Posted on: March 12, 2007
Clutter-Free and Oh-So Entertaining
CDs, movies, video games and books entertain, but cause disdain for the clutter-phobic. Check out these innovative ideas for keeping your media collection organized and out-of-sight.
By Timothy R. Schulte
CTW Features
Saving space is more important than seeing what you own.
That’s one of professional organizer Allison Carter’s personal mantras, and it should be one of yours, too. For many people, space often is lost to clutter in what Carter, the chief executive organizer of Marietta, Ga.-based The Professional Organizer, calls “media madness” – deserted CDs and DVDs, mounting stacks of books, sprawling cords and countless electronic devices.
The first thing to do in any organizing project – especially in this category – is to purge anything you don’t use or love. Carter’s rule: If you haven’t used it in 12 months, you probably are done with it. Donate, give away or try to sell the unwanted goods, and then categorize yourself before your next move:
Are you a collector? If so, wall-mounted shelves or bookcases are a great way to display your booty in a clutter-free way. If not, box them up resign them to the basement or a closet to keep them out of the way. If you need them nearby, Carter herself loves CD/DVD notebooks, which keeps the disc available while banishing the unneeded case. Any furniture-type pieces should work with the homeowner’s personal style and match the room’s décor.
With the small stuff out of the way, it’s time focus on the bigger items: the TV and peripheral entertainment equipment. More so the cords that come with them.
“Most of the homes I’m dealing with generally have some sort of entertainment center,” says Carter. All they need, she says, are shelves deep enough to store the DVD player, cable box, whatever resides there. The cords then just need to be drawn behind the unit. However, Carter says to label or color-code each cord to keep the electronic spaghetti from sprawling out of control. One of her personal tricks is to use nail polish to mark the end of each component cable to keep it organized.
“It’s surprising how much time it saves you if you label them when you first get them,” she says.
For personal devices – iPods, PDAs, cell phones, etc. – the organizing pro says it’s perfectly fine to keep everything for that item (headphones, USB cords, chargers) together in one box (she prefers a clear shoe bag) as long as it’s labeled.
There’s no one right answer and no one way to do something, says Carter, but ultimately, it’s one’s own behavior that needs checking up on. Even organized people don’t always remember to put things away or make the best use of their space, so Carter says to try to tune into when you’re not using something and then act on that realization. And take those few extra seconds to put something back. In no time, you’re clutter will clear and your chaos will calm.
