 yards left to go" syndrome, but with football season now behind us, I'd just as soon get literary and call it the Amarata Complex, named after the character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, 100 Years of Solitude. Amarata is visited by an angel who advises her to sew a funeral shroud for herself, the more elaborate the better, because once she's done with it she'll die.  I can think of no better explanation as to why I'll spend a good 10 hours cleaning and organizing a room, only to overlook, ignore, side-step, neglect, forget, or otherwise blow-off doing the last little bit so that the room looks and feels "done."  Because you just know that once the last box of papers is shredded or filed, or once the last shelf in the kitchen is completely organized, God Himself is going to swoop down and say, "Well, shoot. Obviously your work here on earth is done."  And just like Amarata, you'll be pushing up daisies in no time.

This thus explains why I spent hours upon hours this fall organizing my study and even the craft closet in it, yet there are still collapsing piles of art supplies around, under, and yes, behind my desk.  My chrome shelving units are in a state of utter disgrace, and I've dumped, consciously or not, a mystifying stack of boxes, bags, and sundry supplies smack in the middle of my Fame and Reputation center according to Feng Shui.  Other examples of areas left un-done include the little aisle-way of debris that has collected by the bed and an enormous empty corrugated box that has been in the living room since June for no other reason than that the kittens enjoy playing with it.  Obviously, I need some kind of organization intervention. 

So that's what we're looking at this week--tackling the bits and pieces of projects, the last hour or so in a room or area, the final push before the optional finishing touches--that you know you have to do before you can say:  okay, this is done.   Because if you're like me, it's time to cross a thing or two off your list and move on.

When A Good Service Goes Bad: Why It Happens And What To Do About It

This week, the topic has been cleaning services--how they work, what and how they charge, and what questions to ask before you hire. 

So let's say you screen several services; you cover the questions in the previous post, you ask for and check their references, and you make your decision.  The cleaning person or team comes out and does a knock out job. Any qualms you may originally have had about having someone come into your home now seem silly in retrospect, and you wonder why you didn't do this a long time ago. 

The second time the service comes out, it's another great job.  Well, maybe not quite as great as the first, or maybe you're getting spoiled.  The third time, or the fourth, or maybe the fifth time comes around, and with a sinking stomach you begin to realize: it's not you or your perception.  The service really has gone downhill, especially from that first or second time. 

The most common complaint I've heard from those who use a cleaning service is not theft (in fact, of the dozens of people I've known who've used a service, only one person has had that problem); neither is it breakage nor ruined finishes.  By far, the biggest complaint is that a service starts strong then peters out within a few visits. What' going on?

It could be a number of things.  Often, especially with a larger service, a supervisor will come out the first time and work with the regular cleaner or team members as a part of training. Another reason could be that more experienced workers are assigned to new clients to get the place up to speed in terms of baseline cleanliness, the idea being that once a place has been thoroughly cleaned, it's just a matter of weekly or twice-a-month maintenance. Even if you have the same person or team, less time may be allotted after the first few times based on the assumption of a certain baseline cleanliness.  If for whatever reason your place gets messier or dirtier than average--whether due to small children, messy hobbies, excessive pet hair, or untidy habits--the service may not be scheduling enough time for the work that needs to be done. 

Of course, the change in quality could have nothing to do with you or your home. The service could have picked up another client on your scheduled day and be squeezed for time, especially if the new client is high-maintenance.  Sometimes it's true that the highest effort is made in getting and impressing new clients rather than keeping long-time clients happy, a poor but rather common business plan.  And sometimes it's a matter of no longer seeing the place with a fresh and constructively critical eye. 

Whatever the case, your best bet is to talk it out with the person in charge--whether that's a supervisor or the person who is doing the cleaning if you're working with a one-person operation.  If during the screening you asked how satisfaction is guaranteed, you can use that as your opening, i.e.  "You mentioned during our interview that you guarantee your work and you encouraged me to talk to you if I had any concerns."  Before your talk, write a list of the problems so you can go through it, item-by-item, with the service.  The service should offer to make things right without additional charge.  Hopefully after your conversation you'll see a change back to the original quality you admired.

Screening a Cleaning Service: 16 Questions to Ask Before You Hire

Yesterday we covered some Frequently Asked Questions regarding cleaning services and how they work. Today we'll go over some key questions to ask when screening a service to ensure you find a good fit.

1. How much do you charge?
2. What is your fee structure?
   Do they charge by the square foot, by the room, or by the hour?
3. Do you have any other policies that impact how much you charge?
   Examples include taking into account the number of occupants, the number or types of pets, how cluttered or dirty a place is perceived to be, how often the service will be used, and your geographical location/proximity to the service.
4. What can I expect from your service?  Do you have a chore list?
   Many companies and/or individuals standardize their service and will provide a detailed, room-by-room list of the chores they do.
5. Can I make special requestsnot on your list?  If so, how much do you charge and how do you determine the fee?
   Examples include windows, the inside of refrigerators, and laundry.
6. Do you allot a certain amount of time to clean?
   You'll want to know how long to expect the service will take.
7. How much notice do you need in the event I need more service or special service at a particular time, and what is the charge for such service?
   This is related to the preceding question; if you need extra cleanup after a big party or want an intensive cleaning job done in preparation for guests, you'll want to let the service know.  Accordingly you should expect both an up-charge and for the service to spend more time in your place. When you're paying for special cleaning, it's important to be clear that the duties are in addition to--not in place of--the regular ones.
8. Who will be doing the cleaning?
   Don't assume that the person you contacted is the person who will actually be doing the work.
9. If someone else will be doing the cleaning, will I be assigned a regular person or team, or will it rotate according to who is available?
   One of the greatest frustrations of those who use a large service is that the cleaning person or team can change without notice; although the quality of a single service should, in theory, be standardized, the truth is you will probably notice a difference, for good or for bad, when different individuals do the job.  This brings us to:
10. Can I request a specific individual or team?  and
11. Will I be informed if there is a personnel turnover?  and
12. What is your turn-over rate?
    The better the service, the less turn-over it's likely to have.
13. How much experience do you/does the person doing the cleaning have?
    House-cleaning may not be brain surgery, but neither is it unskilled labor.  You'd be amazed at the difference in quality and efficiency between a veteran and a novice.  Look for individuals with at least six months experience. 
14. Are you bonded/insured? 
    "Bond" is a kind of insurance that protects and compensates consumers in the event of theft.  You'll also want to confirm that your service has business insurance to cover any damage it may cause.
15. How do you ensure customer satisfaction?
    This is key; you need to know who to call and what to do in the event you aren't happy.
16. Will you provide a receipt?
    This is especially crucial if you work at home and submit a Schedule C to the IRS.

Cleaning Service FAQs

How do you find a good cleaning service?  Do they charge by the hour or by how big your place is? What do they charge and what do you get for the money?  How often should they come? Do you need to pick up first?  What to do if you don't like the job they do, or if their performance slips over time?  These are among many of the questions people have when considering the use a cleaning service.  Here are some things I've learned--from friends who use a service, from those who've worked in such a service themselves, and from my (rather short-term, part-time) experience moonlighting for a service long ago.

How do you find a service?

The best way to find a good, reliable cleaning service is the same way you'd find a good, reliable baby sitter: word of mouth.  If someone has been using a service for a while and are reasonably happy with it, they have already done the initial screening for you.  Still, it's wise to take any recommendation with a grain of salt.  What one person may think is a fabulous job, another may find unacceptable.  Be sure to ask your friend or acquaintance exactly what he or she likes about the service and any problems encountered. I've found most people are ambivalent about the service they use and are upfront about the reasons why.  It's up to you to then determine if the alleged shortcomings are something you can live with or work around, or if you need to keep on looking.

How do services decide how much they charge?

Fee structures vary from service to service; the particular service you're screening should be able to tell you exactly how their fee is determined.  One of the simplest and most popular methods prioritizes the number of rooms being cleaned. In the case of apartments, town homes, and condos, the number of rooms is often further reduced to the number of bedrooms, i.e. in the Chicago condo market, services quote prices based on whether it's a studio, one-, two-, or three bedroom unit. 

Larger services often have more complex fee structures, in which square footage, number of occupants, number and type of pets, frequency of visits, any any special requests (i.e. using only organic products, which might require more elbow grease),  are all considered when determining the fee.

In addition, I've heard of some cleaning professionals who prefer to charge by the hour.

How much does it cost?

Again, this all depends, not only based on the considerations listed above, but according to geographic region.  Just today, a friend told me that for her 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo in Chicago (2 inhabitants/1 German Shepard, around 800 square feet, professionally cleaned twice a month--although apparently her service doesn't care about any of these particulars), she pays $75 each time it's cleaned.  A 3-bedroom, 2-bath condo in the same building would go for $80.  Other quotes I've heard:  $375 to spring-clean a home in the Midwest/suburbs that was  3,000 square feet, not including basement/attic/garage, which were not part of the deal.  In this case, the particulars were very important to the service (five bathrooms; 2 adults, 2 teenagers, a dog, and two cats) as was the fact that it would be a one-time deal.  The $375 bought a team of four for about five hours.

On the other end of the spectrum, I've recently heard of a widower in Arizona pay an acquaintance in his retirement community $10 an hour to clean his place.  She's usually there a couple hours, every week, and does non-traditional duties like laundry as well.

What does a service do?

At risk of sounding like a broken record, the answer is: that depends.  What do you want them to do? It's important to have this conversation when you're screening your service, to ensure that you're both on the same page in terms of their duties and your expectations.  It's also important to understand that while most services will accommodate additional duties for an up-charge, there's a difference between a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly cleaning service and having a personal maid, which is to say, most people use a service to do major cleaning, rather than for chores like making the bed, doing laundry, or washing dishes.  So what does that leave?

• Cleaning the kitchen: scrubbing counters, sink, stove top, and floors; wiping appliance surfaces and cabinet doors; cleaning the microwave
• Cleaning the bathroom:  scrubbing the toilet, tub, surround, sink, and floors
• Mopping and vacuuming
• Dusting and/or polishing furniture
• Wiping fingerprints from walls/around light switches
• Cleaning baseboards and window sills
• Vacuuming upholstery and under rugs and furniture
• Polishing mirrors and shiny surfaces
• Cleaning light fixtures, ceiling fans

How often should they come?

Let's see if I can come up with a new way to say that depends.  Nope, can't do it.  It really does depend on what your goals are, what your tolerances are, how willing or able you are in terms of maintaining your place between cleaning, how many people are in the household, etc.  That said, most people I know are on an every-other week schedule for their service.  Once a month seems to be the second-most frequent term.  A few people I know are on a once-a-week schedule; interestingly, these people tend to be single.  I've only known a couple people shell out for the expensive but exhaustive spring cleaning.

Do I need to pick up first?

Yes. How's that for a decisive answer?  The truth is, clutter slows a service down.  Because most services only allot so much time to any given place, if they have to spend a lot of time picking up a virtual minefield of toys in order to vacuum, they'll spend less time vacuuming.  Same with the kitchen:  sure, they will do the dishes if you want them to, but wouldn't you rather them spend the time cleaning the microwave and mopping the floor?

What if you don't like the job they do?

Talk to them.  Most often, you can't really assess the job they've done until after they've left.  If that's the case, call them right away and ask to schedule a meeting with them as soon as possible to go over your concerns.  If it's a large service--that is, if the supervisor is different than the person doing the actual cleaning--ask to speak to and meet with the supervisor. Before the supervisor comes or the cleaning person returns, make a room-by-room list of everything that you found unsatisfactory so you can run through the list and show them what's wrong and why.  The service should offer to come back in and make it right without charge--if they don't, it's time to look for another service. 

Much disappointment can be averted by openly discussing what your expectations are, and by asking what products, methods, techniques, policies, and procedures the service uses, including how they ensure customer satisfaction.  Tomorrow I'll provide a checklist of questions to ask when screening a service.

Cleaning Services: Why I just Can't Go There

I once had a boss who told me:  Life's too short.  Get a service.  By "service" she meant a cleaning service.

I've since noticed that many, many people I know have arrangements for someone else to mop their floors and scrub their toilet every week or two.  What I don't tell them, that I'll tell you, is that once upon a time, in yet another former life, I did some moonlighting with such a service.  I worked with two or three other women and together we would tear through a house, time being of the essence, and dust, mop, vacuum, scrub, wipe, polish, sweep, and scour at a pace better suited for competitive tennis than comprehensive cleaning.  Inevitably, mistakes were made: cleanser spilled, things broke, the interior of the microwave might be forgotten. The day I quit was the day I was second-to-the-last out the door of a huge mansion.  The woman behind me noticed a note on the bulletin board on the way out:  Priority #1, the note read in bold letters, Clean refrigerator! The woman behind me groaned. Refrigerators weren't on the usual chore list; we never did them unless asked and we knew the woman on kitchen duty hadn't done it.

What to do?  It was a regular and well-paying, if difficult, client.  The rest of the crew and most of our supplies were already in the car.  As always, the sheer immensity of the place--and the slovenly owners--put us behind schedule.  Because I had vacuum duty, all I had with me was was the vacuum cleaner and a feather duster in my apron.  Fresh from toilet duty, the other woman had a sponge and some cleanser.  I voted we ignore the note, an option that the other woman effectively overrode when she charged to the refrigerator, tossed some contents left and right, and started scrubbing away--with the sponge that was still in her hand.  Back in went the fresh fruit and vegetable, on the now horribly contaminated surface.  "Good enough," is what my co-worker said.

Thus sufficiently traumatized, I've basically ruled the possibility of ever using a service until a certain place freezes over.

That said, I know many people do use a service and have questions about how they work and how to get the most out of them.  So that will be our focus tomorrow: tips to help ensure a positive experience with your cleaning service.

This One's For Carrie: More Irresistible Shoe Storage Options

Okay, I meant to finish up my shoe series on Friday, but when I got home from work, I took a nap and when I woke up, it was Saturday.  Oops! 

Last week, I went over a few shoe-storage solutions I tried before coming up with the IKEA PAX/Komplement solution that works for me.  But there are so very many cool products out there, I thought it would be a shame to limit coverage to what I've actually tried.  This morning when I saw reader Carrie's comments on the shoe series, it was like Providence gave me a little nudge, and I knew that in terms of covering shoe organizers, my work was not yet done.  And so without further ado,here are seven irresistible shoe storage options.

#1: Shoe Storage That Looks Like Furniture

Where:  Home Decorators

Price: $229 + $15 shipping for 24-pair capacity to $399 + $30 shipping for 60-pair capacity

Dimensions: 36.5" H  x 48" W x 14" D

Okay, it's expensive.  And judging by the comments on the website, it's hard to put together and the slots are on the small side.  But would you look at this already?  If it looks as good in person as it does in the photo, I'd say this one is a keeper.  It boasts a 60-pair storage capacity and a cool Mission style to boot, available in three finishes.

 

#2: Sleek Italian Shoe Cabinet

Where:  Container Store

Price: $59.00 per single-drawer cabinet (currently on sale; regular price $79.00)

Dimensions: 14-3/4" H x 29-1/2" W x 5" D

What makes it cool:  you can stack the single drawers to create multi-drawer storage, i.e. the picture, right, shows two single drawers stacked.  Bonus points for the no-assembly-required construction, although wall mounting is recommended for greater stability; the hardware for this is included.  Guessing by the width, I'd say it's likely each drawer holds 4 pairs of shoes, which makes it another expensive option.  But for those with little room, the 5" profile is hard to beat.

#3: 12-Pocket Shoe Pod

Where:  Target

Price: $49.99

Dimensions: 22" H x 30-1/4" W x 10-1/4" D

You gotta love this!  It has wheels!  It has see-through compartments!  The rainbow styling in the picture is worth the price alone!  Well, maybe.  Apparently there's some construction required and the one person who rated it on Target's website gave it one star for being poorly made/difficult to assemble.  But it sure looks cool!  

 

Apparently the "pod" has up to an 18-pair capacity, with adjustable pockets.  I'm not sure how that works, as there are only 12 pockets, but even 12 pairs for the size--and the price--is pretty impressive.  Still, the unspoken rule here is that this is for cute shoe storage only.  Try  storing old sneakers in it, and it would lose its cool-look impact pretty fast. 

#4: Rolling 18-Pocket Shoe Bin

Where: Target

Price: $29.99

Dimensions: 27" H x 25" W x 11" D

I'd never before considered the need for a rolling shoe bin, but what the heck, if I had the room I'd be game.  Looks cool and the price is hard to beat, at a price-to-store ratio of little more than $1.50 a pair.  Still, I'm trying to come up with why anyone would need moveable shoestorage . . . maybe . . . let's see. . . I know!  Maybe you would just as soon cover up something, but still need occasional access to it.  If so, moveable storage is a perfect solution.  The comments for this particular product on Target's website range from "PERFECT!"  "Awesome!" and "Great!" to "GARBAGE!" "Don't Buy!" and "Very Poor Quality."  As always, you'll want to do your own research, but knowing that moveable show storage is even an option might give you some idea.

#5 Sturdy Particle Board Shoe Organizer

Where: Container Store

Price: $34.99

Dimensions: 19-38" H x 24" W x 11-3/4" D

If I had the room and needed more shoe storage, this is the one I'd probably go for.  It has that simple, clean-lined, early California Closet look that is so inviting in a closet.  If I like the simplicity,  I love the price. The downside:  "light" assembly is required.  Be forewarned:  in my experience, what the Container Store considers "light" assembly has ended up being an afternoon-and-into-the-evening affair.  It also appears that the cubbies are on the smaller side, as the product description stipulates that the cubbies fit sandals, but "larger" shoes are "best stored with one shoe per opening."  

#6: Storage Bench

Where:  Home Decorators

Price:  $249 + $15 shipping for 42" bench or $299 + $20 shipping for 60" bench

Dimensions: 20" H x 60" W x 16" D

It's a bench!  No, it's shoe storage!  No, it's both!  Available in black, antique white, or sage, this is a perfect mudroom bench--simple, sturdy, with nice details like turned feet and molding.  Bonus points for its slim profile and 12-pair capacity, although buyers on the site again warn against small-sized cubbies.  Also, the dreaded note: Assembly Required.

#7: Underbed Clear Vinyl Shoe Storage Chest

Where: Container Store

Price: $14.99

Dimensions: 6" H x 40" W x 24" D

For off-season storage or for storing special-occasion shoes, check this out:  this underbed clear vinyl shoe chest stores up to 16 pairs of ladies' shoes (or 8 pairs of men's).  Constructed of heavy-gauge vinyl, it's "virtually indestructible" according to the Container Store's site.  I especially like the rope handles for easy underbed retrieval. The price is pretty nice, too:  This is one of the few options I've found with a price/storage capacity ratio of less than a dollar per pair.

Who Can Resist A Man Who Says Those Three Little Words: "You're So Organized"?

At work I'm high-tech, but at home I'm as low-tech as it gets, favoring fountain pens with bottled ink.  Over the years, my fountain pen collection has grown, but I'd never come up with an organized storage-and-display method.  For Valentine's Day, Alpay gave me this lovely, burl-finish box with display window from Fountain Pen Hospital to keep my pens accessible and tidy and protect them from dust and scratches at the same time.  Pretty sweet, indeed!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Sensational Shoe Storage

I thought about calling this post, "If only the rest of life my was as sensational as my shoe closet," but thought, nah, too long.  But you get the picture.

Yesterday I shared my early attempt at shoe organization.  After trying the wobbly over-the-door rack, the floor rack, and the hanging canvas rack, I was ready for a permanent solution, which presented itself to me when I was doing my great IKEA closet overhaul a few years ago.  Along with double-hung rods, built-in hampers, and accessory cubbies, at the top of my list was shoe organization. 

For those of you new to the Quest, a few years ago I tore out all my closets and replaced them with PAX units from IKEA.  At the time, a unit that was 19-5/8" wide x 22-7/8" deep x 93" high cost $64, while a unit that ran 39-3/8" wide was $72.  For my shoe closet, I chose a 19-5/8" unit.  I then outfitted it with a total of nine shallow pull-out drawers, at $20 a pop. You can actually fit a pull-out drawer every 3-3/4" or so, but I chose to space the lower two drawers 12" apart, to accommodate boots.  The next several drawers are 7" apart, which is high enough to store high-heeled pumps.  The top shelves are the minimum 3-3/4" apart, for storing lower-heeled shoes, sandals, flip-flops, and the like.

Each drawer holds four pairs of shoes or boots:  two each in two rows, for a total of 36 pairs in the closet.  I have perhaps 4 drawers scattered among the remaining 14 PAX units for special-occasion or off-season shoes.  The 39-3/8" wide PAX units actually hold more than twice the 19-5/8" wide units; I can fit 10 per 39-3/8" wide pull-out shelf. Since installing the closet, I gave away a good 15-20 pairs of shoes and adhere to a strict one-pair-in/one-pair-out shoe acquistion policy.  It's saved me from buying any number of adorable but completely unwearable pairs I might otherwise be tempted to buy, and the orderly array enables me to easily see, assess, and enjoy what I already own.

Shoe Racks: Prices, Pros, and Cons of Three Different Types

How best to organize shoes?  Over the years, I've tried a fairly representative sampling of the choices available.  Here's my take on the what works, what doesn't, and why, for three systems I've tried.

Over-The-Door Shoe Rack
Capacity:  18 pairs
Price: $19.66
Where: The Home Depot

One of the first shoe organizers I invested in was this over-the-door model.  Cheap and easy to install, it has its advantages.  Ultimately, however, it was just too wobbly:  every time I opened or closed the door, shoes inevitably fell.   I also found it awkward to reach behind the looped wire and fit the shoe on so that the shoe faced me, as seen in the picture, right.  It was much easier to set the shoe down in front of the loop, sole-up, but this made for a rather unsightly view.

The looped wire construction requires shoes with deep toes--sandals, flip-flops, and even some peeps and pumps could not be accommodated; neither can you store boots of any kind on the rack.   

Pros: Inexpensive, easy to find, easy installation
Cons: Ugly, flimsy, many types of shoes can't be accommodated
Best for: clogs, mules,tennis shoes, espadrilles; college students; those on a budget or without a lot of shoes
Not recommended for:  sandals, flip-flops, boots; shallow-toed peeps and pumps; people with a lot of shoes or those sensitive to aesthetics

Grade: D

Shoe Floor Rack
Capacity: 8 pairs
Price: $19.99
Where:  Target

About the time I got the looped wire organizer, I bought a little wooden number similar to the one, right, with the idea of using it to corral the shoes that tend to accumulate by the front door.  It served this purpose well enough, although smaller shoes did fall through the dual-rod construction.  When we moved, its portability was a plus, but I found that when I tried to use the rack on the floor in the closet, visibility became an issue: not only did I have to crouch down to use the rack, I was constantly pushing long coats and dresses out of the way to gain access. The result:  a disorganized pile that made me wonder why I bothered with the rack at all.

Pros: Inexpensive, not bad looking, portable, no installation, flexible applications: fits in closets as well as under benches/in entry halls, in mud rooms, etc.
Cons: Two-rod construction makes it easy for shoes to slip through and get disorganized
Best for: Sneakers, boots, loafers, men's shoes; use in entry halls/mud rooms; people with only a few pairs of shoes
Not recommended for: sandals, flip-flops, and compact women's or children's shoes that may fall through the dual-rod construction; use on closet floors; use as primary shoe organization unless you only have a few pairs

Grade: C when used in the entry, D when used in a closet

Hanging Canvas Closet Rack
Capacity: 10 pairs of women's shoes, 5 pairs of men's
Price: $14.99
Where:  The Container Store

When we first moved to our current place, I scrapped the loop-wire rack and the floor rack in favor of this one, and I loved it.  It wasn't perfect, but it functional:  for the first time, I had a rack that could actually hold sandals, flip-flops, and delicate little peeps.  The neutral-colored canvas was attractive and sturdy, and installation was a breeze.  As time went on, however, I did notice that dirt accumulated at an alarming rate, even though I tried wiping my shoes' soles before storing.  And unlike installation, cleaning the rack wasn't a breeze, as you couldn't really just toss the whole thing into the washer as you might imagine.

Ultimately, what did in my canvas rack is the closet space it required.  While one rack takes up only 5", I really needed 7 or 8 racks to cover my entire shoe inventory, which, in turn, would have taken up my entire closet. 

Pros: Inexpensive, easy installation, holds most kinds of shoes, portable
Cons: Takes up closet space; large shoes like running shoes or men's shoes take up two cubbies--one for each shoe; sagging canvas prevents clear view of shoes; dirt from shoe soles comes off in the cubbies and is very unappealing
Best for: Kids' and women's shoes; people with lots of closet space or with limited shoes
Not recommended for: Men's shoes, large shoes, or boots; people with lots of shoes or limited closet space; people who live in muddy or dusty regions

Grade:  B for those with limited shoe collections; C- for everyone else

Tomorrow: The solution that finally worked.

Just When You Need A Lift Most: The Shoe Organization Series On The Quest

I'm convinced Valentine's Day was invented to ward off mid-winter blahs and give people something to look forward to between the holiday season and St. Paddy's Day.  Of course that's assuming St. Paddy came before St. Valentine, which I'm not exactly sure is the case.  Nevermind.

What I mean to say is that in spite of the freakishly good weather we're having here in Chicago, it's still February.  The days are still short, the nights still long, and without so much as a moment's notice temperatures could drop, snow could fall, and there you'd be, shoveling your driveway. I thought we all could use a fun little series just now, and specifically saved this one for the express purpose of providing a little mid-winter lift.  The subject:  Shoe organizing.  Because that's as good as it gets when it comes to organizing.

As it happens, I've had more than my share of shoe organizers: over-the-door wire racks, canvas shelves suspended from a rod in the closet, wooden floor racks.  I've tried lining my shoes up in rows on the floor.  In terms of alignment, I've tried the one-shoe-toe-first/one-shoe-heel-first approach, in addition to the more conventional toe-by-toe arrangement. I've tried returning my shoes to their rightful box.  I've tried using little felt shoe bags. What else?  There was the fling with the stackable acrylic shoe drawers. There was the achingly beautiful--and painfully expensive--birch shoe box with front window so you could see the contents without lifting off the lid. Shoe trees.  Boot trees.  Baskets. Pull-out shelves. This is what happens when you don't have kids.  You develop strange obsessions.

So over the next few days, I thought I'd share some thoughts on what works and what doesn't in terms of organizing shoes.  In the process, I'll review the pros and cons of several organizing methods/ products and include price and sourcing information, as well as discuss storage specifics and ways to customize options to get your closet shoe-sensational.

Why I Can't Fly With The Flylady

When it comes to organizing, the best system is the one you come up with to suit your particular life circumstances.  Systems devised by others can give you ideas, but it rarely works when you try to follow them to the letter.   Not that I haven't tried.  There's something irresistible about other people's systems,  the promise being that if only you could stick to a system, you'd never be caught with an empty fridge or messy living room ever again.

One of the most popular organizing systems has to be Flylady's. While I have nothing but respect for Marla Cilley (aka the Flylady, so named for her love of fly-fishing), I can't make heads or tails of her system, which involves a complex series of overlapping and interconnecting events, tasks, reminders, and routines.  As far as I can tell, the flylady's system consists of:

• a morning routine, which includes making the bed, doing laundry, cleaning the toilet, and reconciling your check book daily, along with "hitting a hot spot" or clearing a cluttered area;
• an evening routine, in which you clean the kitchen and living room for "20 minutes, tops" but then you continue doing chores like laying out your clothes for the next day and setting the table in preparation for breakfast.  These additional chores  are not counted in the aforementioned "20 minutes";
• a weekly routine, in which on Monday alone you vacuum all the rooms, change sheets, empty trash, mop, and dust; the rest of the days are for errands/grocery shopping, desk time, and doing things like cleaning the refrigerator, polishing shoes, mending clothes, and cleaning out your purse;
• 15 minutes of "zone" cleaning, in which you declutter/deep clean an area of your home. Under the flylady's system, the zone must be decluttered before "deep cleaning" (i.e. washing windows or attacking cobwebs) can take place;
• a "hot spot fire drill"--which appears to be a daily event tied to the morning routine, above; it also appears in the evening;
• 15 minutes on a "flyspot"--I'm not sure if this is a daily or weekly event, or if it's related to a "hot spot" or not; a recent example on the flylady website was to declutter the kitchen counters for 5 (not 15) minutes.  Presumably this was in addition to any other "decluttering" in the "zone";
• a daily "mission," like cleaning the garbage can in the kitchen.  This is to be done only if the "zone" has been "decluttered";
• a 5-minute, daily  "room rescue" for your most cluttered room;
• a "27 fling boogie" in which you throw 27 things away; I'm not sure if this is a daily event or not.

In addition, there are optional "early afternoon" routines, "after school" routines, and "late afternoon" routines. There's also a subscription service to keep you on track, resulting in about 16 or 17 emails a day reminding you to go to bed or get off the computer, as well as to check on your laundry or start dinner.

Adding up the time, I came up with:

• About an hour for the morning routine, not counting showering, getting dressed, or otherwise getting yourself ready;
• 30 minutes for the evening routine, not counting making dinner;
• An hour or more for the weekly routine chores
• 15 minutes in the zone
• maybe 20 minutes for the fire drill
• Let's say 5-10 minutes for the flyspot
• Another 5-10 minutes for the mission
• 5 minutes for the room rescue
• 10 minutes for the 27 fling boogie

So by my account, the least amount of time you'd need in order to follow flylady's system would be 3 and a half hours a day  non-stop; more like five  if you count doing laundry throughout the day, as well as doing regular chores not mentioned in the routines and lists, like ironing, or making dinner and setting the table (which is what the "late afternoon" routine is for). In fact, it's a very good  schedule if you happen to be home all day and don't have a regular job, kids, or outside interests of any kind. No wonder I could never follow the system!

While I typed up my own room-by-room chore list last week, what I've found to be the most helpful in keeping me squared away remains the "ground zero" approach:  whatever calls my attention the most is what I work on, when I have the chance to do so.  Sometimes this means tackling the bathroom; other times it's picking up my study or preparing enough food to last a couple days during the week. I may run out of clean socks on occasion, but it's a small price to pay for having a life.

Downloadable, Editable Chore Lists, Cross-Referenced By Room and Frequency

All right Questers, I've been busy.  I took the chore lists from the last four posts and cross-referenced them by room and by frequency of chore.  Then I researched a way to link the two documents, so if you edit one list, you automatically update the other.

Now here's the fun part:  if you use Windows XP and have Microsoft Office 2003, you can customize the Chore List By Room to reflect the specific things you need to do, and the Chore Schedule will automatically update accordingly.  Just be sure to make any changes to the Chore List By Room file and not the other way around.  Also, when opening the Chore Schedule, a window with the following message will appear:

This document contains links that may refer to other files.  Do you want to update this document with the data from the linked files?

Say "yes" (otherwise the link between the two files will be broken)

Here are the two Microsoft Office 2003 documents:

Download Chore list by room Word doc

Download Chore schedule Word doc

For those of you who aren't on Windows XP or don't have MS Office 2003, here are pdfs of the lists; you won't be able to edit these, but perhaps seeing the list by both room and frequency may be of use to you:

Download Chore list by room pdf

Download Chore schedule pdf

What To Do When Chore List Part IV: Bedrooms

Why are bedrooms so tough to maintain?  You'd think that since the bed alone takes up so much space,  the bedroomshould theoretically be the easiest room in the house to clean--just make the bed and you're halfway there.  But I've noticed that bedrooms often get the short shrift when it comes to cleaning and organizing, perhaps because the relatively private nature of the room pushes it down on the list of chores.  I know our bedroom tends to be a clutter magnet: heaps of clean laundry, piles of books, and all kinds of what-not seem to find its way onto the bedside chair or the vanity or the chest of drawers.  When that happens, I know it's time to get tough and re-claim the space for its intended purpose, as a place for rest, relaxation, and enjoyment.

Daily

• Make the bed (in theory; as I've mentioned in the past, I can't seem to actually do this)
• Hang/fold clothes worn that day and put away or put in hamper
• Put away shoes and accessories worn that day

Several Times a Week

• Sweep or vacuum
• Tidy: put things back into drawers, keep surfaces clear 
• Tackle laundry: wash/dry, iron, fold, put away

Weekly or Every-Other-Week: "Clean the Bedroom Basics"

• Dust/polish furniture  
• Dust picture frames and knickknacks doo-dads useless decorative stuff accessories 
• Polish mirrors 
• Sweep/vacuum under bed
• Mop (if hardwood floors)
• Clean baseboards 
• Attack encroaching cobwebs 

Regular Extras

• Clear cobwebs
• Clean filter on heater/AC 
• Wipe light fixtures
• Wipe around light switch
• Wash walls
• Wash windows
• Rotate knickknacks doo-dads useless decorative stuff accessories 
• Steam carpet

Spring Cleaning Extras--1x/2x year or as needed

• Steam upholstered furniture 
• Steam/clean drapes 
• Wash screens  
• Go through closet and purge clothes/accessories
• Tidy closets and drawers

What-To-Do-When Chore List Part III: Living Room/Dining Room/Hallway

Compared to the constant upkeep required in the kitchen, or the potential yuck factor of the bathroom, cleaning the living room/dining room/hallway is a breeze.  After an initial effort to figure out what goes where, maintaining these high-profile rooms is mostly a matter of keeping clutter at bay.

Daily

• Fold or drape throws; plump pillows
• Pick up: return toys to bins, deposit mail to study
• Put coat and shoes away
• Clear table before and after eating

Several Times a Week

• Sweep or vacuum 

Weekly or Every-Other-Week: "Clean the Living Room Basics"

• Dust books and bookshelves
• Dust/polish furniture  
• Dust picture frames and knickknacks doo-dads useless decorative stuff accessories 
• Polish mirrors 
• Mop
• Clean baseboards
• Wipe down phone/TV/stereo  

Regular Extras

• Clear cobwebs
• Clean filter on heater/AC 
• Wipe light fixtures
• Wipe around light switch
• Wash walls
• Wash screen/windows
• Rotate knickknacks doo-dads useless decorative stuff accessories 

Spring Cleaning Extras--1x/year or as needed

• Take everything off bookshelves, wipe shelves, dust books, and return to shelves
• Steam upholstered furniture 
• Steam/clean drapes   
• Steam carpet

The What-To-Do-When Chore List Part II: Kitchens

Here's the thing about kitchens:  it's really the daily maintenance that is so time-consuming, but it's the initial organizing which makes that maintenance so much easier to do. Why?  Because when you know where things go you don't have to think about it where to put them.  This means you're less likely to leave it on the counter, or to just shove it any place you find room but where it may not logically belong. Putting things where they don't belong is a band-aid fix: it covers up the real problem (not knowing where something goes or making the time to figure it out).  It also creates a problem the next time you look for whatever you misplaced, in that the more you dig through your kitchen to find things, the more disorganized the kitchen becomes.  This is how chaos is created.

There's another tenet to the organization-creates-organization theory: when things clearly have their place, it's easier for roommates, spouses, and children to be on board in putting things away because they don't have to think about it, or have to ask you where things go. 

The next time something falls out of the cabinet, or you can't shut a drawer or find the blender blade but feel you don't have time to organize the kitchen, think of it this way:  unless you are single or never eat at home, you'll almost certainly spend more time washing and putting away dishes on any given day than you would in organizing a single shelf. You don't have to do it all at once; just plug along when you can, while you're waiting for the coffee to brew or for the pasta water to boil. You'll be amazed at how a little organization will help with the necessary day-to-day chores, and you'll get a sense of satisfaction every time you open a cabinet or a drawer you've just organized. 

Daily

• Wash dishes
• Take out trash
• Wipe counters and stove top 
• Sweep/vacuum floor
• Replace/clean pet dishes
• Put out fresh water/food for the kittens

Several Times a Week

• Scrub sink 
• Wipe behind faucet
• Replace/wash hand towels 

Weekly or Every-Other-Week: "Clean the Kitchen Basics"

• Take everything off counters and wipe down counters 
• Dust/rinse off everything that has been taken out and put back
• Mop
• Wipe off appliance surfaces
• Wipe out microwave
• Wipe down cabinet doors

Regular Extras

• Clean vent
• Wash out trash can
• Wipe light fixtures
• Replace or sanitize sponge 
• Wipe around light switch
• Clean fridge
  1. take everything out of fridge, including shelves and drawers
  2. wipe down interior with a baking soda-and-water mix
  3. wipe with water on paper towel to rinse
  4. wash shelves and drawers
  5. toss anything old or yucky
  6. put shelves and drawers back
  7. wipe down all bottles going back into fridge
  8. arrange/organize things nicely
• Take everything off of glass shelves and wipe shelves
• Dust/rinse off everything that has been taken off shelves and put back
• Wash walls

Spring Cleaning Extras--1x/year or as needed

• Organize cabinets--take everything out, wipe shelves or bottom of cabinet, wipe off or wash, and return
• Clear junk drawer

The What-to-do-When Chore List, Part I: Bathrooms

This fall, I wrote a post in which I basically mocked the idea of the what-to-do-when chore list as being compulsive and unnecessary.  I've since noticed that one of the top three google searches that land viewers onto the Quest are for . . . well, you guessed it. Moreover,  I've since re-discovered the satisfaction of checking items off a list.  And after talking with others who have more complicated arrangments for household maintenance, I also see the value of a list for those assigning chores to children, for those with hired help,  or for roommates splitting up the housework.  So here's my take on what needs to be done when in the bathroom, when it comes to chores:

Daily

• Scoop the poop from the litter box
• Sweep/vacuum excess litter from floor

• Wipe off sink/vanity with a paper towel after use

Several Times a Week

• Completely replace cat litter
• Replace hand towels

Weekly or Every-Other-Week: "Clean the Bathroom Basics"

• Take out trash
• Remove everything that's out--soap dish, shampoo bottles, etc.
• Polish mirror
• Scrub sink/vanity
• Scrub tub
• Scrub toilet
• Floors:
  1. sweep
  2. mop
  3. scrub grout
  4. scrub baseboards
• Dust/rinse off everything that has been taken out and put back
• Wash bath mat

Regular Extras

• Clean vent
• Wash out waste-paper basket
• Wipe light fixtures
• Replace soap
• Wipe off door knob
• Wipe around light switch

Spring Cleaning Extras--1 or 2x/year or as needed

• Organize under-sink cabinets--take everything out, wipe shelves or bottom of cabinet, wipe off or wash, and return
• Organize medicine cabinets--take everything out, wipe shelves or bottom of cabinet, wipe off or wash, and return
• Wash walls
• Scrub wall tiles in shower