As we all know, 2020 was anything but predictable. Many of our plans were changed, moved, moved again, and then canceled. None of this has magically altered today, but there is still a way to carve out our own success for the year 2021. Yup, it’s time for New Years Resolutions. Whether you mark 2021 [Read more…]
10 Ways to Shop Small This Year
The holidays are here and that means the fun hustle and bustle of shopping for loved ones has begun. With Covid-19 causing hardships to many small businesses, it’s a great year to start thinking about how you can shop with local stores and service providers that could use your support. Here are some ideas to help [Read more…]
8 Gift Ideas that Don’t Cause Clutter
This post was originally released in 2013 and has been updated for 2020. As we approach holiday gift-buying at the end of this challenging year, many people are making an effort to support small, local businesses. Staying home all year has also made folks more aware of how much they own, and encouraged them to [Read more…]
Self-Care is an Essential Service
The holiday season has officially arrived! 2020 has already brought many challenges (#understatementoftheyear), and the holidays usually bring even more stress along with them. In preparation, I’m here on my little organizer soapbox to talk about self-care for a hot minute. Stay with me please. It’s a common belief that self-care is expensive. And sure, [Read more…]
3 Essential Steps to Prepare for an Emergency
It’s National Preparedness Month and FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) has a new catchphrase: “Disasters don’t wait. Make your plan today.” If recent events here on the west coast have taught us anything, it’s the truth of these words. In the Pacific Northwest, wildfires are far from foreign. This year was the most destructive [Read more…]
Whose Mess is this, Anyway?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that spending more time at home equals more mess. Welcome to domestic life in 2020! It can be a huge challenge to manage all of the moving parts in a household while working from home, plus homeschooling, being a supportive partner, parent and friend while generally staying sane. First [Read more…]
How to Plan An Organized Move (During a Pandemic)
Moving to a new home can be a challenge at the best of times. From packing to searching for the coffee pot on the first morning, there are many moving parts involved (pun intended). Add a global pandemic to the mix, and the whole process can become very overwhelming. Since we’ve been helping clients with [Read more…]
How to Stay Productive When you Work from Home
This post was originally published in 2017. We decided to give it an update and post it again since – well, it applies to far more of us these days. Enjoy! According to Global Workplace Analytics, 5 million people work remotely at least half of the time today in the US. While this is good [Read more…]
Design Ideas While Social Distancing: Interview with Kimberlee Jaynes
This week, we had the pleasure of (virtually) sitting down with Kimberlee Jaynes, award-winning interior designer and owner of Kimberlee Jaynes Interior Designs in Portland OR. Kimberlee merges both modern and traditional styles to create bold yet simple interiors. Her designs have been featured in The Portrait of Portland and Oregon Home magazines as well [Read more…]
Spring Cleaning Tips from Professional Organizers and Home Repair Specialists
Spring cleaning season is here! Regardless of whether spring cleaning is something you typically do, we recommend adding it to your life this year. More time at home due to the COVID-19 lockdown means that we are exposed to the dust and allergens that collect in our homes for much longer periods of time each [Read more…]
Love, Contagion and Organization in the time of COVID-19
It’s been fifteen days, ten hours and four minutes since the Coronavirus became real in our household. Not that I’m counting. I went to pick my son up from school on a Wednesday, and the teacher reported that he was definitely under the weather. Coughing, sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes. A regular, run of the [Read more…]
Chaos to Calm: Organizing Systems for Busy Families
Now more than ever, modern families are busy, overwhelmed and challenged by too much stuff. We have an opinion on this common difficulty, known as the cult of busy, which you can read here, but that is a different topic. The truth is this: the single most effective way to get organized is to drastically [Read more…]
Interview with Productivity and Happiness Maven, Paloma Medina of 11:11 Supply
This month, we are so excited to interview Paloma Media, owner of 11:11 supply, a Portland boutique that specializes in beautiful organizational work tools to aid productivity and create balance. Paloma is also a coach and trainer, and she speaks on topics ranging from equity and inclusion to the science of managing goals and stress. [Read more…]
Word of the Year Ideas for 2020
There’s something deliciously rewarding about the start of a new year. It’s the figurative act of pulling out a fresh, blank notebook, opening it to the first page, and writing whatever we choose. That said, we’ve always been cautious about New Year’s Resolutions. Here’s Why. It is very common to set goals that are unrealistic [Read more…]
Teaching Kids about Giving: Reverse Advent Calendar
We love this post! We love it so much that we edited and updated the original version, published in November 2016. As you know, I have spoken extensively here on the blog about the need to teach our kids to let go of toys and games that they have lost interest in or outgrown. Here [Read more…]
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