Now that the weather is finally getting warmer, many of us turn to spring cleaning.
Part of cleaning is organizing and sometimes that can be the hard part.
How can you find a place for everything?
We asked a local expert for help. Ellyn Elstein is president of Creative Closets in Allentown and goes by the name of the Closet Lady.
She began her business in 1983 and today you can see her designs in a 26,000 square foot showroom at 7248 Penn Drive in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County.
She says there's a good reason she is doing this. " I want to help people because they're in pain from being disorganized," she says.
So, to tackle your closet and get everything cleaned up and organized, Ellen says start with lots of trash bags.
"Empty everything out of your closet. And things you haven't worn in two years, you need to give away,"
She says use black trash bags so that once you put something inside, you can't see it anymore.
Write down everything that you donate and get a receipt so you can use the donations at tax time.
Once you've done a good purge of what's in your closet, now check out your space.
"You need to have the closet organized so there's more space and you don't waste all the space in the closet."
Of course, Ellen will come out to your home and customize your closets but she says you don't have to spend a lot of money.
Think of space solutions. She showed us Boot Butlers, which can store up to five pairs of boots vertically in a closet. Ellen also suggests double rods in a closet.
"On the lower rod, you have things you wear for the bottom of your body and on the upper rod are things you wear on the upper part of your body, like blouses and jackets and so forth."
Next:
*Hang by category
*Coordinate by color
*Hang outfits together
*Hang as much as you can.
"Actually hang your t-shirts, except for your sweaters and your shoes, because then you can find things really easily and it takes less time to hang something up than to fold it."
One trouble spot: the mud room or laundry room. Ellen says each person should have their own drawer.
"So if each person has their own drawer, not a drawer for gloves, not a drawer for hats but just for each person, then they own it and everything they have is put there."
And when it's all cleaned up, she says people feel much better.
"Relieved. That has to be the word. There's no chaos; they're conquered their chaos." Cleaning experts say the more organized you are, the less time you’ll spend cleaning, because if you find a place for everything, you’ll have a better chance of actually putting things away.