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…]
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…]
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…]
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…]
Swedish Death Cleaning: What It Is and How to Do It
Like most people, you’ve probably heard of the organizing method called Swedish Death Cleaning. This idea is nothing new, but it was popularized by Margareta Magnusson in her forthright and incidentally hilarious book, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter. Since it’s publication [Read more…]
A Lesson On Organization – From a Three Year old
The other day, I was playing in the park with my three year old son. He had collected what appeared to be some random sticks, and was digging in the dirt with them. When I asked him what he was doing, he turned to me and said, “Mama, I’m catching bugs. What size bug do [Read more…]
Room-By-Room Organizing Challenge | Month 11: Residential Storage Spaces
We are nearing the end of this challenge, and thought we’d save the best (and perhaps most challenging) for last! Just about every home in America has some kind of built in storage space, whether it be a garage, attic, basement or weird hidden nook under the stairs. And just as ubiquitously, nearly every household [Read more…]
Room-By-Room Organizing Challenge | Month 10: The Master Bedroom
The master bedroom is a wonderful space to organize, because the return on your investment can be so life-changing. What do you get from organizing your bedroom properly? Here’s what. Better sleep. More relaxation. Less stress. Better sex (I had to say it, sorry). The #1 question that we ask OVER AND OVER again when [Read more…]
Room-By-Room Organizing Challenge | Month 9: The Master Closet
Imagine this: a master closet full of only items you truly love. Believe it or not, this is a very attainable goal! So this month, we decided to delve into a small but vitally important area of the home: the master closet. Albeit not quite a room, we are counting it as one, since the [Read more…]
Book Review: The Minimalist Home by Joshua Becker
In his new book, The Minimalist Home, Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist dives headfirst in to the daunting task of educating Americans about how much stuff we own, and how to free ourselves from it. As a big fan of Becker’s work, I was super excited by the opportunity to get an advanced copy and [Read more…]
Room-By-Room Organizing Challenge | Month 8: The Laundry Room
A recent client of mine had a laundry dilemma. Like the blob, it was slowly creeping into places it shouldn’t. Here’s how it started. One day, soon after moving in, she began folding laundry on the bedroom floor. The large expanse of floor space and proximity to the laundry room gave the master bedroom a [Read more…]
Room-By-Room Organizing Challenge | Month 7: Your Book Collection
Ok, fine. True, books do not technically constitute a room. At least not for everyone. But books do hold such a special place in so many hearts, we felt the implication was justified. And also…who doesn’t secretly dream of a home library? For book lovers, letting go can be much harder than anything else in the [Read more…]
Nine Reasons Why Hooks Are an Organizers’s Best Friend
Over the years, I have just about perfected the contents of my professional organizer toolkit. There are certain staple items that really help us when we are working with clients. Post-It notes, a really great box cutter and tape in just about every shape and size are always at hand when I work with a [Read more…]
Room-By-Room Organizing Challenge | Month 5: The Kid’s Room
This blog is month 5 in a 12 month organizing series. To sign up to receive this series, use the right hand sidebar form to join the mailing list. Of all the rooms in the house, kid’s rooms seem to receive the most wear and tear. And that’s a good thing; it means your [Read more…]
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