Hello, Friends!

810.348.1772
betty@logicalplacement.com • www.LogicalPlacement.com

April 2025 – Organizing Your Bedroom

Having an organized bedroom, I think, is very important. Who wants to go to bed and wake up surrounded by clutter? I don’t, and many experts agree that if your bedroom is a calm surrounding, you will get a better night’s sleep. In this issue, we’re going to find new ways to organize your bedroom and closets.

When it comes to keeping you on task, get 4 boxes and a glass of water to help you keep focus.

Here is what you do with the 4 boxes. First of all label them: Garbage, Remove, Donate, Clothes to Keep.

Garbage – This is self-explanatory. Sometimes garbage ends up on our floor or dressers so just pitch it.

Remove – Ask yourself; Are there any items that do not belong in the bedroom? Have you placed something in this room temporarily because you were expecting company and then never took the time to move that item to its home? Now’s your time to place it in the box, and then you can place it where it really belongs.

Donate – Donate your clothes to your favorite charity or sell at a local consignment store?

Clothes to Keep – You are determined to fit into your clothes, but the majority of clothes that don’t fit, should be placed elsewhere. You may want to move these clothes downstairs in containers that are labeled by size or into a wardrobe closet.

Organizing Your Closets
Create a plan first. What do you want the closet to be used for?
Install a second rod and extra shelves if your budget and space permits it.
Get into the habit that if you bring something new in, you must let go of something.

Shoe racks are a great investment. If you have a lot of shoes in the master closet, clearly label the shoebox to remind you of what is inside, or you can even take a Polaroid of the shoes and tape it to the outside of the box.

It is a good idea to split your suits. This makes it easier to mix and match with other outfits.

Arrange your items so things are in groups – skirts, pants, blouses, dress shirts and blazers.

Buy hangers that you can hang multiple pants or skirts on.

Use a pegboard for scarves, hats, belts and purses. Sometimes by buying an organizer for that category, it should limit your category. Notice I said “should.”

Don’t put clothes back into your closets if they need mending. If you don’t care to mend them, bring them to the drycleaners.

The last thing to mention is make your bed daily. It’s the largest piece of furniture and if your bed isn’t made, it really gives your whole room a very messy look.

I hope you will enjoy sleeping the calm oasis you have now created. Sweet dreams!

Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/logicalplacementorganizing for weekly organizing tips or on Instagram @logical_placement.

Your local professional organizer,

Betty Huotari

P.S. If you would like to share this email with a friend, please pass it along and if they would like to be added to my list, have them send me an email. If you would like to unsubscribe to the monthly newsletter,
please send an email to betty@logicalplacement.com.

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Hello, Friends!

810.348.1772
betty@logicalplacement.com • www.LogicalPlacement.com

March 2025 – Where is that matching lid?

The kitchen is probably the most important room to organize because, like it or not, we probably spend the most of our waking hours in our kitchens. In my many years of being a professional organizer, I don’t think I have come across a house where my client’s Tupperware cupboard was organized and it was easy to find the matching lid.

Let’s break down the kitchen into smaller segments:

1. The Drawers – plan them according to where you use the utensils and where the dishwasher is located. For instance, it is a good idea to put your silverware closest to the dishwasher and in the top drawer. I would encourage everyone to buy silverware dividers, which I think most people have done already. Next, take out all your kitchen gadgets and cooking utensils. Why do you have five spatulas? Decide which you use most and keep them. Place the rest into a shoe box (with a label “Extra Kitchen Utensils) and place that shoe box in the basement or laundry room. See if you have to go to the box within the next year to pull something out. After the year has passed, you can donate the box. Try not to look in it.
2. Glassware – Over the years has your glassware expanded? Do you have too many coffee mugs? Too many souvenir cups? Remove all the glassware and place them into categories; tall glasses together, juice glasses together, etc. Once you have them gathered, you can take a look and see how big that category is and then decide if 6 or 8 glasses are enough. Put the drinking glasses close to the plates because when you set the table, you need access to both items. The glasses you use the most, should be the most accessible.
3. Dinnerware – the same goes for this cupboard. Sometimes you have to look and see if your shelves are bowing. That means there is too much weight on that shelf, so you should divide the categories a little more. Again, the dishes you use the most have to be the most accessible. Also, if you have three sets of dinnerware in the kitchen and are running out of room in the cupboards, you really need to ask yourself if you should house the dishes in this room 365 days/year if you only pull them out for 1 week/year.
4. Plasticware – Be brave now! Pull them all out and try matching up lids with bottoms and then ask yourself, what sizes are the most used and how many of those do you really need to keep? Then recycle or donate the extras.
5. Message Center – I have a whiteboard on my refrigerator that has become our message center. It helps to remind my family about upcoming appointments, chores, or errands to run. I also have a notebook that I have lying out on the counter and the kids know if they want me to buy something for them, they better write it in that book. It has kept the arguments down when they asked why I didn’t buy something. I just ask them, “did you write it down on the list?”. I incorporated this notebook about 2 years ago, and I love it. Sometimes I use it as a to-do list so it keeps me on task and helps me see what I can do if I only have 30 minutes of free time.
6. Spices – I don’t think I’ve been to a home that didn’t have an issue with spices. There are spice organizers out there that fit under our kitchen cabinets or the tiered kind that many people use. In our previous home, my husband made a spice rack that fit over our stove. I loved having our spices available and in alphabetical order (I don’t think that is too OCD.) Of course, the chefs would say that the heat coming off the stove is going to deter the flavor of the spices, and my answer to that is “just put a little more in then.” In our current home, we have a microwave in that space, so I had to come up with another solution. I went to the dollar store and bought a few small baskets and now have the baskets separated by categories, such as these spices I use mainly for baking, (which if any of you knew me, that doesn’t happen too often) and these are used more regularly. Then I have them alphabetically. It makes it quicker to find a particular spice.

Let me know what has worked well for you and your family.

I hope this newsletter has given you a few suggestions on helping organize your kitchen. Next month’s newsletter will focus on tackling your bedroom.

I’m presenting at the Chesterfield Township Library on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 from 6:30-7:30pm. Their website is https://www.chelibrary.org/to register.

Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/logicalplacementorganizing for weekly organizing tips or on Instagram @logical_placement.

Your local professional organizer,

Betty Huotari

P.S. If you would like to share this email with a friend, please pass it along and if they would like to be added to my list, have them send me an email. If you would like to unsubscribe to the monthly news-letter, please send an email to betty@logicalplacement.com.

A lot of my clients have a messy junk drawer, right.

If you buy a drawer organizer, take all your items out of the drawer and then insert the drawer organizer and before you put something into the drawer, ask yourself does it belong in the kitchen? Do you use it regularly? Should this drawer be its home?

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Hello, Friends!

810.348.1772
betty@logicalplacement.com • www.LogicalPlacement.com

February 2025 – Organizing your Home Office

Sometimes organizing your Home Office can be overwhelming. Let’s break it down into 3 categories:

• Desk
  • When you are organizing your desk, you can divide into zones.
    • A Zone – objects you use all the time and therefore should be closest to you
    • B Zone – you may use objects weekly, such as your shredder
    • C Zone – this is usually your storage closet. Put your extra supplies into a storage closet or cabinet
• Office Supplies
  • Take inventory of what you have at home. When you start to bring the supplies together, you will be able to see what you have too much of and other supplies that are running low. Ask yourself how many binders do you need? How many pads of papers and post-it notes?
  • Place the supplies that you need the most, in the critical zone, which is at your fingertips. This may include: stapler, scissors, pens, pencils, highlighter, sharpie marker. It would also be helpful if you had your shredder and recycle container within arm’s reach.
• Filing Cabinet
  • You may choose to file your files in your cabinet from A-Z or by categories and then alphabetically within the categories. For example, you can organize your folder into the Utility/Bills category and then you can file A-Z within the category, so your Consumer Energy goes before your Verizon bill.
  • It is also important to purge your filing cabinet on an annual basis. A good time to do this would be in January or February so as you are purging, you might find some receipts for your upcoming taxes.

Two Upcoming Presentation in 2025:

• Brighton Public Library on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2025 from 6:30-7:30. Please visit www.brightonlibrary.info to register.
• Chesterfield Township Library on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 from 6:30-7:30pm. Their website is https://www.chelibrary.org/to register.

Happy Organizing,

Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/logicalplacementorganizing for weekly organizing tips or on Instagram @logical_placement.

Your local professional organizer,

Betty Huotari

PS If you would like to share this email with a friend, please pass it along and if they would like to be added to my newsletter list, have them send me an email.

Walking into this home office is a peaceful setting.

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Hello, Friends!

810.348.1772
betty@logicalplacement.com • www.LogicalPlacement.com

January 2025 – What have you been putting off?

Happy New Year!

Like most of us, life is moving at a faster pace than ever. Have you had items on your to-do list that are important, but you just haven’t gotten around to doing them? January is GO Month – Getting Organized Month, in my industry and now that most of the kids are back into school and things are getting back into a routine what better time to deal with your lists!

Here are a few things that you should think about doing this year:
Trust or Will – I’m sure this is on a lot of to-do lists, but for one reason or another, you just haven’t gotten around this. This is an item of extreme importance and you need to commit to doing it. Many years ago when my husband and I were working on our trust, it was a great way of getting things organized. For instance, do you know all your 401k accounts or know where the deed to your house is? By working with a lawyer and getting everything into your trust/will, it will force you to get organized.

If you are one of the lucky ones and got a recent bonus or perhaps you are expecting to get some money back on your federal tax return later this year, you should use some of your funds for this particular project and then you can remove it off your list!

Life Insurance – Do you have a life insurance policy for you or your loved ones? What would happen to your family if the main breadwinner died? Could you live the way you are accustomed to living? Are you able to send your kids to college? Talk to an agent and then you can find out what you have room in your budget for. Maybe you just need to get a term insurance to get you through the years that your kids are in college. But you need to spend some time investigating your options and making an educated choice.

Backing up your computer – I have had a few clients over the years lose all their data because they never backed up their personal computer. How would your life be impacted if you lost your whole computer? Many people are backing up their computers not only to an external hard drive, but also via an online backup storage area. I have used Carbonite for several years. Plus if you have an off-site storage, you can set it up automatically and then you never have to worry about doing it again.

Backing up your pictures – If you are backing up your computer, you may want to make sure your picture folder is also being included in the backup. If you don’t want to back it up to the internet/cloud, then I would suggest that you store a copy of your pictures on a thumb drive and place a copy in your fireproof safe or safety deposit box.

If you have to break these projects down by one per month, that may make it a little more manageable.

I hope you and your family all the best in 2025!

Two Upcoming Presentation in January 2025:
Troy Public Library on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 from 6:30-7:30. Please visit www.troypl.org to register.

Gloria Coles Flint Public Library on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 from 6:30-7:30pm. Their website is https://www.fpl.info to register.

Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/logicalplacementorganizing for weekly organizing tips or on Instagram @logical_placement.

Your local professional organizer,

Betty Huotari

PS If you would like to share this email with a friend, please pass it along and if they would like to be added to my newsletter list, have them send me an email.

The post January 2025 – What have you been putting off? appeared first on Logical Placement.

Hello, Friends!

810.348.1772
betty@logicalplacement.com • www.LogicalPlacement.com

December 2024 – Organizing Your Fridge and Freezer

This is a great topic for December because many of you will be doing some entertaining over the next few weeks. Let’s start with your fridge:

1. Remove all the items and clean the shelves and drawers. Now it’s time for a trick I learned from my Mom, place paper towel sheets in the refrigerator’s drawers. Then, every couple of weeks, replace them — and the drawers seem to stay cleaner, longer.
2. Now place your items into categories when you put them back into the fridge: salad dressing, sauces, condiments, left-overs, etc.
3. Several years ago, I took my label maker out and labeled some of my refrigerator’s shelves so everyone using them would place items back where they belong. They saw the salad dressing actually had a home on the inside shelf. Then, when I’m off to the grocery store, it’s easy for me to see what items are running low.
4. Look at your expiration dates and write down any items that need replacing.
5. Did you find any “forgotten projects” deep in the fridge? That’s what we call them at our house. Maybe it’s a forgotten left-over from last week, or something else that slipped your mind. Throw them out and move on.
6. Are there any items you want to use sooner rather than later? If so, put together a meal menu to help remind you what needs to be used up.

Now let’s move to organizing the freezer:

1. If you have a fridge freezer, remove all the items to remind yourself of what you have, and what you need to use up — especially if you are planning a holiday get-together. You may need to use up some things to provide more room in the freezer.
2. If you have a chest freezer, use baskets to help you categorize your frozen items.
3. When you are placing items into the freezer, label the content and date it. Then there is no guess work involved. I like to use Ziploc freezer bags. This simple idea has saved me important time. Place the older bags on top as well.
4. Place a whiteboard on the outside to keep track of what’s inside? This can be a simple yet great tool to help you remember the contents. I label the contents on the left side and then use checkmarks so if I have 4 packages of chicken, I would have 4 checkmarks beside the chicken. As I remove a package, I remove (wipe off) one of the checkmarks.

Two Upcoming Presentation in January 2025:
Troy Public Library on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 from 6:30-7:30. Please visit www.troypl.org to register.

Gloria Coles Flint Public Library on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025 from 6:30-7:30pm. Their website is https://www.fpl.info to register.

Happy Organizing and Happy Holiday!

Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/logicalplacementorganizing for weekly organizing tips or on Instagram @logical_placement.

Your local professional organizer,
Betty Huotari

PS If you would like to share this email with a friend, please pass it along and if they would like to be added to my newsletter list, have them send me an email.

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