It’s gotten so difficult to shop for significant others in recent years that many households are skipping gifts altogether. Call us old-fashioned, but we still love receiving something special during the holidays. Even better, we have some great ideas for how you can surprise that special someone in your life.

Instead of racking your brain trying to think of the perfect gift for your partner, you should seriously consider giving them somewhere to put all those incredible gifts!

We’re talking about upgrading your storage space for the holidays with a new closet, pantry, or organizational system to bring peace on Earth to your home — and your relationship!

Find out how you can win this holiday season by giving the gift of organization!

Give Them the Closet They’ve Always Dreamed Of

It’s been reported that people will give up some wild things to have more space in their closets. Thankfully, you don’t have to make any drastic sacrifices to upgrade your closet with Closets by Design.

Even without a full closet remodel, there are all kinds of changes you can make that can maximize your space to make your closet seem bigger and more efficient.

Not only do people want more space in their closet, couples also fight about sharing closet space. A custom closet system could be just the thing to give your partner the space they deserve. It might even improve your relationship!

It has been shown that a tidier home leads to a happier relationship. Maybe some organization is just the spark your relationship needs. See how you can upgrade your closet this holiday season to give your partner a surprise that keeps on giving.

Install the Perfect Pantry for the Foodie in Your Life

If you or your partner love cooking, baking, or just eating, then you’ve probably given plenty of kitchen gadgets and cookbooks as gifts. These can be thoughtful, but what if you already have a stand mixer with too many attachments?

Instead of adding more clutter to the kitchen, you could find a way for your partner to store and organize all their stuff! If there’s one thing that foodies love, it’s an organized kitchen with everything at arm’s reach. The same goes for your pantry.

Consider adding custom shelving solutions to your pantry to find the perfect place for ingredients, spices, and more. Improving your pantry and kitchen storage is a terrific way to make this room one of the coziest and well-organized rooms in your house. That’s not to mention finding a place to put all those holiday sweets and treats!

A Place to Put Those Special Holiday Bottles

If the market trends are to be believed, then there’s a good chance that many people may be giving out a different kind of holiday cheer for gifts this year. Alcohol sales are up more than 25 percent, and sales traditionally double during the holidays. With so much cheer flowing around the table, where are you going to keep it all?

Even the nicest and most well-meaning bottles take up space on the shelf. If you plan on saving some of the nicer bottles from friends and family, then you’re going to need a place to store them.

If it’s a particularly rare or valuable bottle, you may want to show it off in a special light. Installing a custom wine rack and organization system is a wonderful way to store your wine. It also lets you add much-needed organization to show off that special bottle for your holiday feast.

Schedule Your Consultation to Make Your Season Bright!

Do you have a special someone in your life that could use a new closet? Give them the gift of organization to simplify their life during a stressful time and help them go into the new year with style!

Schedule your free consultation today and learn how you can give a gift that will keep on giving long after the holidays are done.

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It starts by knowing which organization mistakes you need to avoid to make sure your home looks its best. Here are the top organization mistakes everyone makes, and how you can fix them and organize your life.

1. Storing Clothes Out of Season

One big organizational mistake we see all the time is keeping clothes in your closet that are out of season. You may be asking why you shouldn’t keep all your clothes in your closet all year round. This is a good question that also has a simple answer.

The reason is that clothes can quickly take up a lot of space. This is especially true when it comes to winter coats and other seasonal items. Parkas and winter coats may look luxurious after Labor Day, but they look out of place in the middle of July.

It’s hard to make your closet look organized when it’s so full that it’s about to burst. Make room in your closet to give your clothes and your closet room to breathe. Store your winter clothes away during the spring and summer months to make more room in your closet for a cohesive and organized look you can love all year round. Not only will your closet look better, it will also be easier to find seasonally appropriate clothes for your outfit too.

2. Holding on to Things You Don’t Wear

Another organizing mistake people make is hanging onto things they don’t use or wear. We know it can be hard to let things go, but you’re not doing yourself, or your closet, any favors by holding on to clothes that either don’t fit, need to be repaired, or you just don’t like anymore.

Go through your closet and perform an inventory of your wardrobe. If you haven’t worn a piece of clothing for six months to a year, it’s probably time to donate or recycle it. You don’t need space in your life taken up by things that just weigh you down. Clear out your closet to make room for you to organize the clothes you actually care about.

3. Letting Piles Pile Up

No matter how nicely you stack things, a pile is still a pile. This is true whether it’s your clothes, mail, papers, or books. A mantra for good organization is “a place for everything and everything in its place.” A pile is not a good place for anything.

Items in piles can’t look organized because that’s obviously not where they belong. By adding bins and other storage solutions to your closet or home, you can keep lose items like scarfs, belts, bracelets, and more organized and out of sigh.

Even if your pile is more of a stack, it’s important not to let it get too high. Depending on the clothes, a stack on your closet shelf should never go more than three or four items high. Once you reach a certain height, it stops looking organized and looks more like you don’t have a place for all your clothes.

4. Clutter That is Out of Control

Clutter can be tricky because of the way it sneaks up on us. It starts as a shoebox or shopping bag here and there. Before you know it, there are things commandeering every closets in the house. Even if you’ve carefully arranged each knick-knack, a closets packed to the brim doesn’t look organized. It looks like you have too much stuff!

Try to pare down your items so there are only a few, specially selected things occupying each shelf. That doesn’t mean there isn’t space for your little Picasso’s masterpiece. It means you should be discerning with your decorations to make sure you see all your bric-a-brac in its best light. You can also teach your kids how to be clutter busters and build good habits.

5. Using Your Closet as a Storage Unit

We’ve all been there before. A few extra boxes, maybe some holiday decorations, or a Halloween costume make their way into your closet for a quick fix, with promises that you’ll move them later.

A few days turn into a few weeks, which turns into a few months. More things keep getting added to the closet. Before you know it, you don’t have any room for your clothes!

There is plenty of storage space in your home you didn’t know you had, which means there’s no excuse to let junk pile up in your closet. Save your closet for your clothes instead of turning it into a glorified storage unit.

Let Closets by Design Find Your Organization Solution

It’s easy to make a lot of these simple organization mistakes. That’s why sometimes the best solution is to trust the professionals! A professional designer with Closets by Design can help you set up the perfect system to organize your home and make sure it stays that way. Schedule your complimentary appointment with Closets by Design and start getting organized today!

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Let’s take a walk through the ages to discover the history of the closet, where it comes from, and where we can expect it to go.

Closets Date Back to Roman Times

At its simplest, a closet is a room, cabinet, or recess designed to hold clothing, china, and other possessions. It should come as no surprise that such a fundamental and helpful space would have been around for some time.

It turns out that some of the earliest people to use a closet were Roman soldiers. The soldiers needed a more practical way to store and transport weapons and armor, especially on long journeys. These storage units were called “armoriums.” As you might have guessed, the Latin word “armorium” became what we know today as an “armoire.”

Closets Became More Common in Early Modern Europe

In France during the 16th century, the armoire came to popularity among the upper class as a way to store weapons, tools, and clothing. There were even closets in England as early as the 1550s. However, these early closets had more in common with walk-in closets than the reach-in closet you’re familiar with.

These closets and were closer to a small private study instead of what we think of as a closet today. They were often used to store odds and ends like maps and books rather than a place to keep your coats.

As industrialization happened across the world, and goods were more affordable and easier to produce, people had more stuff to store. This led to a change in how people viewed and used the closet, but it wasn’t until much later that the modern closet started to take shape.

Closets Take Shape in the 1800s

The idea of the closet, as a dedicated space built into the home for storage, happened in the United States around 1840. We already told you about how Europeans had rooms called closets and used similar pieces of furniture for hundreds of years. However, it was Americans that established the closet as its own space built directly into the wall during the 19^th century.

The convenience of the closet built into the home rapidly became a standard feature in many American homes. It was nowhere near as expensive or bulky as furniture like armoires and chests. However, while Americans (and the rest of the world) were starting to warm up to the closet, they also didn’t give the closet too much thought.

It wasn’t until the 1950s, after World War II, that we started to really see what we think of as the modern closet.

America Creates the Modern Closet

The economic boom following the war led to an even larger consumer culture in the U.S., and increased need for a place to keep everything. More people began moving to the suburbs and buying larger homes. These larger homes came with closets, and Americans had plenty of new clothes to fill them with.

Closets by Design Reinvents the Closet in 1982

By the 1980s, people started to look at their closets in a new way. The question now became what you could do to upgrade their closets to make them more attractive and efficient. Enter Closets by Design.

Closets by Design was founded in 1982, and the way the world looks at closets hasn’t been the same since. Thanks to its incredible custom-tailored designs and commitment to total customer satisfaction, Closets by Design has reinvented the closet and continues to lead the way in modern closet design today!

Schedule Your Design Consultation With a Historic Industry Leader

We hope this has helped you learn a thing or two about the fascinating history of the closet. It’s always amazing to learn about the evolution of our homes throughout the ages. Are you ready to take your home into the future? Schedule your free in-home design consultation with one of the professional designers at Closets by Design and see how you can really make your closet stand the test of time.

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After all the work you’ve put in making your closet look amazing, it’s time to put your closet to work for you!  A famous person once said, “Ask not what you can do for your closet. Ask what your closet can do for you.”

You never know. Your closet may be hiding cash you never knew about.

Who What Wear reports that the average woman probably has between $1,000 and $2,500 worth of clothes and shoes that she won’t miss. That’s a serious amount of money that could be spent on all kinds of things. You could even use it to buy more clothes or upgrade your closet!

Learn how you can turn your closet into your own private cash cow. And not all of the ways involve clothes.

Consider Consignment

One of the first ways to turn your closet into cash is through consignment. Consignment can be a wonderful way to ensure you’re getting top dollar for your items and know that your beloved clothes are going to a good home.

Unlike other places like pawn shops, you don’t get paid immediately when you give your clothes to a consignment shop. Instead, the consignment shop agrees to accept your items and sell them for you in their store. If and when the item sells, you get paid, and the shop keeper keeps a piece of the sale price.

Putting your clothes in a consignment store can be a great way to get your clothes in front of potential customers. Online consignment shops like the RealReal and Poshmark are wonderful ways to make money on your lightly-loved designer goods.

Reports show that secondhand clothing is more popular than ever, so it’s a great time to be a seller of quality, secondhand goods. However, unless you’re dealing with designer brands that you’re confident will sell, it may take at least a month or two before you see any money.

Donations Can Be A Tax Deduction

Do you have quality clothes in good condition that may not be right for consignment? Don’t throw them out! Those old clothes can still turn into serious savings on your next tax return. You should seriously think about donating them to your local thrift store or a worthy charity such as your local Goodwill, Salvation Army, or veterans charity.  As long as your items don’t have holes or stains, you can feel great about donating them and someone will benefit from your generosity.

When you donate your clothes, make sure you don’t just throw a bunch of clothes in a bag and call it a day. As you put together your donation pile, keep a list of what you’ve included and a general idea of what it’s worth. This “fair market value” will be useful later.

After donating your clothes, the store will give you a receipt for you to itemize your donation on your next tax return. A lot of the time, the charity won’t fill this out for you. That’s where the list you made comes in handy. Add up the fair market value of your clothes and use that number on your receipt to deduct it.

What’s more, many thrift stores are non-profits that do a lot to help their local communities. Donating to these stores can be a great way to clean out your closet and get a tax deduction while also giving back.

Sell Your Stuff Online

The internet has opened a whole new world of options when it comes to selling your stuff. Popular auction sites like eBay have been a great way to earn extra cash for a long time. There are even sites specifically designed for selling or renting clothes.

Whether you’re getting rid of designer clothing you never wear, or lightly-worn children’s clothing your kids have outgrown, there are all kinds of ways to profit it from it on the internet. You can choose to go with the online auction route or even try selling your clothes directly through social media on Facebook Marketplace.

The downside of selling online is that you’re going to have to package and ship those clothes once they sell. It can be a lot of work, and it could become a job in itself, depending on how many items you’re selling.

Try a Yard Sale

You know you want to sell your clothes, but you don’t want to deal with the hassle of doing it online. If that’s the case, then you should have a yard sale! When everything must go, there’s nothing like a yard sale to get rid of it.

With a yard sale, there’s no paperwork, shipping, or driving involved. All you need to do is set up your stuff on the lawn and let the people come to you! The downside to a yard sale is that you might not get as much for your clothes as you would selling them online or through consignment. Even so, yard sales can also be a lot of fun for the whole family.

Let Closets by Design Upgrade Your Closet

The first step in making money from your closet is to get it organized and cleaned out. Having trouble seeing the hidden potential in your space? Schedule your free in-home consultation with the professional designers at Closets by Design, and learn how you can transform your home while also making some extra money!

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Does Living with Less Equal Happiness

You’ll find articles about this all over the internet; less clutter will lead to less stress. One of the most binge-able shows streaming right now is “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” After the show debuted on the streaming service Netflix, there were reports of surges in donations to thrift stores as well as throngs of people shopping for containers. People are being inspired, and Closets by Design can help them achieve their goals.

Expertise Meets a Helping Hand

We are not de-cluttering experts — we’ll leave that up to you. But, we can help you imagine what your totally organized spaces will look like. With a free design consultation, we can help make your minimalist/organized dreams come true, room by room. We’ll provide you with storage options designed specifically for your life. For example: if you’ve managed to pare down your unworn clothing but just can’t bring yourself to say goodbye to a single pair of shoes! Perfect! Closets by Design can accommodate your love with a beautiful wall of slanted shoe shelves. Maybe it’s a collection of cashmere sweaters? A cubby space specifically for those sweaters can fit the bill. That’s one of the things that makes Closets by Design so unique; our wide range of custom closet options and features made to order with quality top of mind.

A streamlined wardrobe is the perfect place to embrace the minimalist trend. If your day begins with one less decision about what to wear and no roadblocks in locating exactly what you are looking for, all the while you’re in a calm, clean, and beautiful environment, then your day is off to a good start. Leave the hassles to traffic and work!

Can Closets by Design be the Inspiration?

Like we said before — we are not de-cluttering experts. BUT, that doesn’t mean our beautiful products can’t provide the inspiration to minimalize. Just one look at our beautifully designed garage systems could motivate a weekend purging. Our garage systems look sleek and clean and are exactly on point. From garages to home offices, to laundries and pantries, Closets by Design offers more services than just closets! Providing whole-home organizing options makes Closets by Design a “one-stop shop” for all your organizing needs.

If you’re ready to embrace the minimalist trend and tackle all that clutter, Closets by Design can help. Contact us today and we’ll send one of our talented design experts to your home for a complimentary design consultation.

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With toys, shoes, sports and art supplies, the kids are turning your palace into a pit…who you gonna call? Camp Kid Clutter Busters!

The pros at Closets by Design came up with some ideas to help you transform messy Madison and Junkyard Jason into mini Marie Kondos.

Helping You Contain the Clutter

We help people put their mess to rest every day – designing and installing custom closets, pantries, garages – you name it. People usually focus on the adult spaces – but by putting some effort into your kid’s closet and play spaces – you can ultimately cut down on the clutter around the entire house AND teach kids organization and responsibility at the same time.

Here are some of the helpful Camp Kid Clutter Busters tips for busy families.

Hang Time

Two sets of hanging rods doubles your hanging space. The lower rod allows a smaller child to reach their own clothes without help. The accessibility also allows kids to put their own clothes away on laundry day. This teaches them responsibility and organization at an early age. Store clothes your child doesn’t fit into yet or out of season items on the top rod.

Bin There, Done That

By adding some open shelves to your closet, the space can be transformed with decorative bins and baskets; key components of clutter control. Bins and baskets hold everything from clothes to toys. Children can easily pull these containers out of the closet and put them back at the end of play time.

Kids Kicks

Kids tend to kick their shoes off anywhere and everywhere. This makes finding those shoes difficult sometimes. Designate a specific spot on one of the open shelves to neatly store shoes. You can also store shoes in a bin or a basket. If the closet has a hinged door, utilize an over-the-door shoe organizer.

Clutter Command Center

If the closet space isn’t ideal for the ideas mentioned above, consider creating a free-standing clutter command center. These can be customized to fit a child’s needs. Lots of books? Add more bookshelves. Need a place to read those books? Add in a bench seat with storage underneath. Lots of Legos? Custom cubbies can store these trip hazards in a snap.

Win the Chore Wars

In addition to the design tips, Closets by Design’s Camp Clutter Busters includes ideas to help parents win the chore wars:

• Make cleaning a game! Set a timer on a task and have kids try to beat the clock. Or, have them ring a bell when they finish a chore.
• Create a cleanup chart. As they finish a task, have kids mark a check in the box. Or, let them fill in the box with fun stickers.
• Offer incentives. If the kids do their share of cleaning, allow them to have more screen time with their favorite electronic device. Or, let them choose what to have for dinner or what movie to watch for a family movie night.

Are you a parent in need of Camp Kid Clutter Busters? Save your sanity and space! Click here to contact Closets by Design today for a free consultation.

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1) Figure out what to toss before you move in

Moving provides a great opportunity to go through your wardrobe and figure out what stays and what goes; but, it’s especially important to do so before moving in with your significant other. A good rule of thumb is if you haven’t worn a piece of clothing in over a year, then you probably won’t wear it again. Label three large bins “Keep,” “Donate” and “Toss,” and separate the items in your closet accordingly. This will give you a chance to go through everything before the unwanted items reach the dumpster. For couples who already live together, this can be a perfect partner project. Instead of throwing out something on behalf of your spouse without his or her knowledge, sift through everything together.

2) Keep your closet tidy and it won’t feel so tiny

Keeping a closet clean and organized is an easy way to make it feel larger. Small storage solutions, such as sliding belt racks and jewelry drawers, provide simple opportunities to stash loose items. Adjustable shelves, cubbies and baskets m

ake it eas

y to store away articles of clothing, rather than allowing them to pile up on the floor. When everything has a place, there may be more room inside your tiny closet than you realize.

3) Create hiding spaces

No one needs to air their dirty laundry in public. Consider placing tilt-out hampers into custom closets to stash away laundry or keep dry cleaning items separated. Cabinet doors are also a great way to hide whatever doesn’t need to be out in the open but may be too large for a drawer.

4) Establish closet boundaries

Like it or not, you can’t share EVERYTHING — even if you are sharing a closet, you don’t have to share every shelf and every drawer. Dividing a closet into sections allows each partner to feel like he or she has a space of his or her own. Even if one person’s wardrobe takes up more than half the closet, drawing a line can help keep you both in check.

5) Partner up for a dream project

You might not already have your dream closet, but who says you can’t turn it into one? Whether your closet is a large walk-in or a small reach-in, Closets by Design’s Everyday, Classic and Regency Collections provide numerous styles and options. Creating a custom closet that’s the right fit for you and your spouse will prove beneficial in the end — and this is the perfect project for newlyweds learning how to live (and work) together. After all, two heads are better than one. But of course, in this case, it’s three heads since you’ll have the help of a Closets by Design consultant.

Learn more about Closets by Design, and creating custom storage solutions, by visiting closetsbydesign.com.

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Closets often become cluttered and disorganized, containing not only clothes and accessories, but anything that doesn’t have its own place somewhere else in the house.

Would your dream closet really have golf clubs or soccer balls snuggled up next to your shoes? Maybe it’s time to actually design your closet space to get maximum usability, beauty and function.

Closets by Design has been helping people organize closets and other home storage areas for over 30 years by providing custom designs tailored to specific needs. It all starts with a free, in-home design consultation.

Our Designers Come to You

Rather than trying to access your needs with an online questionnaire, we send an experienced, professional designer to your home to spend approximately two hours focused on determining your specific needs. You may have definite ideas going in or you may be wide open for suggestion, like these clients:

• “I had no idea what I wanted in my closets. She came out, looked at the space in each closet and asked questions as to how the closets were being used and what my needs were. As she was designing she showed me what she was doing. The finished product is great.”
• “I didn’t want to have to deal with anything. Just knew I needed a better closet ASAP.”
• “With small spaces, she explained my limitations and helped me work within them.”
• “Really was able to help us maximize our space and keep the costs down.”

The ultimate goal is to design the perfect closet for your needs, to your specifications, reflecting your personal style.

In other words, to design a closet you will love.

Design With an Eye to Function, Style and Budget

Closets by Design offers three custom closet designs: Everyday, Classic and Regency, each offering an array of custom options and features.

Your design consultant will show you the range of our products, photographs of styles and designs as well as samples of the materials and the finishes available so you can see exactly what you’ll be getting, ensuring that your system will compliment your home’s style.

Your consultant will work with you on every detail so that the final design is the perfect closet system to meet your needs and beautify your home while staying within your budget.

Schedule your consultation today!

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Even if you’re the most organized mom on the block, back-to-school season is the time where everything seems to be chaotic. Less your stress by following these seven simple organizational tips:

1. Make an inventory: Step 1 in making the back-to-school bustle easier is to clear out all the junk
   Your kids have accumulated over the summer. Do an inventory of any supplies you have on hand. Most schools have back-to-school shopping lists available in July. Check online, at office supply stores and retail stores like Walmart & Target for the list. Determine what you have and what you need and go from there.
2. Get School Supplies Early and Organize Them. Lower the stress by shopping for school supplies early – beat that last minute, first day of school frenzy. Many stores and outlets start their school sales midsummer. Once the shopping bags are home, pack up the back packs for each child and you’re done.
3. Create space with a closet organizer: It’s amazing how much more you can fit into a closet that has an organization system installed. Clothes, shoes and stuff for all seasons can fit neatly into one closet. No more searching under your bed, in laundry baskets or on the floor for just the right outfit. And that means less stress in the mornings.
4. Designate space just for backpacks: Just like at school, it’s a great idea to have a special place for backpacks and bags at home. You’ll have more room to go about your lives when school is out for the day without tripping over bag and shoes. And getting out the door in the morning is easier when your kids know where their backpacks, books, and shoes are. It’s easy to install hooks or small locker-style spaces in your garage, laundry or mud room. Grab and go – that’s the motto in our house.
5. Design a comfortable work space: The best learning environments are quiet, clean spaces that are designated for studying. Before school starts, create a comfortable work space for homework in your child’s bedroom or other designated area. Make sure there is good lighting, no distractions and lots of storage space, so your kids can stay focused and organized throughout the school year.
6. Make organizing fun for kids: If your kid’s room is a mess, try to make cleaning out fun. Make it a game – Throw dirty clothes into a basketball hoop hamper. Turn on the music and see how many toys you can pick up before the song ends. How about having a kids’ garage sale for all their unwanted toys and they can keep the money from the sales?
7. Gently ease into the routine: Routines help children feel comfortable. Switching from a summer schedule to a school schedule can be stressful to everyone in the household. Practice your school routines a few days in advance of the starting day. Set the alarm clock, go through your morning rituals and get in the car or to the bus stop on time. And since you’re all up early, do something fun to celebrate your last days of summer freedom. Enjoy!

Guest Post by Kim Grosser of Closets by Design for The Mogul Mom

Kim Grosser is a mother of two and a true believer in organization. She is the franchise owner of Closets by Design in Cincinnati, and has been working there for more than 13 years. Since 1982, Closets by Design has built a reputation as the nation’s leader in the closet organizing and storage remodeling industry. The company offers customers comprehensive solutions to all their organizational needs in a short and simple process by designing, building and installing custom home offices, closets, garage cabinets, wall units, laundries, pantries, wardrobe mirror doors and other home organization systems. Closets by Design offers a wide selection of finishes, accessories and hardware. There are currently 33 franchise locations serving the U.S. and Canada.

www.closetsbydesign.com or call 888.500.9215.//

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