My reading list had taken on a life, or should I say lives of its own. The list that at one time was neatly maintained in Notes on my iPhone had spilled over into Toodledo, a couple of visual reminder piles beside my bed and reading chair, and a number of newly downloaded books sitting in my iBooks and Kindle apps. There were plenty of reminders to read, but no great way of selecting what to read. … Read More
Every once in a while I like to share a favorite with you, be it an organizing product or something that makes life simpler. Today I want to share my Leopard Print File Bench, which makes organizing my files simpler and my living room more fun and functional! My office is in the living room of my home. I chose to have my office there because I can easily see what’s going on elsewhere in the house … Read More
I’ve read a lot of books about organizing and related topics over the years and am often asked to recommend books I’ve found especially helpful or insightful, so I thought I would share my five favorite organizing related books with you. These books are listed in no particular order and I have given a brief explanation of why I they are on this list. Organizing from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your … Read More
Last time I shared my cluttered desk with you, along with the reasons it ended up being so cluttered. Today I want to share the steps for getting it back to ready. These aren’t the only possible steps that might help someone get their desk back to ready, but they are the steps I used and hopefully they might give you some ideas for steps you may want to take… I cleared everything off my desk – I … Read More
Marilyn Paul introduced me to the concept of “getting to ready” in her book, It’s Hard to Make a Difference When you Can’t Find Your Keys. In her book, she describes being organized as: “a dynamic between a state of readiness for action and taking action. It is the rhythm of taking action, creating the natural disorder that comes with taking action, restoring order with helpful habits and useful systems, and thus returning to readiness for action.” … Read More
Something I really wanted when we moved recently was to find a house with a laundry room on the second floor that had plenty of space for processing laundry. I had transitioned the laundry room from the mudroom to the second floor master bathroom of our last home and loved that our clothing never left the second floor. It meant no more toting dirty clothes down the stairs and clean clothes up. In my mind it was … Read More
I’ve been doing quite a bit of virtual organizing these days. My best friend called recently and asked me for some advice on organizing her pantry. Instead of advice, I convinced her to join me on skype and we worked through the project together. We developed the plan for the space together and broke it into steps, which she implemented. The entire project took less than three hours, including her shopping time. Her only purchases: the awesome … Read More
I recently did a spot on closet organizing on WKYC’s Channel 3 News Today. One of the points I made was that so many people think they need a complete closet overhaul, including an expensive closet organizing system, in order to have an “organized closet.” Before calling the closet organizing company donate what you no longer wear and try new hangers and rearranging the contents of your closet. These two photos show the exact same closet contents. … Read More
I recently took this picture of the unbelievable stacks of containers at Target. They were located right inside the entrance and people were snapping them up like their lives depended upon them. As a professional organizer I secretly hoped those individuals already knew what they planned to store in them and where the containers themselves were going to be stored. I sort of doubt it though, because so often I go into a client’s home and find stacks … Read More
As a professional organizer, people will often ask me about my favorite organizing product, assuming it’s some kind of label maker on steroids or some other type of organizing gadget. Imagine their surprise when I tell them it is a chisel tip Sharpie Marker. Yes, the humble Sharpie Marker, albeit on steroids given its chisel tip. The chisel tip is key, because it gives you the option of a thin or fat line in one pen. I … Read More