D Movement: The Final Days of Project Organize

By NaTisha Moultry, Community Relations Manager

Enter Project Organize by September 30!

As we approach the final days of the Project Organize contest, I started thinking about the reason we created the contest. Most people have a hectic schedule with work, kids and social activities. Getting organized can be overwhelming at times and some people may feel like it is an impossible task. I wanted a fun way to encourage people to clear the clutter in their homes, offices or garage while offering them an incentive for doing so. I was actually at home cleaning my own closets and I wished that I had some help getting things organized. I also thought about how wonderful it would be to have someone else clean after everything was neatly put away. And that was how the idea of working with a professional organizer and cleaning crew was born.

Project Organize offers great prizes; a three-room makeover by Complete Organizing Solutions, a five hour cleaning by Angel Maids, as much as five hundred dollars worth of products from the Container Store and a one-hundred dollar Goodwill gift card.

I encourage all families, whether you win Project Organize or not, to create your own campaign to clear the clutter in your home. Encourage the kids to donate clothing they can no longer wear or toys they no longer play with. Go through the kitchen cabinets, closets and the garage. Donate any usable items that your family no longer needs to Goodwill. Not only are you creating a clutter-free environment in your home, you are also helping Goodwill fulfill our mission of providing employment and training opportunities to people in the community.

If you could clear the clutter in three rooms in your home, what would they be?

D Movement: Project Organize – Kick the clutter to the curb!

By Tanna Clark, Complete Organizing Solutions

Enter to Win Project Organize!

Let the yard sale season begin! As the cooler weather approaches it’s time to kick the clutter to the curb, with price tags of course!

This is the best time of year to get your house back in order after the busy days of summer, and to prepare for the upcoming holidays. The best way to do that is to declutter. It’s time to take a walk through the house room-by-room to gather all of those items you no longer use or love.

In order to have a successful yard sale here are a few tips:

1. Team with your neighbors. A community yard sale gets much more traffic than a solo sale. Pitch in with your neighbors to put a larger ad in the paper.

2. Price as you declutter. You can buy a pack of pre-labeled stickers with yard sale prices already printed.on them.

3. Set-up the night before. Prepare household items and clothing the night before the sale, preferably in the garage. Move the tables closer to the street the morning of the sale.

4. Get the kids involved. Our most successful yard sale was one in which we had the kids set up a table selling cookies we baked the day before. Cookies are a perfect snack for your shoppers and it drives in more traffic!

The most important clutter-fighting rule is to not let it back in. Once your sale is over pack it all up and head to your local Goodwill donation location or store. All too often we let the clutter back in to take care of it later and later never comes. Take care of it now in order to benefit a greater cause.

Good luck and have fun!

D Movement: Project Organize

By Tanna Clark, Complete Organizing Solutions

School is in full swing and you may be looking around at the clutter summer has left in its wake wondering how you’ll ever get back to normal! Don’t worry. Goodwill’s Project Organize is stepping in to help you clear the clutter and regain control at home!

That’s right! One lucky Middle Tennessean will win a three-room clutter rehabilitation from Complete Organizing Solutions. This will be the fourth year I have partnered with Goodwill to help a harried family get organized.  This year there’s even more! To help celebrate the upcoming opening of The Container Store in The Mall at Green Hills, the folks at the store have offered $500 in products to be used for Project Organize!

If that doesn’t sound like bliss already, we have something special planned to reward the homeowner for all of their hard work while decluttering. Angel Maids has kindly donated five hours of cleaning!

The contest runs from September 1st – September 30th. Enter here!

In the meantime here are a few tips to get you started on your next organizing project:

1. Sometimes the largest barrier to getting organized is just getting started! You may be looking at your whole house thinking “Where do I start?” That kind of thinking is likely to get you stuck in a disorganized rut. Stop focusing on the big picture and mentally separate your house into bite size manageable goals and work your way through them.
2. Don’t buy a single organizing product until you have sorted and weeded out what doesn’t belong. Containers can become clutter, too! Make sure you know what you need before stocking up on supplies.
3. Think outside the box. Get creative with your storage options. Just because that shoe organizer hanging on the door is for “shoes” it doesn’t mean you can’t find other uses for it  A pocket shoe organizer is great for toiletries, hats and gloves, or for smaller items in the pantry!

Most important – don’t let the clutter overwhelm you.  Think simple!

Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc., has been serving Middle and West Tennessee for more than 50 years and Project Organize is one of its ways of saying thank you for your support and donations!

What room in your home would you most like to clear the clutter?