Systems & Techniques Archives

Makeover Monday::Playful Organizing

December 28, 2015 by Heather Filed Under: Art & Design, Home, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques 1 Comment

This year I had the pleasure of working with a family household (parents, 2 kids under 5 and a dog:) who wanted more general order all around. They were not in a horrible situation, just looking to improve upon organizing systems and create some where none existed. With busy families I often find that things fall apart because there are only partial systems in place or none.

This house has a great family room, open to the kitchen which allowed for family time and meal prep to all be in one space. With two little boys though, the play area got messy quickly and mom and dad’s kitchen space was often overtaken by toys and their own daily “landing pad” stuff (mail, purse, laptop, kids art etc). We decided upon our first session the kids play area would be priority number one with the kitchen to follow. Following the SPACE system (created by Organizer and Author Julie Morgenstern) we Sorted, Purged, Assigned, Containerized and Equalized the kids play area.

Kids Play Area-Before

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The kids play area off the kitchen had ample storage for a reasonable amount of toys in this space but it was awkward, narrow, hard to reach, overflowing and partially unusable. Our first step was to modify the cabinets (done by a professional) by changing the configuration and height of shelves, installing additional shelves and removing the door from the area under the stairs to create a “garage” for the boys cars and trucks. With the toys purged and sorted and the cabinet modifications in place we measured and ordered specific containers based on the types of toys needing to be stored in the space. These included clear “shoe boxes” for smaller toys, an alligator bin for larger toys under the stairs, translucent totes for inside cabinet shelves and oval ‘chalkboard’ labels for everything. Books and musical instruments were moved to additional cabinets nearby but separate from the rest of the toys.

Kids Play Area-After

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This whole project could have been done with existing storage containers but because this area is so widely used by both the family and for entertaining, it made sense to invest in specific storage containers and create a system that was easy to use, clean up and maintain. The finished space is beautiful, functional and FUN! In the new year, during GO-Month (Get Organized-January!) I’ll be sharing the kitchen makeover from this home.

Flip out of that Back-to-School funk!

August 21, 2015 by Heather Filed Under: Closets, Organize, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources 1 Comment

Does back to school have you in a funk?

For much of the country, school is already back in swing, and many are feeling overwhelmed. In this post, I hope to help Flip that Back-to-School funk. Last week, I shared some tips (here) for back-to-school scheduling.

This week, I’m tackling systems for homework stations, wardrobe organizing, and taming lunch/snack time stress. One suggestion all around is to involve your kids in at least part of each of these projects. You might prefer to just do it yourself and not have the hassle of the kids’ opinions and distractions, but honestly, when I work with kids, they love to be involved and tend to do a much better job of maintaining it. Most kids love order and organization!

Homework Stations

They don’t have to be fancy or complicated, but carving out a specific area where your kids know they go to do their homework is an important part of their school routine. Every child and household is different, so your system might differ, but the main components needed are pretty simple.

What’s most important is a distraction free zone with a surface, quality task lighting and a comfortable chair. Depending on the kids’ ages, this might be in a family room, off the kitchen, at the dining room table, or in their bedroom. It’s excellent to incorporate permanent and convenient storage for standard supplies: calculator, ruler, pencils, pens, erasers, notepaper, art supplies, books, and anything specific to your kid’s classes. A rolling cart and some bins may be a good solution if your kid’s homework space doubles as a family area. Kids will often find a lot of excuses to keep them from doing homework, beat them to the punch, and make them feel comfortable and supported for this essential daily task that will help them build lifelong skills!

Kids’ Wardrobe and closet systems

KIDS capsule wardrobe

Have you heard of a Capsule Wardrobe?

I hadn’t until I ran across this article. I love this idea, and I’ve naturally done this to some degree on my own (gravitate towards colors I love, etc). The full article is worth a read, but I’ll give you a quick 5-step summary:

1. Clean all the clothes and gather them 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 and style your kids gravitate towards, and start grouping them into categories, eliminating duplicates and oddballs that don’t fit with the scheme.

4. Put clothes away, hang them, and fold them. Try the Kon-Marie folding method (See the tee-shirt video here) or use a folding board. Arrange them by category (shirts, pants, shorts, etc.) and color to make it easier to mix and match outfits.

If you find wardrobe gaps, you may have to fill in some pieces to make this work. 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 kids’ wardrobe, and from there, the closets and clothes storage might be a little easier!

Easy lunch and snack time

Cat Bento Box Instructions

This category would require many posts to cover, and I’m sure I’ll return to it because my clients often struggle with food prep and meals. Here are a few ideas for easy make-ahead lunches and snacks. Please don’t feel bad if you don’t have time to make kitty bento boxes daily!

Start with a well made, insulated and cute lunch box that’s easy to clean!

[Cute lunch boxes via honest.com]

Stock up on snack friendly foods (pre-packaged if you must or make ahead portions) and create snack stations in the fridge and pantry. Contain items that are snack friendly in bins, baskets or boxes and label them so everyone knows these are mom/dad approved. These should be age appropriately placed (lower shelves for smaller kids) and available with supervision and permission. Older kids can help themselves.

[tons of lunch and snack ideas via realsimple.com] Make lunches ahead and stock up on easy-to-prepare lunch foods. There are a million or more ideas on Pinterest and entire websites dedicated to kids meal prep. So many great ideas that I’m really just passing them along here!

I hope you no longer want to pull your hair out or flip at the idea of returning to school. If you can’t get it ALL done before school starts, remember it’s a process you can ease into. Pick the one or two areas that drive you the most nuts and tackle them first. Once you’ve got a handle on them, add on other systems. Remember to keep your kids involved, and most importantly, have fun with them!

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Organizers party tricks!

August 14, 2015 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

My entire house was packed into boxes…When we moved to Charleston from MD several years ago, we had packed everything and were having a going away party, upon realizing my yoga teachers husband and I went to high school together I walked over to a particular box and pulled out our yearbook. It was like a magic trick and everyone just stood there kind of stunned that I knew were the darn thing was and with everything packed I could still go grab it in less than 30 seconds. This is probably one of the moments that will stand out in my mind forever and when I knew without a doubt that I was destined to be an Organizer! (and someone got a picture of it!)

This popped into my mind after reading a recent discussion on the NAPO forum…all of these are true experiences that I’ve had as a professional organizer and they make me laugh! Consider this a You might be a Professional Organizer if (or destined to be one) kind of list…

You create lists of things you’ve already done so you can cross them off.
Friends (especially new ones) are afraid to have you over because they don’t think their house is organized or tidy enough (don’t worry, were use to worse and we don’t judge!). Alternately…
Your friends, family, clients start a conversation with “you would be so proud of me because…” I purged my wardrobe, got rid of half my books, de-stashed my fabric in my craft room etc:)
Friends come over and want to look into your closet and cupboards to get organizing ideas and see if you are really as organized as…A Professional Organizer, and they leave feeling happy to realize you are organized but not Martha Stewart perfect!
You can retrieve just about anything in your home if someone needs you to, in 30 seconds or less.
Your clutter is categorized and labeled.
Your spices are alphabetized.
You don’t let anyone else load your dishwasher or put your dishes back because they just won’t do it right (my husband has all but 2 cabinets down-the remaining items he leaves for me:)
Your magazines are arranged in the rack by subject and date.
You eat your bag of M&Ms according to color.
Your socks (underwear, bras, etc) are lined up in neat rows in your dresser drawer.
You always have a donation bag of items to get rid of.
Your car contains clients donation items (in an orderly fashion).
You can properly and neatly fold a fitted sheet and know what hospital corners are (and want to teach others this too).
You re-arrange the hotel room, putting everything “where it belongs.”
You don’t have containers with missing lids, if you damage a part-you recycle or dispose of the partner.
You carry a label-maker, tape measure, sharpie and post it notes with you.
You show up at meeting with printouts and a checklist of questions.
You leave every meeting with a half-dozen pages of notes.
Your personal library is organized by category, size (and color).
You categorize groceries into the cashier’s belt (or better yet self check out ) & bag your own groceries by categories.
You can spend an hour or more at The Container Store or IKEA scouting out organizing products.
Your friends and family send you loads of Pinterest organizing pins!
You rearrange cans, boxes, clothes stacks, etc on store shelves as you shop.
You wipe off the sink counters in public bathrooms.

I hope you got a giggle out of some of these! I’m not perfect, seriously Y’all but I do have my organizing compulsions, I just can’t help it:)

Nothing’s worth anything…your sticky stuff

August 10, 2015 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Systems & Techniques Leave a Comment

I hate to break it to you but your possessions have no value unless they sell! This is true for anything you create or acquire (clothes, household items, electronics etc). Lets really think about this a minute okay? We don’t give much thought to the VALUE of STUFF until we are ready to part with it or part with money to acquire it. Sometimes though, certain things resonate with us so deeply that it isn’t about the money at all and we attach an emotional value to things.

When we do this our stuff becomes sticky. It sticks to us, maybe longer than we would like! It becomes harder to part with, we justify the amount of money we spent, we connect with the feelings attached and we can’t let go…so then what do we do when we feel that nudge to finally let go?

We might think that taking items to consignment, trying to sell them via ebay or a yard sale will ease the separation anxiety…it might, it might not.

Here’s an extreme example; I recently worked with a client who had the contents of her entire home damaged by water, mold and construction debris…together we created an inventory of everything in her home-actually 3 homes, and this list was used to assign replacement value for her insurance claim. In the end I’m not sure if it was worth the time it took to unpack, list, photograph, research and provide documentation but the tragic circumstances made this person feel they had to do something and surely they couldn’t sit back and let the insurance company assign value to their stuff-or could they have? Would it have been much different? Maybe it was an important part of the process for this person to really see their stuff for what it was, just stuff…in the end almost everything was damaged out and replaced. Most stuff is replaceable or not needed to begin with.

I’m often asked to take things to consignment, having first scrutinized them for any imperfections, considering brand, age, wear, and style, only to have them sell for practically nothing. Same goes for the effort of selling on e-bay or a yard sale, it’s usually not worth your time (or what you might pay someone else) to sell these things. But if you really LOVE having yard sales, do it because you love connecting people with the treasures they are out to score, and give them a great deal, it will make their day! Usually though, when we dig deeper there is usually some type of lack mindset lurking beneath the surface.

I never tell someone what to do with items they want to get rid of but I do ask them to consider the value of their time when choosing how to release stuff. When we are really clear about why we bought something it might help us break the cycle.

When considering if you want to consign/sell or donate something I hope you will think about the joy that item might bring someone if you just give it away freely with no strings attached. Release things from a place of abundance and you will surely find the joy in sharing and your stuff will carry on that legacy!

A Playful Makeover Monday

August 3, 2015 by Heather Filed Under: Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques Leave a Comment

I love to work with kids toy spaces and create storage systems that are fun to look at and fun to play with! So many families I work with have a great room space (open) where the kids can play while food is being prepared in the kitchen and other household activities are going on. This is great for keeping an eye on the kids and letting everyone share time together but it can be frustrating to have toys strewn everywhere from the kitchen counter to the hallway, dining room and family room. For this family we were able to start with a small but designated area where toys could be stored and we found the right type of storage to fit the toys that needed to live in the space.

Kids Playroom Makeover

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When starting a job like this follow a few simple steps.

Take “inventory” of what containers the client has and look things over to decided what needs to be stored in the space.
Pull all the toys out and sort them by types (music toys, books, puzzles, cars, blocks etc) removing any damaged or unwanted items.
Take measurements of the space; shelves, drawers, cabinets etc with width, height and depth.
Identify types of storage containers needed (if any) and locate them (I love Amazon, Container store and Ikea).
Purchase necessary storage pieces (and schedule for delivery) by your next appointment or work session (DIY or with an Organizer).
Contain toys by category (containers and shelves).
The finishing touch-Label, both on the shelves and the containers, so that parents, kids and anyone else helping with child care or cleanup will know where things belong. A common mistake

I find is that people don’t label because they think they will remember but if you have a housekeeper, nanny, babysitter or family members who come regularly they will not know where things go unless you make it simple and clear.

*Quick tip-schedule your organizing time, put it on your calender!

I have a variety of “go-to” favorite containers that I find work well for a variety of needs but we will also take into account what the client likes and if storage will be visible we look for more decorative containers that fit in with the clients decor. In this case we found cute canvas Toy Chest for larger storage under the stairs at 3 Sprouts. This job also required re-thinking the built in storage and making some changes to fit the needs of the space.

We created a “parking garage” for all the larger cars and trucks under the stairs (just simple shelves that were large enough to accommodate the largest vehicles). Other changes such as removing a dangerous cabinet door (pinched fingers-no good!), fitting bottom boards into lower shelves that were missing and adjusting existing built in shelves to fit the containers were made by a local cabinet maker. We stored “less messy” toys including books, puzzles and music instruments in the family room on both sides of the lower book shelves. Anything that requires more play space or the table (like blocks, cars etc) went into the cabinets by the stairs.

I love how this space turned out, it’s both beautiful and functional and it gives the kids the freedom to have fun in their space but makes it super easy to clean up when needed. Do you have a space that serves multiple functions? If you find these kinds of spaces challenging or need help with set up, I’d love to help you! Visit my contact page and we can schedule a time for a free”get to know your organizing needs” call.

Makeover Monday::Playful Organizing

Kids Play Area-Before

Kids Play Area-After

Flip out of that Back-to-School funk!

Does back to school have you in a funk?

Homework Stations

Kids’ Wardrobe and closet systems

Easy lunch and snack time

Organizers party tricks!

Nothing’s worth anything…your sticky stuff

A Playful Makeover Monday

Kids Playroom Makeover

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