A Haven for a Hectic Family

Office

The adjacent sitting room, used as an office, is full of broken furniture, computer parts and uncontrolled paper. The couple would like to reclaim the space for relaxation and productivity.

Sofa

The sofa — intended as a gathering spot for the family — is inaccessible because of, you guessed it, piles of clothes.

Closet

Instead of hanging things up in the crowded and jumbled closets, clothing just gets dropped on the floor or any other horizontal surface.

Professional organizer Kendra Muscella has a plan that will make it easy for the Lyons-Fishers to find clothes and put them away in the bedroom as well as make a functional office.

The biggest challenge is weeding out all the excess clothes. Kendra's rule of thumb for this problem is: If it was destroyed by a fire or flood, would you miss it?

After a manageable quantity is determined, the amount remains fixed by using another rule of thumb: something new in, something old out. Once everything has an assigned place, it is much easier to maintain good habits for organizing clothes.