This post could have also been titled "How to not freak out about moving in to a little house of limited closet space with your big wardrobe and all of your soon-to-be husband's stuff that he can clearly live without but won't let go (see light-up beer signs and other bachelor pad horrors)."

When my husband and I were getting married, I desperately need help with this topic and sought some expertise from a professional organizer. Kim Clark, an expert at whipping cluttered messes into crisp, calm homes, helped me prepare for some of the biggest challenges to organizing our new place by suggesting some strategies and product recommendations to keep the soon-to-be Chateau Bordeaux organized.

Here are her top five tricks, in no particular order:

After I moved into my tiny studio, I started paying a lot more attention to interior design because the place needed some personality to make up for the lack of square footage (although the small space has turned out to be an advantage - I can Swiffer the entire place in about 45 seconds).



Kira Neal has the coolest home ever - plus a great eye for design and art. She inspires me to use more color, and her place has made me want to start collecting modern and pop art to add to the walls of my apartment. I interviewed her for a Refinery29 article about buying a place and wish that we could have included a hundred pictures of all the style she packs into her 2 bedroom condo on U Street!

My friend Gill rented a simple student apartment on Northwestern's campus and transformed it with restraint and thoughtful accessories. I love how it is serene, filled with light, and decorated with vibrant green plants - not just flowers, but living, air-cleaning trees, shrubs and other greens that need love, care, attention and regular watering.