Collection Cleanup

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Marketing consultant Nat Antman is an avid collector of a variety of items and has been since his youth. The problem is that now his small apartment is being taken over by those many collections, and he barely has enough room to move around.

He brings in professional organizer Lisa Zaslow to help him get his things in order and make better use of his living space. She's definitely got her hands full! Take a look.

Before

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The main problem is the small bedroom. It measures only 154 square feet (14 feet long, 11 feet wide) and doesn't have a door. His bed sticks out of the doorway and is the first thing you see when you walk into his apartment.
It's so crowded in the bedroom that Antman has furniture lined up wall to wall.
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This trunk in the corner is being used as a catchall. Notice the red-and-white laundry bag on the left.
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It's so crowded in the bedroom that Antman has two mismatched dressers placed right next to one another.
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This one is so full he can't even close some of the drawers. It's also so close to the other dresser that the drawers won't open all the way.
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His closet is crammed with clothes, shoes and even a TV. What's more, it's concealed by sliding doors, which are the worst kind, according to organizer Lisa Zaslow, because you can never see the entire contents all at once.
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He had good intentions with these storage bins on the closet shelf, but now they're disheveled and overflowing. He's also got a tangled mess of coat hangers shoved to the side of them.
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He stores his off-season clothes and shoes on top of the kitchen cabinets--some in see-through containers. Zaslow suggests solid, more decorative containers if storage there is a must.
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His desk area is covered with so many piles of folders and jumbled wires it's a wonder he gets any work done. It's also yet another catchall area for some of his knickknacks.
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He had the right idea with this display cabinet, but it's sitting atop his desk, taking up some of his valuable workspace. It needs a home of its own.
It's time for Antman to sort through and clear out things that are no longer needed, then decide on some new furniture pieces that work better in his small space. He agrees to clear the decorative items off his desk and sell some of them at a flea market. He also intends to pick up storage cabinet for his collectibles while there. Zaslow has a closet organizer installed that includes a useful accessory organizer and rearranges some of his existing furniture.
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This is what the view from the bedroom looked like before Zaslow shaped things up ...
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... and now look at it. The bed has a more private location, and the desk is neat and orderly.
After

Three weeks later, it's done. The crowded, confused bedroom is now a relaxing environment, and the illusion of a larger space has been created. There's a new sense of style and calm that motivates Antman to maintain it.

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Behold the new-and-improved closet, complete with sturdier metal hangers, an accessory organizer for belts and ties and clear storage bins. There's a place for his laundry bag, and there's even a rollout wire rack for his TV.
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Those old sliding closet doors that Zaslow hated have been replaced by a custom pull-up blind. Antman likes it so much he had another one installed to separate the bedroom from the rest of the apartment.
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Remember those unsightly bins full of out-of-season clothes on top of the kitchen cabinets? He still has to use that space for storage, but these new ones are much more attractive.
So what happened to all those knickknacks and collectibles Antman had piled haphazardly around his house? Some stayed and some were sold at the flea market.
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With some of the $3,000 Antman made selling off his pieces at the flea market, he bought this old dental cabinet to use as a storage system for some of his collections.
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His pen collection fits nicely into one of the drawers. To avoid unsightly labels on the outside of the drawers, he has drawn out a map of what's inside.
Zaslow's Tips

  • Drawers will keep collections organized for the long term.

  • Set up criteria to decide what stays and what goes.

  • Many dry cleaners will take back wire hangers and reuse them.
Products from Stacks and Stacks:

duvet cover
cable clamp
TV strap
vinyl cubes
oblong storage cube
drawer dividers
sheet set
jewelry tray
round slider
cord control kit
three-step with rail
canvas duffle bag
file folders

Products from BoConcept:

Bed Concept
Carla office chair
Mia lamp with large linen shade
Woody wall lamp

Products from The Container Store:

Elfa closet system
Lookers bins
Green Bold boxes
cedar 40-peg tie hanger
self-adhesive Soft Dots
InterMetro white serving cart
Wire Snake cable organizers
Cable Turtle
translucent project case
vinyl and mesh pouch
men's and athletic shoe drawer
locking luggage strap

Products from Levolor:

closet cover
room divider
window treatment

Guests
Lisa Zaslow
Organization and Productivity Consulant, Gotham Organizers
Website: www.gothamorganizers.com

Resources
decorative organizing products

phynyl floor mat--Chilewich

furniture--BoConcept

organizing and storage supplies

window fashions--Levolor

Also in this Episode

Comparison Shop for Home Decor and Garden Tools at Shopzilla and BizRate.

UpMyStreet and uSwitch.com provide UK comparison services.