(If you are new to Monthly Missions, click here. Want to receive your weekly projects by email? Sign up for my free newsletter.)

Basements are mixed blessings. On one hand, they can provide additional living area and storage. On the other hand, they can be clutter magnets, attracting those “I don’t know where to put it” items, those unfinished projects, and those “I might need it someday” objects.

Because of the assortment of items that can be found in basements, basements can be overwhelming. This week, you are challenged to identify and complete one goal for your basement. Here are some suggestions: (Read on …)

(If you’re new to the Monthly missions, click here. Want to receive my weekly projects by email? Sign up for my free newsletter.)

With the weather starting to change, now is a great time to regain control of your garage.

If you park in your garage, this may not be a difficult space to organize in a week. However, if your garage has essentially become a shed, use this week to come up with a better plan for your garage and challenge yourself to see how much you can accomplish. (If you don’t own a garage, take this week to organize the areas of you home where you store items like gardening supplies, tools, outdoor toys, camping gear, or sports equipment. Or assess your storage areas and work on the biggest problem area.)

• Tasks
  • QUICK PURGE: Set a timer for 15 minutes and do a quick purge. Remove anything from the are that is trash, can be donated, or can be relocated to another area/person.
  • CATEGORIZE: Organize your belongings into categories. Pretend your garage is a department store. Where would the item be found? In the gardening department? In the tool area? With sports equipment? Use a discerning eye. Toss or donate anything you don’t need, don’t expect to use, don’t like, or have duplicates of.
  • ASSESS STORAGE: If you have piles of belongings on the floor and nothing on the walls, invest in vertical storage. Consider sturdy shelves or peg boards. Use bins to hold like items. (See if your dollar store has plastic dishpans or shoe boxes- they work well!)
  • LABEL: Once you assign everything a home, label your bins and shelves. Labeling ensures that all the members of your household can maintain your now organized garage

Completely overwhelmed?

• Decrease the clutter over-stimulation by covering up your disorganized areas with sheets or dropcloths. Work on one area at a time.
• Enlist the help of a friend or a professional organizer. Two can get the job done faster and more efficiently!

Check out these great organizing products for garages or click here for other organizing products:

• garage organizer
  
• overhead storage
• magnetic tool organizer

(If you’re new to the Monthly missions, click here. Want to receive my weekly projects by email? Sign up for my free newsletter.)

We’re concluding this month by completing the finishing touches in our bedrooms. When it comes to organizing bedrooms, this is the “fun stuff”. Here are some suggestions:

1. Make your bed. Clear off the surfaces of your furniture and place the contents on your bed. Dust your furniture. Now decorate these surfaces with only the items you really like, trying minimize your knick-knacks. Donate what is left over or try to use them in another room.

2. Dedicate a small drawer or basket for dumping the contents of your pockets each day. (This is an especially great idea for men). When the drawer or basket starts to fill, it’s time to go through it!

3. Go through your jewelry. Keep only what you like. Make any necessary repairs. Consider storing your jewelry in a shallow drawer. Use jewelry organizers like this or make your own using ice cube trays and drawer dividers from the dollar store. If you’re short on drawer space, then hang it up! I love hanging my jewelry in a hanging organizer like this one.

4. Consider rearranging your furniture or adding some decorative touches such as updating photo frames, getting some accent pillows, or using some scented relaxation candles to help you enjoy your new space!

5. Finally, if you have any other special projects that you’ve been meaning to get to in any of your bedrooms, go ahead and get them started!

Don’t forget to try to complete the finishing touches on as many of your bedrooms that your time allows!

Overwhelmed by this project? Set Me Free! offers hands-on help.

Are you motivated by this mission or have a great organizing idea that works for you? Leave a comment to inspire others!

(If you’re new to the Monthly missions, click here. Want to receive my weekly projects by email? Sign up for my free newsletter.)

Does your bedroom furniture look pretty—only if the drawers are closed? Or maybe when you open your drawers they look okay, but you still just can’t seem to find what you are looking for? This week we’re going to stop using our drawers to “hide” our belongings and start using them to “find” them.

Here’s the plan:

1. Start by making your bed so you have a clear surface.
2. Starting with your clothing drawers, empty one drawer at a time and sort the items into piles (i.e. pants, shirts, work-out clothes, pajamas, underwear, etc). As yourself: “Do I like this?” , “Do I wear this?” , “Do I need this?” . If the answer is “No”, it is time to say “goodbye” to the item.
3. After sorting through your clothing, ask yourself if the item has a better home than inside your dresser. Perhaps the item is seasonal and could be stored in long term storage, or the item would be better off hung up in your closet.
4. Now assess your drawer space. Place the items you use most frequently into the drawers that are the most accessible. Use awkward spaces to store less used items, such as purses.
5. Consider using drawer organizers to eliminate “digging”. Try this sock organizer or make your own by using the bottle divider insert from beer/liquor boxes. Use what you have! Grab a shoe box to hold all your pantyhose, freeing up the remainder of your drawer for other items.
6. Think outside the box. Just because you’ve kept your underwear in the same drawer for 15 years doesn’t mean that it has to stay in the same drawer. Store it in the drawer that make sense according to the size and location of the drawer. You can always temporarily label your drawers until you remember where everything goes!
7. After you finish with your clothing, move on to any junk drawers, bookcases and other storage areas in your room. Sort & purge.
8. Repeat this process in as many bedrooms in your home as your time allows.

Overwhelmed by this project? Set Me Free! offers hands-on help.

Are you motivated by this mission or have a great organizing idea that works for you? Leave a comment to inspire others!

(If you’re new to the Monthly missions, click here. Want to receive my weekly projects by email? Sign up for my free newsletter.)

Are you making the most of your closet space? This week, we’ll wrestle with what you’ve been hiding in your bedroom closets and maximize this prime real estate space.

Closets have limited space. Yet we frequently tend to use closets to store our denial, regret, or guilt.

1. Denial. Yes, there was a time that you looked awesome in those pants. But that was before you had your 2 children and during a time when they were in style. Let them go! Yes, you can hope that you’ll be that size again, but why make yourself stare at your old sizes every time you open the closet. Get rid of anything that doesn’t fit and isn’t likely to be fashionable the next time you can squeeze into them. It’s okay to keep some smaller classics, but box them up and put them into long term storage for now.

2. Guilt. Okay, so somebody gave you that blouse as a gift. You didn’t like it when you opened it up, and you sure don’t like it hanging in your closet. What were they thinking? When they purchased the shirt with all that “bling”, did they think you dressed like that or did they think that you should? It’s time to get rid of those things that just aren’t “you” to make room for your flattering favorites.

3. Regret. The outfit wasn’t on sale when you bought it, but you just had to have it. After wearing it once, you realize it’s not as flattering as in the store, and you have pictures to confirm it. You don’t want to wear it again, but you know you haven’t gotten your money’s worth. Admit the mistake now, part with the purchase, and commit to being a more conscientious shopper in the future.

After disposing your denial, guilt, and regret, start organizing what remains. Here are some tips:

• Put like items together.
• If you’re short on space, pack up your seasonal clothing for long term storage and start breaking out some of your fall collection.
• Get rid of stained and damaged clothing or make the necessary repairs.
• Use your highest shelves to house infrequently used items.
• Consider adding a second clothing rod to double your hanging storage.
• Be creative! Over the door shoe clear organizers are great for your child’s closet. Use them to store socks, stockings, hair accessories, scarves, and of course, shoes.
• Make sure everything you’re storing really “belongs” in a bedroom closet. Maybe you could find the item a better home in another room!

See how many of your bedroom closets you can organize this week!

Overwhelmed by this project? Set Me Free! offers hands-on help.

Are you motivated by this mission or have a great organizing idea that works for you? Leave a comment to inspire others!