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!

Back to School Prep | Toss & Tidy Up

August 8, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Kids & Family Organizing, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

It’s back to School prep time which is also a great time to toss clutter, outgrown clothing and tidy up before the school year begins. Hopefully they’ve had a fun summer filled with vacation play, camps, projects and book reading assignments. Before you head out to shop for supplies, lets get toys, rooms and supplies you already have in order first.

Did those notebooks, textbooks and book bags languishing in the closet, play room, kitchen or bedrooms? If so, you never know what you might find growing by now, arm yourself if necessary!

This should take no more than 30 min’s for most grade and high school kids and I recommend doing it within the first week of school ending but if it didn’t happen at the end of school, it’s a great way to get in the back to school mindset now! Have them gather their book bag/backpack, any supplies and textbooks in their room or anywhere else they study. Put them all in a pile, on the floor, their bed (lots of kids like to work on their bed-it’s comforting) or a table/desk.

Back to School Prep | Pitch It

Remove the contents of bags and backpacks (if you didn’t do this at the beginning of the summer). Evaluate the condition of the bag and reusable supplies.
Go through notebooks and remove anything that you or your kids want to keep (for sentimental reasons or other), add these to a sentimental box (each child should have their own, separate from the parents).
Recycle papers, notes and notebooks no longer needed.
Gather books to return to the school, hand down to younger kids or donate to a library.
Save supplies that can be re-used in one area and before you shop for back to school, check here first!

Back to School Prep | Supplies

Shop school supplies you have on hand before you head to the store. It might not feel as exciting, but with younger kids you can create a “store” and offer to exchange some kind of reward for items “purchased” at home. This will help teach and reinforce the value of reuse and recycling. As kids get older, I find most of them are pretty keenly aware and want to re-use/not waste materials!

Shelves, cabinets, closets and basket systems, all work great depending on your space and needs. Just be sure it’s easy for you and your kids to get to. If they are older, they may want to keep some of their favorite supplies in their room, otherwise they can all go in one place.

Back to School Prep | Toys

This might not be something a lot of parents think about at back to school time but games, toys and crafts can collect and then languish in the lost corners once school begins. So it’s really the perfect time to asses what toys and games your kids are still using and donate what they have out grown. Craft and art projects can be stored in sentimental bins or just snap a photo (which you can always print later) and let it go! Keep only their favorites and rotate what is kept out because there won’t be as much time for games and toys.

I’ll share my tips about Back to school prep for your kids wardrobe and shopping for supplies in the next couple posts! Happy Back to School Prep!!

Moving, Lists and Inventory

July 17, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Move Management, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources 2 Comments

When it comes to moving, lists and inventory are essential tools! Another week into the moving progress and we’ve got over 24 boxes packed! We did a little calculation and determined that if we pack 4 boxes a day on average (6 days a week) then we will have over 90 boxes packed in the next few weeks. When we moved here 6 years ago we had over 90 boxes, my goal is to have less this time!

I prefer to pack a little bit at a time rather than try to cram it all into the last week or so.

With this strategy like break down packing into categories so this week I’ll be packing linens, china, un necessary kitchen items, some home accessories and some clothing.

Here’s how I go about creating Moving, Lists and Inventory

Each box is numbered and assigned a code according to size (A, B, C) then
I list a short inventory of the contents making special note of valuable (sentimental or monetary) items.

With this system, you will have a very good idea of what’s in each box, where it goes and BONUS, this inventory can serve insurance purposes if needed.

Now for the exciting news, fingers crossed we very well might have someone to rent our house!! We will know for sure soon but it looks promising and this will allow us to determine our exact date of departure. I’ve been secretly hoping for a specific date and it seems like things might just be pointing in that direction.

Moving Monday::Where to Begin with Packing (hkpowerstudio.wordpress.com)

How Pro’s can help with Organizing Move Management

July 8, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Move Management, Organize, Organizing Projects, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

I find a lot of people asking me how can a professional organizer help with organizing move management? This is a great question and there are a lot of resources out there for moving, but an Organizer can help you specifically based on your individual needs and schedule. Of course there are a lot of variables like local or long distance, corporate relocation or DIY, remodel with move, downsizing and possible storage needs. So it can get complicated but I hope I can share some of the basic’s in how we PO’s can help with a variety of moving circumstances!

A big part of what an Organizer does to help with moving is what’s called “Move Management” in our industry. The steps below break down the process and organizers can and will help at any stage along the way, from researching moving companies, purging, setting deadlines and realistic expectations to actually helping with packing, move day coordination and unpacking and organizing at the new home.

Start with the end and set your date!! The most important thing to keep an eye on is the end date…work backwards from there. Get your move scheduled ASAP or at least have a ballpark idea of when the move is happening, 6 weeks or 6 months is going to make a big difference! If you know who you will use, go ahead and book your ideal moving date now (you can change it later if needed).

Don’t under-estimate how much work moving is! One of the biggest mistakes I see when it comes to moving is people under-estimating how much time it takes to prepare, but when we break it down with move date in mind it is a much more manageable process.

Research and decide on your moving company or how you will be transporting items from old to new location. Will you be packing items yourself, having a moving company come pack everything or something in between?

If you have a lot of items go through and are downsizing a great deal, it’s never too soon to start this process.

Purge in categories (ex. Clothing, Books, Holiday decor, memorabilia, linens, furniture, etc). Start sorting items one category at a time. I recommend starting with large items like furniture and easy items like linens and toiletries. An organizer can help you decide if it’s best to donate, trash/recycle, sell or give items to family/friends. Use sticky notes and a notepad to identify and tag items to get rid of. This will help you keep track of larger pieces that will not be making the move.

Set aside a short-long term “staging” area that you can use for sorting and temporarily storing items to get rid of (a garage or spare room). This is also an area to keep packing supplies like tape, bubble wrap, paper etc. Start gathering supplies to keep in this area so you can pack as needed.

Make arrangements for weekly pick up or drop off of donations (again, something an organizer can do for you).

Create an inventory “notebook” or file. As you pack boxes, label them with the room they will go to, box number and general contents on your inventory sheet. Also keep track of special items or valuables on this list.

Pack up personal photo’s and extra memorabilia, especially if your home is being staged for sale. Work with your real estate agent, organizer or stager to determine the appropriate amount of “accessorizing” for your home’s size and market.

Book your movers about one month ahead if you have not already!

Book your unpacking crew (either with the moving company or your professional organizer).

Did you know that unpack service does not include putting items away? Unpacking service will only place items on horizontal surfaces, this can sometimes be a big annoyance! Coordinate with your mover and organizer to get you settled in ASAP!

Pack by category and by room or be sure each room and category is ready to be packed by professionals in a way that will make the most sense when unpacking. Gather all papers into one place and any other categories you would like to be packed together.

The last items to be packed should be the first items to be unpacked. Be sure you know where items like sheets, towels and frequently used household items are (ex. coffee pot, cleaning supplies, paper plates or a few essential dishes etc).

Set aside toiletries, clothing, small valuables, medications, food items and important papers you want to hand carry to your new home on moving day. These items should be packed by you in your luggage.

Hire your organizer for move day coordination. They can meet your movers as they pack the contents of your old home, checking to be sure items are properly labeled and identified to be placed in your new home properly.

Hire your organizer (or a crew) for 1-2 days of unpacking service to help get your essential rooms (and beyond) set up for your first night in your new home. An organizer will meet the moving crew, have them place boxes in a location that will not impede household use and will begin unpacking essential rooms like bedrooms, closets, bathrooms and the kitchen.

Have a restful first night in your new home!

Moving can be stressful but with planning, prioritizing and help from an organizer, it can be a breeze and a lot of fun settling into a new home!

Try Everything Organizing

June 4, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Creative process, Organize, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

There are a lot of people who feel like they LIVE the try everything organizing approach and there are others who feel that the latest trends or books about organizing SHOULD work for them, but they don’t. That can be extremely frustrating and lead a lot of people to think they are doing something wrong or that they just can’t get organized! That makes me so very sad!

I like to take the ‘Try Everything Organizing approach” when working with creative clients who feel overwhelmed or like organizing is impossible for them. What do I mean by this? Well, we might mix systems for example and use the Kondo technique for books and clothing but try something very different for anything that is sentimental and harder to part with. When I say I use the Try Everything Organizing approach, I literally am going back and drawing on all the systems and techniques I’ve learned from books and classes on organizing and productivity.

I believe that when we are learning something new, we need to explore different techniques, experiment and practice. A dogmatic approach might work for some disciplined personalities but it might be more frustrating than helpful for artists, collectors, free thinkers and less conventional creative individuals. I work with a lot of clients who fall into one of the above categories…not putting anyone into a box, just sharing a description of some of my favorite client! Sometimes some of these individuals are ADD/HD and are so creative in their approach to problem solving, we come up with (invent/discover) some really amazing solutions. Mistakes lead to invention! There might be obstacles along the way…

you might be frustrated
you might be overwhelmed
you might be-feel laziness
you might be un-interest or un-motivation
there might be other people involved
you might feel shame
you might experiment
you might take an unorthodox approach
you might fail and try again!

Give yourself some “Try Everything Organizing” prompts such as, “What would happen if”? Respond by writing about it, or acting it out. What would happen if I…

I got rid of clothes that don’t fit?
I let go of books I have read and won’t re-read?
I gave someone who needed __________ more than I do?
I got rid of the magazine articles I tore out but never reference?
If I tried storing __________ here instead of there?
I let go of a few of my less favorite items in my collection?
If I tried folding my ________ instead of hanging them?
I tried living with less ________?

Your turn…what have you tried that hasn’t worked for you? What has worked? Are you already using the Try Anything Organizing approach? If not and you want to give it a try, I’d love to hear from you, Here.

How to kill your creative darlings

May 29, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Creative process, Inspiration & Education, Organize, Tips & Resources, Wellness & Mindset Leave a Comment

Let’s start by asking ourselves what are creative darlings?

Darling is synonymous for precious, adored, favorite, beloved, loved, cherished, treasured, prized, esteemed, worshipped, idolized etc. You get the picture. Sometimes people think of creative darlings as things that are too precious. We are so attached to them that we might not be objective. I like to think of them as the unnecessary “fluff” that we use to embellish and in fact those darlings can detract from the essence of what you are trying to create. The term “kill your darlings” has been attributed to a 1914 writing lecture “On Style”:

If you here require a practical rule of me, I will present you with this: ‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.
Writer Arthur Quiller-Couch

Creative darlings can be the outcome of overthinking, overworking, exertion to try to MAKE something incredible. They can also be the outcome of decision fatigue, we get tired of editing and just leave stuff where it is, we get a little lazy and attached! It’s a scary prospect to decide to “kill” something we have created (curated, collected, envisioned) but when we get overly attached, we are not seeing what’s best for the big picture. It can be liberating to trust and believe that by letting go, something better might emerge!

Don’t get so blinded by what you’ve invested (time, $, emotions) that you lose sight of the big picture. We can get so caught up in our own thoughts & ideas that we may not realize when they are failing to pay off for us. Be willing to let go of your grip, trust the creative process, know that by severely pruning out the “dead wood” we will see the most vigorous and healthy lush new growth!

Kill your darlings in your creative process, kill your darlings when your editing your wardrobe, kill your darlings when you are looking around your home and decluttering.

How to kill your creative darlings…

Edit what doesn’t serve a purpose & leave a more meaningful creation.

My argument for keeping stuff…

May 22, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, Creative process, In the Studio, Inspiration & Education, Organize, Systems & Techniques, Tips & Resources Leave a Comment

Lately I’ve been in the midst of decluttering my art studio and I’ve got a heap of stuff to get rid of! I’ve certainly waxed on and on here about letting stuff go but today I want to share my argument for keeping stuff. This argument is not necessarily one that can be applied to all categories of “stuff” in our homes or work life but it’s certainly relevant for “artists” who work a process.

As both an artist and an organizer, I often have partially (un) finished works in progress (WIP’s) laying around my studio. Unlike partially made food, most art projects don’t have an expiration date and reviewing older work can spark both joy and inspiration to grow and work in a new direction! Some of the artist I work with invite me to participate in the process of reviewing work they have made. Together we sort into the Keep or Toss piles just like we might do with anything else (clothes, books etc). A lot can be said for tossing some of our badly made, “UGLY” art! Seriously, sometimes I look at some things I made and it just makes me cringe. I don’t want to keep those things, in most cases, not even to re-purpose into something else or give away.

Then there’s the argument for keeping stuff that is worth exploring further. Maybe it’s a certain technique, a color combination, something striking about composition or something nostalgic that evokes a personal response. All of these are great reasons to hold onto some of our art that might not be “best work” or finished. One of the most challenging aspects of making works of any type of art is knowing when to say it’s done. If something is undercooked or we leave it on the burner too long, it’s no longer edible. Art can be like that too, if it’s under developed or overworked it might just have to go (into the trash). But we learn from our creative mistakes! Part of the process of developing our skills is to review our mistakes and our successes. Looking back at work we made that helps us to grow argues a strong case for keeping some things that might not have been finished or “successful”.

I once read an article on creative process where the artist Robbi Joy Eklow suggested a “Time Out Box” for works of this nature. We do this with kids and with kids toys, why not our art? Setting something that you are unsure of aside so that you can come back later, review it again to see if it “Sparks Joy” is a great way to learn from your creative process. I’ve gone back to sketchbooks from 20+ years ago and found ideas that I’ve revisited and been overjoyed with. I don’t think there’s any time limit on creative incubation, do you?

I’m an art studio voyeur…are you?

May 17, 2019 by Heather Filed Under: Art, Art & Design, In the Studio, Inspiration & Education, Organize 2 Comments

I don’t mean this in a weird way! I just enjoy being an art studio voyeur…a bit of a peeping tom, ogling and sneaking a peek into artists studio spaces! Art (both the making of and viewing) can be a cure for stress and it’s certainly something I turn to when I need a break.

These photos are from a trip back in 2016 to Athens where a friend (MFA candidate at the time) gave me a tour around UGA Lamar Dodd Studio’s. I had the chance to wander the classrooms and studio spaces of students while it was virtually a ghost town.

We visited the whole textile school, including screen printing, the dye lab, weaving studio, paper making and the ceramics classrooms. There’s something intriguing about looking at work in progress, an artist space, their inspiration boards, materials, and equipment.

There’s so much possibility in the process of making, seeing ideas bubble up and dance across the surface with no idea of who’s behind it and where it’s headed.

UGA Lamar Dodd Studio’s

This is what I mean by being an art studio voyeur. It brings me pleasure to see the possibility of creative dreams on the horizon. In my organizing work-whether in a home, business or studio space, I hope to help others realize how important it is to recognize our creative voice. To create space for our creative dreams brings us one step closer to realizing them.

In the slideshow above, I don’t know who made the work, their background, their inspirations, their process and because no one was around this really did feel like I was art studio voyeur! Taking a peek into a moment of creative birth is a gift!

I celebrate the creative spirit with camera in hand and often questions for the maker. I am happy to capture a glimpse of that spark, inspiration, and creative dreams yet to be fully realized.

This curiosity led me to launch the Inside the Artist Studio series (which I will bring back!) and that thread led me to embark on a whole new adventure where the process of studio work, my interest in why makers make and digging into the cultural implications of our current “makers movement” have led me to return to Graduate School this year.

Starting in July, I will be attending Warren Wilson for my MA in Critical and Historical Craft Studies. I realize that a lot of people might wonder why a professional organizer might be embarking on this path and my answer is, because I’m a Weaver and I see connections where others may not. I am extremely excited to explore the intersections between making and organizing, artist process and observation of that process. There is a certain energy that emanates from both the maker and the objects/materials being used and being in that space to observe, pick up inspiration and carry it forward.

There is Chaos and there is Order in all creative cycles…what do you see when you peek into the creative process?

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