Tame Your Clutter

	Can't Find Anything?

Every January, "getting organized" is one of the most common New Year's resolutions people make.

Unfortunately, like those other promises to lose weight and quit smoking, getting organized usually ends up being something of a flop.

One look at toys strewn across the kids' room, or the garage filled with so much junk your car barely fits in it, and you're finished before you start. It's just too overwhelming.

But don't punish yourself if you'd rather head out to a movie than rummage through an unruly closet.

It's normal to feel overwhelmed at the mere thought of starting a project, according to organization expert Donna Smallin.

"You need to get your brain in gear. Organizing is a learnable and practicable skill, and you can get better at it," explains Smallin, whose easy-to-follow advice is featured on her Web site and in her book The One-Minute Organizer.

So take heart -- with help from organizing pros such as Smallin and retailers such as The Container Store, Office Max (OMX Quote) and California Closets, whipping your home into shape in 2007 will be a resolution you can keep.

Clean Me

Seeking help may be step one. "Hiring a professional can be one the best things you'll ever do, even if they only work with you for a few hours," Smallin says.

In 2003, Robert and Yolanda Finley bought a home in South Orange, N.J., and planned to renovate the large unfinished basement. But by the time they were ready to start the project, the basement had become home to a large and disorganized collection of family belongings.

"With our busy work schedules and other responsibilities, it had become easy to go down there and dump things," says Yolanda, a PR consultant and sales associate with Coldwell Banker real estate.

But with contractors scheduled to begin demolition, the room needed to be cleared out.

The Finleys hired professional organizers Barbara Nemery and Margaret Post of Just Consider It Done, who came to their home, assessed their needs and created plans to maximize storage space in the basement's side rooms. "They told us what type of shelves to buy at Ikea, as well as bins and baskets for smaller items," recalls Yolanda.

The organizers then helped the Finleys tackle that big pile in the basement.

Clothes, books and housewares were tagged for donation and taken by the company to the local Salvation Army. Old bedding was brought to the Humane Society, and trash was thrown in a rented 40-yard dumpster.

Everything the Finleys wanted to keep was stowed in the newly configured storage space.

The entire project took two days and cost approximately $1,500, which includes the fee charged by Just Consider It Done, as well as the cost to rent the dumpster and purchase new shelves.

"It was worth every penny," Yolanda says. "We could have purchased shelves and done all of this work, but we needed that extra push. They got us focused on the task and got the basement ready for renovation."

The revamped basement is now her family's preferred space to relax and play, and ithe successful cleanup has inspired the Finleys to take on other home projects.

To view Anne McDarby's video take of today's Good Life segment, click here.