Get Organized and Maximize Your Space with Bob Focht

By: Ask the Expert, Homes

Based in Fleetwood, Closet Factory offers comprehensive storage systems and interior design services that elevate closets and cupboards into stylish showcases. President Bob Focht's tips and insight will give you a renewed passion for putting things away.

Why Be Tidy?

Though they deal in shelves, racks and bins, Focht says the heart of his work addresses the factors of time, stress and self-esteem. Messy closets and drawers aren't just an aesthetic annoyance. Time wasted looking for things you know you have but can't find invites unnecessary stress and holds us up when we could be already wearing that missing dress and heading out to the party, or adding shredded cheese to our tacos instead of digging through cabinets for the grater, stomach growling.

When Closet Factory first gets started on an organizing project, Focht says, “Many clients don't want us to see the space. They're ashamed to show it to anyone.”

It feels wretched looking at a messy closet or kitchen and wanting to hide it from the world. It can feel like a reflection of your life as a whole. Getting organized will give you more time, ease and mental clarity. Get after it.

Reduce Ruthlessly

Purging possessions around the house can be a deeply emotional and exhausting activity. Focht has two words of advice to cut through the haze of indecision: “Get tough.”

If you haven't worn it in two seasons, you're not going to. Toss it! If you're waiting for the day when too-tight clothing will fit, you could be waiting forever. Get rid of it! “If you lose weight,” Focht says, “you can celebrate with new clothes.”

Supporting the publishing industry is a valiant effort, but collecting stacks of dusty magazines is an all-too-common consequence. Just save the recipes or article clippings and recycle the rest.

This approach of taking the baby out of the bathwater and not keeping a whole tub of suds could be applied to other things in your house, like CDs and DVDs. Now that so much is kept on the cloud, you may not need these antiquated items to have all your favorite media at your fingertips.

More Is... Less?

With all this eliminating, it might seem counterintuitive to add items to the home, but organizing receptacles help minimize the space stuff takes up and the time it takes to find it.

Storage solutions like baskets and boxes aren't just great for your lacy unmentionables. “Small baskets work great for TV controls,” Focht says, “and even simple things like a mail-handling system.”

Boxes or baskets on shelves can substitute for drawers in a closet space and help keep your clothes organized so you can dress yourself with laser precision. Underwear, socks and nightgowns are all drawer-dwellers, according to Focht, while other clothes can be folded on shelves. A four- to six-item shelf stack is the rule of thumb for visibility and ease of access.

Sorting and Stashing

Sorting your wardrobe seasonally helps get it into manageable sections, and Focht recommends packing off-season garb away. Make sure it's packed clean, as any residue can react with fibers and invite unwanted guests.

The next subset is formal/business/casual, and unless you're a minor celebrity, you can relegate the formalwear to the least-accessible areas. Focht warns not to store dry cleaning in its plastic bags, where residual chemicals can damage the cloth. Lucky enough to have a fragrant cedar chest or closet? Sandpaper small spots periodically to release those good insect-repelling resins.

Get your shoes off the closet floor and onto some kind of shelving, but see if there's a place by the door or in a mudroom to keep everyday footwear and save the closet for the good stuff.

A Word on Workspaces

Aside from the concern of cleaning out expired foods, the kitchen and garage have similar organizational needs. They're both workspaces with tools, which should be situated based on the frequency of their use.

Store seasonal stuff like cookie cutters and ice scrapers away in the attic or basement, and save the top drawers and knee-to-shoulder-height locations for the stuff you use all the time, employing plastic bins on shelves to help access things in the back.

Focht calls the garage the most organizationally neglected space in modern homes. Even if you cut your high-school shop class and you don't know how to make or fix anything, you can still use this space to store nonperishables like bulk toilet paper or pet food. Sorting out a system to get sleds, weed wackers and motor oil off the floor is important to address tripping hazards.

Tackle your house with these insights in mind and you'll be getting more out of your space, your stuff and your life!