Organize Archives

Did you miss travel? Tried & True, Travel Tips & Tools

July 2, 2021 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources

Having missed traveling over the past year I’ve needed to hone my travel organizing skills with useful Travel Tips and Tools. Some things get easier when you do them more often and a little rusty when you get out of your routine. I’ve been on the road a lot with things opening back up, visiting friends and family, and traveling regularly for business (1 week a month), so I’m sharing a few of my favorite, tried, true, and new products, tips, and tools for day to day travels and longer trips.

Luggage is a good place to start! Select pieces appropriately sized to your travel time and needs. If you don’t want to mess with checking luggage during air travel, make sure it will fit in the overhead bins. I prefer soft-sided carry-on luggage and hard-sided luggage for checking in. If you do have to use a larger bag, make sure you have a way to keep it underweight or be prepared to pay the hefty fees! Wheels make any luggage more manageable and some even come with portable batteries that can be used to recharge phones etc. Be sure your carry-on luggage is comfortable to lift and maneuver (especially in the airport) if you are traveling alone. I like to pack a spare shirt, undergarments, and essentials in my carry-on for long trips, in case your bags don’t make it at the same time you do. A cross-body bag, like a messenger or long-handled purse, can leave your hands free and distribute weight more evenly while keeping important things more secure (I know there is some debate about this, so use your personal discretion). Some people never have to check a bag…I’m not one of these people, are you? I envy them:) I bring too much stuff wherever I go, but it’s organized and I’m prepared!
Pack a mix and match wardrobe in a single color palette theme (think Black, white and purple or brown, orange and tan, etc). Keep it simple and add a few easy accents. Build your travel wardrobe around a couple of comfortable and favorite pieces and you can’t go wrong.

Layout your outfits and add accessories and undergarments before packing or hang on a hanging rack if available. Add mix and match separates if needed once your basic outfits have been planned. I usually try to bring no more than 3 shoes, 3-4 bottoms, and more tops depending on the amount of time I’ll be away and the climate I’m visiting. This combination gives me almost endless varieties of outfits without the bulk of separate pants and shoes for every outfit.

I have a variety of bags and pouches in sizes for all sorts of things from accessories, cables, cords, my camera, toiletries, etc. All my clothes go in a series of Eagle Creek expandable pouches which I sort by kind of clothing, including undergarments, tops, bottoms, etc. I also like Ikea family bags, a hanging toiletry bag with clear pockets on the interior, and a variety of smaller zip pouches I’ve picked up or made myself. This zippered mesh pouch is one I take everywhere for anything I want to keep dry and undamaged, including papers, magazines, files, etc! What are your favorite small bags?

To keep technology in order I use a combination of bags (above), cord wrap accessories, and a favorite, the Grid-It by Cocoon!

Finally be sure you have backup documents of all your necessary and important paperwork (vaccination proof, itinerary, passport, ID, financial doc’s, etc) somewhere that someone you trust can access if you need them and bring along copies (bring a photo via your smartphone if you’re comfortable) of important numbers (accounts, phone #’s for financial institutions and emergency contacts, etc) for easy access.

For more ideas check out my Pinterest board Ideas for [Travel] and here are a couple of my new favorite travel pins…

I’m sure you have your own favorite travel tips and tools and hopefully, I’ve shared a few new things to consider for your next trip. What are your favorite Travel Tips and Tools?

Closets-the most frighting space in your home?

January 22, 2021 by Heather Filed Under: Closets, Organize

Guest post from the desk of Celeste B.

What is the most frightening space in your home? I’ll bet it is a closet of some kind, the place where the detritus of modern living has accumulated and grown neglected. Whatever else might be growing there is not to be ignored either. Wallace and I don’t have a garage, which I describe as the American ultra-closet for many people. Instead of renting a storage locker, many homeowners have co-opted the “extra” space taken up by the second car and dedicated it to barbeque grills, canoes, roof racks, children’s playthings, freezers, adult playthings, infrequently used tools, unfinished projects, unpacked moving boxes, wedding presents and generally redundant or bulky items that are rarely called into service, such as the trailer for the float you build for the July fourth community parade and that you don’t want to get rusty in the driveway.

Somewhere you have probably got a closet dedicated to similar use: housing family movies or slides with their projectors, sports equipment, never used vacuum cleaner attachments, orphaned framed art and bric-a-brac including that fondue set with all the skewers still in its box. There is nothing sentimental about fondue unless you enjoyed it on your honeymoon in Quebec, a lovely city.

Your reluctance to tackle the closet cleanup is not uncommon. Everyone has it and, besides, what are you going to do with all that stuff once it is sorted out? A pile in the hall is no different than one in the closet and re-distribution is a temporary solution. You have to agree with your partner to accomplish this cleanup because there may be items precious to one of you that deserve special consideration. Woeful is the partner who sends the varsity letter jacket to the second hand store without permission. Blessed is the organizer who seeks approval before, during or after a closet purge. Hoarding is another matter altogether and there is probably no agreement available to assuage the concerns of that pathology.

Closet clutter-clothing and more

Supposing that you are operating as one coordinated force on this, then there is a happy avenue for de-accessioning, as the museums call it. The yard/garage sale is by far the most satisfactory because, not only do you enjoy seeing people appreciate your stuff, they actually pay you for it. It is amazing always to see the cheery buyers sifting through the crockery, books, art and cast-off furniture, ever on the lookout for treasures overlooked by the rest of the world. It is somehow satisfying to see these burdens taken on by others as if they are financial Samaritans. And best of all, the many charitable second hand stores have liberalized their acceptance policies so you are able to load up most of the failed sales and freight them over for receipt, thereby putting many disadvantaged people to work in furthering the life of these goods. That is a win-win with a tax deduction to boot!
Kisses, Celeste

Thank you Celeste! Your practical tips and lighthearted attitude will help us all laugh at our clutter conundrums no doubt!

*If you would like to hear more from Celeste please contact me. I’m sure she would be delighted to learn of your enthusiasm and I’m happy to pass your message along as well as ask her to join us again with more fun and lighthearted posts!

8 Easy Steps to Closet Cleanout

January 14, 2021 by Heather Filed Under: Closets, Inspiration & Education, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques

Tackle your wardrobe and seasonal closet clutter with these 8 Easy Steps to Closet Cleanout.

Spring fever and the extra hour of daylight spur many of us onto spring cleaning, especially right now while we are spending more time at home! We are still in the height of Spring Cleaning frenzy so if you haven’t yet tackled the closets, there’s still plenty of time before the heat of the summer and seasonal vacations and kids summer breaks are upon us!

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7 Simple Steps to Your Cleanest Kitchen

November 22, 2020 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques

Start the holidays with your cleanest kitchen, ever!

This time of year is a great time to deep clean the kitchen and fridge, especially after summer and fall trips to the farmers market and before all your holiday cooking, baking, and entertaining. This year, it’s especially important to keep our homes and kitchens cleaner than ever! BUT, if you are reading this in the Spring or before Back to School…any time is a good time to take a deep dive for your cleanest kitchen. I recommend it at least a couple of times a year.

Your Cleanest Kitchen in 7 easy steps

Re-arrange as needed for things that might not be working well in their current spots-I just moved appliance I don’t need further out of the way and made baking items more accessible over the weekend.
Purge– including out of date food (toss), things you don’t like (give away) things like plastic cups, containers-missing lids (recycle), and cozies that somehow made their way home from summer festivities. No thank you Freebies!
Tidy and sort food and other items by category. Add containers to corral and labels to identify items as needed. Post purge is the best time to do this!
Give everything a sanitizing wipe down including the cabinets, switch plates, counters-moving everything out from the walls, and wiping the backsplash.
Clean out appliances such as the microwave, oven, toaster and make note of anything broken or missing that I might want to add to a wish list.
Take a quick look through the pantry and make a list of staple items needed for upcoming baking and cooking (sugar, flour, chocolate chips, spices, herbs, etc), this way you can be spontaneous when the urge to get creative in the kitchen strikes!
Finally, the Fridge! Remove and wipe or rinse everything including contents, the shelves, and drawers. Toss expired food. If you can, remove the “parts”, clean with your favorite kitchen cleaner and scrub the crevices with an old toothbrush and baking soda. Repeat the process for the freezer, defrosting according to your manufacturer instructions if needed. If you have a water filter built in, it’s a great time to check and replace that too.

You can take each step above and break it down over a weekend or a whole week (7 steps-7 days!) depending on how much time you have. As I do this, I pull things out and try to use up leftovers (especially in the freezer) to make room for all the great new food I’ll be preparing and eating over the holiday season.

If you ever question keeping or tossing, HERE is a great list of food expiration, etc. follows. Safety and common sense should prevail…BUT I will say that in the age of “toss it” mentality there are probably lots of things you-should-never-have-bought AND may not need to go but I’ll bet some are on this list. Use your judgment, and follow your intuition…and FYI-Sugar never expires!

Happy pre-holiday cleaning!

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Do I need a Home Inventory?

September 10, 2020 by Heather Filed Under: Kids & Family Organizing, Organize, Organizing Projects, Planning & Goals, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Do you have a disaster plan? Wondering if you really need a home inventory? Whether you have one started or have nothing at all read on to learn why you need a home inventory and how to protect your personal property.

Almost all of us need a home inventory, whether we are renting or own your homes or businesses. If you have insurance, you need an inventory to prove replacement value. Sadly, a lot of people think that because they have insurance they don’t need to worry about a home inventory. But unfortunately, that’s not true, having insurance doesn’t’ guarantee you will get replacement value for your property. There are so many irreplaceable things and all the little stuff really adds up. Having a home inventory will save you a huge potential headache, hours of time, or worse out of pocket expenses lost down the drain. When you’re trying to dig your way out of a disaster, that added stress is the last thing you need. When I became a professional organizer, I learned all about the different home inventory systems and tools available. I also helped clients with creating inventory systems both before and after disasters, mostly flooding, some theft. Trust me when I say, you don’t want to have to inventory your stuff after it’s been damaged or try to remember what’s missing! It’s not the insurance companies responsibility to take your word for all your personal belongings, and it’s not in their interest to help you with this. If you can’t prove you owned it (meaning tracking down receipts or charges, photo’s or other documentation) you may lose altogether.

What needs to be inventoried? The quick answer is everything! You are probably thinking this will take ages and depending on how much detail you want to include, it could be a significant undertaking but really not so bad if you take it step-by-step and room-by-room.

Without an inventory, you could end up with a mess on your hands and thousands of dollars in lost assets! Don’t get stuck sorting toilet plungers from kitchen utensils, holiday decor, and more. Document what you’ve got and what would need to be replaced.

I’ve worked extensively on creating inventory for insurance claims. Here’s what you need to know. Photos are your friends! Spreadsheets are super helpful and may prevent you from having to fill out additional information in the event of an insurance claim. But there are other systems out there that are super helpful and can do more for you than just a home inventory.

As the well known Sheryl Sandberg quote goes “Done is better than perfect.” So true in the case of an inventory! Just having photo’s is better than nothing!

A home inventory Checklist can help you to understand what information will be most valuable in the case of an insurance claim. Most insurance companies would like to have the following. The more info you can provide, the more accurate your claim and reimbursement will be. Remember, the more complicated your assets and estate, the more details you will need.

It may not be necessary to have all the information below. If you’re in a disaster situation and realize you don’t have anything, the short answer is to photograph every wall of every room, even opening cabinets, closets, and taking photos of contents by shelf. Take notes on contents to help jog your memory, noting location and a general description. Photograph anything specifically valuable in each room. These photos and notes will prove invaluable if you have to evacuate quickly and end up losing property.

Remember, “Done is better than perfect!” What follows is a more detailed guide of what your insurance company might request. Not having all of this does not mean you will not get reimbursed. The more you can provide, the quicker and more smoothly things will move along.

List items by room- This will help qualify content damage when structural damage has been done
Include a basic description
Make/model
Serial or ID number
Quantity
Assign value (replacement value will be paid based on current market value-ex. electronics that may have cost you $500 might be replaceable for $200 today)
Date purchased
Receipt if available
Reference photo’s

Home Zada is one of the most comprehensive home management tools out there and does everything from home maintenance reminders to home inventory. If you’re on the serious side of protecting your valuable assets, I can’t recommend a better way to manage it all in one place! This is a cloud-based option so you won’t lose it if you lose your computer!

Another great comprehensive but inexpensive system is Liberty Street Home Manage software (also cloud-based). It’s under $40 and allows you to enter all the important documentation and photo’s for all your assets (at multiple locations).

Several insurance companies have their own systems, so ask your insurance agent what they offer! It will probably be free and give them everything needed if you ever had to make a claim.

Home Contents is a UK Based app that makes home inventory a snap with your digital camera in-phone. And finally, in the app department, My Stuff has several free and paid options with great features for adding items to folders, tagging, etc for easier sorting and organizing.

If you prefer to stick with a spreadsheet-style inventory, just do a quick search for Home Inventory Checklist to find quite a few good options available for free. Most of these are templates that you can download and use on your computer/device.

Spreadsheet systems (I’ve used comprehensively with insurance agents to recover contents lost) can be clunky and it’s difficult to quickly see photos of items with their description. Another drawback is that unless you backup your computer or device, you run the risk of losing your inventory (photo’s and checklist) along with your contents in case of a disaster!

If a home inventory is something you want help setting up, let me know and I’d be glad to assist!

No matter what system you choose, I hope you will make a plan, schedule it on your calendar and start your home inventory today!