Simple Steps to Declutter Your Closets, Cabinets and Countertops … Now

Look familiar? For many of us, closets are catch-all storage units that we all intend to clean up and organize someday. Were not that far into the new year, however, and theres no time like the present. (Dave Bemis / Noozhawk photo)

Look familiar? For many of us, closets are catch-all storage units that we all intend to clean up and organize someday. Were not that far into the new year, however, and theres no time like the present. (Dave Bemis / Noozhawk photo)

By Dave Bemis, Noozhawk Contributing Writer | @NoozhawkNews | Published on 01.27.2015 3:10 p.m.

Most of us struggle to keep our homes organized, and there may be no bigger setback than holiday hosting and decorating especially when it comes to our long-suffering closets. The urgent need to plunge back into work schedules and family routines often means that we jam our holiday decorations into any available hiding place and forget about them for another 11 months.

Knowing that a fresh nightmare lurks behind every door may make winter seem like the worst of all times to de-clutter your closets, but it can be one of the best especially if you can see that holiday hangover of disorganized decorations and unwanted gifts as motivation, rather than an obstacle.

Why do our closets suffer such indignities?

For starters, closets seem like an afterthought ... theyre not seen by friends who come over, said Lindsay Gabbard, a designer with California Closets in Santa Barbara.

From both personal and professional experience, she has seen the difference an organized closet can make. She clearly recalls the days when her closet was nothing but a pole and a top shelf. Its no wonder that people struggle, she notes, when all a closet has is one high shelf and they have to lob stuff up.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle for people who cant get their closets organized, though, is more basic: They dont know theres a better way, she said.

In addition to her design services, Gabbard endorses strategies such as donating things that havent been worn recently.

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Simple Steps to Declutter Your Closets, Cabinets and Countertops ... Now