Get Inspired With the Brand New Organized Interiors Idea Book

Idea Book
Organized Interiors is pleased to announce the launch of our brand new Idea Book, which is loaded with inspirational organization and storage ideas for your home.

The new Organized Interiors Idea Book features all of the great products and services we offer. You’ll find lots of new vivid images, including many photos featuring projects in our customers’ homes.

The Idea Book includes informative descriptions that list the benefits, features, and options for each of our products. This helps you get a better sense of what each product offers so you can make a more informed buying decision.

Make space for living with our new Idea Book

And there’s a lot more to love with the new Idea Book! Our last edition was 48 pages, while the just-released Idea Book has expanded to 72 packed pages of inspiring content.

This growth reflects the evolution of our product line and how Organized Interiors continuously strives to make our high quality products even better, while offering our customers more choices. Examples include our new MONOGRAM custom cabinetry and new products like a pullout folding shelf and the SlimStep ladder.

We take great pride in this forward-thinking approach and believe it’s one of the reasons Organized Interiors continues to be a respected leader in our industry.

Your brand new Idea Book shows everything Organized Interiors carries to help you make space for living. Here are the different product and service categories you’ll find inside.

Closet organizers, custom closet cabinetry, and dressing rooms

After more than 40 years of of transforming our clients’ closet spaces, the dedicated professionals at Organized Interiors have turned closet organization into an art. Our closet designs look great and, naturally, will maximize your storage space and help you to keep your closets organized.

Our closet organization products include:

  • SMART|LINE – a modular off-the-floor closet organizer that easily adapts to your changing storage needs
  • CLASSIC – a floor-support closet organizer with a wider range of depths to maximize storage space
  • MONOGRAM – our new collection of custom cabinetry for dressing rooms/walk-in closets that allows for ample design flexibility to reflect your personal style
  • create-a-closet® – add extra closet space anywhere you need with this innovative storage concept
  • Closet doors – choose from our many styles of sliding, bifold, solid panel and mirror closet doors

Bedroom storage

In addition to our custom closet solutions, Organized Interiors specializes in custom-built products for the entire bedroom:

  • Wardrobes – a custom-fit wardrobe adds a stylish appeal to your bedroom and effectively complements your closets with additional storage space
  • Bed surrounds – this integrated furniture piece uses under-bed storage, nightstands, and additional space for storage to keep any bedroom neat and tidy
  • Murphy beds – our custom Murphy beds (also known as wall beds) are a practical space-saving bedding solution that are ideal for small condos and guest rooms

Feature walls and electric fireplaces

It’s easier and cheaper to add an electric fireplace or electric firebox to your home than it is to add a wood-burning fireplace.

Electric fireplaces also require virtually no maintenance, function as a cost-effective supplemental heating solution, and feature incredibly realistic-looking flames.

The new Organized Interiors Idea Book also shows you how incorporating an electric fireplace into a feature wall can create an incredible home showpiece.

Custom cabinetry for the entire home

Organized Interiors’ custom cabinetry solutions for your entire home include:

  • Home offices and study spaces – we can design a home office or study space that looks fantastic, is precisely tailored to accommodate your work needs, and improves your workspace functionality
  • Bathrooms – our custom vanity, makeup table, and master ensuite designs for your bathroom allow you to create a personal, private space with many storage options
  • Laundry rooms and mudrooms – upgrade your laundry room or mudroom’s looks and functionality with custom cabinetry that enables better storage management
  • Kitchens – our custom kitchen cabinetry solutions include coffee stations, kitchen sideboards, and hutches
  • Hobby rooms – make space for your creativity by having a special room designed to indulge in your hobbies
  • Wine cellars – our stylish custom wine cabinetry allows you to store your wine collection properly
  • Wet bars – a minibar or full-size bar can be built to your exact specifications and custom-fits to your home’s space
  • Entertainment units – create a dynamic-looking and highly functional home media centre that enhances your viewing experience

Decorative hardware and closet accessories

You can personalize your custom cabinetry with our huge selection of hundreds of types of decorative hardware (or “Artware”, as we like to call it).

You’ll also find lots of photos in the Idea Book showcasing Organized Interiors’ wide variety of closet accessories including:

  • Jewellery drawers and drawer safes
  • Shoe pullouts
  • Valet rods
  • Pullout ironing boards
  • Pullout belt racks and tie racks

Showroom

Browse through our inspiring 10,000 square foot showroom, which features beautiful displays showcasing all of our products. Getting a hands-on experience with our home organization and storage products will really give you a sense for:

  • The creativity of our talented design consultants
  • The expert craftsmanship that goes into Organized Interiors’ custom cabinetry, which is manufactured on-site
  • The high quality of materials we use to assure our products have a long life
  • Our products’ smooth, easy-to-use functionality (like our soft-close drawers and doors)

How we work

The Idea Book explains our full-service process for each of our customers’ projects:

  1. During the free in-home consultation, our designers and the client develop a personalized plan for the project
  2. Our design consultants bring the project to life by designing to the exact organizational needs of the client
  3. The project’s products are custom-manufactured on-site at Organized Interiors
  4. Your project is installed by our professional installers

All of Organized Interiors’ products come with a 10-year warranty that covers defects in material and hardware, along with a one-year no-hassle installation warranty.

Download or pick up your free Idea Book

Your free Organized Interiors Idea Book can be downloaded here.

If you’d prefer a hard copy, visit our showroom to pick up your complimentary copy of the new Idea Book, which features upgraded binding and a new soft-touch cover.

See also:

Top 7 Ways Disorganized Closets Negatively Affect Your Life

You cringe every time your closet doors are opened, bracing for the catastrophe that awaits within and the inevitable spike in your stress level.

Is this a scenario that sounds all-too-familiar to you? If so, you’re one of many people who have to contend with their disorganized closets every day. And disorganized closets can have more negative effects on your life then you might imagine.

Naturally, there are the obvious ways disorganized closets impact your daily life, such as wasting your time and the stress they cause. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll realize that the many drawbacks of having messy closets should provide plenty of incentive for you to fix the situation.

Identifying the problem is the first step on your pathway to doing that. Do any or all of these seven negative effects of having disorganized closets resonate with you?

disorganized closets

Keeping your closets organized can eliminate some of your daily stress.

1. Disorganized closets stress you out

The universal response to being asked “What’s the biggest negative effect of having disorganized closets?” will likely be that it’s a major cause of stress. Clutter and disorganization is just not conducive to keeping your headspace in a relaxed state.

Some of that stress develops because clutter and disorganization disrupts our focus and concentration. Our brain processes the mess as one more thing on our to-do list that needs to be dealt with.

And the longer we fail to deal with the problem, the more overwhelmed our brain feels. Feelings of guilt and shame manifest themselves in the form of health-threatening stress.

That means you’re adding to your stress level every time you need to go into your messy closets. For most people, that’s an average of three or four times a day. And disorganized closets and home clutter also add to the already-high anxiety levels North Americans have.

2. Disorganized closets waste your time

Another popular answer in response to how disorganized closets affect out lives would be that it causes us to waste a lot of time.

Some of that stress and anxiety disorganized closets contribute to stems from the fact that too much time is wasted looking for specific items.

Consider these statistics from a OnePoll survey of 1,000 American women:

  • 47% of women struggle when it comes to deciding on which outfit they should wear to work
  • 1 in 4 women admitted to having disorganized closets
  • 57% of women believe that having organized closets saves them time when picking out something to wear

Another home organization study conducted by Alpha Phi Quarterly magazine shows that more than two thirds of those surveyed believe they could save up to 30 minutes a day if they were more organized. This is in all areas of their life, not just when it comes to their closets.

But disorganized closets are one of the biggest contributors to the hundreds of hours wasted by the average person yearly. So why are your closets so disorganized? Do you not declutter frequently enough? Is your closet space not being used properly or do you lack an efficient closet organizer?

3. You never have enough closet storage space

Look at any list of the most coveted features for homebuyers and ample closet space is sure to be near the top. And when we don’t have enough of it, we’re not happy. More than two thirds of homeowners polled by HSH.com named a lack of storage space as their biggest pet peeve.

Contrary to popular belief, however, the cause of disorganized closets isn’t necessarily due to your closets being too small. A Soap and Detergent Association study reveals that 80% of household clutter is a result of disorganization, not lack of space.

Yes, small closets make it more a challenge to keep your closets tidy, but there are ways to maximize the available space you do have. This can be done by using a few different solutions:

  • making better use of your vertical space
  • keeping your shoes more organized with a shoe rack
  • having extra hanging rods added
  • adding space-saving closet accessories to enhance your closet’s functionality

Your disorganized closets may also be making you think twice about buying a new clothing item you’d really like, just because you’re worried about adding it to the mess.

Sure, a certain amount of self-discipline when it comes to clothes shopping is a good thing. It is nice, however, to treat yourself to a new dress or pair of pants once in awhile, too (and especially if it’s on sale at a great price).

disorganized closets pant rack

Make better use of your closet’s space by adding smart storage solutions like this pullout pant rack.

4. Disorganized closets are an eyesore

When your closets are a mess, you definitely want to keep them hidden from view. Other than when you need something out of your closet, it’s a good bet that your closet doors will be closed around the clock.

This will certainly be the case if you have houseguests over, but disorganized closets are also an embarrassment to show to the rest of your family. And, most importantly, you’ll be in a constant state of guilt over how out of hand you’ve let the situation get.

With the stylish and attractive looks that closets can be designed with nowadays by a skilled designer, your closets should be a space that you look forward to entering, not dreading.

There are an abundance of appealing finishing options and features available with a custom closet design. You can have a closet space created that actually adds to your home décor, instead of it being an area of your home that’s hidden as much as possible.

5. You frequently misplace and lose items

An overstuffed closet makes it far more difficult to locate specific items. And it’s no wonder our closets have too many things  – the number of household items we buy has skyrocketed in the past several decades.

The Daily Mail newspaper reports that in the past 30 years, Britons’ homes have had a 133% increase in the average value of their contents. And the average closet of an American woman has 103 items in it.

Because we have more clothes and shoes than we need, items in the closet get misplaced or even lost. Often when they are found much later, they’ve become fashion relics or no longer fit.

Consider these additional statistics that illustrate the impact of having disorganized closets:

  • women have an average of $550 worth of unworn clothing sitting in their closet (10 Yetis survey)
  • at least once a month, 44% of women polled say they’re unable to find an item in their closet (OnePoll survey)
  • 61% of women who struggle with picking an outfit from their closet buy new clothes instead of organizing (OnePoll survey)

It’s also estimated that 80% of your clothing is worn a mere 20% of the time. That’s mostly due to owning more than we need, as well as us being too disorganized to find items. As a result, this prevents us from getting our money’s worth out of the clothing by wearing things regularly.

6. Disorganized closets aren’t good for your clothing

A full, poorly maintained closet doesn’t provide a friendly storage environment for your clothing and shoes. Clothing that’s crammed together while hung up is more likely to get wrinkled. It also makes it harder to find items.

Clothing stored on open shelving or in closet drawers that are just thrown there instead of getting folded will also become a wrinkled mess. And shoes left in a disorganized pile on your closet floor will get scuffed and damaged.

Disorganized closets also cause you to take other storage shortcuts, simply because you have fewer storage options. For example, if your shelving or drawers are full, sweaters might be put on a hanger, which leaves hanger marks.

7. Dealing with disorganized closets gets your day off to a bad start

There’s rarely enough time in the morning to adequately take care of all your responsibilities before heading out to work. Being slowed down by hunting for a shoe or belt to match your outfit, or plain old indecisiveness when choosing an outfit, adds to the time we waste every morning.

When you leave the house late, your day gets off to a bad start. You also don’t want to have to just “settle” on an outfit due to time constraints. This doesn’t put you in the most confident, relaxed state of mind you’d prefer to have to begin your day.

3 in 10 women from that OnePoll survey believe that having an organized closet would make their mornings less stressful.

Don’t put up with your disorganized closets any longer

If you’ve been dealing with the headaches disorganized closets for too long, take some action. Disorganized closets cause needless stress and with the help of a closet professional, you can fix your closet problems.

Transforming disorganized closets is what Organized Interiors specializes in. Whether it’s adding a custom closet organizer or suggesting other bedroom storage solutions like a bed surround or wardrobe, we’ve been improving the organization and storage capabilities of our clients’ homes for more than 40 years.

Schedule your free in-home design consultation with us to find out what we can do to transform the disorganized closets in your home.

See also:

Top 13 Common-Sense Reasons for Choosing an Electric Fireplace

As the winter approaches, you’ve decided it’s time to choose a fireplace for your home. The heating benefits and ambiance boost a fireplace provides will surely look even more attractive as the temperature drops and the snow begins to fall.

Anyone looking to add a fireplace will ultimately find themselves having to choose between one of three options:

  • an electric fireplace
  • a traditional wood-burning fireplace (or wood stove)
  • a natural gas fireplace

An electric fireplace simply makes more sense

Each choice has their undeniable benefits. For example, an electric fireplace is much more cost-effective and low-maintenance.

On the other hand, today’s impressive electric fireplace technology hasn’t yet managed to replicate the delightful smell that only a burning log can produce. And a natural gas fireplace offers the convenience of starting a fire at the touch of a button.

Weigh the individual pros and cons of wood-burning, natural gas, and electric fireplaces, however, and the latter emerges as the clear choice. And here are the top 13 reasons why.

electric fireplace feature wall

1. Electric fireplaces are more affordable

The costs of adding a wood-burning stove or fireplace to your home can quickly start piling up. There will be major wall construction and masonry work required, including the building of a chimney.

For natural gas fireplaces, venting and gas lines will need to be set up. That’s a lot of expenses before we even factor in the cost of the fireplace itself.

Electric fireplaces are a more affordable way to add the comforts of a fireplace to your home. Even higher-end electric fireplace models will prove to be a more cost-effective solution than a wood-burning or natural gas fireplace setup.

There are two main types of electric fireplaces available:

2. An electric fireplace installs easily

The logistics of installing a natural gas or wood-burning fireplace can get quite complicated. Here’s what can be involved:

  • building a chimney
  • having a fireplace pit and hearth built
  • accommodating gas lines
  • getting building permits
  • contending with messy, disruptive construction in your home

Installation of an electric fireplace, however, is significantly easier and much less restrictive. Many electric fireboxes just plug into an electrical outlet – it doesn’t get much simpler than that! Other fireboxes and all linear wall-mount electric fireplaces will need to be hardwired using either 120V or 240V.

Even if you’re creating a larger-scale feature wall with a linear wall-mount fireplace, the work that’s required is simply no comparison to what’s involved with the installation of a wood-burning or natural gas fireplace.

Rooms that traditionally haven’t been able to accommodate a wood-burning fireplace (like a bedroom or home office) now can with an electric fireplace. Those in apartments and condos can also enjoy the benefits that fireplaces provide.

3. Electric fireplaces don’t take up much space

Compared to a wood-burning fireplace or stove, an electric fireplace creates a far smaller footprint within your room. A hung electric fireplace only protrudes 6″ to 8″ into a room. If it’s recessed into your wall, it’ll also only require about that much depth space.

The ease of installation with electric fireplaces also gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of where it can be located. With wood-burning and natural gas fireplaces, their location will be tied to the limited areas available to install a chimney or wherever the gas lines can fit.

Underutilized corners in a room can become more useful with the addition of an electric firebox. And an electric firebox mounted within your entertainment unit or bookshelf also saves you space.

4. An electric fireplace is safer

The potential safety risks of having firewood burning inside your home go without saying. Owners of wood-burning fireplaces also have the hazards of smoke and ash inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning, and chimney fires to worry about. Anything that uses natural gas also carries an inherent risk with it.

Electric fireplaces are a much safer option and give you greater control over how your fireplace operates. You’ll have zero worries about the harmful gasses and fires raging out of control that can potentially occur with conventional fireplaces.

Many models come with an automatic shut-off feature for a higher degree of safety. And an electric fireplace won’t pose a risk of anyone getting burnt because the front glass stays cool when it’s running. That’s an especially important safety feature if you have young children or pets.

5. There’s plenty of customization options

Both electric fireboxes and wall-mount electric fireplaces offer a wide range of customization options to accommodate your needs and design tastes.

An electric firebox comes with a range of door and trim kits to choose from. They can also be combined with a fireplace mantel that comes in a variety of finishes. You also have the option to sit an electric firebox within an entertainment unit below your television.

A linear wall-mount electric fireplace adds an even more sophisticated fireplace look to your home. They also offer some different operating features and custom options (like the ability to embed a fireplace within a feature wall).

Here are some of the other features that most linear wall-mount fireplaces and electric fireboxes include:

  • remote control
  • on-screen LED display to view temperature settings and functions
  • thermostat controlled heater
  • inner glow logs and/or ember bed options
  • authentic-looking flame to create the illusion of real fire
  • variable colour themes

6. Electric fireplaces enhance and complement your home’s décor

Because electric fireplaces and fireboxes allow for so much customization, you’ll find that complementing your home’s décor becomes even easier.

The design possibilities are almost limitless and you’ll appreciate the freedom that comes with matching your electric fireplace to your home’s architectural and design style.

An electric fireplace in any room creates a dynamic focal point that unquestionably makes the space more inviting and comfortable. And one way to take that concept to the next level is to create a fireplace feature wall.

A beautiful fireplace feature wall can be created by setting a wall-mount electric fireplace within either your drywall or stylish melamine panels. Organized Interiors has hundreds of melamine panels of varying styles, textures, and patterns to choose from.

electric fireplace feature wall

Create a beautiful home showpiece with a fireplace feature wall.

7. An electric fireplace is a cost-effective heating solution

By using supplemental heating (also known as zone heating), you can lower your thermostat and heat specific areas of your home that you’ll be occupying more frequently. That reduces your energy costs. You’ll find that electric fireplaces are a great supplemental heating solution.

If the house is feeling chilly and you and the family are planning on a movie night in a living room outfitted with an electric fireplace, leave your home’s thermostat where it is. After all, why heat up the whole house when everyone is gathered in one room for several hours?

Just set the fireplace’s thermostat at a comfortable level and enjoy your evening. Organized Interiors carries electric fireplaces and fireboxes from industry leader Dimplex which can heat rooms up to 1,000 square feet.

Wood-burning and natural gas fireplaces lose anywhere from 50-70% of their heat, depending on various factors. An electric fireplace, however, wastes little of its energy. And with the heat on, electric fireplaces only cost around 14 to 18 cents an hour to operate.

8. (Virtually) no maintenance required

The work required to operate and maintain a wood-burning fireplace is significant. You’ll need to make sure you’re either buying firewood or cutting it yourself. Then you need to keep it stored in a dry area and lug it inside when it’s needed.

And, of course, there’s the messy cleaning up of ashes and soot, as well as the requirement of getting your chimney cleaned every few years. All of this extra expense and maintenance time should be factored into your fireplace-buying decision.

Compare all of that to the virtually no-maintenance nature of an electric fireplace. The only cleaning required is to simply wipe down the front glass occasionally, just as you would any other surface in your home.

Replacement of a fireplace light bulb may also be needed occasionally. Other than that, your electric fireplace shouldn’t require any other maintenance, as they’re built to be reliable and long-lasting.

9. Electric fireplaces are eco-friendly

Wood-burning fireplaces use up precious natural resources, aren’t energy-efficient, and pollute the air.  Natural gas does burn cleaner, but also uses up natural resources.

Electric heating, on the other hand, only uses a small amount of electricity to operate, has zero emissions, and is highly energy-efficient. When it comes to a home fireplace, you can’t get much more eco-friendly than that.

10. The flames look just like the real thing

One concern with buying an electric fireplace is that the flames they produce don’t quite look like the real thing. Electric fireplace technology has come a long way in recent years and today’s models now produce amazingly realistic flames.

Dimplex’s patented flame technology is the best in the industry. You’ll barely be able to distinguish the difference between a real flame and the flame produced by a Dimplex model. Visit our showroom to see for yourself!

electric fireplace flames

The flames an electric fireplace produces look amazingly realistic.

11. An electric fireplace is convenient

Starting a wood fire involves a whole process that can sometimes result in a smoke-filled home. And maintaining your home temperature at a comfortable level with a wood fire is an inexact science.

Too cold? Throw on another log or two and then wait for it to warm up. And if it’s too hot, you’ll probably end up just opening a window to cool off until the temperature in the room lowers. It’s not exactly the most convenient of heating methods.

Conversely, an electric fireplace or firebox starts up with the simple press of a button and produces a consistent room temperature via its thermostat control. The temperature is displayed on the fireplace’s floating LED display.

Temperatures can even be adjusted from your couch by using the convenient multi-function remote control the electric fireplace comes with. Electric fireplaces also come with features like an automatic shut-off timer and a range of colour themes to suit your mood.

12. You can use an electric fireplace year-round

Even when it gets warmer, your electric fireplace will serve a valuable function. To enjoy the ambiance boost that a fireplace provides without the heat production, simply turn off your electric fireplace’s heat function.

The flames will continue to display and you’ll be able to achieve that cozy, inviting feel in your room during the late spring or summer. And with the heat off, an electric fireplace will cost you barely anything to run.

Depending on your fireplace model and hydro rates, the maximum expense you should be looking at is a mere 3 cents per hour using this setting.

13. The movability factor

If you decide to sell your home, a wood-burning or natural gas fireplace is difficult (if not impossible) to remove. And even if you can bring it with you, you’ll need to once again go through the aforementioned installation headaches at your new home.

Because electric fireplaces and fireboxes are so easy to install, they’re also easier to move if needed. Whether you’re moving to another home or want to move the electric fireplace or firebox to another room in your home, you’ll have a lot more freedom to do so.

The best home fireplace choice should be obvious

When you compare the benefits and shortcomings of the various types of home fireplaces available, the best choice should be obvious – an electric fireplace.

With the holidays coming up, there’s no better time to make your home more warm and inviting with an electric fireplace.

Schedule your free in-home consultation with an Organized Interiors designer to get started.

See also:

Organized Interiors Participating in the 2017 Winter Coat Drive

winter coat drive
Having enough warm winter clothing becomes especially concerning around this time of year and into the winter. We’ve had some especially frigid winters in Ontario in recent years, which places extra emphasis on the need for warm winter clothing for children.

The Children’s Breakfast Club began their Winter Coat Drive in 2014 to address the need of getting warm winter clothing to those who need it. Organized Interiors is proud to once again be participating with them in their 2017 Winter Coat Drive.

About The Children’s Breakfast Club

The Children’s Breakfast Club is a non-profit charitable organization that began in 1984. They believe every child is entitled to a nutritious breakfast and currently have more than 20 clubs in the Greater Toronto Area that serve an estimated 4,000 meals per week.

The Children’s Breakfast Club’s other main objectives are to:

  • encourage children to develop healthy nutritional, behavioural, and personal hygiene habits
  • provide children with emotional support and social and intellectual stimulation
  • encourage and develop the skills of staff, volunteers, and other community members

What is the Winter Coat Drive?

The Winter Coat Drive collects and distributes new and gently-used winter clothing to children and their families in need of proper winter attire. Specifically, the organization states that “Our overall vision for the 2017 Winter Coat Drive is to ensure no child in Ontario is cold this winter season.”

2015’s Winter Coat Drive collected more than 30,000 items of winter clothing and last year that number grew to more than 40,000 pieces collected. This year’s goal is to collect 50,000 clean, good quality, gently-used coats and items of winter clothing in child and adult sizes.

All donations end up at The Children’s Breakfast Club’s Coat Warehouse in North York, which operates throughout the winter season. Toronto Police will hand out vouchers to families they encounter who are most in need of this winter clothing. The vouchers can then be redeemed by the family members for a winter coat or item of clothing they’re most in need of.

Organized Interiors’ involvement in the Winter Coat Drive

The 2017 Winter Coat Drive will be Organized Interiors’ second year of participation in this worthy cause. Our participation in the 2016 Winter Coat Drive was inspired by Toronto’s very own NBA All-Star, Toronto Raptor Alumni, and Assistant Coach and Community Ambassador Jamaal Magloire. Jamaal challenged all of Toronto to “Donate a Coat” and “Warm a Heart”.

More than four truckloads of coats and winter clothing were collected at Vaughan’s first drop-off centre in the Organized Interiors showroom. The donated items were promptly delivered to the Coat Warehouse to ensure those that needed the items got them as soon as possible.

Organized Interiors wishes to thank the following people for helping to make the 2016 Coat Drive such a great success:

  • our valued new and repeat customers
  • our trade partners The Neat Freak for their generous donation of 160 linear feet of coat racks and coat hangers that will help Coat Warehouse volunteers sort and store donations
  • Gloria DiLecce and the staff from Michael Luisi Couture for their support and donations
  • our corporate neighbours at Garage Living and Better Living Products for their participation and support
  • Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua for visiting the Organized Interiors showroom and bringing attention to the Winter Coat Drive
  • Organized Interiors’ Design Consultants and enthusiastic staff for spreading the word to raise awareness about the Coat Drive
  • the Jamaal Magloire Foundation, which improves the lives of at-risk youth through the power of sport
winter coat drive mannequins drop-off centre

The drop-off centre in Organized Interiors’ showroom for 2016’s Winter Coat Drive.

How you can help

You can get involved by making donations for the 2017 Winter Coat Drive at the Coat Drive drop-off centre in the Organized Interiors showroom at 201 Chrislea Road in Vaughan.

Along with new and gently-used winter coats, we’ll also be gratefully accepting donations of any of the following (in all sizes) between November and March:

  • hoodies
  • sweaters
  • hats
  • mitts and gloves
  • scarves

Donations can also be made directly at The Children’s Breakfast Club’s Coat Warehouse, which is located at The Peanut Plaza at 3030 Don Mills Road. Call (437) 836-6222 to make coat drop-off arrangements. Monetary donations can also be made at breakfastclubs.ca (a tax receipt will be issued for donations of $20 or more).

You can also help by spreading the word to your family, friends, and co-workers about the 2017 Winter Coat Drive. Be sure to share this blog post on your social media pages!

Donate a coat and warm a heart

Warm winter clothing is something most of us take for granted. But consider the ways in which inadequate winter clothing can impact a child’s daily life.

Inadequate winter clothing can cause kids to get sick more often, which may affect their school attendance. Unsuitable winter clothing also limits the ability of children to participate in outdoor winter activities.

Your generous donation can help make this winter a little more comfortable for someone in need. We look forward to seeing you at our 2017 Winter Coat Drive drop-off centre in our showroom!

7 Tips to Make Your Fall Closet Organization Project Easier

walk-in closet with green walls
As the temperatures drop and the days get shorter, the need to tackle your fall closet organization project looms even larger.

Even with the occasional warm and sunny October day, the window for wearing your lighter summer clothing has all but closed for the year. If you haven’t already, that means it’s time to turn your attention toward your closets to prioritize the warmer clothing you’ll need for the colder weather ahead.

ApartmentGuide.com surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults and found that 80% of them reorganize their homes in late summer/early fall. We still have more than two months until the official start of winter, so it’s not too late to begin with your fall closet organization plans!

Use these tips to simplify your fall closet organization effort

The seasonal transition for your clothing storage doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult. All you need is a solid game plan, the right storage solutions, and a little bit of time to produce effective results with your fall closet organization effort.

Setting up your closets to put your warmer clothing front and centre will make life easier over the coming months. It’s also a great opportunity to declutter, which will make your closets and the rest of your home more functional.

Make use of these seven fall closet organization tips to aid you when tackling this home organization project.

1. Start by emptying and cleaning your closets

Begin your fall closet organization project by completely emptying all closets of their contents, along with your dresser drawers. Yes, this will take some time, but your efforts will be worth it.

Because closets are typically hidden away much of the time behind doors, we can misguidedly develop somewhat of an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality towards their interior. This includes not just their contents, but how clean your closet space is.

Emptying all of your closet’s contents gives you the chance to give it the thorough cleaning it likely needs. After all, cleaning areas of your home that don’t necessarily get regular cleaning attention shouldn’t be limited to just spring time.

Once your closets have been emptied, wipe down their baseboards walls and ceiling, along with any shelving and parts of your closet organizers. Vacuum your closet floors and, if it’s overdue, give any carpets in your closets a good cleaning.

2. Evaluate your closet space

Now that your closets have been refreshed with a top-to-bottom cleaning, it’s the perfect time to evaluate your closet space. An empty closet allows you to view its interior in a much different manner than you’re able to when it’s full.

Consider what areas related to closet storage and organization have presented problems for you and your family in the past. Is it a lack of space? An inability to locate items as quickly as you’d like? The need for more helpful closet accessories? Better lighting?

Make a list of what you’d like to improve and do your research on what types of effective closet organization products are available.

You can stop by Organized Interiors’ 10,0000 square foot showroom to sample what we offer. Our knowledgeable and helpful staff can also answer any questions you might have when it comes to your fall closet organization needs.

fall closet organization mirror door

3. Sort through everything and start discarding items

Even if you’ve decided that you’re ready to upgrade your closet space with the help of a professional, you’ll still need to deal with all of the closet contents you’ve emptied.

With everything from your closets out in the open, start going through every bathing suit, tank top, sundress, pair of shorts, and other summer clothing item and decide what you can cull from your collection.

As with any decluttering effort, if you haven’t worn or used a piece of clothing or accessory in the past one or two years then you can live without it.

Put the expendable items in one of three piles:

  • torn or worn-out items that no longer have any use and should be tossed
  • items you can donate
  • items that a friend or family member can use

Summer clothing tends to get worn out a little quicker than the clothing we wear in other seasons. One reason is that it’s thinner and lighter. Another reason is that chlorine, sweat, and sunscreen will degrade the clothing’s material quickly. And prolonged exposure to sunlight will also cause fabrics to fade over time.

You’ll find items for yourself that may be in fine shape but are no longer in style or appeal to you as they originally did. If you have kids, you’ll also probably be able to get rid of several pieces of their wardrobe that they’ve outgrown.

4. Organize and store what you’re keeping

Once you’ve managed to get rid of a bunch of little-used items that were taking up valuable closet space, organize the keepers according to colour and/or type. Wash, dry clean, or repair any of these items so they’ll be fresh and ready next spring.

Now decide on where and how you’ll store those keepers. If your closets or dressing room/walk-in closet are large enough, your spring and summer clothing items can be returned to your closets.

You’ll want to store them as out-of-the-way as possible, such as on upper or lower shelves. Most closets don’t fully utilize their valuable vertical storage space. Your fall closet organization project presents an ideal time to correct this if the upper space in your closets is currently underused.

Use plastic storage bins to protect your clothing from dust and keep them fresh (cardboard boxes aren’t recommended). Remember not to overpack your storage containers. Leave a little room inside for air to circulate, which allows your clothes to breathe.

Maximize your containers’ storage space by employing the “KonMari Method” of vertical clothes folding from Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo.

5. Sort through all your fall and winter clothing

Get all your stored fall and winter clothing items and, once again, reduce what you’re keeping by using the toss/donate/hand-me-down sorting method. This will also help you assess what you’ll need to buy for the fall and winter.

Winter can also be tough on clothing. Salt, snow rain, and highly physical outdoor winter activities (like skiing and tobogganing) will take a toll on your winter outfits. Make sure what you’re keeping is in good shape and still fits.

One of the benefits of a fall closet organization is that it can end up helping those in need. Donated winter clothing that’s been outgrown or simply no longer needed will be greatly appreciated by the less fortunate at the exact time of year it’s really needed.

Organized Interiors is proud to be a participant in The Children’s Breakfast Clubs 2017-2018 Winter Coat Drive. Clean, good quality, new, or gently-used winter coats and warm winter clothing can be donated at the Coat Drive drop-off centre in our showroom from November 2017 to March 2018.

6. Fill your closets with your warmer clothing

Your fall and winter clothing is bulkier and will take up more space in your closets. As such, you’ll be even more grateful that you took the time to take care of your fall closet organization now.

Just as your closet’s upper space can be underutilized, so too can its lower space. Consider adding an extra lower hanging rod in your closet. You’ll be wearing more long pants between October and April, so an extra hanging rod can help. A pullout pant rack is another smart option.

Sweaters that are hung up tend to leave hanger marks and get stretched, so fold them instead. They can be stored in drawers, cubbies, or open shelving in your closet. You can also use shelf dividers to help you organize.

sweaters and warm clothing

For busy front entryway closets, make sure it’s not overloaded with more fall and winter clothing items than will be needed. Coats, winter gloves and mittens, scarves, ear muffs, and hats should be limited to one or two pairs per family member.

Add hooks to provide your home with extra hanging spots for the many items that will be worn during the wintertime. Winter footwear should also be limited to a pair or two per person to prevent clutter. And be sure to use a boot tray to contain the messes they will assuredly make.

7. Add supplemental storage solutions to your home

Even with a pared-down clothing collection after your fall closet organization efforts, you may still be looking for more home storage space.

Whether you need extra space to store your spring and summer clothing, or for the fall and winter clothing you need right now, a few options are available:

  • a bed surround that maximizes a bedroom’s storage space
  • a better closet organizer
  • closet accessories to get more functionality out of your closet space
  • a custom wardrobe for a hallway or bedroom
  • a smart product like create-a-closet®, which lets you add closet space anywhere
  • a mudroom addition to minimize clutter and mess

Get a helping hand with your fall closet organization project

Taking inventory of your clothing and decluttering where necessary will make your fall and winter easier to navigate when it comes to your wardrobe.

Clean, organized closets also ensure that all your clothing is well-used and not lost within a messy space.

Get your fall closet organization project started on the right track. Schedule your free in-home design consultation with Organized Interiors today!

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