Organizing Projects

7 Simple Steps to Tidy Your Kitchen

December 2, 2021 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques

Start the holidays with a Tidy & Clean Kitchen!

This time of year is great 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! Any time is a good time to take a deep dive to tidy your kitchen. I recommend it at least a couple of times a year.

7 easy steps to your most Tidy Kitchen

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Purge– including out of date food (toss), things you don’t like (give away) things like plastic cups, containers-missing lids (recycle), and cozies that somehow made their way home from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!

7 easy steps to your most Clean Kitchen

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 everything including contents, the shelves, and drawers. Toss expired food (see gide below). If you can, remove “parts”, clean 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.

Break each step down over a weekend or a whole week (7 steps-7 days!) depending on the time you have. As you pull things out, use up leftovers (especially in the freezer) to make room for all the great food you’ll prepare and eat over the holidays.

If you ever question keeping or tossing, HERE is a great list of food expiration. Learn how to read these labels for safety and to prevent waste. Common sense should prevail. With a “toss it” mentality there are probably lots of things you-should-never-have-bought. These things can be donated if you hate to waste but know you won’t use it. 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?

August 9, 2021 by Heather Filed Under: Estate Planning, Kids & Family Organizing, Organize, Organizing Projects, Planning & Goals, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources, Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Do you have a disaster and or legacy 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 rent or own our homes or businesses. If you have insurance, you need an inventory to prove replacement value. If you are leaving things to family, donation, etc, you also may need an inventory.

Sadly, many people think that because they have insurance, they don’t need to worry about a home inventory. Unfortunately, that’s not true. 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, or worse; pocket expenses lost down the drain. When trying to dig your way out of a disaster, or your family is grieving and trying to determine the value of your estate, this can add stress to an already hard situation. 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 and some theft. Trust me when I say you don’t want to inventory your stuff after it’s been damaged or try to remember what’s missing! It’s not the insurance company’s responsibility (or your family’s) to know the value of 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, photos 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 and thousands of dollars in lost assets! In the case of estate planning, your family may be left trying to figure out what is what. Don’t get stuck sorting toilet plungers from kitchen utensils, holiday decor, and more. Document the items in your home, including valuables and everyday items. This inventory should be updated every 2-5 years depending on your circumstances.

I’ve worked extensively on creating inventory for insurance claims and estates. Here’s what you need to know. Photos and videos 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 photos 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. Suppose you’re in a disaster situation and realize you don’t have anything. In that case, the short answer is to photograph every wall of every room, even opening cabinets and closets, and take 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 lose the 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 photos for all your assets (at multiple locations).

Several insurance companies have their systems, so ask your insurance agent what they offer! It will probably be free and give them everything needed if you ever have 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 for free. Most of these templates 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 see photos of items with their descriptions quickly. Another drawback is that unless you back up your computer or device, you risk losing your inventory (photos and checklist) and your contents in case of a disaster!

If a home inventory for disaster or estate planning 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 make a plan, schedule it on your calendar, and start your home inventory today!

8 Easy Steps to Closet Cleanout

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

8 Easy Steps to Closet Cleanout, tackle your wardrobe and seasonal closet clutter

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 closet cleanout, there’s still plenty of time before the heat of summer and seasonal vacations, as well as kids’ summer breaks, are upon us.

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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.