It is hard to believe Thanksgiving is this week. It is officially Holiday Season everyone! No messing around, time to get serious with shopping, eating and fun! Do yourself a favor before all of the excitement. Sit down, take a big deep breath and figure out how you will enjoy the holidays but also stay organized with daily life. It can be easy to overlook your current bills, healthy goals and entertainment budget when you are distracted by all the shiny things. Prioritize your calenders for the final months of 2011 so you can kick off the new year with ease.

Your organizing task for today: start clearing out your home of unwanted items you no longer need or want. Donate clothes, toys and food to clothing drives, churches or a shelter.

Online grocery shopping still rules my home. All of my past purchases are saved in my account and I can order my groceries in minutes. I don't always have the same order each week so I have organized my home shopping lists into three categories - weekly, bi-weekly and monthly. I have created this list by going through the refrigerator, pantry, medicine cabinet and cleaning supplies to figure out what I use and how long it takes finish. If your laundry detergent contains enough liquid to do 20 loads of laundry you can figure out how long it will last. And do you need to purchase every two weeks or once a month.? Apply this to other areas to figure out your monthly requirements. If you don't have a lot of space and it takes a month to use something don't over crowd your space but stocking up and filling your cabinets every week. Saving a few dollars to stock up on really bulky item isn't worth it to me if my cabinets are busting at the seams. Just create your lists and follow them!

Thinking about selling the clothes you purged from your newly organized closet? A consignment shop is a great way to make some money from items you no longer want. But be sure you know the rules before casting off your unwanted items. Before you load up your car with bags of clothing find out what stores will except and when. Most stores are no longer taking summer items and will only want winter and fall. Some items need to be on hangers and less than 3 years old unless of course it is Chanel. So call ahead, find out what they except and schedule an appointment.

Having you been staring at a pile of clothes in your closet or stack of paperwork in your office? As daunting as it may seem to tackle this organizing project you may just be rewarded by jumping in and giving it your best shot. Take a few moments to look through the paperwork or hang up your clothes. It is possible that you may even find a lost treasure. Some of the most common items we find organizing homes and offices are gift certificates, important documents and clothes we have forgotten.

Do you have clothing favorites hanging in your closet that you absolutely love? How often do you wear them?

a) Everyday

b) Once a month

c) Once a year

d) Never

The weather keeps playing tricks on us. It gets warmer and warmer then the temperature drops again! It can make it difficult to completely commit to the switch over of wardrobes. As you organize for the spring and pack away your winter clothes keep out only out a few warmer outerwear items that dont take up a lot of room. Keep one hat and a pair of gloves gloves handy for those quick weather changes. You can easily store these out of the way during the summer months and have ready for the temperature drop in the fall.

Are you organizing some of the most basic needs in life Food or Clothing? Working in the kitchen to keep your refrigerator or pantry organized can help you in many ways. It helps you stick to your budget or healthy diet by knowing what you have in stock. It also helps curb spending on take out or letting good food go to waste. If you are organizing your clothes you know what you have any can find it quickly. Its especially important that you have the proper attire for the current weather conditions, work or other occasion.

It has been a long cold winter. Tearing off the February page of the calender was pure joy! Now that we are moving into March it got me thinking about Spring and Summer. It's right around the corner and time to start making room for the new seasons and everything that goes along with them. Here's an organizing task that will help you get a head start. Take a look in your cabinets, closets and drawers to see what winter gear you can replace with spring and summer. Is there space to add lighter jackets and rain gear in your entry closet? You wont need those heavy winter boots and snow removal supplies for long. It's a good time to think about their exit strategy. Will you be adding beach towels to your linen closet? Think about packing up the flannel sheets and extra wool blankets. Is your kitchen the hub of outdoor entertaining and barbecuing? Put away the hearty winter cooking supplies and holiday entertaining to make room for the grilling tools and outdoor dishes.

It starts out as a cluttered closet, a overstuffed drawer or a garage used as a storage space. One day you decide its time to get organized. If you decide to get rid of the things you no longer need but put aside the "maybe's", how much time are you willing to spend holding to these things? A day, week, month, years or until have you completely forgotten about them? If you decided to store those items be sure to give yourself a time frame for letting go. Add a label to the box that says "get rid of by xx date." If you havent needed it since you moved it or even thought about it, it's a good sign you made the right decision to let it go.

Organizing your closet is an ongoing process. The seasons change, styles come and go, and weights go up and down. I think its important to look through your clothes each season and evaluate what you want to keep for the next season. Only a small percentage of your wardrobe should be "trendy" clothes because by the next year unfortunately they will be out of style...sorry. The clothes that don't fit should not be in your closet taking up space. If you want to have one inspirational piece great, but pack up the rest and revisit at a later date.

Thinking about redesigning your closet with custom shelving? Be sure to follow a few of these organizing tips before finalizing the measurements. Go through all of your clothes, shoes and accessories and decide what you want to keep. Purge anything you no longer need or love. Next, count your long hanging clothing, short hanging clothing, shoes and accessories. Measure the amount of space they will need. If you switch out your seasonal clothing be sure to customize your closet for all seasons. Look over your clothing and make sure you plan for everything that will be stored here and additions. If you have more shoes in the summer and tall boots for winter be sure you plan enough space for all footwear. Continue taking stock of other items such as sweaters, jackets and anything else that changes in your wardrobe through the seasons.

Next time you organize your linen closet be sure you have everything you will need to store here. You want to make sure you are starting with all of your clean laundry, except for the pieces that are on your bed, guest towels and washcloths that you keep in the bathroom. Now you are ready to purge what you don't want and see what fits in your closet. Make sure to fold your sheets, towels and washcloths in a way that is easy for you. And show other family member how to fold the laundry so everything fits every time.

Sometimes the simplest tasks can take forever especially when you don't have the right tools at hand. For example do you often need scissors to clip tags or threads on clothing when getting ready but end up going to another room for a pair of scissors? Save time by having another pair in your dressing area for quick fixes. Organize a few other items that you might use regularly in that space as well. Do you constantly find pieces of trash around and have to carry it all to another room for the main trash can? Solve this time waster by putting trash cans in every room! If it saves you time to have the same item in two places...go for it! Make frequent tasks simple. Your space should always work for you and your lifestyle.

Storage bins are an a professional organizers #1 tool next to the label maker. They come in all shapes, sizes, textures with or without lids. I like to use storage bins with lids because they can stack on top of each other. Perfect for storing out of season clothes or shoes in the top of your closet. One thing to think about when using this type of organizing solution is if you use the items on a regular basis. And will this work for you when accessing items? Sometimes drawers are a better solution because they are easy to open close.

If your are an online or in line shopper its important to think about a few things before you bring new items home. First you need to think about your storage space and its capacity. You can't get 5 lbs of stuff in a 10 lb bag. I live in the city and as much as I would love to shop at the big warehouse stores there's just no place to store large quantities unless I make some changes. I could put 20 rolls of paper towels in my linen closet but where would I put my towels? I love a good sale but I also know how many rolls of paper towels I can fit in my cabinet and how much I will use before my next shopping order. Here's something else to think about, "How much of one particular item can you consume before the expiration date"? Do you have a giant bottle of vitamins that you got on sale? It might have sounded like a good deal at the time but remember you might not finish the bottle by the expiration date. I know if I see a product on sale like yogurt which I really like with a price of 10 for $5. Sounds good to me at first but sometimes end up eating one or two of those yogurts before they all expire! This is also applies to veggies before they go bad. Sometimes this can happen when shopping for clothes. Your favorite tee shirt is on sale so you buy one in every color but end up wearing only one or two.

Sometimes too much of a good thing just doest work. Think about what you really need before shopping and make sure you have the space, the time and won't loose interest.

Any space that holds things can be organized. Here's a few of my favorite my favorite tools for keeping your closet organized.

Belt Hanger

The belt hanger is great for hanging belts and it doesn't take up a lot of space. If you have a lot of belts you can keep them organized by separating on either side by color, size or texture.

Tie Organizer

Men get a lot of ties and can be hard to keep organized. A tie hanger is an easy addition to the closet. The ties hang from the hanger, don't get wrinkled and they are easy to see. You can also use it to store necklaces. They won’t get tangled up like they do in a jewelry drawer.

Scarf Organizer - Scarves are tricky because of their fabric, shape and size. Often when you

fold scarves you cant see them all, they get creases or they slip all over. This scarf hanger fits

easily on the closet rod and its easy to see and access all of your scarves. You can organize

by color, style and sometimes brand.

Next time you start an organizing project be sure to focus on one room at a time. And try to stay in one area as along as possible. If you are working in your home office you may find items that belong in other rooms, and feel the urge to put something away, but dont! Not yet! As you continue working in one area you may find more items that also need to go "elsewhere". Use a bin, box or even a laundry basket to contain the items to go to other rooms. Once you get to a stopping point grab your items and deliver to all the other rooms in the house. This will keep you focused on the one area of organizing.

We are very happy to be presenting our organizing tips at the Grange Furniture showroom in the Merchandise Mart today in Chicago. Grange Furniture has been making handcrafted furniture since 1904. You will learn the process of adapting the Grange Modular systems to all your living spaces including the living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms. Organized With Style will be talking about how to maximize your space.

My sister was doing a great job organizing her super fabulous closets. She pulled out her prized cashmere sweater collection and put into bags. She continued to switch over to her winter wardrobe. As she went through her closet she began to also purge items she did not want and put those items into bags. Soon she would make a trip to the Salvation Army for donation. I got a call from her later saying "I dropped off my entire cashmere sweater collection the the Salvation Army"!
It is no fun when this happens. Thats why you have to keep track of what you are keeping and what is trash or donation. I recommend 2 colors of bags when you are organizing. White trash bags for donation and black trash bags for garbage. If you need to label the white bags with a sharpie its a cinch! Write donation, friends, family whatever label you need. Just be sure to label bags when you cant see whats inside!

Do you have a favorite pair of pants that look great with heals and flats? You really want to where them with both but unfortunately it creates a fashion problem. You cant wear them with both, its one or the other. So, do you have them altered to a shorter pant to fit with flats or keep them long to wear with heels? You could just spend a fortune on 2 pairs of the same pants and not be limited to one type of shoe! That can get expensive and clutter up your closet. Heres a fashion tip and must have for every wardrobe! Singer Instant Bond Double-Sided Fabric Tape! Adjust your pant to the desired length and attach the tape for a temporary bond. Its that simple, no sewing, no ironing, no mess. Wear your pants the length you want today and feel free to change your mind tomorrow. Just pull off the tape. Don't just stop at pants it works on shirts, dresses, upholstery and other fabrics. Use this for any quick fix!