While some home-organization gurus will tell you to start in the kitchen, I’m going to advise beginning in another area. The kitchen will be the third place we attack and this doesn’t make it less important, but I will explain why I’m starting elsewhere.

First, if you look around your home, you probably see lots of clothes. Am I right? You’ve got clothes in closets, you’ve got clothes in piles (meaning to put them away and not having time, eventually just pulling them out of the pile and wearing them), and you’ve got clothes in laundry baskets. You might even have rumpled clothes in the dryer or (heaven forbid!) the washer. If it’s the former, the clothes are only rumpled. If it’s the latter, they’re probably rumpled AND smelly and (potentially) mildew-y. Yuck! Somewhere in this Mt. Vesuvius of laundry, dirty, clean, or otherwise, is your home. And I’m guessing that if you have a laundry room, you keep the door closed, as there are multiple Mt. Vesuvii piling up in there. If you don’t have a laundry room but have a laundry closet (with room for the washer, dryer, and some shelves), I’m betting you haven’t seen the top of your dryer for weeks or even months. It’s covered in rumpled clothes and towels, right?

Have you guessed where we’re starting? That’s right! The laundry area of your home. And here’s why: if you get your laundry room cleaned and organized, you’ll be much more apt to actually DO the laundry that plagues you and helps your home to be disorganized. And because you won’t want to undo the work you’ve done in the laundry room, you’re more likely to fold the laundry when it’s done, and put it away. There’s something that’s a breath of fresh air about a straightened laundry room—sort of like when you walk in to a closet where everything is hanging neatly.

So start with small steps:

Can you see the floor? No? Then pick up what’s on the floor and put it in laundry baskets. If you don’t have enough laundry baskets to accomplish this, then just sort the things in to piles outside the laundry room. I make piles of light clothes, whites, darks, and towels/rags.

Can you see the top of the dryer? If not, put the excess clothes in the aforementioned piles. Grab one rag to dust and have two plastic grocery bags—one to collect junk, and the other for later. Dust the dryer from the lint-leftovers and use a little window-cleaner if it doesn’t come off readily. Don’t neglect the area where the “start” button is—that can be grimy, too!

Can you see the top of the washer? If not, repeat the steps in #2, using the window cleaner if necessary.

Okay - now you’ve got your washer & dryer cleaned off. Congratulations! Let’s continue to take small steps in the laundry room….

Now take a critical look at your supply-shelf. Do you have empty bottles or boxes lying around from spent detergent and/or fabric softener? Clean those out. Use that grocery bag that you’ve put excess dryer lint in and pitch those empties. Then organize what’s left. If you need to add things to your shopping list, now is the time— now you know what you’ve got and what you need to buy. When you organize your supplies, I recommend putting the detergent and any liquid softener above the (gasp!) washer. Make it easy to reach. Put the dryer sheets over the dryer—why reach more than you have to? If your shelves are higher than you’d like, use the top ledge of your washer & dryer to hold supplies! I’ve never seen a washer and dryer that don’t butt up to a wall for the electrical plugs they need. So use that space to your advantage. Put the detergent box or bottle on the top of the washer, along with whatever other washing supplementals you have. Put the dryer sheets on the top of the dryer so you don’t forget and end up with a load of static cling!

If you have wire-shelves above your washer & dryer, you’ve got a built-in place to hang a trash bag. Use that extra grocery-sack and cut one of the handles in half. Then tie those two ends around some of the wire-shelf and use the bag to collect dryer lint and empty containers from your emptied laundry supplies. When it’s full, cut it down and put it in the trash and put up a new one.

Now look at your floor. Does it need sweeping? If so, grab a broom and sweep. It won’t take you more than 5 minutes and you’ll feel much better about your room and your work—especially if something you’ve just washed falls on the floor as you’re transferring stuff to the dryer.

Congratulations! You’ve done the preliminary work of organizing your home—you won the battle in your laundry room! Take a 15 minute break and enjoy this victory. Then start the task of doing the excess laundry that you’ve been collecting—one pile at a time. When the first is done, swap it out immediately to your dryer or to hangers, if that’s more appropriate. Take it one pile at a time—in other words, small steps! Soon, you’ll find that it really only takes 5-10 minutes to fold warm clothes from the dryer and put them in laundry baskets, ready to transfer to the appropriate rooms, closets, and drawers. The rewards are huge here—keep up on it (one load every day) and you’ll win the war against the Mt. Vesuvius of clothes in your home.

Read More About Organizing Your Home

The Essential Guide To Organizing Your Home is your solution. Now you can dive right in with this easy to follow, room by room guide to a clean and organized home.

Different Types of Interior Designers
Interior Designers rarely work in every field. It is common
for them to pick areas to specialize in. By choosing a
specialty, you can further enhance your skills and abilities
in that mode of design. It will certainly make for a better
portfolio, and will allow you the time to become an expert
designer in that field. Here are some of the specialty fields
that you can go into.
Sometimes designers choose to specialize in residential
areas, and sometimes they choose to specialize in commercial
properties. Some even narrow their field that they specialize
in by only doing work for certain types of homes and
businesses.
It is also quite common for designers to refuse to
specialize at all. Some will work wherever the work is. This
leaves the field a little bit wider for them, but specializing
is a more professional route to take. It is also better for
your portfolio in the long run.

Residential Interior Designer
These designers do most of their work in people’s homes.
They design various rooms inside and around the home. There is
a lot of freedom in this type of field because clients
generally let their designers have free reign to let their
creativity create a beautiful space for them. You can do
inside work, patios, guest houses, and even garages.
Many Interior Designers prefer this type of work because it
is less stressful, and the deadlines are usually a little bit
more relaxed. Homeowners rarely harass you to keep them posted
on every aspect of what you are doing, so it can be a
rewarding specialty. When you are allowed to create something
that makes both you and the client happy, the feeling is much
better.
The money that can be made doing residential design can be
a little bit less lucrative at times, but there are always
wealthy people that can use a great interior designer as well.
Sometimes, the work for residential areas can be quite small
also. This type of work is generally for the designer that is
in love with the aspect of being creative, rather than the
need to be rich. If you are thinking of Interior Design as a
means of expressing your creativity, this could be the right
place for you.

Commercial Interior Designer
Designers that specialize in commercial property and work
do projects for businesses. The type of business varies
greatly. You can do work for banks, hotels, restaurants, law
firms; you name it. Any business that you can dream of is open
to this specialty.
Good people skills and negotiation techniques are a vital
aspect of this specialty as well. After all, you are dealing
with business people. They respond well to a good business
person. You could be required to design an office space, a
hallway, lobby, and possibly and entire interior building. The
possibilities are endless here.
This is a specialty where your ability to estimate the
value of your own work will come in handy because many
businesses accept bids from the designers that they are
interested in working with. Also, you will often have to work
under specific instructions as to what the client is looking
for, so listening skills will be important here.
This type of specialty can be very lucrative if you can
establish a good rapport with your client. Doing a good job
will lead to a steady, return client, and your ability to
satisfy this client will often guarantee you more work as the
client’s word of mouth can lead to other businesses desiring
your services.
You may also have to work a little more closely with your
client in this field as well because business people like to
be on top of things to ensure that they are done right. It may
be a little bit annoying at times, but it is worth it in the
end.
These are not the only branches of specialty. Some
designers can choose any sub branch to specialize in as well.
There are quite a few and all of them are intended for the
designer that has a particular forte in the field. They also
offer great employment opportunities for the designer that
would like to make extra money on the side. They are as listed
below.
• Kitchen and Bath: This is a branch that you may wish
to specialize in if you are quite adept at it, or if you
have a general knack for it already. There are a great
many possibilities in this branch because these are areas
of the house that are often in need of dramatic change,
and they are high traffic areas. You should have
knowledge in cabinetry and plumbing for this particular
branch.
• Windows and Draperies: This seems like a small area
to specialize in, but the windows of a house or building
play a big role in the overall structure. They are a
source of energy efficiency in every home, and they are
often changed on a yearly basis. Basic heating and
cooling knowledge helps, as well as dry walling, and
space management.
• Lighting: The lighting of any area is often a bit more
complicated than plugging a lamp into a socket. Often, it
is the addition of special lighting that can completely
change a room’s environment. Some small additions or
subtle lighting can change the way a room feels.
Lighting is an often overlooked sub branch of Interior
Design.

Read More About Becoming An Interior Designer

If you are interested in Interior Design, you can start your own career with just a little guidance. Has anyone ever told you that you have an eye for design? The last time you helped someone move, did people ask your opinion when trying to situate furniture? Maybe you just enjoy rearranging and decorating rooms in your head. All the same… if you have the itch, or even an interest, you have already taken the first step to becoming an Interior Designer.