Before you cozy up for winter, give your house a clean sweep, with "everything in its place."

"I've got to get more organized."

It's a common New Year's resolution, but January's list of improvements rarely leaves room for the big job of reorganizing a home.

Just as your house needs a good cleaning once or twice a year, it needs a reorganization to keep up with the onslaught of mail, school papers, bills, new purchases, and things you take out and put away every day.

This fall, before you bunker down for the winter, make your home more user-friendly by reorganizing every room.

Organizing paperwork

Keep an “in box” on the kitchen counter for mail, school papers, forms, and bills that you need to deal with.

Set up a file cabinet or file drawer for bills, receipts, school papers, and anything you want to save but don’t need to deal with anymore.

Every day go through your “in box” to be sure you’re not missing a payment or deadline. Pick one week day that you sort through the in box, pay bills, fill out forms and file everything that can be put away.

Organizing the things you use every day

Set aside a place for backpacks, gym bags, sports equipment, musical instruments and other things your kids use weekly. If you don’t have room in a mud room or a room inside the back door, clear off a shelf in the garage and stack colorful bins to keep your children’s necessities organized and at their fingertips.

Put a container near the back door or in the garage of things that need to go out: dry cleaning to go to the dry cleaner, shoes to be repaired, things to be mailed, photos to be printed, items to be returned or exchanged.

Lillian Vernon sells a hanging vertical closet organizer with roomy square slots for each day of the week. You can substitute a hanging shoe container. Hang this in your back door coat closet and put in there anything for that day. Before you all leave the house, check that day’s box and take out what they need. Can be for you and for the kids (gym shoes for gym day, etc.)

Get the kids involved

When your home is organized and things are in their place, it’s easier for your children to help with chores. If they know where things belong, they can help you clean, put things away and keep the house in order.

Use a different colored bin for each of your children. When folding clean laundry, put them in the owner’s bin and your children can put away their own laundry at the end of the day. You can use the bins to toss things you pick up around the house that belong in your children’s rooms.

Get a basket that sits on the stairs and put in there anything that goes upstairs. Every time someone from the family goes up the stairs, they have to take one thing and put it away!

Keep convenience in mind

Reorganize your drawers and cabinets so things are where you use them. Martha Stewart once said it’s amazing the inconveniences people will tolerate just because it’s always been that way. Drinking glasses should be next to the sink, silverware close to the table, envelopes and stamps belong where you pay bills, and light bulbs, paper towels and garbage bags should be in every bathroom.

The start of a new school year is a good time to stock up on pencils, pens, small tablets, business envelopes, paper clips, 3-by-5 note cards and anything else that your child may need for homework. Invest in a good electric pencil sharpener, a stapler and a three-hole punch, too.

Don't forget your storage areas

Fall is a perfect time to clean out your basement and attic and reorganize your storage areas. Get rid of anything you know you won’t use anymore and resurrect things you’ve missed.

Make room by purging

An organized closet and bureau is one that isn't overloaded. Go through all family members’ old clothes and take them to a resale shop or consignment store.