Organize your home and beyond

If you take a little time and neaten up the black-hole areas in your life, you'll gain so much time (by not having to look for things) and peace of mind (by alleviating the aggravation of messy surroundings).

Ready? Set? Organize!

Entry: The foyer, the vestibule, the atrium ... whatever you call the entryway into your home, you want to keep it neat. Consider a sleek, multipurpose item like the Prepac Cubbie Shelf that I found for $61 on Amazon. It's a good-looking, sturdy, hanging storage aid with compartments for hats or purses, four hooks and a nice shelf top for additional items. Also consider a small table to drop your mail and keys. That way, you always know where they are.

Is that a closet you're driving?: For some, it's a means to get from A to B. For others, the car is simply a new frontier of disorganization. If you fall into the latter category, consider outfitting your car with organizers. There are entertainment cubes to hold CDs, kiddie storage containers to secure everything from drinks to books to blankies and cargo organizers with adjustable dividers and nets to keep groceries in place. Try caselogic.com and organizeyourride.com for good deals on sturdy and sensible goods.

Out of Sight: Whether it's the garage, the attic or under the bed, we all have long-term storage places where we keep stuff that's just not worth the space it's taking up. Do yourself a favor and get rid of the stuff you don't need -- give it to charity or to a friend -- and then treat the stuff you do need with a little respect. Try thecontainerstore.com for loads of helpful tips on how to keep things visible, accessible and ready at your fingertips.

Another place I love for practical and reasonably priced organizational goods is lillianvernon.com. They carry shelf separators to keep piles of folded clothes from toppling, various baskets to use as catchalls and junk-drawer separators like the battery rack with built-in LED tester! As for those overstuffed closets? That's a topic for another time...

(Helen Malani is the chief shopping expert for Shopzilla.com, an E.W. Scripps company and the largest comparison-shopping search engine on the Web. E-mail askhelen(at)shopzilla.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)