Organizing Projects

A fun & easy kids capsule wardrobe

September 6, 2020 by Heather Filed Under: Closets, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques Leave a Comment

More than once, I’ve walked into clients who were nearly in tears or having a meltdown over their kid’s rooms and stuff everywhere. This can be utterly frustrating, especially with most of us at home, almost all the time right now, living, working, eating, schooling together! Kids and their stuff, their messy rooms, and their over-bulging closets and drawers filled with way more clothes than needed can create the perfect storm for overwhelm and overreacting. Sadly what can often happen is parents beat themselves up, thinking “this is my fault, I let them have all these things and I don’t have the time and energy to manage it all!” No, No, No, it’s not all your fault!

I’m thrilled to work with parents who want to model and teach their kids how to manage the stuff overload. This is not just a problem for parents and kids, it’s something we all are dealing with to some degree or another.

Today, we will tackle one category of stuff that tends to make a lot of work for all of us, our clothes! There are strategies for parents and kids to help make it easier to choose what to wear. A kids capsule wardrobe can help reduce decision fatigue, save money, and the time it takes to get ready in the morning.

How to create a fun & easy kids capsule wardrobe

Here’s a step by step plan which works best when you can involve your kids, even the little one’s can have a strong opinion about the process!

Start with clean laundry that’s been sorted, and purged in each kid’s room which will give you a wardrobe to “Shop” from. The process isn’t that different than any other organizing one, where donations, trash, and items to keep are sorted into categories. The main thing to do differently is to create a simple and easy kids wardrobe for them to look through and purge further. Count how many items in each category of clothing they have and established some guidelines for what seems reasonable for them to pick their favorites from.

Create a Kids Capsule Wardrobe in 5 easy steps:

1. Clean all the clothes and gather in one place.

2. Sort and eliminate any that are not in good shape, don’t fit, or are impractical.

3. Look at the overall colors, styles your kids gravitate towards, and start gathering them into categories eliminating duplicates and oddballs that don’t fit with the scheme.

4. Put clothes away, hanging, and folding. You might want to try the Kon-Marie method of folding (Tee-shirt video here) or use a folding board. Arranged by category (shirts, pants, shorts, etc) and color to make it easier to mix and match outfits.

To make this work you may need to fill in some pieces if you find wardrobe gaps. Now you have the makings for a funky, fun, and easy mix and match wardrobe system! This could be a great way to simplify your kid’s wardrobe and from there, the closet’s and clothes storage might be a little easier!

Here is a general idea of what categories you might find helpful and how many of each item seems appropriate, some of these might differ for your kids:

Pants, shorts, and jeans-5-10 per season
Skirts and dresses-5-10
Shirts (not tee-shirts)-10-15
Tee Shirts-10-15
Sweatshirts and Long sleeve tees-5-10
Sweaters-5-10
Undergarments-7-14
Sports gear (yoga pants/tanks/athletic shorts)-5-10
Bathing suits-5-10

If your kids go to a private school or wear uniforms, that will be a separate category but manage the number of each style needed. They may also be very involved in sports and have a lot of gear, so count that as another category and keep the number of items per sport manageable.

These guidelines should help you create a basic and easy kids capsule wardrobe. These categories and quantities are a starting point for you and your kids if you think it’s still too much then whittle it down further. Less is more when it comes to maintaining an easy kids wardrobe, especially when kids grow quickly and tend to need things replaced more frequently than adults. Have fun and maybe this will inspire you to create a capsule wardrobe of your own!

Creating Intentional SPACE

February 25, 2020 by Heather Filed Under: Organizing Projects, Paper management, Systems & Techniques 1 Comment

Creating Intentional SPACE is something that most Professional Organizers do regularly with their clients. Many of us use the SPACE system or something similar when helping clients with the organizing process. This system and the acronym was created by Professional Organizer and Author Julie Morgenstern and it’s a tried and true system that I follow with all my client organizing projects. I’m happy to share how what the acronym stands for below because I find it can be useful in understanding the steps and process that can help lead to a more organized and intentional SPACE.

Sort-This begins by gathering everything in one category together. By doing this you know what ALL you have and can move on to the next step.

Purge-Only when you know what you have can you start to make decisions about what to keep. Purging is really DECIDING what is needed or if you can get rid of it (donate, recycle, trash).

Assign-Now that you have decided what to keep, give it a home.

Contain-You know what you’ve got and where it will live, what would make keeping things in order easier? Do you need containers? Take measurements, make labels…commit these items to live in this space.

Equalize-What this really means is Evaluate…after living with your newly organized system, take the time after a week, a month and beyond to make adjustments as needed. This means setting an intention to maintain the system (and from time to time going back through the SPACE process).

Before you even begin this process, I believe it’s equally important and valuable to set your intention (my WORD for 2019) or reason/goal for the space! Most of us have heard the statement: nature abhors a vacuum (horror vacui) by Greek physicist-philosopher Parmenides that a void or vacuum, in nature, cannot exist, so be careful what you create, or what you leave open…which can quickly get filled with clutter (in your mind and your physical space).

Once you decide, set your intention and go through the SPACE process of implementing this system, use it to support your effort to succeed in maintaining as well! Organizing isn’t a one and done process but it is a Process that’s worth investing in and worth maintaining. How’s your SPACE? Will it be filled by something of your choosing or with clutter? Need help going through this process? Please fill out the “Help me Get Organized” form.

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Envision Epic Achievements

February 8, 2020 by Heather Filed Under: Art & Design, Inspiration & Education, Organize, Organizing Projects, Wellness & Mindset

As we embark on a month focused on Self Care I want to share a fun tool I use to set my intention and get going on the right footing for the new year (or at the start of new projects) to help me envision epic achievements! Anytime I get to pull out scissors, magazines etc it takes me back to my days as a designer. In both my Art classes and in my industry job I often found it helpful if not essential to create “mood boards” or gather creative ideas on paper (sketchbook or boards). If you’ve never done this, don’t worry…there is no wrong time or wrong way to create a vision board!

As we head into the next month, I will be shifting focus towards spring cleaning, purging, de-cluttering, simplifying. This can be a great time to create a vision board for how you want your home to look and feel. You might consider giving your vision board a boost by working with a word of the year. It’s not essential to the process of creating a vision board but it can give you some guidance and focus. Your vision board can be as broad or as specific as you like.

Creating an Vision Board is something I started doing back in 2011. It’s one of the annual planning tools I have the most fun with! Some people call these Vision Boards others call them Action boards (for those that feel the word “Vision” is to woo-woo).

Some people like to do a digital vision board, others prefer to use all images but I love to sit down with all these fonts, colors, words and phrases and just start allowing them to come together and create a flow of juxtaposition. So much magic happens when I sit down to create my vision board…and the magic just keeps happening throughout the year.

Vision boards can take a good bit of time. Give yourself a total of 3-8 hours to complete yours, from gathering ideas and supplies to getting everything in place. How much time it takes you will depend on how large your board is and how detailed you want to be.

Select a type of vision board (personal, creative, images, words, a hybrid of both) that will be a touchstone and inspiration for creative progress throughout 2017. Your focus can be on home life, creative life, career, pets, family etc-whatever is important to you and where you may want more guidance and support.
Gather a supply of magazines/resources to select from to embody your personal expression. This can include books, printed images, catalogs, scraps of paper or fabric, stickers, embellishments or anything else you like.
Gather other supplies, including poster board or foam core (my personal favorite is the kind with one sticky side!), scissors, a glue stick and tape. You may also want markers.
Set your intention for this board, you’ve decided on your “type” and your intention is a more focused way of deciding what you want to include or not. You may want to list words or images you would like to include.
Flip through your resources and tear or cut out images and words. You can do this while listening to music, watching movies, listening to podcasts, anytime really. At this stage you are looking for words and images that capture how you want to feel.
Start to lay out your images and words on your board. There’s no right way here but I’ve found that starting with the larger elements first can help. As you sort through everything you have cut out, be sure to include your most important ideas, set them aside and allow other ideas that don’t seem to fit to fall away. Deciding what NOT to include can be just as important as what you add.
Once you are happy with your arrangement overall (still not glued down-just loose), snap a picture with your phone and then start to remove each area and glue things down. You can work one area at a time or in layers. Having a picture to refer back to can be fun because it’s never going to be exactly the same but it give you a little “map” to follow for your puzzle.

There is really something incredibly powerful about “visioning” a rich and creative year (or anything) to come! It can be fun to do a quick vision on a small sheet to brainstorm smaller projects or time frames too!

Finally, you may be asking how does this help you get organized? If you feel there are areas in which you would like a different outcome in your life try creating a vision board to activate and attract what you want to accomplish and how you envision it in your ideal reality. Use images and words that feel the way you want to feel about your space and your life.

However you want to create your board and whatever you call it, just know that by being very clear about what you want to manifest in your life and putting it down in a concrete way you are more likely to draw attention to theses aspects of yourself (actions, thoughts, etc). It’s all about the law of attraction. When I look back at the last years vision boards I’m truly amazed at the ways in which the specific wishes, desires, dreams and actions have been attracted into my life!

How do you envision the next quarter, year, project, career or home? What do you want to attract and are you creating any type of vision board to activate the process? If so, please please share it with me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #powervision17!

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Attic storage inspiration, before the holidays!

December 4, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

Outta sight attic storage sometimes needs a little inspration. When we can’t see it regularly, those areas can get clutteered and filled up with unknown mystery and duplicate items. Here are some essential go-to attic storage tips, just in time for you to get your storage organized for the holidays!

Six simple fixes that will make your attic storage easier to access and use.

Safety
Flooring
Shelves
Bins
Labels
Hanging storage

Start with making your attic/stair’s easy to access and safe. Check the cables, railing and steps for safety a couple times a year and have them maintained or replaced as needed. There are some really great new stair options out there, see more here.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/56787645281838946/

Next, think about the safety of what you are storing. If your attic is not climate controlled, whatever you store there will be subject to fluctuating temperatures and humidity. This can be especially damaging to wood and paper products. The attic is not the best space for books, photo’s and valuable heirloom furniture. You also may not want to store clothing long term, but seasonal storage in bins or a cedar chest should be okay.

The attic should be totally fine for extra household items including bulky or less frequently used kitchen items, travel gear (suitcases etc) and all your holiday decorations (except candles-I recommend storing ALL candles together). Of course, do not store flammable items in the attic and keep things clear of HVAC and other utilities (per instructions of the manufacturer). I’ll share more next month on specific holiday decor storage ideas.

Put down some sort of flooring! Don’t straddle the rafters, step through drywall or get fiberglass all over yourself! There are a lot of options, from plywood to these really great (reusable) L ock-N-Rollin floors…so easy to install!

Use or install shelving of some sort. It’s fine to stack bin’s if you only have a few but if you have a lot to store, shelves (either pre-made or custom built) will make it super easy to pull things in and out.

Use smaller bins to make it easier to bring things up and down. Make sure you know how large your opening is so you know what size storage will fit. I see so many people who try to put large bins in the attic, this usually causes accessibility challenges.
Store like things together by season and category (holidays etc).
Add labels to bins and shelves as needed.
Hang things in unusual or tight spots. This is a clever fold down “secret” storage spot but you can also just add hooks and hang oddly shaped, light weight items directly from rafters.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/93590498489675677/

The space below is “finished” attic space but no less challenging due to the unusual shape. We used hooks to hang an assortment of sport gear on the wall so that the back of the space could still be accessible (with shelves added for additional storage).

With a bit of planning and elbow grease you can maximize your attic storage to suite a variety of household needs. If your project is out of your control, let me know how I can help!

Garage Organizing & Tidying Tips

October 28, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques

Fall (and Spring) are the perfect seasons to work on Garage organizing. With great weather and mild temperatures, I’ve been working on a lot of Garage Organizing Jobs. It’s the perfect time to get outside and whip that garage (or shed) into shape before the holidays and dreams of parking your car IN your garage arrive! Taking the time to tackle the garage now, will help you prepare for all the fun seasonal activities in the coming months and get your household maintenance tasks done more quickly. There’s a lot to consider when organizing a garage (and if you have a shed or workshop a lot of this can be applied there). Are you ready to take on the Great Garage Organizing Challenge?

If you don’t have a garage, maybe your challenge will be to organize the shed, the attic or another storage area. The important factors to take into consideration are; amount of time you to complete the project and type of installation, painting and maintenance/repairs involved and your budget. Will you paint the walls or floors or put down parking or modular mats, add lighting or other features? Do you want to install an elaborate custom designed system (call in an expert) or go with DIY options?

Schedule a couple solid weekends of dedicated time for a 2 car garage or a large attic or 1 weekend and a few additional hours for a smaller area. Take family members schedules, temporary storage (things might need to be temporarily moved out of the garage so beware of HOA rules etc) and weather into account. If your space is jam packed to the ceiling you might need more time to purge and work a path through the spaces, but lets hope you’re not there!

Do you have a green thumb and want a potting area for all your gardening supplies? Assess how you use the space or more accurately how you want to use the space. Of all the rooms in your home the garage may be the most mult- functional! Don’t forget the basics like trash/recycling, cleaning products and supply storage. How else do you use the space?
List out categories and quickly sketch “Zones” based on the space layout, functionality (power access, mobility), lighting (windows, existing fixtures) and frequency of use for each category.
This is the time that you should plan to make larger purchases such as shelving, lighting, pegboards or other necessary supplies. Take measurements and make sure you buy what will fit and only what you know you need. Try to keep systems modular if possible so they can be re-configured as needed.

Do you have a family with lots of sports enthusiasts and lots of gear? Or do you have a lot of tools for DIY projects?

Is your car currently parked in the garage and if not (it is your 2nd most expensive asset!) do you want it to be? Do you do laundry in your garage or need a “mud room” area? Make it easy for you and your family to juggle groceries and other items as you transition from your car to the house by using hooks, shelving and benches to place things by your home entrance.

Gather your supplies; gloves, basic tools, bags and boxes (for giveaway and trash/recycling), post it notes, permanent markers, label maker/labels, a variety of storage bins, various hooks (command and lg ‘ladder’ hooks) and any shelves or other items you purchased to install. Start with what you have and make a list of smaller items you will need as you go.

Sort; I suggest working clockwise from the entrance-either garage door or door to house. Work your way around the room one wall at a time around sorting items into keep, donate and toss. If you don’t have an immediate way to store/re-install an item make a note and set the item in the general zone where it needs to go and come back to it. Try to keep focused on one area at a time and not go back and forth between the room. If you are able to move everything out to a holding area then keep things grouped by zone in bins to be returned when ready.
Clean as you go and make basic repairs/maintenance updates such as installing hooks, shelves etc. This can be done one wall or zone at a time or with the whole room if it’s been cleared.
Store items in their new homes, this might require grouping and labeling items into bins, installing pegboards or slat walls with hooks, simple hooks or nails, shelving, bins/baskets etc.

Think vertical and don’t forget overhead storage space! Make sure these systems are well secured!! Give them a good tug to make sure things don’t come tumbling down when you or the kids go to grab something. Keep kids, heavy and more frequently used items lower to the ground (but make sure they are water proof if necessary) and lighter and less frequently used or more dangerous tools mounted up higher.

Finally, and possibly most importantly, donate & dump…Don’t forget to get the stuff that you have purged out the door as quickly as possible! When stuff lingers it has tendency to find its way back in so don’t let that happen!

Hopefully this post has you thinking about when and what you can do to create a more organized family garage. Take a look this weekend and if it feels too daunting to tackle yourself, remember you can always hire a Professional Organizer to help!