Sports equipment. Kitchen accessories. Bathroom doodads. Workshop paraphernalia. We buy it all. And before you know it, the "stuff" has turned into clutter.
Getting a handle on that clutter and giving it some semblance of organization is one of the fastest-growing categories of the housewares industry.
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"Home organization is such a popular housewares category that we will feature it in our display of timely products, called the Trend Tracker area," said Lisa Casey Weiss, lifestyle consultant for the National Housewares Manufacturers Assn. "People may already have organized their bathrooms or their kitchens because those products have been around for a while. So now they seem to be expanding that process into other areas like garages and even the outdoors."
Why the emphasis on home organization?
"I can't say definitely, but I think time, or the lack of it, has something to do with it," Weiss said. "People want to know where things are in their homes and be able to find them easily and quickly."
Another area of attention is closet organization. According to the National Association of Home Builders, newer homes have about three times the closet space of those built in the 1950s.
Total closet organizational systems are becoming more popular, but not everyone can afford to have his or her whole closet done at one time. Some opt for partial systems. Others choose to use rolling vertical carts, multitiered hanging accessories and other closet accessories.
Other products include scarf and belt hangers, shoe racks, accessory holders and under-bed storage containers.
"As baby boomers get older and have more disposable income, they are spending more on their homes and making their home environment more manageable," said Cindy Hubert of Woodlore, a company that makes hangers and shoe racks.
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