Maybe it was because I didn’t have a specific project in mind when I attended this show at Rock Financial Showplace on Sunday—but, I was very under-whelmed with the exhibits. I went searching for some great new ideas on home organizing—and I did find a couple of things to share other than the usual California Closets booth. (More on that later.)

There were lots of landscapers—mostly showcasing water features, decks and pavers. And, there were a few geo-thermal heating booths trying to sell their units with the hook of the 30% tax credit you would receive if they installed one in your home.

In general, though, it is a show geared toward someone who needs a new roof, windows, bathroom or kitchen. All the window manufacturers reminded guests that they would receive a $1500 tax credit for installing replacement windows. Yawn?

After a while, all the booths began to look the same to me and started to blend in to one another.

That said, here are a couple of standouts to help with organizing and keeping your home cleaner:

1. The Tidy Cup. I do have a soft-spot in my heart for a startup entrepreneur like Julie Reinhold. It’s a simple product that keeps the laundry detergent drips under control, retails for $6.95 and is available on the Tidy Cup Web site.

2. The pull-out drawer. This is a really great concept to retrofit to older kitchen or bath cabinets and make your stuff more accessible. There were two booths selling this service: The Pull-Out Shelf Company (my first choice) and ShelfGenie.

3. The Sir Stick A Lot pet hair picker-upper (which is only available for purchase at the show, after a high-powered sales demonstration). It strikes me as a product that should someday be in a Bed, Bath & Beyond. But, it did seem to work quite well and I did contemplate buying a set for my house … maybe next time?

In spite of the lack of "WOW!" factor, I would still attend next year, searching yet for that holy grail to keep our homes a bit more organized! Let us know if you happen to try any of these products… after all, the best endorsement is word-of-mouth.

Sarah Nicoli is founder and owner of dotmine dayplanners, the fashion meets function dayplanners, based in Ann Arbor. For the past 16 years, she’s learned a whole lot about household and time management from her best teachers—her family of 5, her 2 dogs and her many customers. She can be reached at snicoli@timemine.com.