Archive for Home Organizing

Organizing Back to School

Posted by Carolyn on
 September 10, 2018

It’s Back to School Time!

Get organized to get back to school!

Say good-bye beach time, dock time and lazy sunsets late into the evening.  Hello schedules, calendars, assignments and packed lunches. Yikes! Where did that summer go.

Alas, here in North America, and many places around the world, school has just gone back in session after a couple of months of that beautiful thing called Summer Vacation.  however, getting kids and families back to school carries the same challenges  whether your are north or south of the equator.  To help you out, here are a couple of tried and true tips.  They work every time.  Hang in there folks….the holidays are only 10 weeks away.  Don’t worry….we can help with that too!

 

Keep the Family Calendar Public

Whether electronic or paper, a family calendar is an essential organizing tool.

To help keep the family organized with schedules, a posted, public calendar is helpful. There are several wall/refrigerator calendars available from special Family Organizing ones to white boards. Whichever style suits your families needs, make sure it is posted where everyone can see it. Schedules are best not kept as a secret. Try using an alligator clip on a hook to keep all time sensitive information i.e. Birthday party invitations, curriculum night close at hand. If necessary, use binder dividers to separate the information by family member.

Label, Label, Label

Used permanent marker to make sure lost items come back.

Label everything possible that doesn’t normally stay attached to your child. Label lunch bags on the outside so that they can see their name clearly. Try to have the children wear their new clothes several times before school so that the items are very familiar to them. If you don’t have access to iron on labels, a pen or laundry marker on the tag will serve the purpose.Children are most likely to lose items that they don’t recognize as their own  like all those new back to school clothes, binders and lunch bags.

Home Organizing
organizing the living room

4 Steps to Organize the Living Room and Reclaim Some Adult Space

Posted by Carolyn on
 May 15, 2018

Wish you could organize the living room for adult space?

organize the living

Boxes and ottomans are great toy hiding spots that children can easily access.

Are you looking to organize the living room and reclaim  a little of the adult space  again?  Have you stepped on Barbie’s shoes one too many times and wish you could organize the living room into a adult rest and relax space for just one evening?

Reclaiming adult space is a common theme for many parents.  No matter how much they love their children, at there comes a time when many parents crave a lego-free zone, even for just a short period.

Organizing the living room by banning Barbie, her shoes and the lego altogether may not be possible, or even desirable, for your family and home.  The living room frequently serves as a multi-purpose space.  In the absence of a large recreation or family room, the living room is sometimes adult relax space, Barbie’s house and lego creation central all at the same time.

Here are 4 steps that you can use to organize the living room to help keep Barbie, the lego and any other toys in check so that when needed, the living room can be the rest and refresh space the adults in your household are looking for.

Step 1 – Identify Easily Accessible Storage Space

Look around and study where you might find storage for toys and other children’s items in the living room.  Storage space, which children can access, doesn’t have to be complicated.  Look for space under tables, a shelf on a book shelf, a shelf in an entertainment unit, storage in an ottoman.

organizing the living room

Here is an example of re-purposing a bureau in the living as a table. The drawers make for great toy storage.

Step 2 – Contain the Chaos

Gather up the toys and see what can be parked where.  Identify a new home for the items.  Larger items can go under tables.  Smaller items can be stowed in containers on shelves, under the coffee table or on a book shelf.

Step 3 – Source out Storage Containers Complimentary to your Living Room Decor

Sure, toy storage can be bright and cheerful and kid friendly.  It can also be adult and decor friendly.  While lego may need to be stored in some form of sorting container, the finished products can be displayed with pride on the bookshelves an entertainment unit.  Consider using a glass coffee table with a shelf and the finished lego items become decorations themselves.

Step 4 – Build tidy up time into play time

organize the living room.

Open containers that match the colour scheme of this living room make for perfect toy storage on the bottom of the book shel

Once each item has a home, and the home has been put into place, the next step is to teach the children to use those containers and return their toys, books and lego to their homes.  In my experience, children understand that they go home after playtime so the toys and books also need to go home after play time.  When we teach them that the toys need to go home to after playtime, clean up is done by the kids, not the adults.

Home Organizing Organizing Strategies
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organized Garden Shed

The Path to an Organized Garden Shed

Posted by Carolyn on
 May 10, 2016
Organized Garden Shed

Keep tools and supplies organized to make gardening fun and easy.

Spring has arrived in the northern hemisphere, and with it, the promise of brightly coloured flowers, overflowing planters and fragrant fruit trees.  If you have a piece of property, chances are you also have a garden of some size and complexity and likely a shed to house the tools.  So, along with turning the soil, top-soiling the grass and trimming the roses, why not set up for an organized garden shed as well?

No more fishing around for tools you thought you had, can’t remember if you lent out and need for trimming that Euonymus.  Here’s a step by step process to get you off on the right path.

Step 1 – Empty the Shed

Start by completely emptying the entire shed if feasible. Once it is empty, you will be able to start with a clean slate.  You will also be able to see what you have and inventory your tools and their condition.

Sweep out the cobwebs, mouse droppings and other debris.

Step 2 – Inventory and Assess Your Tools

Review all your tools, shovels, rakes and hoes. Are there any that are broken, rusted or beyond repair? Throw out the irreparable and fix what’s needed.  Are there any that are redundant, never used and could use a better home with someone else?  Keep only those tools that you know you will use.

Step 3 – Look for Creative Storage and Give Everything a Home

Think vertical and you will find lots more fresh storage space that you may not have realized existed. The rakes, hoes, shovels can be stored on hooks or nails on the walls. This will get them out of the way and make them readily available when you are ready to rake.  If you have the funds, many garden or home supply stores sell mountable devices specifically designed for hanging gardening tools such as rakes.  If you are looking to organize using limited or no funds, use straight nails for hanging rakes, hoes, shovels and almost everything in the shed.  Have some fun seeing how many tools you can actually hang for storage.

Hang one shopping bag on another hook or nail to hold your digging and planting tools and a separate one for your garden gloves. Cloth grocery bags, made from recycled plastic bags and readily available in stores, are a great storage tool. Label with a permanent marker or bright fabric paint.  An alternative to hanging gloves and hand tools is to repurpose a wooden wind rack as a tool rack.

Items that are used on a daily basis or frequently during the week can be stored near the door on easy hooks or readily accessible shelves.  Think secateurs for deadheading roses, trowel for pulling or upending weeds.  Keep your garden gloves on the same shelf or hook beside – your tools are easy to grab for a quick 10 minutes of deadheading flowers each day.

Step 4 – Hide the Seeds from Wannabe Snackers!

Rodents and small animals would be delighted if you would just leave all those seeds out where they can help themselves.  Let the squirrels find their own nuts and pack up the seeds to limit their scent and make it hard for animals to get access.  Seeds that are stored in a plaster or metal box will be out of temptation’s way if rodents are a regular visitor to your shed. This is especially true of grass seed.

Step 5 – Keep Solutions Legal and Out of Reach

Organized Garden Shed

Daily maintenance of the garden is easier if your tools are readily available.

Review your solution bottles and know your pesticide by-laws. Many, if not all, jurisdictions have outlawed the use of pesticides. Check with your municipality to see where you can take the pesticides for disposal. Then check out your local garden centre to find an environmentally friendly alternative.

Even environmentally friendly products must be kept out of reach of children.  Make sure your organized garden shed includes shelves high enough that curious children can’t get into solutions, anti-fungal products and plant food.  Garden shed shelves, like tool hanging devices, can be expensive and fancy or inexpensive and simple.  Most home supply stores carry industrial shelving of various sizes and strengths.  Make sure to check the weight capacity, usually listed on packaging by individual shelf.  If your shed is metal or plastic, you may be limited to commercial standalone shelves.  With a wood shed, simple shelves can be constructed between the joists.

Step 6 – Use your Organized Garden Shed

An organized garden shed is easy to use and supports your interests in the garden.  Try taking your shed for a test run.  Can you easily find the tools you need?  Can you just as easily put them away?  Arp – e your daily use tools where you can get at them?  Are the seeds safely sealed away from intruders?  Have you kept only what you use and what you need?

Last step – as always, enjoy the fruits of your labours and the bounty of your garden.

Home Organizing Organizing Strategies
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So Much Recycling!

Posted by Carolyn on
 April 12, 2016
Recycling

Downsize and Recycle

“I didn’t know there was so much recycling!”

This is the exclamation of almost every client when we start to clear out the clutter.  When clients are downsizing, the pile of recycling and other cast off material gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

It is somewhat inevitable.  Living in one home for many years, sometimes decades, can lead to such a build up in clutter and unused belongings that we just basically forget about. We end up purging out a significant amount of material that can not be re-purposed, is not suitable for sale or donation and therefore ends up in either the garbage or recycling. When clearing out a space, even just to reorganize to make the space function better, clients are often surprised how much debris has collected over the years which ends up no more valuable than the garbage or recycling bin.

If you are looking at a downsizing project, I recommend that you start your project armed with information about how to get rid of what may end up being a very large pile of garbage or recycling. Some of the material can go to your regular garbage pick up or disposal although most jurisdictions now carry volume limits on the service. Check into your service provider, public or commercial to find a) volume limits b) size limits or c) alternate places where you can take the material yourself. Most of these places will have a tipping charge. In the jurisdiction where I live, this charge is $10 per 100 kg or part thereof.

If you know there is going to be huge amount of material to garbage you may want to look into a junk removal company such as 1-800-GOT JUNK. In addition, you will need to have a “staging” area where the goods heading to garbage can be put while you continue to clear out your space.  For recycling, check into the requirements to sort the recycling into different elements such as metal, paper and plastic.

Open Mail over the Recycling Box

If you want to avoid the accumulation, learn to process your paper with a paper recycling box nearby.  I encourage clients to literally open their mail over the recycling box or bag.  Of many, if not most letters, there is very little mail left over when the recycling has been taken out for example the envelop it came in and the inserts.  Discarding these items as soon as they enter the house, will help to keep the paper clutter to a minimum.  It also means less paper to house and manage.

“Even precious treasures left long enough, become garbage“.
One of my favourite client quotes.

 

Home Organizing Move Organizing
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organized closet

Organize the Closet – Lighten the Load

Posted by Carolyn on
 March 9, 2016

Organize the Closet? I Can’t see the Closet

organize the closet

Try the Friends, Acquaintances, Strangers game to sort through clothes.

Recently a client and I stood in front of what was supposed to be a clothes closet in her bedroom.  The door was open and the closet was full.  She was desperate to have a beautifully set up, organized closet. But in fact, we couldn’t even see inside much less organize the closet or contents.

Some serious purging and sorting was needed.

Almost all of these strategies were used.  Each strategy has its own merit.  They each work differently for different people depending on the item in question.  What works for you?

Pull Everything Out

Start by getting everything out of the closet.  While this can be an almost overwhelming task, at least you will know what is in there.  Get the clothes, purses, shoes, scarves and anything else out of hiding.

Use the Friends, Acquaintances, Strangers Game

Getting through the sorting of a full closet enroute to an organized closet can be daunting task.  Using the friends, acquaintances, strangers game can help.

Friends are the people you would have for supper.  In other words the clothes that you love, look good in, feel good in and wear often – or would wear often if you could get at them with an organized closet!

Acquaintances are the people you might chat with but aren’t very close to.  Which are the items that you thought you might like but ultimately never warmed up to?  Can they move on to a life outside of your front door? Off to donation?

Strangers are the people you just don’t know.  Or maybe the ones you knew but don’t hang out with anymore.  These are clothes that don’t fit or have gone out of style. You don’t care for them, don’t wear them.  Send them away.

Re – Consider the Gifts

We all have items in our closets that were gifts.  They were loved, liked or found amusing by someone that gave them to you.  But maybe not quite your taste.  Since they were a gift, they are yours to do as you please, right?  Consider, your mother likely didn’t expect you to keep that sweater for 4o years.  If you don’t wear it, love it, cherish it – send it off to someone who will.

Photograph the Cherished

Organize the closet

Which of your shoes are friends, acquaintances or strangers?

And then there are the items we love and don’t use; beloved items that just don’t measure up to today’s – or your – style. Take a photo. That way you have the memory without having the item take up space in your closet.

Organize the Closet

With a lighter load, its easier to hang up, fold up and generally sort everything back into the closet.  Try going through the sorting process again as items go back into the closet.  Sometimes a second round of sorting will lighten the load that much more.

Now stand back and survey the closet.  When you open the doors you ought to be greeted with friends waiting to be taken out and worn.  Items that you love, that make you feel good and that look great on you.

Home Organizing
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organizing footwear

3 Steps to Your Best Foot Forward

Posted by Carolyn on
 January 12, 2016

organizing footwear

I’ve always had an eye for shoes but not perhaps the way most footwear aficionados do.  I see organizing footwear as including presenting yourself with your best foot forward;  its more than just finding the perfect shoes and shoe storage.

People notice our footwear and its big business.  According to Transparency Market Research’s new market report titled “Global Footwear Market –  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 – 2020,” the Global Footwear Market was valued at USD 19,8782.9 million in terms of value and 9990.7 million in terms of volume in 2014, which is expected to reach USD 220227.9 million and 10,974.0 million in terms of value and volume respectively by 2020. Footwear  can impact your success in a job interview or the amount of respect earned at the office.  Take these three steps to make sure you have your footwear organized for your best foot forward.

Step 1 – Keep Only the Footwear you can Store

The temptation to continuously add to our footwear collection is tough to beat.  It is, however, important to make sure that shoes are stored in a manner that will keep them dry, dust free and easily accessible.  Too often I sort through closets with clients only to find shoes that are so badly damaged due to mold and dust they are beyond salvation.  Ultimately we end up throwing away hundreds of dollars of footwear.  Whether the shoes are stored in the latest, most expensive see-thru container or the shoe box they arrived in is less important than that they are  protected.  Use a storage system that gives you the opportunity to identify the shoes when you need them while keeping the shoes free from damp and dusty conditions.

Step 2 – Review and Sort Your Footwear Twice a Year

This is pretty easy for those of us who live in four season climates.  At least twice a year we sort clothes and put away warm weather clothes in favour of cold weather ones.  Weather your climate changes or not, use a twice yearly schedule for organizing footwear.  This gives you a chance to inspect each pair’s repair status, whether they are still fashionable, need a polish or some repair.  It is also a good opportunity to assess whether the footwear still fits, is relevant to your wardrobe and lifestyle or is due for replacement.

Step 3 – Find a Local Shoe Repair

Check shoes for any that need repair or polish.

Organizing footwear includes checking regularly for repairs and polish.

In today’s throw away culture, a shoe repair can sometimes be hard to find.  A good one that is reliable and easily accessible can be as helpful to organizing footwear as your shoe boxes.  Your budget will go further when soles are replaced instead of the entire pair of shoes, heels are reinforced, polish is reapplied and boots are protected from the winter elements.

Treat your footwear with some respect and it will be there when you need it.  Three simple steps will help you put your best foot forward and keep your footwear organized.

 

Home Organizing Organizing Strategies
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Great things can happen in an organized home office.

The Organized Home Office: 3 Key Ingredients

Posted by Carolyn on
 November 9, 2015
Home Office Sign

Making sure you maintain an organized home office takes basic ingredients and your own spice.

So you’ve decided to work from home – congratulations!  Chances are you’re going to love working in your jeans and t-shirt, without a commute and with the flexibility that a home office provides.  It takes some work, however, to ensure your work space is functional, productive, has all the tools you need and  is available to you when you need it.  These are important criteria for an organized home office.  Here are some key ingredients that can help your office meet those criteria.

Basic Ingredient: An Organized Home Office is Separate from Home Functions

When setting up a home office, clients frequently start by taking over a small part of an existing space in their home.  This is a great way to see if working at home is feasible.  You know the place: the computer table in the kitchen; the family computer desk in the den; the craft corner in the basement rec room.  These areas are often already multi purpose space.  Its where home work, crafts and family organization and communication are happening.  Adding the additional pressure of a home office is sometimes more multi than these multi purpose spaces can manage.  Professional organizers  are brought in to  help organize the home office when clients find the geography project has exploded over the latest market research report and invoices ready to be mailed.  

When setting up a work at home location, establish a means of separating the business work you do physically from anything else that might happen at that work station.  If you can’t  fully take over a space, and have to share with other household activity, use a cupboard, box or even just a shelf where your material can be collected and put away before the homework starts up.  Role model to other family members that you put away your material when not actively working at the common space; they are expected to put away their things when leaving the space.  It might take a bit of reminding at first but your material will be secure and the work station can continue to be used by the family while you enjoy the advantages working at home can bring.

House big enough you get your own corner office?  Lucky you. Just make sure that room has a door.  Opening the door is like stepping into a corporate setting.  It says “I’m at work”.  Same with the office-in-a-box approach.  When you empty the box onto the dining room table, you have arrived at work for the day.

Resist the temptation to use a corner of your bedroom for your home office.  The bedroom is a place for rest and relaxation, not work.

Binding Ingredient: An Organized Home Office is Mostly Self-Contained and Holds its own Tools.

Great things can happen in an organized home office.

Great things can happen in an organized home office.

Think of this as permission, resources permitting, to shop for the tools your office will need and to keep them in your office, even if it is just a box.  All too frequently we identify the space for our office space and then use tools from elsewhere in the house to stock it;  paper from the family computer station, stapler from the kitchen, pens from the junk drawer, hole punch from the craft boxes.  This can be an excellent use of extra tools around the house.  It can also mean, however, that your office is raided when that hole punch is needed for the science project.  You will need holders for those tools.  Use a decorated juice container from your 8 year old, or top of the line from the office supply store.  It  doesn’t matter.  What promotes keeping an organized home office is that the tools are there when you need them and can be easily accessed.  The more self contained it is, the more likely your organized home office will stay organized.

Spice it Up: Add Your Unique Style

desk with flowers in vase

Add some spice to make your organized home office reflect your taste.

It might be a business office, but one of the advantages of a home office is the freedom to decorate to your own style and taste.  Go to town and have fun.  The more comfortable and personal you make the space, the more likely you are to keep it organized and functional. About to land the company’s next largest order?  Do it in style.  If your office is stored in a box while supper is on the table, add your own taste with a special picture, pencil holder or the coolest file folders you have ever seen.  Using a cupboard?  Try putting your special pictures on the inside of the cupboard and leave it open while you are at work.

A home office can be fun and flexible.  A home based business can be rewarding.  Keep yourself productive with an organized home office that reflects your business needs and your own personality.

 

Home Organizing Office Organizing
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How Many Synonyms Does Planning Have?

Posted by Carolyn on
 March 31, 2015

Life comes at us all at about 150km/hour in my estimate. Occasionally a little faster; sometimes a little slower. Usually, pretty fast.

Being organized is being prepared to respond to what’s coming at you no matter how fast it arrives. Anticipation, preparation, planning all work the same way when it comes to organizing for life’s challenges.

Take tax season for example. I know today, 30 days before most of our taxes are due, that next year on June 15th, 2015 my business taxes will be due. I have more than a year to prepare myself and all the bits and pieces associated with tax submission in order to submit on time, or depending on your circumstances, early.

Tonight, on the other hand, I have no idea what time everyone will be home for supper and in fact, I’m not even sure anyone will be home for supper. So I have about 5 hours to figure out how to handle that challenge. My solution, a stash of nutritious freezer foods that even my 12 year old can safely prepare for himself after swim team training session.

Home Organizing Organizing Challenges Organizing Time

Collector, Hoarder or Disorganized?

Posted by chrisjanes on
 March 7, 2012

As I approached the highway yesterday morning, I caught the end of a morning radio show. The hosts were talking about the approach of spring and the need to do some spring cleaning, stating that “everyone hoards something, everyone has too much of something.” There was agreement around the table, then each divulged what they had too much of.


“I have too many pairs of Converse running shoes. Thirty seven pairs to be exact.”

“I have too many mini, hotel toiletries.”

“I have too much pasta. I find it all over the place.”

By this time, I had a huge smile on my face. Hoarding, a word virtually unknown a few years ago, is now part of the everyday vernacular. There are obvious benefits to understanding that hoarding behaviour exists, but there are still many people unable to differentiate between hoarding, collecting and just being disorganized.

I don’t doubt that these three colleagues used the word hoarding lightly, and realize that none of them are displaying true hoarding behaviour. Nonetheless, I have seen people who either judge themselves too harshly, or remain oblivious to the seriousness of the situation that their stuff creates. So, allow me to use the banter of our morning DJs to provide a simple example of what differentiates a collector, or disorganized individual from a hoarder.

Mr. Converse, is a collector: he takes great care of his shoes, has a system for wearing them, and shows them off, (by wearing them), regularly.

Ms. Hotel Toiletries, also a collector: she collects the minis so as to put together a little spa package for overnight house guests. There is a reason for her collection, and she too shares her collection with others.

Mr. Pasta, just a little disorganized: He buys something that he likes and wants to cook, he just needs to establish a system i.e. designate one place for pasta in his kitchen, so that he can easily identify what he has, and determine if a trip to the grocery store is needed.

The behaviours of the people above don’t even come close to what we consider hoarding behaviour. Most notably, people with hoarding tendencies would likely never discuss what they have. Sadly, people who hoard keep their lives a secret, or remain unaware of the harm that results from their behaviour.
Home Organizing
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Organize with a Camera

Posted by Carolyn on
 December 12, 2011

Many of you are opening up the holiday decorations, unpacking boxes and bins and joining in festivities with lights, wreaths, Christmas tree ornaments and those special holiday decorations that live on the mantel.  Problem is, every year there are a few more to add to the mix.  Can anyone remember how to get them all back in the box?  Packing up those boxes in January can be worse than that 1,000 piece puzzle at the cottage, full of sky and water, that no one has ever finished.


Taking a picture before everything comes out of the box can be helpful.  Take a quick photo, print and tape to the top of the box.  Letter the photo be the memory.  Now you can enjoy the festivities.

Holiday Organizing Home Organizing Organizing Strategies
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