A new year often inspires us to improve our lives in various ways. Keeping a more organized home might be one. Having a place for everything and keeping everything in its place is a great way to save valuable time and effort and help keep you focused on your many worthwhile endeavors. It increases productivity and promotes sanity.

Even if you have a fairly organized home, you will need to make regular, consistent efforts to keep it that way and to re-organize spaces as projects change and living brings along more "stuff." You might want to adopt the motto that when anything new comes into the house, something old must go out! Otherwise clutter will sneak up on you and destroy the beautiful serenity you worked so hard to establish.

Try to clean out one drawer every weekend, or clean and organize one room per month. Look for clever, convenient storage solutions"? for the stuff you use every day that tends to clutter a room. 3M Command hooks are my newest organizing tool. You can attach small, medium, or large hooks on the back of a closet door or wall for things like nightgowns, t-shirts, purses, hats, belts, etc. And the beauty of these babies is that they can be removed without damaging the surface to which they were attached! By the way, Command also has great solutions for hanging pictures as well.

Attractive storage bins and baskets are also a great way to corral unsightly clutter and keep stuff easy-to-find. Laundry rooms, kids' rooms, the office--these are often great places to use such baskets or bins on open shelves to keep things looking nice.