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Archives for January 2008
Reader question: Curbing golf club clutter?
A reader who identified herself as elrj sent us this question:
“My husband and I live in a charming one bedroom apartment in a converted historic townhouse. At first, it was a squeeze because the place doesn’t have much storage/closet space at all. But, with some re-arranging and advice from blogs like this, we have massaged our little home into a wonderfully live-able and entertain-able space. Then I bought a bike. Combined with his, they take up the entire hallway, and when you add the golf clubs (previously stored in the trunk of our car) we’ve got quite the sports-themed house. We have no yard/outside to chain them to, and we use them regularly. What do you do with such things in an efficiency?”
Storing sporting equipment in an efficiency can be a headache. When my husband and I first moved in together in our 850 sq. foot one bedroom, our lack of space was almost enough to convince me drop sports all together. I know your pain and understand it.
As far as your bikes are concerned, we’ve already published a couple posts on this topic on the site. The posts themselves have some strong ideas, but be sure to read the comments where many of our readers offer up terrific alternatives: Single hook bike solution and Bike storage solutions.
We’ve never discussed golf clubs on the site, though, so I want to spend the remainder of this post addressing that topic.
The first thing you’ll want to consider when looking to save space is getting new golf bags. My husband and I downsized from our behemoth traditional staff/cart style bags to new feather-weight backpack styles and have never looked back (Mine, His). My empty bag weighs less than four pounds and is about half of the footprint as my old bag. All of my clubs and materials fit easily in the bag, and it has the added bonus of being able to be hung up on a strong, wooden hanger in my closet. (I bungee cord the straps together to make certain they don’t slip off the hanger.)
Another idea is to contact the course where you play most often and see if they have on-site storage lockers. You’ll have to shell out a little money per month, but it gets your bags out of your house and you don’t have to worry about transporting your bag from home to course on your bike. If you don’t play golf more than a few times a year, though, this suggestion won’t be practical for you.
In fact, if you only play golf two or three times a year, I suggest that you get rid of the clubs. Renting a set of clubs for the few times you do play will be less stressful in the long run. With the money you get from selling your clubs, you can pay for three or four rentals. Again, I’m only making this suggestion if you rarely play and are just holding onto the clubs because of a sunk-cost fallacy.
If you do play often, can’t rent space at your course, and don’t have space in your closets to hang your clubs, you may want to consider: A wall-mounted golf bag and shoe organizer (pictured above) or a freestanding wood bag organizer. The wall-mounted system could turn your golf bags into a piece of interesting art, and the standing organizer could at least provide a permanent home for your bags.
I hope one of these ideas is helpful. Good luck!
Posted by Erin on Jan 18, 2008 |
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Workspace of the Week: Brian’s studio office
This week’s Workspace of the Week is Brian’s studio office:
Brian is one of Unclutterer’s programmers, so I was excited when I found his office posted in the flickr workspace pool. You can see in the photo that his small home office is used for much more than just sending e-mail. I particularly love his microphone on the boom swing and the acoustic baffle that has a functional purpose and is also a design element. His Les Paul guitar even acts as artwork when not being played. Brian’s attention to organization allows him to do a lot with this room with very little space.
Want to have your own workspace featured in Workspace of the Week? Submit a picture to the Unclutterer flickr pool. Check it out because we have a nice little community brewing there. Also, don’t forget that workspaces aren’t just desks. If you’re a cook, it’s a kitchen; if you’re a carpenter, it’s your workbench.
Posted by Erin on Jan 18, 2008 |
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Techniques for taming pet fur tumbleweeds
Reader Jim sent us the following question:
OK, so I like your 30 minutes per day cleaning model…however, with a dog (big chocolate lab) that is constantly shedding, what tools, cleaning devises, ideas, etc., might I use to keep up with the seemingly endless dog-hair dust bunnies? Vacuuming works, but takes time to drag out the vacuum, and the Swiffer just seems to move the hair around.
In my house, we call these gifts from our two cats “tumbleweeds.” I like your use of the word “bunnies,” though, since they do feel as if they are forever multiplying. I completely empathize with your situation and hope that I can help.
Here are a handful of strategies for dealing with pet fur tumbleweeds:
- Once a day, armed with a couple slightly damp paper towels, walk through your house and capture the worst offenders. If they’re large enough that you would see them and be stressed or embarrassed if a house guest were to immediately notice them, just scoop them up with the paper towel. This isn’t deep cleaning, this is just peace of mind. At most, this process should take you five minutes and is a great chore for a younger child.
- Bathe your pets regularly. When you bathe a pet, a good chunk of loose hair and dander goes down the drain with the water. Now, granted, this task is a bit more difficult with a cat. You have to start bathing the cat when it’s a kitten or you’ll never be able to give it a bath as an adult. We’ve been bathing our cats twice a month since they were first adopted from the shelter and now they just climb into the water. Use a pet-friendly shampoo (not human shampoo) and ask your vet for tips and breed-specific bathing frequency recommendations if you’re new to the pet-washing adventure.
- Keep a pet brush handy. When your pet curls up at your feet and wants some snuggles, give him a brush at least once a day. You’ll capture the fur before it can become a tumbleweed.
- Install reliable air filters in your heating/air conditioning system and replace them seasonally.
- If your pet routinely uses a bed, drape its bed with a fleece blanket. If there is a favorite spot where he likes to curl up, lay a fleece blanket in that location. Fleece blankets act like giant magnets for pet hair because of their inherent static nature. Roll up the blanket and throw it in the washer once a week, and for extra pull, dry it without a dryer sheet.
- Although you hate to do it, you should run the vacuum at least once a week. Don’t forget to vacuum under the couch, along baseboards, every stair, and closet floors where pet fur tumbleweeds like to hide.
- Feed your pet high-quality food. The healthier your pet’s diet, the healthier your pet and his coat. Talk to your vet about the best diet for your pet. Sometimes, switching to a healthier pet food will greatly reduce the amount your pet sheds.
Good luck! And, if ever in doubt about a technique, just ask your vet. He or she will be able to tell you if something is safe for your pet.
Photograph accompanying this post taken by Matt Niemi.
Posted by Erin on Jan 17, 2008 |
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Hide away step stool
I received a Pottery Barn Kids catalog in the mail a couple of days ago. I promptly added it to my ever growing list of catalogs that I no longer want using Catalog Choice. As my wife flipped through the unsolicited catalog, she came across an interesting option for a child who needs a step stool to reach the sink.
The Pierce Bath Console adds the step stool as a part of the console so you don’t have to take up space in your bathroom storing one. Obviously, the price on this console is a bit high, but the idea can be implemented into a custom made console that you may take on yourself. Or, look for this option at other retailers if you’re interested.
Posted by Matt on Jan 17, 2008 |
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Unitasker Wednesday: Snowball maker
Winter is here and this is the best time to head outside for a good old-fashion snowball fight. When you head outside, make sure you have everything you need: gloves, hat, boots, scarf and, of course, your trusty Snowball Maker from Flexible Flyer.
What?!? You don’t have a Snowball Maker? Then how do you make a snowball, with your hands? That isn’t very inventive. The idea of using ones’ hands to construct the perfect snowball is laughable. This contraption will supply you with round snowballs that your enemies will envy. Yes, it may be a bit more cumbersome to make a perfectly sculpted snowball at first, but, with practice, you can keep your ammunition coming at a lightning fast pace.
And, for those of you who need a little help constructing a snow fort for defense, Flexible Flyer also makes a Snow Block Maker. (I actually had one of these growing up and we always tried to make an igloo. It was a futile pursuit.)
**Unitasker Wednesday posts humorously poke fun at the single-use items that manage to find their way into our homes.
Posted by Matt on Jan 16, 2008 |
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Storing coffee
If you’re a coffee aficionado, take a few minutes today to evaluate your home coffee situation. Do you have an unnecessary number of mugs? Is counter space for food preparation being unreasonably sacrificed for your coffee supplies? Can you rearrange your current setup to be less cluttered and better contained? A few minutes is all this simple check should take.
While you’re giving your coffee situation some attention, don’t forget to evaluate how you’re storing your coffee beans. Are you using airtight canisters? Are you keeping them at room temperature? Coffee beans you aren’t going to grind and brew within two weeks can be kept in the freezer, but they should not be stored in the refrigerator. Moisture isn’t good for coffee, well, unless you’re actually in the process of brewing. Don’t believe me? Here are a few insights from people much more informed than I am on this issue:
- From the Joy of Cooking: “The best way to store coffee beans, ground or whole, is in an opaque airtight canister at room temperature.”
- From Harold McGee’s On Food and Cooking: “Once roasted, whole coffee beans keep reasonably well for a couple of weeks at room temperature, or a couple of months in the freezer, before becoming noticeably stale. One reason that whole beans keep as long as they do is that they’re filled with carbon dioxide, which helps exclude oxygen from the porous interior. Once the beans have been ground, room temperature shelf life is only a few days.”
- From Coffee Outpost: “When to Refrigerate Coffee? Never, unless you are conducting a science experiment on how long it takes to ruin perfectly good coffee. The fridge is one of the absolute worst places to put coffee.”
When I looked in on my coffee supplies last week, I found that I had more than 20 mugs in my cupboard. I donated 12 of those to a local homeless shelter and now have enough space in my cupboard to store all of my coffee supplies. I hope your efforts produce similar positive results.
Posted by Erin on Jan 16, 2008 |
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Reader suggestion: Cleaning ornaments
This is a little late for this year’s holidays, but I didn’t want to wait until next year to post it. Maybe the procrastinators can use it this year, and the rest of us will mentally store it away for the next 11 months. Thank you to reader Kerry for passing this along:
When I take the ornaments off the tree, I hang them on my wooden drying rack which is placed over a towel. Then, I use compressed air to clean the ornaments so they are ready for next year!
Great idea, Kerry!
Posted by Erin on Jan 15, 2008 |
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Home office in a box
If you are strapped for space and you need a workspace for your house or apartment, you may want to check out the CI Desk from Creative Industrial Objects. Its small design and compact storage drawers offer a welcome alternative to a space-hogging desk.
The CI Desk looks a bit like a storage unit on wheels, but it is more than just a way to store your office supplies. The top flips out to supply you with a solid place for your laptop to rest, instead of using your lap. From Creative Industrial Objects:
A multi-functional home office on wheels, in its handy size and elegant shape, adapting to the flexible working habits of the individual at home or in the office. Through a 180-degree turn of its top, it unfolds into a small workstation for laptop users. The smooth contours of the desk cube in fact reveal the delicately inbuilt wooden drawers that open to the front and sides. CI desk provides mobility and a practical working space for any busy individual.
If one was to go this route in a home office, you would more than likely have to keep all clutter out of your streamlined desk. There just isn’t enough room for a junk drawer or desk top toys and trinkets … which is probably a good thing.
(via Apartment Therapy)
Posted by Matt on Jan 15, 2008 |
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A multitasking option for self defense
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, many innovations have been unveiled. These innovations range from gigantic flat screen HDTVs to faster micro processors, but nothing says innovation like a MP3 player/taser combo. According to the Los Angeles Times gadget blog Bit Player:
“Today at CES, Taser International introduced the Taser MPH — the first combination hand-held music player and Taser.
The player, which has a 1-GB capacity that can hold about 150 songs, is embedded in a holster that slips on your belt. Feel the need to zap someone and you can unholster the Taser, use the built-in laser pointer to aim, and blam — a couple of darts carrying 50,000 volts hits your victim.”
Finally, now I can walk around my neighborhood with a little less clutter in my pockets and still feel safe while listening to some AC/DC, of course.
Posted by Matt on Jan 14, 2008 |
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Clutter-free scrapbooking
Scrapbooking is a hobby that terrifies me because all of the stuff that accompanies it. Digital scrapbooking expert Gina Maria Myers, however, knows how to create beautiful scrapbooks without a single sticker or sheet of fancy paper. She is owner of the Scrapbooking Resource Center and publishes the blog Pieces & Pixels. We hope you enjoy her guest post that follows:
What’s the most commonly collected item among all demographic groups? Well, it’s not ceramic figurines, I can tell you that. It’s photographs.
So, how do you deal with the clutter of photos? There are several solutions ranging from “don’t take so many” to “sort into photo boxes by century, decade, and year.” My new favorite is just “don’t.” Don’t deal with the physical clutter of photographs, digitize them.
First, it helps if your photos start out in digital format and that can be taken care of by using a digital camera to take all your pictures. If your older photos aren’t already digitized, you can get them batch-scanned through any number of local and online sources. Once your image files are in your possession and thoroughly backed up, I’d store the negatives in an off-site location and dispose of the paper copies (I’d offer them to family first, but I’d definitely get them out of my house.)
If you’re just starting out, now is the time to be the architect of your digital file storage system so you’re not trudging through thousands of images in a couple of years. My own photo archiving system is organized by year and broken down into months with events like vacations broken down further. I keep copies of my photos on two external hard drives and back them up to disks with index prints annually.
Now, you’re probably wondering how I share these photos if I’m no longer making prints. It’s a valid question since we’re all used to shuffling through stacks of photos and passing them around with friends. I scrapbook.
You’re probably shaking your head and thinking: “But scrapbooking involves stacks and stacks of paper, stickers, paper cutters, pens, and a plethora of other crafting supplies that would take forever to list as well as thick, heavy albums that take up precious shelf space.” You’re right. Or, at least, you would be right if I still practiced traditional scrapbooking.
But, I don’t practice cluttered traditional scrapbooking. I make scrapbooks with digital supplies. Online Digital Scrapbooking stores make it possible to buy digitized “paper” and other elements, and I use these to create albums that look just like those I used to make with layers of paper, photos, stickers, brads, and doo-dads.
In the end, I have pages that look textured and dimensional, but, once printed, are only as thick as a single sheet of paper. Even better, these pages can be uploaded to online photo processors and printed in a bound book that takes less than an inch of space on your bookshelves.
If you’ve never given a thought to digital scrapbooking, take a look at this post on how to get started.
Posted by Erin on Jan 14, 2008 |
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A year ago on Unclutterer
- Take-out menu filer
Every time you get a take-out menu, put it in a binder for easy access.
Posted by PJ on Jan 13, 2008 |
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Another 2 + 1 furniture idea
I like furniture that can serve multiple functions, especially in guest bedrooms and offices. I was happy to stumble upon the Warhol Sofa in late December on the Apartment Therapy New York site.
Couch, couch with footrest, desk, and fold-out bed are all contained in this one piece of furniture. I don’t know if I love it, but I definitely like the idea behind it.
Posted by Erin on Jan 12, 2008 |
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Making your resolutions a reality
On either the last day of 2007 or the first day of 2008, many of us created lists of resolutions for the new year. If you’re like me, getting organized appeared in some fashion on this list. My specific resolution was to get my laundry mess under control.
Generating the resolution and committing it to paper or a hard drive is a terrific way to start the process. Unfortunately, though, the resolution won’t become a reality unless more work is done. (Wouldn’t it be great if just writing it down was really all it took?!)
If you don’t set a course of action and stick to it, then your resolution will be nothing more than words on paper. I want to walk through my process attack, which is loosely based on David Allen’s Getting Things Done method, to help you see how lofty goals can easily become experienced reality.
- Commit your resolution to writing. It doesn’t matter if you write your resolution on an index card, in a Moleskine notebook, or on a web page like 43 Things. Formulating your idea into concrete words helps you define your purpose and gets you started on your path to change.
- Reflect on your resolution and identify your motivation for change and where you see yourself once the resolution is complete. If you can’t see where you’re headed or why you want to get there, your resolution is pretty much destined for failure. There is no need to establish any other form of reward system, because you’ll see yourself succeeding! In my case, I need to imagine the calm I will have from not having piles of laundry cluttering up the floor of my laundry room.
- Brainstorm methods for completing your resolution. Even if the ideas seem ridiculous, write them down anyway. What are all of the ways that you could possibly reach your goal? What steps could you take? What is currently standing in your way? What resources could you obtain to help you get what you want? Empty all of your thoughts on the matter onto a piece of paper.
- Evaluate your brainstormed ideas and create what Allen calls “keys” to organization. “Identify the significant pieces. Sort by (one or more): components, sequences, priorities. Detail to the required degree.” This is the stage where you create your plan.
- Once your plan is set, make decisions as to the exact steps you will follow to achieve your goal. Without these concrete steps, you won’t know how to move forward. For my laundry resolution, my exact steps involve a lot of removing current barriers to success. (Buy light bulbs on Saturday morning at the grocery store to replace burned out bulbs in the laundry room.) If you’ve never written an exact step, or what Allen names “next actions,” you may want to read the entry on this topic on Merlin Mann’s 43 Folders GTDwiki here.
- Start!
Good luck to everyone with their organization resolutions! Feel welcome to tell us about your process for success in the comments section to this post.
Posted by Erin on Jan 11, 2008 |
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Workspace of the Week: My new favorite office
This week’s Workspace of the Week is MaryEarly75′s home office:
I have to be honest with all of you, this may be my favorite office yet. Wow. I stared at it for five minutes before I could even turn and look at something else. The picture says it all.
Want to have your own workspace featured in Workspace of the Week? Submit a picture to the Unclutterer flickr pool. Check it out because we have a nice little community brewing there. Also, don’t forget that workspaces aren’t just desks. If you’re a cook, it’s a kitchen; if you’re a carpenter, it’s your workbench.
Posted by Erin on Jan 11, 2008 |
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An unconventional way to keep your refrigerator uncluttered
While I was doing research for Uncluttering your refrigerator’s crisper, I found a number of useful (and impractical) devices to help with maintaining order in the kitchen. One of them made me laugh aloud, and I thought you might enjoy it, too. (via Gizmodo)
Knowing that all of my house guests could see inside my refrigerator would certainly pressure me into keeping it in uncluttered state. Yikes!!
Posted by Erin on Jan 10, 2008 |
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Netflix to become more uncluttered?
Here at Unclutterer, we love innovation that leads to a less cluttered living space. We have mentioned Netflix in the past as a way to curb DVD clutter at home. Much to our delight, it appears that Netflix is taking their business model in a new and exciting direction with movie downloads straight to your tv. From The New York Times:
Netflix, the DVD-by-mail company with more than seven million customers, has a new strategy that may one day make those red envelopes obsolete.
The company wants to strike deals with electronics companies that will let it send movies straight to TV screens over the Internet. Its first partnership, announced Wednesday night, is with the South Korean manufacturer LG Electronics to stream movies and other programming to LG’s high-definition televisions.
The partnership will extend a novel feature from Netflix, announced a year ago, that allows paying subscribers to watch any of 6,000 movies and television shows on its Web site free. But that service can be accessed only with a personal computer.
This news comes at a time when the Unites States Postal Service is threatening to increase shipping rates on all soft edged envelopes because they are not sortable using their machines. According to the USPS, it has cost them around $42 million in labor expenses over the last two years. Netflix isn’t too concerned over the increase for various reasons, but the idea of receiving movie rentals over the internet takes the USPS out of the equation altogether.
I have a couple of problems with Netflix at the moment, one of them being that the system isn’t perfect. Sometimes I receive damaged discs that cannot be read by my DVD player. At other times, I have received the wrong disc. These two problems would be eliminated with the new service.
This new and inevitable direction that Netflix is heading will unclutter my mailbox and my entertainment center. I can’t wait for the day when I have a Netflix “channel” on my television with my queue viewable with a press button on my remote. This is just more reason to love Netflix.
Posted by Matt on Jan 10, 2008 |
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Unitasker Wednesday: Spinmallow
You’re heading out on a camping trip and you have to pack one thing … so what will it be? After taking a look at the Spinmallow, it may be on the top of your list.
Why roast a marshmallow like a caveman using a stick when you can sit back and relax while the Spinmallow does all the work. No more waking up in the morning with a sore wrist from rotating marshmallows all night. The revolutionary Spinmallow rotates the marshmallow for you with the help of two AA batteries.
According to the makers of the Spinmallow, it is “the most exciting way to toast marshmallows over a campfire or barbeque.” I have no doubt that it is as exciting as it sounds, but what are the advantages of a self propelled marshmallow spinner? Again, according to the makers:
- No more searching for sticks
- Toasts marshmallows evenly
- Kids love it! Perfect for Scouts, family gatherings, parties and backyard barbeques.
- Great for hot dogs too!
- Detachable 29″ skewer is easy to clean.
So while those suckers are searching tirelessly for sticks, you can kick back and enjoy an evenly toasted marshmallow that kids love. You can also use it for hot dogs? Maybe this isn’t a unitasker after all!
Thanks to Guinnevere for pointing out this great unitasker.
**Unitasker Wednesday posts humorously poke fun at the single-use items that manage to find their way into our homes.
Posted by Matt on Jan 9, 2008 |
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Introducing Elfa Freestanding
The Container Store in the U.S. has started selling the Elfa Freestanding shelving system that doesn’t need to be attached to the wall to use. When I saw them for sale last week in my local store, I may have unconsciously shouted, “Finally!”
The Container Store introduced the new line by issuing a press release and sending catalogs with pictures of the new product line to people who live near their brick and mortar stores. It wasn’t until last week that I finally noticed the product line was available through their website. The photographs of the specific units are a little difficult to find, so I scanned a few of the pictures from the catalog for you:
I live in a home with concrete and glass walls, so I see the Elfa Freestanding system as a very welcome addition to the Elfa product line. My laundry room may finally get shelving units in 2008.
Posted by Erin on Jan 9, 2008 |
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Sony and Borders join e-book forces
After our post on Amazon’s e-book Kindle device, a few readers alerted us to the following alternative from Sony (via Publisher’s Weekly):
“Borders has joined with Sony to launch a co-branded online store offering e-book titles for Sony’s Reader Digital Book device. The new Borders/Sony online eBook store will offer access to the 25,000 titles available for the device that are generally sold through the Sony eBook Store.”
The partnership between Borders and Sony makes the Sony Reader Digital Book as appealing, in my opinion, as the Kindle device. If we have any users of the Sony model, I would like to hear in the comments section about your experiences with the product and new e-book options through Borders.
Posted by Erin on Jan 8, 2008 |
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A year ago on Unclutterer
- Getting started with getting organized
First you declutter, then you organize. Here are three simple steps to decluttering your space from 30 Days to a Simpler Life.
Posted by PJ on Jan 8, 2008 |
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